The Cold War of the Middle East Essay Example for Free

The Cold War of the Middle East Essay Nuclear weapons: these are tools capable of massive destruction and death. If the wrong people obtain such weaponry, it could lead to catastrophic consequences worldwide. As of right now, Iran is developing weapons grade uranium. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave a speech to the United Nations in which he presented the progress of Iran’s uranium enrichment program to the General Assembly. Netanyahu was quoted in the Weekly Standard saying, â€Å"Wheres Iran? Irans completed the first stage. It took them many years, but they completed it and theyre 70% of the way there; it is only a few months, possibly a few weeks before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb. † Iran’s development of nuclear weaponry is a threat to Israel and therefore the United States. Israel must take all precautionary measures to prevent Iran from finishing its nuclear program and this includes military action. If something were not done to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, then the US would be pulled into a gruesome war with nuclear weapons. Currently, Israel is the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons. However, this could all change by 2013. Iran has been enriching uranium and is seventy percent of the way to making a nuclear missile capable of destroying Israel. Iran’s current leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been previously been quoted in the Jerusalem Post saying that Israel has no place in the â€Å"Holy Land† and that Israel is a â€Å"fake regime† that â€Å"must be wiped off the map†. If Iran obtains enough enriched uranium, Ahmadinejad’s statement may become a gruesome reality. Now one may wonder where the USA plays a part in this standoff in the Middle East. When Israel was created by Britain in 1948, its first ally was the US, and since then, their relationship has tremendously strengthened. Now, Israel is more than an ally to the US; it is a true friend. If Israel were to take military action, it would most definitely get backing from the USA. Now one might argue that the that attacking Iran enables too many risks. Casualties would be high, Iran is a very formidable opponent and also, sanctions against Iran are in place, and all the US and have to do is be Patient However, Israel has already fought multiple wars against numerous countries in the Middle East, and it has one of the strongest militaries in the world. The country with the strongest military in the world happens to be Israel’s long time ally; the US. Thus the US and Israel combined would be more than capable to fight against Iran. If something is not done beforehand to stop Iran’s nuclear program, the consequences will be cataclysmic. Also, even though the sanctions have crippled Iran’s economy, according to the BBC, these have not even delayed Iran’s nuclear program. The global community has drawn a clear red line for Iran, and Iran is inches from crossing that red line. Action must be taken to stop Iran in its tracks. The consequences of not acting far outweigh the risk of war.

Flying Dreams :: essays papers

Flying Dreams To Fly Has Been a Dream On a bright sunny day with the sky as clear as crystal glass, you peer out into the open sky to the land down below. The door opens in front of you the wind rushes into the aircraft. You step out falling freely away as if you were a bird soaring on the winds of time. You peer back to the aircraft for a brief second to see it speeding away. You feel weightless as the wind roars around you. Looking down you suddenly realize that you are falling towards the earth. Someone once said that the sky is the limit, but in skydiving the ground is the limit. Skydiving is not just a free fall and a parachute ride, but an extreme thrill of events in a short amount of time. Skydiving begins on the ground. The equipment that you use is the most important part of a successful dive. The most important piece is the parachute itself. It must be packed so that there are no knots in the lines and so that the parachute will open properly. The reserve parachute is the second most important piece of equipment. It must be packed by a Federal Aviation Administration rigger every 120 days or after the reserve parachute has been deployed. The third piece is your altimeter that is set and calibrated to altitude at ground level. Several optional pieces of equipment are a helmet, gloves and a skydiving suit. Some jumpers like to perform a pre-jump on the ground. It's most commonly called a dirt dive. They walk through the skydive on the ground while talking about what they will do on the jump and then what they will do if the jump doesn't go as planned. The Jump Master is a highly skilled skydiver. The Jump Master has over 500 skydives and licensed by the United States Parachute Association. The Jump Master is in charge of the jumper on the aircraft at all times. He notifies the jumper of the drop zone approaching by giving a one minute warning, a 30 second warning, prepare to jump, and jump signal. The Jump Master also is in charge of checking that you have put your equipment on properly. He checks to see that you have not crossed your leg straps and that your chest strap is fastened securely. Next he checks to see that your ripcord is properly in place, also checks to see that your reserve

The Crude Art of Policy Making

Lessons: The Crude Art of Policy Making All over the world, the price of crude oil experiences wide price swings in times of shortage or oversupply just like other commodities. The crude oil cycle may extend over several years responding to changes in demand and supply. In this paper, we intend to discuss the dynamics and impact in the economy, and how the central banks respond to a rise in oil price. To be able to understand the dynamics of adjustment of oil price, we use the economic diagram of aggregate demand and supply given by D1 and S1 respectively in the left hand graph, where the points they intersect signify that the economy is in equilibrium. In the graph, Q1 is the output at the natural level of output and implies the price, P1. Based on the graph, the shift on aggregate supply curve to the left, to S2 is caused by the firm who imports crude Graph1. The impact of higher oil prices. oil. If the price of importing crude oil is high, then the firm’s production costs will also increase. As a result, it reduces profit so they supply fewer goods and services. This can also relate according to Blanchard, using the equation: P = Pe (1+?) F(1- u,z) where, u = unemployment rate ? = mark up of the price over nominal wage Pe = expected price level In this equation, given the Pe, the increase in the price of oil shows an increase in the mark up, ?. The increase in the mark up will lead the firms to increase their prices, leading to an increase in the price level, P, at any level of output, Q. Then, the aggregate supply curve shifts up or move to the left. In addition, the aggregate demand curve also moves left, to D2. The increase in the price of oil leads the firms to increase their price which decrease the demand and output. As a result, the consumers would be resulted in lower rates of consumption due to increase in the price level. Thus, economy suffers both a negative supply shock and negative demand shock. Over time, output decreases further and the price level increase further. Now we know the impact of the increase of price of oil in the economy. Second we want to know is how the central bank responds in this issue. According to the article, higher oil prices are neither inflationary nor deflationary in themselves. It depends upon how the monetary policy reacts. Based on the right-hand graph, it shows how policy responded after the 1973-74 oil price shock. This will attempt to prevent output falling. For example, based on the article, America’s Federal funds rate was cut from 11% in mid 1974 to less than 6% in 1975, resulting in sharply negative real interest rates. In effect, this shifts the demand curve to the right, to D3, with same output at Q1. But still, the price tends to increase to P3. To hold the inflation down, central banks must increase interest rates. On the left hand graph, this implies a further leftward shift in the demand curve and shows a larger decrease of output. Take note an increase in interest rates does not necessary imply a tightening of policy of inflation which caused by higher oil prices. According to the article, central banks need to raise interest rates to simply keep real interest rates stable. To be able to increase interest rates, there should be a sign of a rise in the core of inflation, excluding the energy prices. In Europe, the increase in inflation tends to spill over into wages compare in America because of less flexible labour markets. So the European Central Bank (ECB) will be more cautious when the oil prices increase. In addition, central banks must know the recurring position of the economy to know if they need to increase interest rates. If the economy is slack, the bigger the risk that increase in crude oil will quickly affect the wages and that firms will be able to pass on higher costs. In contrast, when economy is weak and the oil price decrease then it tends to risks of deflation, the central bank will cut the rates.

Impacts of the California Drought

In 2015, California was once more taking stock of its water supply, coming out of the winter season in its fourth year of drought. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, the proportion of the state’s area in severe drought had not significantly changed since a year before, at 98%. However, the proportion classified as under exceptional drought conditions leaped from 22% to 40%. Much of the worst hit area is in the Central Valley, where the dominant land use is irrigation-dependent agriculture. Also included in the exceptional drought category are the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a large swath of the central and southern coasts. There was much hope that the winter 2014-2015 would bring El Nià ±o conditions, resulting in above normal rainfall across the state, and deep snow at high elevations. The encouraging predictions from earlier in the year did not materialize. In fact, in late March 2015, the southern and central Sierra Nevada snowpack was only at 10% of its long-term average water content and only at 7% in the northern Sierra Nevada. To top it off, spring temperatures were quite above average, with record high temperatures observed all over the West. So yes, California is really in a drought. How Is the Drought Affecting the Environment? Energy: About 15 percent of California’s electricity is provided by hydroelectric turbines operating on large water reservoirs. Those reservoirs are abnormally low, reducing hydropower’s contribution to the state’s energy portfolio. To compensate, the state needs to rely more on non-renewable sources like natural gas. Fortunately, in 2015 utility-scale solar power reached new heights, now at 5% of California’s energy portfolio.Wildfires: California’s grasslands, chaparral, and savannas are fire-adapted ecosystems, but this prolonged drought is keeping the vegetation tinder dry and vulnerable to intense wildfires. These wildfires create air pollution, displace and kill wildlife, and damage property.Wildlife: While much of the wildlife in California can weather temporary dry conditions, a prolonged drought can lead to increased mortality and reduced reproduction. Drought is an additional stressor affecting endangered species already burdened by habita t loss, invasive species, and other conservation problems. Many species of migratory fish are endangered in California, notably salmon. Low river flows due to the drought reduce access to spawning grounds. People will also feel the effects of the drought. Farmers in California are heavily dependent on irrigation to grow crops like alfalfa, rice, cotton, and many fruits and vegetables. California’s multi-billion dollar almond and walnut industry is particularly water intensive, with estimates that it takes 1 gallon of water to grow a single almond, over 4 gallons for a single walnut. Beef cattle and dairy cows are raised on forage crops like hay, alfalfa, and grains, and on vast pastures that require rainfall to be productive. Competition for water needed for agriculture, domestic use, and aquatic ecosystems, are leading to conflicts over water use. Compromises need to be made, and again this year large swaths of farmland will remain fallow, and the fields that are farmed will be producing less. This will lead to price increases for a wide variety of foods. Is There Some Relief in Sight? On March 5, 2015, meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finally announced the return of El Nià ±o conditions. This large scale climate phenomenon usually is associated with wetter conditions for the western U.S., but due to its late spring timing, it did not provide enough moisture to relieve California from drought conditions. Global climate change throws a good measure of uncertainty in forecasts based on historical observations, but perhaps some comfort can be taken by looking at historical climate data: multi-year droughts have happened in the past, and all have eventually subsided. El Nià ±o conditions have subsided  during the 2016-17 winter, but a number of powerful storms are bringing a copious amount of moisture in the form of rain and snow. It wont be until later that we will really know if its enough to bring the state out of the drought. Sources: California Department of Water Resources. Statewide Summary of Snow Water Content. NIDIS. US Drought Portal.