Trying something a little different. My cousin recommended this site as something new to play around with, and I, with full knowledge of the excess of free time that I have, decided to give it a shot. So here’s my first shot at the oh-so-hipster playlist creation.
The United States, over the past terms of the Obama administration, has been lacking a solid, strong foreign policy. The intent of my paper is to evaluate the existing policies and discover if they sum up in a coherent grand strategy.
This is a tribute to the Leonard Cohen classic that soars. Brandi Carlile’s voice carries the soul of the song effortlessly, swooping from warm and smoky to clear and bright. Currently one of my favourite songs, and easily one of the better covers of this song I’ve ever heard.
My American Foreign Policy term paper. Here’s the Intro:
On May 14th, 1948 at 6:11 in the afternoon EST, the White House released a short statement recognizing the de facto authority of the provisional government of the brand new State of Israel, which had only come into existence eleven minutes prior halfway around the world[1]. That world into which the new nation had thrust itself instantly exploded around it, as a day later the Arab nations surrounding it attacked. This was wholly expected. The swift acknowledgement and legitimization granted to Israel by the United States, however, was not. Even as Warren Austin, the chief American representative to the United Nations, delivered an address supporting UN trusteeship of the “Palestine Problem” instead of a partitioning of states, he was interrupted midway through[2]. Subsequently, he announced that his own government had in fact just recognized Israel, the state whose existence he had been refuting minutes earlier. He packed his bags and resigned his office on that same day[3]. His President, Harry Truman, had both alienated and humiliated the State Department by making the decision to recognize Israel “without even notifying the men who were in charge of executing America’s foreign policy,”[4] yet again, illustrating some of the complexities of Truman’s administration. Truman’s decision can be explained through all three policy-making models – Organizational Process Model, Rational Actor Model, and Bureaucratic Politics Model – but a combination of the three lenses is essential to showing the clearest explanation to why he ultimately chose to support Israel.
“The beginning is the most important part of work.” – Plato
To be fair, even if this weren’t something Plato actually said (but take a moment to imagine Plato as a teacher, swathed in robes and a stern grey expression, reprimanding Aristotle for procrastinating) it still rings true. Procrastination has lingered just as much as the classics have endured.
If I wrote a list of how many things I haven’t started on time and had to rush to finish, I’d be writing that list as long as it kept me from my actual work.
However, it’s my first class year. Somehow I’ve figured it out. I’d rather not make a declaration to the tune of “Beginning now, I shall vow to fight procrastination,” since I don’t yet trust myself to keep it. Easier goals then, are in order.If E-Portfolio is meant to expand beyond the boundaries of an education portfolio, then I’ll include a blog with my personal interests, scribbles, and thoughts.
That sounds like a much more attainable beginning to me.
