How Did US Foreign Policy Change After 9/11

The United States foreign policy changed in some very noticeable ways after the terrorist attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001. This included increasing the amount of intervention in foreign wars, the amount of defense spending, and the redefinition of terrorism as a new enemy. Yet, in other ways, foreign policy after 9/11 is a continuation of American policy since its beginnings. When George W. Bush assumed the presidency in January 2001, his major foreign policy initiative was the creation of a missile shield over parts of Europe. In theory, the shield would give added protection if North Korea or Iran launched a missile strike. In fact, Condoleezza Rice, then the head of Bushs National Security Council, was slated to give a policy speech about the missile shield on September 11, 2001. Focus on Terror Nine days later, on September 20, 2001, in a speech before a joint session of Congress, Bush changed the direction of American foreign policy. He made terrorism its focus. We will direct every resource at our command — every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war — to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network. The speech is perhaps best remembered for this remark. [W]e will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism, said Bush. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. Preventive Warfare, Not Preemptive The most noticeable immediate change in the U.S. foreign policy was its focus on preventive action, not just preemptive action. This is also known as the Bush Doctrine. Nations often use preemptive strikes in warfare when they know that enemy action is imminent. During Trumans administration, for example, North Koreas attack on South Korea in 1950 stunned then-Secretary of State Dean Acheson and others at the state department. They urged Truman to retaliate, leading the U.S. into the Korean War and creating a major expansion of U.S. global policy. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, however, it broadened its policy to include preventive warfare. The Bush Administration told the public (erroneously) that Saddam Husseins regime had nuclear material and would soon be able to produce atomic weapons. Bush vaguely tied Hussein to Al Qaeda (again erroneously), and he said the invasion was, in part, to prevent Iraq from supplying terrorists with nuclear weapons. Thus, the Iraqi invasion was to prevent some perceived — but not clearly evident — event. Humanitarian Assistance Since 9/11, U.S. humanitarian assistance has become more subject to foreign policy demands and in some cases, it has become militarized. Independent Non-Government Organization (NGOs) working through USAID (a branch of the U.S. State Department) have typically delivered worldwide humanitarian aid independently of American foreign policy. However, as Elizabeth Ferris reported in a Brookings Institution article, U.S. military commands have begun their own humanitarian assistance programs in areas where they are conducting military operations. Therefore, army commanders can leverage humanitarian assistance to gain military advantages. NGOs have also increasingly fallen under closer federal scrutiny to ensure that they comply with U.S. anti-terrorism policies. This requirement, says Ferris, made it difficult, indeed impossible, for U.S. humanitarian NGOs to claim that they were independent of their governments policy. That, in turn, makes it more difficult for humanitarian missions to reach sensitive and dangerous locations. Questionable Allies Some things, however, have not changed. Even after 9/11, the U.S. continues its tendency to forge questionable alliances. The U.S. had to secure Pakistans support before invading neighboring Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, which intelligence said was an Al Qaeda supporter. The resulting alliance with Pakistan and its president, Pervez Musharraf, was awkward. Musharrafs ties with the Taliban and Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden were questionable, and his commitment to the War on Terror seemed halfhearted. Indeed, in early 2011, intelligence revealed that bin Laden was hiding in a compound in Pakistan, and apparently had been for more than five years. American special operations troops killed bin Laden in May, but his mere presence in Pakistan cast more doubt on that countrys commitment to the war. Some members of Congress soon began calling for an end to Pakistani foreign aid. Those situations are reminiscent of American alliances during the Cold War. The United States supported such unpopular leaders as the Shah of Iran and Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam simply because they were anti-Communist. War Weariness George W. Bush warned Americans in 2001 that the War on Terror would be long and its results might be hard to recognize. Regardless, Bush failed to remember the lessons of the Vietnam War and to understand that Americans are results-driven. Americans were encouraged to see the Taliban virtually driven from power by 2002, and could understand a brief period of occupation and state-building in Afghanistan. But when the invasion of Iraq pulled resources away from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to become resurgent, and the Iraqi War itself became one of seemingly unending occupation, Americans became war-weary. When voters briefly gave control of Congress to Democrats in 2006, they were in fact rejecting Bushs foreign policy. That public war-weariness infected the Obama administration as the president wrestled with withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as allocating funds for other military ventures, such as Americas limited involvement in the Libyan civil war. The Iraq war was concluded on December 18, 2011, when Obama withdrew the last of the American troops. After the Bush Administration The echoes of 9/11 continue into subsequent administrations, as each president grapples with finding a balance between foreign invention and domestic issues. During the Clinton administration, for example, the United States started spending more money on defense than virtually all other nations combined. Defense spending has continued to rise. Conflicts in the Syrian Civil War have led to U.S. intervention several times since 2014. Some have argued that the lasting change has been the instinct for American presidents to act unilaterally, as when the Trump Administration conducted unilateral airstrikes against Syrian forces in 2017 in response to chemical attacks at Khan Shaykhun. But historian Melvyn Leffler points out that that has been part of U.S. diplomacy since George Washington, and certainly throughout the Cold War. It is perhaps ironic that despite the unity in the country that arose immediately after 9/11, bitterness about the failure of the costly initiatives started by the Bush and later administrations has poisoned public discourse and helped to create a sharply polarized country. Perhaps the greatest change since the Bush Administration has been the expansion of the boundaries for a war on terror to include everything from trucks to malicious computer code. Domestic and foreign terrorism, it seems, is everywhere. Sources Devuyst, Youri. Religion and American foreign policy: the Bush-Obama divide and its impact on Transatlantic relations. Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali, Nuova Serie, Vol. 77, No. 1  (305), GENNAIO-MARZO 2010, JSTOR. Entman, Robert M. Cascading Activation: Contesting the White Houses Frame after 9/11. Political Communication, Volume 20, 2003 - Issue 4, June 24, 2010. eMediaMillWorks. Text: President Bush Addresses the Nation. The Washington Post, September 20, 2001. Ferris, Elizabeth. 9/11 and Humanitarian Assistance: A Disturbing Legacy. The Brookings Institution, September 1, 2011. Kennedy, Liam. Enduring Freedom: Public Diplomacy and U.S. Foreign Policy. American Quarterly, Scott Lucas, Vol. 57, No. 2, JSTOR, June 2005. Leffler, Melvyn P. 9/11 in Retrospect: George W. Bushs Grand Strategy, Reconsidered. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 90, No. 5, JSTOR, September/October 2011. Scott, Catherine V. Imagining Terror in an Era of Globalization: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Construction of Terrorism after 9/11. Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 7, No. 3, American Political Science Association, JSTOR, September 2009. Selod, Saher. Citizenship Denied: The Racialization of Muslim American Men and Women Post-9/11. Critical Sociology, April 1, 2014. Thomson, Stà ©phanie. 15 years after 9/11, this is how the US has changed. World Economic Forum, September 9, 2016.

Theme of Heritage in Walkers Everyday Use Essay - 1498 Words

Growing up in Different Eras of time and disparities between the quality of education affect peoples’ perception of heritage. Everyday Use by Alice Walker was an inspiring story of family and heritage. Simplicity against complexity. The old ways and the new ways. It was about people fighting for change and other people who were content with the way things were. The story takes place in the 60’s or 70’s and is written in the first person from the mother’s perspective. She has two daughters Dee and Maggie who are complete opposites. Maggie is a shy, not so smart black woman who is scarred from a fire†¦show more content†¦Dee is an attractive, outgoing, educated, strong minded black woman who is tired of being oppressed by white society and discovers her African roots, knowledge of self and takes great pride in it. It seems that she looks down on or pities her mother and sister because they are simple country folk who are uneducated and seem content with the way their lives are. The different perceptions of heritage between Mama and Dee are due to the different eras of time t hey grew up in and the disparities of the quality of education between them. Mama or Mrs. Johnson grew up in the 1920’s and was forced to stop going to school when she was in the second grade because the school was closed down. Alice Walker notes that Mama says, â€Å"Don’t ask me why: in 1927 colored asked fewer questions than they do now.†(walker 158) This reveals that Mama only had a second grade education and that in the 1920’s most black people did not question the authority of white society. Mama barely knew how to read and lacked in the knowledge of the history of her people pertaining to the Atlantic Slave Trade, the countries in Africa her ancestors came from and the cultures and customs of these African countries. To Mama this historyShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Alice Walker s Everyday Use989 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 102 22 January 2015 Heritage: The Various Interpretations in Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2015), heritage is defined as, â€Å"traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation† (â€Å"Heritage†). Heritage takes on mixed meanings for different people as a consequence of life experiences and belief systems. Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† utilizes characters with varying ideas of â€Å"heritage† to enlighten the world ofRead MoreCharacter Uses In Alice Walkers Everyday Use1095 Words   |  5 Pages The short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker begins with the narrator, Mama, and her daughter, Maggie, sitting in the yard that they both prepared and cleaned the day before. They were waiting for Dee, the oldest daughter, that is returning from college in Augusta after seven years of education. Maggie is going to be nervous for as long as Dee stays because of the scars and burns marks she got from the fire in their previous house. Maggie thinks that Dee has a much easier life than herRead MoreConflict of Characters in Alice Walkers Everyday Use722 Words   |  3 Pages In Alice Walkers Everyday Use† she creates a conflict between characters. Walker describes a family as they anxiously await the arrival of, Dee, the older sister of the family. When Dee (Wangero) comes home to visit Mrs. Johnson and Maggie, right away the readers see the differences in the family by how they talk, act, and dress. Dee has changed her name to an African name and is collecting the objects and materials of her past. 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Some readers opine that the narrator knows what it really feels like to have family. Others say that the narrator recognizes the importance of giving. However, both theseRead More Essay on Appearance vs Reality in Everyday Use and The Gilded Six-Bits1200 Words   |  5 PagesAppearance versus Reality in Alice Walkers and Zora Neale Hurstons Everyday Use and The Gilded Six-Bits  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Gilded Six-Bits it appears that Otis D. Slemmons, the towns newest arrival, is rich, but by closer inspection by Joe Banks and Missie May, is found to be poor.   In Everyday Use, Maggie doesnt appear to be smart enough to honor and appreciate her heritage, but she and not Dee/Wangero is really preserving the family traditions as well as heritage.   Both The Gilded Six-BitsRead MoreSame Theme, Different Development in of Virginia Woolf and Alice Walker’s The Legacy and Everyday Use690 Words   |  3 PagesAlice Walker’s The Legacy and Everyday Use, both of them have the common that is the theme of the story carries â€Å"the heritage† issue but the focus of it is different. In The Legacy, the focus of the heritage was a relic diary of Angela for her husband. Implicitly, we can conclude that the heritage was meant to be recognition of Angela to her husband. While the focus in Everyday Use, the focus of the heritage was the quilts, and in th e final story we could see the truth meaning of heritage it can

MagnaSoles A Falsely Advertised Product free essay sample

Ironically enough, a twisted ankle would normally take seven weeks to heal. Yet Helen confidently insists that it was the product that healed her ankle and not her body natural healing process. There is no clear evidence that is provided and The Onion further mocks this fact by previously mentioning how pseudosciences guaranteed Mismanages effectiveness. This displays how an uninformed and stubborn consumer will believe in ridiculous claims so long as it cannot be proved false.Throughout the usage, words such as pseudosciences and Trigonometry are purposely used in order to exaggerate the testimonials of the product. Words such as comforts, reflexology, and semi-plausible reflect upon how easy it is for companies to manipulate consumers. It goes to show that some people are often fooled into belief from intelligent-sounding words that share a resemblance to modern scientific words. Furthermore, within this passage, a man named Geoff Dangles, advocates Mismanages since they are clearly endorsed by an intelligent-looking man in a white lab coat. We will write a custom essay sample on MagnaSoles: A Falsely Advertised Product or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By using the phrase intelligent-looking man, the article pokes fun at consumers who willingly believe information they are told as long as it comes from people who look certified. Not only does the diction show this but the hyperbolic tone also reflects this message as well. The tone of the passage challenges the mind of the reader as it affects the emotion and thought processes of the audience. Many readers will feel confused and amused at how silly these ads are. But with claims such as how the healing power of crystals to re- template dead foot cells with vibration biofeedback. .. Process similar to that by which medicine makes people better it displays a strikingly similarity for ads that claim similar things. It is obvious that the claim is false as such a process is impossible and not supported. Through this and many other ridiculous sentiments the Onion does a wonderful job in convincing the reader of the dangers of falsely believing in peoples statements. Oftentimes people are inclined to submit to the authority of an advertiser and lack the drive to look into stated facts that lack clear evidence.This is a mistake on their part because most times, those people will be swindled of their money into buying worthless products. For example, a company that sells mystical healing pads, would claim that sticking them into certain places onto the body would make one healthier. This is how my father would fall for such a trick and pay 200$ to buy an unsupported product simply because he believed in the intelligent words that advertised it. One must never take things for granted because in society it is easy for deception to ruin a persons day.

Enhanced Oil Recovery free essay sample

Oil and Gas refers to the naturally occurring liquid and natural gas specifically made up of long chain hydrocarbons and various organic compounds found beneath the surface of the earth in entrapments called reservoirs; the presence of oil and gas in these reservoirs is the reason humans survive everyday and carry out their daily activities effectively. Different activities are usually carried out to ensure that the oil and gas present in the reservoirs continue to support humans through their day-to-day activities; such activities include exploration, development, production and finally, abandonment and reclamation. This process is what is referred to as â€Å"the oil and gas process†. On completion of this process, numerous efforts are made to increase the quantity of oil that can be extracted again from the oil well and we refer to these efforts as â€Å"recovery†. There are three main types of recovery, primary recovery (solution gas, gas cap and natural water drive) secondary recovery (gas injection and water flooding) and tertiary recovery (enhanced oil recovery EOR, polymer flooding and steam flooding). In this article, analysis on the â€Å"enhanced oil recovery† technology and trends will be emphasized upon. Enhanced oil recovery becomes very vital when oil production has to be increased to obtain a recovery percentage of at least 75% (Rigzone, 2009). This can only achieved by using any of the four basic methods of EOR; these methods include chemical flooding, miscible gas displacement, thermal recovery and microbial EOR. Among these four mentioned, â€Å"Thermal methods are the oldest EOR methods, they have been developed over the last thirty years† (Elsevier, 1981). Miscible gas displacement also called â€Å"gas injection† by some engineers refers to the process of injecting CO2, natural gas and Nitrogen into a reservoir; â€Å"in miscible gas displacement, the gas is injected at or above the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) which causes the gas to be miscible in oil† (Bandar, 2007). Chemical flooding also called â€Å"chemical injection† involves injecting chemicals such as a polymer directly into the reservoir to enhance the oil recovery. Thermal recovery introduces heat to the reservoir to reduce the viscosity of the oil. Many times, steam is applied to the reservoir, thinning the oil and enhancing its ability to flow (Rigzone, 2009). Over 50% of the tertiary recovery method employed by the United States of America is the thermal recovery method. The most common gas employed when â€Å"gas injection† is being used is the CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas. The two major reasons why carbon dioxide is used are because it is miscible with crude oil and also it is the cheapest of all the other miscible fluids present. Carbon dioxide injection into the reservoir based on previous experiences has shown that a recovery of up to 15% of the oil that was originally in the reservoir is achievable. With the injection of the carbon dioxide gas, changes occur in the reservoir such and temperature and pressure changes. Through the changes in temperature and pressure, carbon dioxide can form a solid, liquid, gas and supercritical fluid (Teledyne, 2007). Furthermore, when carbon dioxide has been injected into the reservoir, it begins to form a homogeneous mixture with the crude oil thus, the light hydrocarbons, which are present in the crude, mix with the carbon dioxide gas and this dissolves the oil. Upon miscibility of the carbon dioxide gas and the crude, the physical forces separating the liquid phase and the gaseous phase gives way and this helps the carbon dioxide gas move the oil from the rocks towards the wells for production. According to the USDOE, a very good example of an applied carbon dioxide gas injection technique is the  Wasson. Fields Denver Unit CO2 EOR project which has resulted  in  more than 120 million incremental barrels  of  oil through 2008 (2010). Moreover, carbon dioxide is not the only gas employed when the gas injection technique is employed. Nitrogen is another gas commonly used for gas injection basically to maintain the reservoir pressure; it can also be employed when gas cycling and gas lifting are to be employed. The minimum miscibility pressure of nitrogen depends largely on the pressure, temperate and the composition of the reservoir fluid. According to Schlumberger, â€Å"above the MMP, nitrogen injection is a miscible vaporizing drive. Miscibility of nitrogen can be achieved only with light oils that are at high pressures; therefore, the miscible method is suitable only in deep reservoirs† (2011). Both methods of miscible injection from past experiences have proved very effective. When oil has been effectively recovered from these reservoirs using the miscible gas, the gas that has mixed with the recovered oil is separated from the oil and re-injected into the reservoir to enhance the oil recovery once again. This process can be repeated until the reservoir is completely depleted and cannot produce any more oil. Note that nitrogen gas injection is used when dealing with reservoir containing light oils and also very economical allowing a recovery of up to 40%. A practical example of nitrogen gas injection is in the Cantarell oil field in Mexico. Upon application of this enhanced oil recovery methods, there was a noticeable increase in the oil production from 1. 9 million bpd to 2. 1 million bpd. Fig 1: Typical illustration of the miscible gas process using CO2 and water (University of Kansas, 1999) Chemical flooding can also be referred to as chemical injection and is the process whereby chemicals and polymers are injected into a reservoir to increase its â€Å"recovery factor†. EOR methods involving the use of polymers usually yield a recovery range of ~6% to ~30%. When these chemicals are injected into the reservoir, the oil that is trapped there is released thus it can flow freely into the production wells. Furthermore, â€Å"polymers help increase the effectiveness of water-floods and boost the efficiency of surfactants† (Duncan, Ferguson, Sudip and Neptune, 2011). The use of polymers in chemical injection further helps to enhance the competence of the surfactants and also the efficiency of the water flooding; to be precise, water soluble polymers are best used for this process. The polymer that is regularly utilised during the process is the partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and with development in technology, the quality has improved over time. In order to achieve the best results from the chemical injection process, there are certain characteristics that need to be in place. These characteristics include â€Å"high remaining oil saturation, low water-flood residual saturation, high permeability and porosity, high polymer concentration and slug size, fresh water and soft water and reservoir temperatures of less than 220F† (Gary, 2007). Favourable characteristics are not limited to these that have just been mentioned but if these characteristics are present, then the expected recovery from the reservoir in question would be satisfactory as up to ~30% recovery is achievable. Moreover, economics have shown that chemical flooding is not profitable when the price of the surfactants is compared with that of the price of oil; it usually cost a lot to obtain the surfactants needed to recover oil from reservoirs and in some cases, the chemicals which are injected into the reservoir are more expensive than the oil which they extract from that reservoir. Chemical flooding can prove to be very pricy and at the same time provide the engineers with the needed results. Thermal recovery is usually applied to reservoirs with depths lesser than 3000ft. These reservoirs usually contain very viscous oil. There are four main types of thermal flooding that can be applied to any reservoir; they include: Fig 3: The steam injection process (The Piping Guide, 2009) 1. Cyclic stem injection: Popularly known as the â€Å"huff and puff† technique, it differs from all other types of thermal flooding in that it uses a central well to carry out every function from the injection of steam to the extraction of oil. The technique is quite straightforward, steam is pumped into the well and the well is covered up for some time so that the steam can get to the reservoir rocks and upon arrival, the steam enhances the oil flow. To improve the oil flow further, this process can be repeated over again which leads to a new process called â€Å"steam drive†. 2. Steam drive: In this process, steam is re-injected into the reservoir constantly. Moreover, this process cannot be as effective as required if the reservoir rocks have fractures. If there were fractures, â€Å"the steam would simply head straight through those into the producing wells instead of working its way through the reservoir rock† (Anon. , 2008). After the steam is injected, underlying heat is formed and this eventually aids the oil to flow with ease. 3. Thermally assisted gas-oil gravity drainage: this process is best suited for highly fractured reservoirs. In this process, the steam is injected directly into these fractures to reduce the viscosity of the oil and allow it flow easily. According to the petroleum development Oman, the steam â€Å"just needs to get the oil flowing more easily. This then allows gravity to take effect, causing the oil to drain down into the fractures and then into horizontal producing wells that are situated towards the bottom of the reservoir† (2008). 4. In-situ combustion: In this process, a reasonable quantity of the oil in the reservoir is actually set on fire to act as a steam and gas generator. According to the petroleum development Oman â€Å"it’s the trickiest of the four main thermal EOR methods to get right. It is generally only used in a reservoir that has high permeability (i. e. fluids can flow easily through the reservoir rock) and even then only as a last resort† (2008). Some of the oil might be lost during burning but more can be recovered as a result of the steam that has been generated that drives the oil towards the producing well. MICROBIAL ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (MEOR) Microbial enhanced oil recovery also known as microbial flooding refers to the process whereby microorganisms are injected into the reservoir to increase oil production from a well. The process of MEOR is a biological based technology in which these microorganisms react with the reservoir fluids in order to mobilize the oil and move it towards the production wells. Usually, MEOR is used in the third stage of EOR after 12% to 20% of the oil in the well has already been recovered. The characteristics of the reservoir in which the MEOR process is being applied will greatly have an effect on its success. There are two types of MEOR, â€Å"those in which the microorganisms react with reservoir fluids to generate surfactants and those that react with microorganisms to generate polymers† (Ronald, 2001). MEOR is an economical way of increasing oil production and as genetic technology keeps improving, it would become the most attractive and cheapest method of enhanced oil recovery as the improvement lowers the cost of oil production. Conclusively, certain strains of bacteria that exist and are used for the MEOR method sometimes do not survive due to the harsh conditions they encounter in the reservoirs but as mentioned earlier, microbiologists are working on a different strain of bacteria that can survive in the reservoirs irrespective of these harsh conditions. Enhanced oil recovery has an outstanding economic potential to increase oil recovery thereby maximizing profit. EOR also has it disadvantages that have negative effects on the ecosystem. Steam injection causes serious air pollution and also, polymer flooding which falls under chemical injection also leads to contamination of underground water which eventually makes it unfit for consumption. Furthermore, during the EOR process, a substance called â€Å"brine† is produced at the surface of the well; this substance is highly toxic and also radioactive. On exposure to humans, it can be very dangerous and highly detrimental. In my opinion, more research on how the chemical injection process can be carried out without affecting the underground water supply and also how the thermal process of steam injection can be done safely without a threat to the atmosphere. Regulations put in place to control the environmental impacts of EOR should be as strict as possible so that eventually, the eco-system is preserved and oil and gas companies can still maximize profit.