The Causes of the Downfall of Communism

Communism gained a strong foothold in the world during the first half of the 20th century, with one-third of the worlds population living under some form of communism by the 1970s. However, just a decade later, many of the major communist governments around the world toppled. What brought about this collapse? The First Cracks in the Wall By the time Joseph Stalin died in March of 1953, the Soviet Union had emerged as a major industrial power. Despite the reign of terror that defined Stalin’s regime, his death was mourned by thousands of Russians and brought about a general sense of uncertainty about the future of the Communist state. Soon following Stalin’s death, a power struggle ensued for leadership of the Soviet Union. Nikita Khrushchev eventually emerged the victor but the instability that had preceded his ascent to the premiership had emboldened some anti-Communists within the eastern European satellite states. Uprisings in both Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia were quickly quelled but one of the most significant uprisings occurred in East Germany. In June of 1953, workers in East Berlin staged a strike over conditions in the country that soon spread to the rest of the nation. The strike was quickly crushed by East German and Soviet military forces and sent a strong message that any dissent against Communist rule would be dealt with harshly. Nevertheless, unrest continued to spread throughout Eastern Europe and hit a crescendo in 1956, when both Hungary and Poland saw massive demonstrations against Communist rule and Soviet influence. Soviet forces invaded Hungary in November of 1956 to crush what was now being called the Hungarian Revolution. Scores of Hungarians died as a result of the invasion, sending waves of concern throughout the western world. For the time being, the military actions seemed to have put a damper on anti-Communist activity. Just a few decades later, it would start again. The Solidarity Movement The 1980s would see the emergence of another phenomenon that would ultimately chip away at the Soviet Union’s power and influence. The Solidarity movement—championed by the Polish activist Lech Walesa—emerged as a reaction to policies introduced by the Polish Communist Party in 1980. In April 1980, Poland decided to curb food subsidies, which had been a life-line for many Poles suffering through economic difficulties. Polish shipyard workers in the city of Gdansk decided to organize a strike when petitions for wage-increases were denied. The strike quickly spread across the country, with factory workers all over Poland voting to stand in solidarity with the workers in Gdansk. Strikes continued for the next 15 months, with negotiations ongoing between the leaders of Solidarity and the Polish Communist regime. Finally, in October of 1982, the Polish government decided to order full martial law, which saw an end to the Solidarity movement. Despite its ultimate failure, the movement saw a foreshadowing of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe.   Gorbachev In March of 1985, the Soviet Union gained a new leader -- Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev was young, forward-thinking, and reform-minded. He knew the Soviet Union faced many internal problems, not the least of which was an economic downturn and a general sense of discontentment with Communism. He wanted to introduce a broad policy of economic restructuring, which he called perestroika. However, Gorbachev knew that the regime’s powerful bureaucrats had often stood in the way of economic reform in the past. He needed to get the people on his side to put pressure on the bureaucrats and thus introduced two new policies: glasnost (meaning ‘openness’) and demokratizatsiya (democratization). They were intended to encourage ordinary Russian citizens to openly voice their concern and unhappiness with the regime. Gorbachev hoped the policies would encourage people to speak out against the central government and thus put pressure on the bureaucrats to approve his intended economic reforms. The policies had their intended effect but soon got out of control. When Russians realized that Gorbachev would not crack down on their newly won freedom of expression, their complaints went far beyond mere discontentment with the regime and the bureaucracy. The whole concept of communism—its history, ideology, and effectiveness as a system of government—came up for debate. These democratization policies made Gorbachev extremely popular both in Russia and abroad. Falling Like Dominoes When people all across Communist Eastern Europe got wind that the Russians would do little to quell dissent, they began to challenge their own regimes and work to develop pluralist systems in their countries. One by one, like dominoes, Eastern Europe’s Communist regimes began to topple. The wave started with Hungary and Poland in 1989 and soon spread to Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. East Germany, too, was rocked by nation-wide demonstrations that eventually led the regime there to allow its citizens to travel once more to the West. Scores of people crossed the border and both East and West Berliners (who had not had contact in almost 30 years) gathered around the Berlin Wall, dismembering it bit by bit with pickaxes and other tools. The East German government was unable to hold onto power and the reunification of Germany occurred soon after, in 1990. One year later, in December of 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated and ceased to exist. It was the final death knell of the Cold War and marked an end of Communism in Europe, where it had first been established 74 years prior. Although Communism has nearly died out, there are still five countries that remain Communist: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

The Death Of Physician Assisted Suicide - 1731 Words

Die With Dignity It is obvious this is a very controversial issue that is discussed daily by those who wish to die to avoid loss of dignity and also by those who think it could be immoral. For physician-assisted suicide to even be considered the patient must be of sound mind when they are requesting the physician-assisted suicide. To guarantee that the process is carried out correctly a doctor or a witness should be there to prove consciousness. The patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illness, if they are not then there is a possibility for a life. There are many pro’s and con’s to physician-assisted suicide. If a person is terminally ill they would not be in any suffering and they could die with dignity. It is also proven that hospitals would save money, and it could possibly cut some of the deficit. Although it sounds immoral, having a terminally ill person in the family can create many problems, so in this case it would be positive because there would be no more burden. It is q uite possible that passing this law would create a damper on the low income and middle class. For many it goes against the separation of church and state, because many believe that dying that way is a sin. It is very possible that miracle cures will arise shortly after a person has partaken in the physician-assisted suicide. In all reality, the government insurance companies and hospitals will want to force this process because it would save them a great deal of money in the long run.Show MoreRelatedPhysician Assisted Death And Assisted Suicide Essay1114 Words   |  5 Pages Physician assisted death is a physician aiding in a patient’s death by prescribing a lethal dosage or informing a patient on a lethal amount of medication. This is not a new phenomenon, over the ages of medicine physicians have been asked by patients to end their suffering. More than half of physicians in today’s society have been asked in some form of way to participate in physician assisted death. People should be able to choose rather or not to end their life through terminal illness or inRead MoreThe Death Of Physician Assisted Suicide1991 Words   |  8 PagesOne cannot refuse death. Physician aid-in-death, however, has been targeted for ages by religious groups or those who strictly believe in only prolonging life as a negative thing. Although such reasons are valid, they do not take into consideration the patient s direct wish, feelings, or foresight of how they believe their life will be. Death should be a basic right; same as Physician-Assisted Suicide should be available as an option for those who are mentally competent and terminally ill, or believeRead MoreThe Death Of Physician Assisted Suicide1348 Words   |  6 Pagesleads to suicide. Depression and anxiety is a disease that takes over human-beings self-determination. Many young individuals reach the point of believing the concept of if they were no longer alive the world they are associated in will no l onger be dark and evil. Also, older individuals believe if they take their own life then they will not suffer anymore. Recently in some states, they passed the right to have physician’s helping with planning their client’s death. Physician assisted suicide meansRead MoreThe Death With Dignity And Physician Assisted Suicide1742 Words   |  7 Pagessupporting â€Å"Death with Dignity†, also known as physician-assisted suicide. Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have each enacted laws that enable a terminally ill, mentally competent, adult to decide and dictate end of life decisions up to and including the time of their death. Oregon was the first United States (U.S.) to enact legislation and other states in the union have followed suit. Literature Review There are numerous articles regarding Death with Dignity and Physician-Assisted Suicide. Friend (2011)Read MoreLEGALIZATION OF ASSISTED SUICIDE IN THE U.S. Currently, physician-assisted suicide or death is2900 Words   |  12 PagesLEGALIZATION OF ASSISTED SUICIDE IN THE U.S. Currently, physician-assisted suicide or death is illegal in all states except Oregon, Vermont, Montana and Washington. Present law in other states express that suicide is not a crime, but assisting in suicide is. Supporters of legislation legalizing assisted suicide claim that the moral right to life should encompass the right to voluntary death. Opponents of assisted suicide claim that society has a moral and civic duty to preserve the lives of innocentRead MoreA Case On Proactive Death Such As Physician Assisted Suicide763 Words   |  4 PagesThis essay will reveal different case studies on proactive death such as physician-assisted suicide, pro-life principles to natural death emphasis on life at conception and the circumstances under which proactive efforts are permissible. 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Dying is the last important, intimate, and personal momentRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide : A Matter Of Life And Death Essay1936 Words   |  8 PagesThere has long been a debate over the topic of physician assisted suicide as an option for end of life. Several countries and states have passed legislation over the last few years that allows physician assisted suicide to have a form of legality therefore giving these terminal patients more autonomy in deciding what end of life care options they can choose. While it is not up to us as healthcare providers to decide for patients what they should or should not do pertaining to end of life care, itRead More The Death With Dignity Act and Physician Assisted Suicide Essay1312 Words   |  6 PagesThe Death With Dignity Act and Physician Assisted Suicide Introduction According to the American Medical Association (1996), physician-assisted suicide (PAS) occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing either the means or the information necessary to aid in the patient performing the life-ending act. PAS has had a long and controversial history dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. They believed that there was no reason to prolong life if continued pain and sufferingRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide : Controversial Healthcare And Political Realms Alike1218 Words   |  5 Pages Physician-Assisted Suicide Elissa Munoz-Tucker University of Arizona Abstract Physician-assisted suicide is controversial in healthcare and political realms alike. Currently, this end-of-life option is practiced in five states within the United States. Social concerns regarding assisted suicide revolve around ethical quandaries; providing the means to a patient’s death is contradictory to ethical principles of healthcare providers. Political concerns surrounding

Thorn Queen Chapter Thirteen Free Essays

Ysabel couldn’t be coaxed out of her room, no matter how hard I tried. I even sent Shaya to do it, seeing as she tended to be a bit more personable than I was. No luck. We will write a custom essay sample on Thorn Queen Chapter Thirteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ysabel remained firmly entrenched and would only ramble over and over about how she was going to tell her lord about me and escape this accursed place. Evening wore on, and I couldn’t drag myself back to Tucson. My feelings were in turmoil. I’d never expected to feel guilty about anything pertaining to Ysabel, but there it was. And as more time passed, I didn’t just feel bad about inadvertently suffocating her. As soon as I’d realized what I had done, I knew I had to cease practicing this kind of magic immediately. Storm King had used it to kill his enemies in horrible ways. Kiyo had warned that delving further and further into my powers would put me on a path I might not be able to turn away from. And yet†¦that was the problem. I knew I had to stop†¦but I didn’t want to. Sure, I didn’t want to learn air magic to kill. But after touching that power†¦I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I found my mind spinning, analyzing the air around me and how easy it would be to manipulate it. What had started as a seemingly small lesson from Ysabel was quickly moving into larger and larger implications as I grasped more of air’s patterns and how it worked. It was like I didn’t even need a teacher. My own nature and pull toward magic was running away and creating its own lessons. My conflicted ruminations were interrupted when a letter arrived via the Otherworld’s equivalent of the Pony Express. It was from Leith. As I’d suspected, he’d devoured the engineering books. What I hadn’t expected was that he’d already developed a plan for how to implement some of the irrigation systems and was going to accompany some workers out to Westoria in the morning to get started-unless I had any objections, of course. If I didn’t, then he would be honored if I would come out to meet them. He also added in his letter that he had investigated the towns near the Yellow River crossroads. None of them had any reports of missing girls. It figured, I thought. I either had enough bad luck to be the only monarch with runaway girls-or I possibly had an enemy specifically targeting me. Considering the number of gentry who resented my rule, the latter wouldn’t have surprised me. Regardless, I decided I had to go out to see Leith tomorrow. Even if it was just an elaborate attempt to woo me, he was still going to an awful lot of trouble with this. Plus, I hoped that if I spent the night here, Ysabel might finally emerge. So, I stayed over, giving me the opportunity to meditate with the land. While I noticed no ostensible difference in the morning, there was a strange, intangible feel to it†¦. It seemed healthier. Like always, I couldn’t exactly articulate why. Perhaps most disturbing of all, I found that staying over wasn’t quite the agonizing ordeal it used to be. I was preparing to head out to see Leith when a guard announced that a rider was approaching. I wondered if it was a messenger-or possibly Leith himself. Instead, it was someone quite unexpected. Dorian. The castle servants fell all over themselves to welcome the Oak King, and he swept inside as though perfectly entitled to it. Which, I guessed, he was. Nonetheless, I had no time for his antics today and greeted him with hands on my hips. â€Å"Not today, Dorian. I have things to do.† â€Å"As do I,† he said. He had that typically laconic tone to his voice, but there was an oddly serious-and impatient-look in his eyes. It was not an expression I’d seen very often. â€Å"I’ve come to see my subject. I knew you wouldn’t welcome her with open arms, but honestly, my dear, your attempts at murder shock even me-no small feat.† My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, both because of his assumption and the fact that she’d somehow gotten a message out to him. â€Å"Wha-? Dorian, it’s not true! It was an accident. I didn’t realize what I was doing.† â€Å"May I see her?† he asked, not acknowledging my plea. I could hardly deny him that, and he hurried off to her room without another word. She admitted him-no surprise there-and I found myself pacing the entire time they were together. It had been bad enough that Ysabel had thought me capable of assault. But somehow†¦the idea of Dorian thinking badly of me? Well, it struck me harder. I shouldn’t have cared what he thought-God knew I was mad at him more often than not. Yet, I realized that deep inside I wanted his good opinion. I felt sick to my stomach that I might have lost it. When he emerged, his face was still serious. â€Å"I believe I have convinced her that your intentions weren’t murderous.† I sagged in relief-more, I think, because he appeared to believe me. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"The question now is: do you want her to stay?† â€Å"Will she?† I asked, startled. â€Å"She obeys me,† he said simply. â€Å"She’ll stay and continue to teach if I tell her to.† â€Å"I don’t want anyone here against their will†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I’ve assured her of her safety. She won’t live in-much-fear of you. So, that’s no longer the issue. The issue instead is if you want to continue with her teachings.† â€Å"I can’t-not after†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stopped, realizing I was unsure of the words leaving my lips. I didn’t want to be like Storm King. I didn’t want a natural affinity for learning ways to kill people. And yet†¦I couldn’t stop thinking about the way I’d felt wielding that kind of power. Controlling water had given me a rush; air had doubled it. Dorian’s gold-green eyes were watching me very carefully. â€Å"I see,† he said. â€Å"Then I’ll tell her she’ll be staying a little longer.† I started to protest but couldn’t. He returned to her, stayed a few more minutes, and then joined me in my parlor where I had resumed pacing. â€Å"Well, then,† he said briskly, â€Å"that is that.† The grim set to his face was gone, and I found myself grateful to see the return of his usual mien. â€Å"I noticed you were about to leave. Off to free humans from your subjects?† â€Å"Off to free my subjects from me.† I explained my task, and his features lit up with interest. â€Å"How convenient that I’ll be traveling in the same direction. Unless you’d like me to wait here until you return?† No, the last thing I wanted was to encourage Dorian to make himself at home in my castle. So, I grudgingly conceded that he could go with me, partly because I still felt guilty and grateful over his intervention in the Ysabel incident. One bright side to him being with me was that Rurik decided I didn’t need an entire retinue for the trip. He alone accompanied us, and I wondered idly how Dorian managed to go wherever he wanted without an entourage. I didn’t like to think he was a more authoritative ruler than me. â€Å"Don’t give me a hard time about this air thing,† I warned. â€Å"I don’t want any spiels about how I’m embracing my heritage and approaching my destiny.† Dorian smiled, eyes on the road ahead of us. â€Å"I don’t need to tell you things you already know.† â€Å"Of course†¦I suppose if I did get a better grip on my magic, I might be able to get rid of those fucking fire demons.† â€Å"You see? I told you I don’t need to say anything. You’re finding ways to rationalize your use of magic all on your own.† â€Å"Hey, this is a serious threat. You can’t tell me you’d be all casual if you had demons running loose in your kingdom.† I frowned. â€Å"Or would you? I got the impression a lot of rulers don’t bother themselves with that kind of thing.† Dorian’s eyes took on that serious glint again, despite the small smile on his face. â€Å"Aeson didn’t bother. Don’t generalize to all of us. You know better. If I had demons in my land, I’d lead a group out myself to obliterate them.† I wondered if Dorian could. My potential power might be greater than his, but at the moment, his control and skill made him a more dangerous force than me. A ruler in the Otherworld had to be powerful, or else the land wouldn’t accept them. It was a wonder I’d been found worthy. â€Å"Do you want me to help you?† he asked when I remained silent. â€Å"I’ll go with you the next time you strike.† â€Å"What would that cost me?† I asked with an eye roll. â€Å"Why do you assume everything I do has an ulterior motive? Isn’t it enough I’d want to help you?† â€Å"I don’t know,† I said, not liking how his words made me feel bad. Was I attributing more insidious motives to him than he deserved? â€Å"I don’t trust anyone around here.† Westoria was looming in the distance. â€Å"I don’t even trust Leith’s engineering generosity. He’s not doing this for the sake of trade.† Dorian’s eyes lifted to the approaching village. â€Å"That,† he said, â€Å"we can both agree on. No matter how much you beat yourself up over those demons, you have more than enough strength to bind the land to you.† I hated his uncanny ability to guess my thoughts. â€Å"When Katrice dies, the Rowan Land will either pass in entirety to someone with the power to control it, or it will divide itself and be subsumed into other kingdoms.† â€Å"Shaya said the same thing-and that Leith thinks being hooked up with me would help keep it in the family.† I shook my head. â€Å"One land’s bad enough. I don’t have the power to control two.† â€Å"You’d be surprised,† he said ominously. Our arrival was greeted with the same wonder and awe I’d had before the demon incident. Apparently, yesterday’s food shipments and Leith’s presence today had reestablished my awesome reputation. Dorian seemed to have an effect as well. As we dismounted and walked through the village, the residents’ eyes followed both of us, filled with admiration and wonder. Glancing at Dorian, I could understand their feelings. He strode through the dusty town just as he had my castle, confident and majestic, even after a hot and wearying ride. He looked like, well, a king, and even I couldn’t help but admire his good looks. Beside him, I felt frumpy and insignificant. Then, I tried to pull back out of my glum thoughts and imagine what we must look like to these people, both of us tall and red-haired. We looked good together, I knew. I was in jeans, but I’d cleaned up this morning, and my hair was down. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see where the sun lit it up, giving the red a golden hue that complemented Dorian’s truer red. My tank top was blue, a good color for me, and I had on my usual gemstone jewelry. Perhaps most importantly, we carried our titles as king and queen, and to these people, I realized we were probably the equivalent of a Hollywood couple on the red carpet. â€Å"Your majesty! I’m so glad you could-† Leith had come running up to us and came to a total standstill when he saw Dorian. After a few stunned moments, he made a polite bow to the Oak King. â€Å"Your majesty. Also a pleasure.† I could tell Dorian was delighted to have ruined Leith’s plans for a romantic interlude. â€Å"Well, I hated to part from Eugenie this morning, so I thought I’d come along and see what’s new.† I had to restrain myself from elbowing him. His wording implied that we’d woken up together. Our former relationship was no secret, and Dorian had pitched his words loudly, so that some of the gathered villagers would hear. No doubt this would be all over the Otherworld by tonight. Leith looked even more dismayed than before, and I tried to smooth things over. â€Å"Why don’t you show us the project?† I asked him. â€Å"I don’t think I can thank you enough for what you’ve done.† Leith brightened and eagerly led us forward. As we walked, Dorian murmured in my ear, â€Å"Believe me, he’s more than sure you could thank him enough.† â€Å"How come you can allegedly do things for me without ulterior motives but no one else can?† I hissed back. Dorian only grinned as Leith headed toward the village’s edge and showed us his handiwork. There was little to see of his irrigation system at this point. Mostly people were digging and laying out the foundation. Leith did his best to explain what it would develop into and even showed us blueprints-quaintly written on parchment. I followed them a little but could tell they were gibberish to Dorian, despite his polite and confident smile. Zealous or not, a prince of the Rowan Land was not about to do manual labor, and once the tour was done, he sat down with Dorian and me at the mayor’s house. Davros seemed only too happy to keep offering his home as my hangout and eagerly served us wine before leaving his esteemed guests to discuss whatever it was royalty talked about. â€Å"This is only the beginning of what we can do,† Leith said, positioning himself so that Dorian wasn’t in his line of sight. â€Å"I’d love to come visit and discuss more ways to work through this. I’ve got some ideas on how to construct buildings that will reflect light better. Have you ever considered redesigning your castle?† â€Å"Yikes,† I said. â€Å"No. That’d be a big feat.† â€Å"Not as big as you think. Not with the right help.† I shook my head with a smile. â€Å"Let’s just focus on the people first.† Leith smiled back. â€Å"Sure. But I will come by some day to show you some palace ideas-just in case you change your mind. Or, better yet, you should come visit us. Mother would love to show you the hospitality of the Rowan Land.† â€Å"Or, better yet, you should throw the Thorn Queen a party,† said Dorian, deadpan. â€Å"I’m sure she would love it.† This time, I did elbow Dorian. Leith didn’t notice. Dorian knew perfectly well I dreaded Otherworldly social events-particularly when the focus was on me. â€Å"Really,† I began. â€Å"That’s not-â€Å" â€Å"Of course!† said Leith. â€Å"We haven’t had a grand ball in quite a while. We could invite hundreds of people†¦.† I decided then that elbowing wasn’t severe enough. It was with great restraint that I didn’t actually kick Dorian. He placed his own elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand, appearing quite entertained. â€Å"You’d have to outdo Maiwenn’s party, to truly show Eugenie honor,† said Dorian. â€Å"That’s going to be hard to do. Of course, Maiwenn has an unfair advantage with her maternal glow, eh? Eugenie was just telling me on the way here how all this baby talk is kindling longings of her own.† I choked on my wine. â€Å"I love children too,† Leith told me. â€Å"I can’t wait to have some-once I find the right woman.† I was spared more of this when one of Leith’s workers came in, anxious over some mishap. Leith looked devastated at the thought of abandoning me-and also embarrassed over me witnessing a flaw in his grand plans. â€Å"I’m sorry,† he said. â€Å"I hate to leave you. I’m sure this will only take a moment.† â€Å"Actually,† I said, rising. â€Å"We should probably get going as well.† â€Å"Must you?† he asked, face falling further. â€Å"I’m sure I’ll see you soon.† â€Å"Yes,† agreed Dorian. â€Å"You should get moving on that ball. Or maybe I should just throw one for her†¦.† Leith totally fell for the baiting. â€Å"No, no. I would be more than honored to.† He swept me a bow, and I let him kiss my hand. â€Å"I’ll have news for you soon, I promise.† I smiled and expressed my thanks and allowed him to kiss my hand again when he insisted. As soon as he was gone, I turned on Dorian. â€Å"Are you trying to push me into his arms or away?† â€Å"Ironically, doing one causes the other.† He stretched and stifled a yawn. â€Å"Were you telling the truth? Are you ready to leave?† â€Å"Yeah, I think so-â€Å" â€Å"Your majesty?† Davros stuck his head into the room, wearing his usual apologetic look. His eyes flicked nervously from Dorian to me. â€Å"I’m so sorry to bother you†¦I know you must be busy and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"She’s been found, your majesty. The missing girl? Her parents tracked her down last night but were afraid to tell you†¦she seemed so distraught. I only just found out myself. I told them you’d want to know-â€Å" â€Å"Of course, I do.† I was already moving toward the door, Dorian fast on my heels. â€Å"Where are they?† Still bobbing his head in obeisance, Davros hastily led us to a small home on the opposite side from Leith’s construction. He beat impatiently on the door. â€Å"Open up! The queen is here.† Almost a minute passed before the door opened. The woman who had accosted me on my first visit peered out, eyes wide. â€Å"Your majesty,† she said humbly, inclining her head. She didn’t seem to recognize Dorian. â€Å"We-we didn’t know you were here.† â€Å"I want to see her,† I said impatiently. â€Å"Let me talk to her.† The woman hesitated, fearful of me but also fearful of something else, apparently. Davros was undeterred. â€Å"This is the Thorn Queen! Let her in.† With a gulp, the woman stepped aside. I found myself in a small but clean cottage, dimly lit thanks to all the curtains being drawn, though all the windows were open to allow a breeze. The woman’s husband met us as we walked through the kitchen, his face pale and afraid. â€Å"Your majesty†¦forgive us. We were afraid to tell you. We were afraid she’d run away again.† â€Å"I’m not going to hurt her. I just want to talk to her.† It was a bit depressing, between Ysabel and this family, knowing everyone was terrified of me. Ironically, before I’d known about my gentry heritage, I’d been proud of the fear I inflicted on Otherworldly inhabitants. â€Å"Please take me to her.† I felt Dorian’s hand on my shoulder and his breath warm against my ear as he whispered, â€Å"You do not need to say please.† With a quick exchange of looks, the couple led us to the back of the cottage, into a tiny bedroom. It too was darkened, and I could make out a slim girl lying on a bed. There was a washcloth on her forehead that fell off when she sat upright at our approach. She cringed against the wall. â€Å"Who is it? I told you I didn’t want to see anyone†¦.† â€Å"It’s all right, Moria,† said her mother. â€Å"This is the queen. She’s come to talk to you. She’s not going to hurt you.† The girl wilted even more, blond hair covering half of her face. â€Å"No, no†¦She’s come with the others, come with her human blood to bind us and kill us and-â€Å" â€Å"Moria,† I said gently, holding my hands out as one would under a white flag. â€Å"She’s right. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you. It won’t take long.† â€Å"They all say that,† Moria said, eyes wide with tears. â€Å"They all say they won’t hurt you†¦all the humans†¦you’re no different†¦they all say they aren’t†¦.† She lapsed into muttering too low for me to hear, her hands clinging to the covers. â€Å"I think,† Dorian murmured to me, â€Å"that her experience has left her†¦ah, a little touched. I doubt you’ll get anything useful from her. There’s a healer at Maiwenn’s court who’s particularly good with sickness of the mind. You should send for her.† I had a feeling he was right but had to make one more attempt. â€Å"I just want to know where you’ve been. Who took you. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Tell me who it is, and I’ll stop them.† â€Å"No,† she breathed. â€Å"You’re the same†¦the same as him†¦the Red Snake Man.† â€Å"Red Snake†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I still had demons on the brain, and an image of their red and black mottled skin came to mind. Were they snake-like? â€Å"Moria, were you taken by demons? Or some kind of†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hell, in the Otherworld, any monster you could imagine pretty much existed, as Smokey had shown us. â€Å"†¦um, snake monster?† She shook her head frantically. â€Å"Our own kind don’t hurt us. It’s only yours†¦you’re all the same†¦the human blood†¦all marked the same†¦.† Her eyes left my face and lowered. For a disorienting moment, I thought she was staring at my chest until I realized her gaze was on my arm. I absentmindedly touched the spot. It was where my snake tattoo coiled around my arm. Moria squeezed her eyes shut. â€Å"All the same†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stiffened. â€Å"Did he†¦are you saying the person who took you had a tattoo like this on his arm?† â€Å"The Red Snake Man,† she whispered, still refusing to open her eyes. â€Å"Did he banish you? Did he force you to this world? Or did you come back on your own?† â€Å"Iron†¦iron everywhere†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stared off at nothing for several seconds. â€Å"I’m done,† I said, turning to her parents. â€Å"She can rest now.† I left the house as swiftly as I’d come in, Dorian matching my pace. â€Å"What’s going on? That meant something to you.† I nodded, heading toward where Rurik stood with our horses. â€Å"I think I know who took her-and maybe the others. Not bandits or a monster. It was a human.† â€Å"How do you know that?† â€Å"Because of the tattoo.† The Red Snake Man. I’d seen a red snake tattoo just the other day-on Art. He’d had that on one arm and a raven on the other. â€Å"It’s another shaman, one who lives very close to where the crossroads around here opens up in my world.† He was also the shaman who had told me to my face he knew nothing about gentry girls. I came to a halt by the horses and absentmindedly stroked the side of mine. She looked back and sniffed me. â€Å"But why? Why would he take a gentry girl? Or more than one? His job is to get them out of our world. I could see him banishing them out of the human world†¦.That might traumatize her, but that doesn’t sound like what happened. She disappeared from this world. She made it sound like she didn’t want to be in the human world.† Dorian snorted. â€Å"Eugenie, where in your jaded existence did you pick up this naà ¯vete? If a human took one of our girls, it’d be for the same reason we’d take one of theirs. For the same reason any man would abduct a girl.† I blanched at his implications. â€Å"But more than one?† â€Å"He wouldn’t be the first man to prefer-ah, how shall we say it? Variety.† I couldn’t see it of Art, not the Art who happily tended his garden and offered us beer and pop. He’d known Roland for years. They’d worked together. Was Art truly a kidnapper and rapist? Or was the girl just traumatized from being banished? It could be a pretty horrific experience. I grimaced, feeling a sharp twisting in my stomach. I’d come too close to rape already in my life to treat even a hypothetical situation lightly. Was Moria a victim? Were there others like her out there? Maybe it wasn’t truly Art†¦and yet, her words had dark implications. The human blood. A mark like mine. The Red Snake Man. The crossroads to Yellow River. He had to be involved; I just didn’t know how. I gave the horse one last pat and then mounted. â€Å"I have to get home,† I said, turning back to Dorian and Rurik. There was some mistake here, some mix-up. Art wasn’t involved in this. He couldn’t be, at least not in the way Dorian had suggested. â€Å"I have to talk to someone. Immediately.† I waited for the requisite Dorian joke, but none came as he mounted his own horse. â€Å"Then we go different ways. Be careful, Eugenie.† For some reason, frankness and concern from Dorian was more disconcerting than his usual banter. â€Å"If I’m right about this, then it’s a human matter. Should be a cakewalk compared to what I deal with around here.† Dorian shook his head. â€Å"I’d have to disagree. Give me demons and restless spirits any day over human deceit. But if you need help, I’m here. Just ask.† Again, there should have been a joke here. I glanced away, troubled by the way he looked at me. â€Å"Thanks. Hopefully it’ll be a simple matter.† How exactly? That I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure that roughing Art up would really accomplish anything-if he truly was at fault here. â€Å"See you later, Dorian.† He nodded by way of a farewell. Then: â€Å"And of course, my dear, you may kill as many humans as you like, but please try not to harm any more of my subjects. If you can help it.† There it was, at last. The joke. â€Å"Noted,† I said. I attempted a glare, but there was a smile on my lips as I did. I set a hard pace back to my castle and the gateway that would bring me back to my own world. Crossing over at the Yellow River one would have been faster, but I needed to go to my home in Tucson and prepare myself before facing Art. Rurik matched my pace easily and mercifully stayed silent. He’d watched me and Dorian together the way a child watches his or her divorced parents, in the hopes that Mommy and Daddy might make amends someday. My whirling thoughts made the trip go fast-as did the land’s quick route today-and we were greeted with a commotion when we reached the castle’s outer borders. A group of guards came tearing toward us, and my heart seized. What now? A siege? Demons? Kiyo? Yet as they got closer, I could see that the guards almost looked†¦enthusiastic. â€Å"Your majesty! My lord! We found her.† Rurik and I drew our horses to a halt and climbed down. I felt my legs scream and knew I’d be sore later. I wasn’t so practiced a rider that I could ride like that without consequences. I ignored the pain and turned to the guards. â€Å"Who?† I demanded. â€Å"We have her. The girl. The runaway girl from Westoria,† said the guard, clearly pleased at his success. Rurik and I exchanged puzzled glances. â€Å"That’s impossible. We already saw her.† The guard shrugged. â€Å"We found her out near the steppes, by the Rowan Land border. She matches the description and was clearly afraid of us. She tried to run away.† â€Å"Take me to her,† I said helplessly. Had my guards found another of these kidnapped girls? It would certainly provide more information. He led us inside toward one of the little-used rooms, explaining that they hadn’t wanted to put her in the dungeon-although her fear and desire to escape had required a guard. His expression turned uncomfortable. â€Å"We, um, also had to bind her in iron. She kept attempting magic. They’re still not able to fully stop her.† A guard like this could never handle iron shackles without causing himself intense pain. Sometimes, though, prisoners would be bound in bronze cuffs with a tiny bit of iron affixed to them. It required delicate handling by the captors but was usually enough to stunt the prisoner’s magic. We reached the room, and the men on duty stepped aside for us to enter. There, across the room, a slim young woman had her back to us. Long blond hair cascaded down her back, and I had a weird, disorienting sense for a moment as my brain grappled with the possibility that Moria had somehow made it here before us. Then, as the girl slowly turned around, the torchlight began bringing out glints of red in the golden hair that little Moria hadn’t had. I realized what was happening even before I fully saw my prisoner’s face. â€Å"You have got to be kidding me,† I said. It was Jasmine. How to cite Thorn Queen Chapter Thirteen, Essay examples

Competitive Strategy Science Policy and Practice

Question: Discuss about the Competitive Strategy for Science Policy and Practice. Answer: Introduction Globalization Era has brought a high level of changes in the recent times. The uplifting of globalization has made various types of people from different country closer by permitting different variety of business possible globally (Beck 2015). The globalization era has incorporated positive impact and minimized the negative effect in the daily lives of all the people round the world. The globalization effect has exposed various types of business in new challenges. The improvements of the framework of globalization significantly control all challenges regarding globalization and generate competitive advantages all over the world. The report presented will discuss AAA strategies of Pharmaceutical Industries considering the companies Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Pfizer Inc. The ICT industries are also taken for doing the project considering the companies IBM and Proctor Gamble. Pharmaceuticals Industries The challenges as well as the complexities faced by global economy were controlled by the theory developed by Pankaj Ghemawat. The theory developed by Pankaj Ghemawat is AAA triangle. The AAA stands for Adaption, Aggregation and Arbitrage. The three strategies developed by the famous economist were believed that it has the significant potential to successfully face the challenges introduced by globalization. Adaption includes the adjustments as well as the adoptions required for a company to make the operations and services appropriate for the local markets (Ford and King 2015). Aggregation helps the company in generating economy scale with the help of creation of business operations and simultaneously existing in the local markets. Arbitrage helps the company of achieving advantages in cost, currency differences and price. The pharmaceutical companies are having a rapid growth. The growths of the pharmaceutical companies are due to the up-gradation of the research and the advancement of the technologies that helps them in upcoming with the new drugs. The pharmaceutical companies undergoes certain processes like patenting, safety, testing, efficacy and marketing before the company finally launch the product. The invention of new drugs includes lot of investments of funds for the company (Frynas and Mellahi 2015). Therefore, the companies have to be very much sure about the feasibility of the products. The company must follow the strategies of AAA to gain competitive advantages over the rival company. The model followed for the strategic comparison is given below Industry Adaption Aggregation Arbitrage Pharmaceutical Industry Adaption Aggregation Arbitrage Sun Pharmaceutical Industries This company is the worlds fifth largest country. The company for having a global richness incorporates changes that are suitable according to the requirements of the country. The chemical composition they adapted also depends on the requirements of the specific countries. The ingredients used and the style of packaging was adapted according to the needs of the country. The style of packaging helps in holding the market and increase the face value of the company (Yeung 2015). The strong research of the company and the better implementation strategy gives the competitive advantage to the company over others. The company over the past ten years has been successfully challenging the patents consistently. The challenging on the patents are on the costly products in US. This helps in introducing cheaper products and good quality of generic versions to gain the share in the market. The company understood the significance of having a global richness to attain a significant growth. The company has successfully gained competing business globally. The company has still now extent nineteen branches globally that increase its global richness (Li et al. 2013). Being a pharmaceutical company having 19 companies globally is a great achievement of the company. The company has successfully constructed capability of research in the developed countries. This reduces the substantial cost that has greatly increased the capability of supplying the products at a much lower price. The company has most of the facility of manufacturing that reduces the cost of production (Contractor, Kumar and Dhanaraj 2015 ). This made the exports of the products in developing countries to sell at much more higher prices. Pfizer Inc The product to be sold at different countries other than the base countries needs modification of the products. Pfizer strategy for sale follows the above strategy in Latin America. The company abided by the differences of the cultural, regulatory and economic. These facts are taken into accounts for marketing the products. The specific steps taken by Pfizer are the extensive building of brands by outreaching the programs of community (Wachinger and Reuter 2016). The resourced devoted to work by the help of the pharmacists who plays a significant role in providing the medications to the patients. This company is an example, which shows administrative aggregation. If the company wants to sale the drug in the market of Europe for meeting the requirements of the countries where they want to sell the drug and get qualified for the registration of the drug (Thangakani et al. 2016). The registration for the qualification in different countries requires meeting their requirements according to their country and the sale of the products depends on the marketing in the respective country. The arbitrage of the company provides an example of Tax arbitrage. This benefits the company to have a cut off in the taxes. The company takes over the UK based company Astra Zeneca. The company is benefited as being a UK based company it does not have to pay any taxes on earning being a overseas company. The tax rate becomes lower. The rate of taxes on the patent products of UK is also very less (Baioao 2015). Therefore, the company is making much profit. Information and Communication Technologies Industry The significant goal of global strategy is the control the differences that are been responsible for creating larger borders. Considering an IT firm the adaptation includes seeking for boosting revenues and maximizing the share of the market considering the local relevance. It states that creation of local units in the national markets. This is considered the good job done if all the steps are been carried out following the supply chain. Aggregation aims to deliver the scale economics with the help of regional and global operations. This strategy contributes in standardization of the products or the offered service and integrating the development as well as the production process. Arbitrage relating to IT firms is defined as exploitation the difference of national markets and regional markets. It is done by identifying different parts of the supply chain in various locations like call centers in China, factories in Australia and retail shop in Europe. The companies those are been ext ending globally need to formulate the strategies of AAA to developed a standardized framework globally. The AAA those are correlated with various organizations (Campbell et al. 2015). When the company is focusing on adaptation, it becomes organization centric. When aggregation is the main aim of an organization crossing the border of the country to achieve global richness is the focus of the organisation. The enlightment of arbitrage is followed through a vertical and a functional explicit that pays attention in balancing the supply as well as demand in the boundaries of the organization. The AAA triangle is been applied for the software companies IBM and Proctor Gamble. ICT Industries Adaptation Aggregation Arbitrage IBM The first path of globalization was done by Nestle. The company started making small branches outside the home market. The following of the Adaptation strategy could expose the company to certain challenges. After that IBM followed the adaptation strategy. They started serving the markets in the overseas by constructing mini IBM in the country they targeted. Every people of this companies started operating a local model of business on a large basis, which permitted them to adapt the local differences as per the requirements (Franco et al. 2016). Therefore, to gain competitive advantages the company started building mini IBM that was a major adaptation strategy taken by them. The company has invested a lot of fund especially for the country centric marketing, which is an advantage for the organization. This also boost the appeal, which make the company to obtain focus form he clients. The company started aggregating the countries. The countries are been aggregated to regions. This improves the co-ordination and in turn helps in generating more economies of scale all over the world. The company started exploiting the differences globally. The company aims in achieving the balance within the AA strategy. The AA strategy includes Aggregation and Arbitrage. The company in obtaining the advantages and benefits of aggregation has laid a high emphasis on the delivery model of the global network. This helps in building a rational delivery structure, which includes three different software development centers (Kim et al. 2016). The development centers helps in servicing a large customer with a great depth in skill assisting with mature coding and high level of quality control processes. The regional centers gave importance on medium scales and laid focus on the local languages and the challenges regarding cultural distance. The centers in the near-shore are having small ca se and started focusing on obtaining the comfort of the customers by proximity. The effort of the company to exploit wage differential by maximizing the number of total employees. A report suggested that the employee number goes on increasing from nine thousand to forty three thousand from the year of 2004 to the mid of 2006. The planning done on the huge additional growth helps in gaining such an arbitrage. In 2005 TCS declared that they are going to sign a five year contract with ABN AMRO. TCS thought that they are going to produce approx 200 million. On the other hand, IBM had already done a bigger deal with the great Dutch Bank. The recent initiatives for the arbitrage are the matching of algorithm. This laid to optimizing of the assignments of the people dynamically through all the located branches of IBM globally. Krisha Nathan who is the director of IBM Research lab in Zurich gave a vivid description on the reasons of delivering an advanced model on the rocket science. Nathan describes that the resultant assignments patterns turned out to be 75% global an d 25% domestic (Buehlmaier and Zechner 2016). This matching devices are effective for arbitrage as a massive power shift is been noticed in the company. Proctor Gamble The company started following the strategy of IBM in the case of adaptation strategy. The adaptation strategy marked with the opening of mini PG branches to get a nicely fit in the local market. The planning of these strategies evolved out in a different way for the company. The units of global business of the companies are selling with the help of market development of the companies, which is aggregated to the regional level (Payaud 2014). The CEO of the company A.G.Lafley described that the company wants to adapt in the significant markets and the main goal of the company is to outplay the competitors. The main aim of the company is to beat the competitors by focusing on the country oriented multinationals. The aggregation strategies followed by the company includes installation of the structure of matrix. The significant interfaces of GBU/MDO broke in many functional areas. The company gained many success under the CEO Lafley as the CEO was successful in achieving the stability in between the adaption and aggregation. It gave the scope for the company for gaining the differences in the units of general business as well as markets. The structure of MDO helped in gaining the profit for the markets that is emerging (Yang et al. 2014). The decision grid of the company also plays a significant role as it is been formulated after years of negotiation. The protocols that are been designed for various decisions for the units of general business and constructing it. Lafley the CEO of the company stated that the arbitrage strategy is important for the company. The main scope for the arbitrage of the labor is based on the consumer goods that should be fast moving. The business for this company has a tendency of clustering at the top quartile (Jones, Siemsen and Balasubramanian 2015). This promotes the integration as well as helps in promoting the mutual understanding. The unit of the global business regional headquarters is integrated with the regional MDO headquarters. Conclusion The report focuses on the rapid growth of the major industries in the sector of pharmaceutical and ICT by applying the framework of AAA. The figure below suggested the strategy of the managers and the map they should follow. The percentage spent on advertising to sales is for the benefit of the company. The percentage spent for RD shows the significance of aggregation. The percentage of fund spent for the labor helps to understand the significance of arbitrage. The managers should start paying attention when the score is above median as these areas are the strategy for merit. The company should manage the differences of the cross border when the company is aiming for the global richness. The major factors the company should focus are on the technology and the policies of the trade. These factors help the company in restructuring. The company depends on the factors like the history of the globalization and financial statement. The company may face tough challenges in implementing AAA at the same time. Therefore, the recommended way by which the company could implement this strategy is by taking AA at one times and implementing them successfully. 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Improving self-adaptation planning through software architecture-based stochastic modeling.Journal of Systems and Software,115, pp.42-60. Frynas, J.G. and Mellahi, K., 2015.Global strategic management. Oxford University Press, USA. Jones Christensen, L., Siemsen, E. and Balasubramanian, S., 2015. Consumer behavior change at the base of the pyramid: Bridging the gap between for?profit and social responsibility strategies.Strategic Management Journal,36(2), pp.307-317. Kim, M., Mohindra, A., Muthusamy, V., Ranchal, R., Salapura, V., Slominski, A. and Khalaf, R., 2016. Building scalable, secure, multi-tenant cloud services on IBM Bluemix.IBM Journal of Research and Development,60(2-3), pp.8-1. Li, B., Sun, B., Qian, X., Li, W., Wu, Z., Sun, Z., Qiao, M., Duke, M. and Zhao, D., 2013. In-situ crystallization route to nanorod-aggregated functional ZSM-5 microspheres.Journal of the American Chemical Society,135(4), pp.1181-1184. Payaud, M.A., 2014. Marketing strategies at the bottom of the pyramid: Examples from Nestl, danone, and procter gamble.Global Business and Organizational Excellence,33(2), pp.51-63. Thangakani, A.M., Nagarajan, R., Kumar, S., Sakthivel, R., Velmurugan, D. and Gromiha, M.M., 2016. CPAD, Curated Protein Aggregation Database: A Repository of Manually Curated Experimental Data on Protein and Peptide Aggregation.PloS one,11(4), p.e0152949. Wachinger, C., Reuter, M. and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, 2016. Domain adaptation for Alzheimer's disease diagnostics.NeuroImage. Yang, Y., Corona, A., Schubert, B., Reeder, R. and Henson, M.A., 2014. The effect of oil type on the aggregation stability of nanostructured lipid carriers.Journal of colloid and interface science,418, pp.261-272. Yeung, H.W.C., 2015. Regional development in the global economy: A dynamic perspective of strategic coupling in global production networks.Regional Science Policy Practice,7(1), pp.1-23.