Us Foreign Policy With Respect To Iraq Essay Example for Free

Us Foreign Policy With Respect To Iraq Essay During the immediate post 911 period, President George W. Bush spent ample time addressing the United States and the world on the need to pursue and install democracy in Middle East as a long term strategy to winning the war against terror. This came in the wake of the events of the September 11th terror attack that left America shaken to its core. Such address by President Bush clearly defines in a summary the contemporary US foreign policy on Iraq. This paper will inadvertently analyze the foreign policy of the United States on Iraq. It will look at the motivation behind such policy, its achievement and the criticism that such a policy has attracted. Iraq has been a core subject in the United States foreign policy of long to an extent that it has been instrumental in shaping domestic and global politics. The nature of the United States foreign policy on Iraq is a reflection of the relationship that these two nations and the kind of the interaction that there leaders have been having. A look at the past decades of this relationship reveals that it has been full of conflicts and hostility, with the United States being the dominant player and Iraq, despite its immense resources, being on the receiving end although in defiance. The events that have shaped this modern foreign policy began taking shape in the 1980s. In the 1980s, Iraq was under the tutelage of the United States, benefiting from immense economic aid and also non-direct military support. By the time of the Iran-Iraq war, the United States did not issue sanctions despite Iraq’s bombing of the Kurds; instead it resulted to appeasing the then Iraq leader Saddam Hussein and intervening on his behalf. This relationship soured in the early 1990s after Iraq forces invaded and began an occupation in Kuwait citing unpaid up debts and oil feud. With the takeover highly condemned by the United Nations, the United States moved in with speed by sending its troops to the region signifying the commence of the Operation Desert Storm aimed at dislodging Iraq from Kuwait. Allied forces led by the United States liberated Kuwait and enforced a United Security Council resolution to dismantle all the held weapons of mass destruction by Iraq through an operation by the United Nations Monitors. The United States in a bid to extend its presence and occupation erected what came to be known as the â€Å"no-fly zones† heavily putting a stiff restriction on Iraq’s sense of sovereignty. This would indicate the start of a conflict that has by far come to shape today’s United States foreign policy in Iraq and by extension in the Middle East (Chollet, D. and James G. , 2008, 33). The United States since the end of the Operation Desert Storm has maintained its presence unleashing a series of air strikes towards Iraq. As a formal protest towards this transgression, Iraq began restricting the presence of the United Nations weapons inspectors terming them as a part of a larger espionage effort by the United States. Air strikes to this region have become a common event since 1993 by both the British and the United States forces. In a policy that has been sanctioned and appropriately defended by the successive American regimes, the United States has taken over the air space and heavily patrolled Iraq’s naval bases during Saddam’s regime to restrict any movements or any aggression towards Iraq’s neighbors. The United States took an active role in enforcing the sanctions as placed by the Security Council of which it is a key member possessing veto powers. Such sanctions were put in the hope that the hardships experienced would have a resultant effect of producing negative sentiments against Saddam’s rule. They were counter productive though as they strengthened Saddam’s resolve towards his stand in Iraq. One of the negative sides to the US supported sanction was that they only affected the citizens but not the ruling elite, while producing a generation that was anti-United States (Glenn P. ,2003, 58). The focus of the United State foreign policy as can be obviously discerned has been influenced by two things; terrorism and the first Gulf war. It is important to note that those that have largely supported the United States policy on Iraq have seen it as a necessary measure to â€Å"free up the Middle East military for further actions against Al Qaeda, to liberate the Iraqis people from their danger and establish, â€Å"a bunch bed of Arab democracy† (Richard A and Howard F. , 2004, 69). Such arguments have been widely criticized and indeed the United States foreign policy in Iraq has continued to draw mixed controversies with those in support of it being seen as pro war. There are those that see the United States policy as motivated by self interests and oil needs believing that if successful, such a foreign policy â€Å"would prompt US and multinational petroleum giants to rush into Iraq, dramatically increasing the out put of a nation whose oil reserves are second only to that of Saudi Arabia â€Å". (Nafeez M. , 2003, 234). Such sentiments have become prevalent in view of the raging debate over a foreign policy that has led the United States to be on a war path with the rest of the world. Most people in the world did not see the essence of the United States invasion. Polls taken prior to the commencement of the war had indicated that they did not favor the invasion which they did not see as justified. This would explain why the international community, the likes Russia, China and France failed to support the war, at the backdrop of the growing negative sentiment at home. The United States and the United Kingdom were alone in this war (Robert J. P. , 2005, 23). It is important though in the same light to analyze Presidents Bush’s fears over the possibility of Iraq harboring terrorists and the presence of weapons of mass destruction. As aforementioned, terrorism and the Gulf War of the early 1990 have had a significant impact on the structure of the current foreign policy towards Iraq. The United States during the Iran/Iraq was as history holds it, playing a crucial role in arming Iraq and probably turned a blind eye as Saddam Hussein stockpiled dangerous arsenals in readiness for an aggression with Iran. By then, the relations between the US and Iraq were what can be described as cordial with the United states hoping to use Iraq to contain the extremities characterizing Iran. Through this appeasement, Saddam Hussein was becoming dictatorial figure with little concern from the United States. The Kuwait invasion changed all this. With the search for weapons of mass destruction being in the fore several years after the Gulf War, President George W. Bush saw a perfect opportunity to invade Iraq citing the former’s reluctance to allow the search by the United Nations weapons inspectors. Since then, reference to the WMDs became an important tool in the formulation of foreign policy and in drumming up support for the war at home. The reluctance of the United Nations to sanction a strike against Iraq prompted the United States to near unilaterally take the matter into its own hands and wage war against Iraq. Capturing and hanging Saddam Hussein tragically ending decades’ long rule. The demise of Saddam and the fall of his regime would bring another key phase to the United States foreign policy, centering on how to contain the warning factors and maintain peace (Thomas E. Ricks, 2006, 54). Whether the terrorist attack by al Qaeda on September 11th prompted the renewed vigor in the foreign policy or it was a mere excuse to end Saddam’s rule is not clear. What is clear is that, the events of 911 prompted a radical shift in the policy of United States towards Iraq (Thomas G. et al, 2003, 86). The United States has been for long grappling with terrorism and maintains a huge list of suspected terrorist organization as well as nations that have links with such terrorist groups, either those that provide them with financial support or operation bases. The al Qaeda tops this list followed by other terrorist organizations from the Middle East. Indeed the nature of us foreign policy towards Middle East is structured in a way that insinuates that it regards the Middle East as the hot bed of terrorism. A visibly angry President Bush in the wake of the terror attacks warned that â€Å"states that harbor terrorists would be subject to military action† further warning the rogue states that in his Bush Doctrine, â€Å"either you are with us or you are with the terrorists† (Harvey W. , 2003,401). This was the vague link that was being used by Bush’s administration in the bid to garner domestic support for a war that proved afterwards to be grossly unpopular. Indeed, a huge portion of the Americas current foreign policy towards Iraq was influenced by this attack. President Bush exhibited an unrestrained impulse to install a new regime in Iraq and hence the excuse of the terror attack was a prefect opportunity. Bush’s administration had gained a lot of support both domestic and international in the war against terror especially directed towards al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan war commenced immediately after the 911 strike and was unanimously sanctioned by the congress. This was done in the belief that al Qaeda had formed a base in the mountainous region of Afghanistan. By extension, President George W. Bush believed that the existence of an unfriendly regime in Iraq would exacerbate the war against terror. The initial claims by the Bush administration that Saddam was harboring and aiding terrorists could not hold water. The reasons for the attack are still unclear, as Stefan H and Jonathan C (2005, 155) notes â€Å"weapons of mass destruction links with al-Qaeda, human rights abuses covered a wide and ever changing kaleidoscope†. This is because the claims on the presence of weapons of mass destruction â€Å"have been largely discredited and is retrospectively seen as a politically convenient pretext† (155) Indeed the general feeling is that the main reason for this war revolved around oil. It is worth noting that the United States foreign policy took a new turn after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. The United State had commenced a war without the proper authorization and sanctioning by the United States. With Saddam gone, the war had to be legitimized by installing a democratically elected government. Iraq conducted elections towards the beginning of 2005 under the watch of the United States military. Many argue however that such elections were used to disguise the huge discontent characterizing the Iraqis population with the hope of showing how united they were. History is rife with such examples where elections have been used to show national unity in the face of a brewing conflict underneath. With the rubberstamp of the United Nations, through the passage of resolution to oversee the elections, the United States had set the terms and conditions of the elections and was keen eyed to ensure that its candidate of choice emerged the winner. The Transitional Administrative Law which is playing a huge role in the governing process of the Iraq’s government, has given the United States a clear mandate, though defacto, to control Iraq. The post Iraq policy has been facing a number of challenges which mostly have been centering on the waging ethnicity in Iraq. Anna Mulrine (2008) identifies four challenges that are being encountered in the post war policy towards Iraq. The first one is the local militias. The United States has commenced a program that seeks to integrate the local militias into the police force to take advantage of their basic training and loyalty to the government especially the Sunni citizens. This fact however is exacerbated by the fact that these militias owe divided loyalty to both the government and to the insurgents. The rebuilding of Iraq is also hampered by the reduction of US forces in Iraq. There are plans to slash the number of US Army in Iraq due to the domestic opposition to surge at home. This creates a problem because the general feeling is that the Iraq police are too biased to be left to implement the reconstruction policies alone (Condoleeza R. , 2008, 52). The success of the United States foreign policy towards Iraq has not been largely seen by many especially in the knowledge that the war in Iraq had been largely criticized. Any success garnered so far is overshadowed by the intense criticism and the news of the numerous deaths and attacks suffered by the United States soldiers in a foreign land (Robert J. P. , 2005, 67). Most protagonists of war identify the toppling of Saddam and his consequent hanging as a major step towards democratization. In the words of President Bush, his toppling was a signal to all dictators that their numbers are numbered. The aim of the war was to make the world a safer place and secure American interests. This however is yet to be achieved as the war against terrorism is far from won. The recent elections and the setting up of a government however may be seen as a success to such policies but the war is yet to be over considering the huge insecurity charactering major towns in Iraq. United States soldiers are being killed daily and cases of suicide attacks are common, an indication that this war is far from over (Allawi, Ali, 2007, 46). The United States foreign policy has been largely criticized both domestically and internationally. Most of these criticism centers on the military intervention and the justification behind such intervention. Bush administration had misrepresented information on the urgency of the war due to the presence of weapons of mass destruction. This proved to be exercise in futility as the weapons were never found. The United States decided to take unilateral steps despite there being no evidence to indicate that indeed Iraq possessed WMDs. The links to terrorist could also not be established indicating that the evidence was largely manipulated. The fact that the US invaded Iraq without a proper mandate from the United Nations has also drawn criticism as it was in violation of the resolution 678 which was passed at the height of the Gulf War. Bush’s immense criticism was emanating from the public which led to the decline of the governments approval ratings to below thirty percent making president Bush the most unpopular president to be in office. International criticism centers on the unilateralism of America and also using democracy and terrorism as a disguise to the pursuits to secure oil resources in Iraq. It is apparent that the United States and Iraq have not been enjoying the best of relations in the past years. To Americans since the gulf war in the early 1990s, Iraq was the biggest threat to the world’s security as long as Saddam Hussein was on the driving seat. The United States foreign policy had been structured to reflect this. It is this suspicion that would lead the Bush administration to invade Iraq, topple and hang the despotic leader in the bid to install a democratic government in one of the most defiant nation in the Middle East. President Bush used lies and manipulation of evidence to initiate a war that has lead to the down fall of his presidency. The United States effort to install a democratic government and curb insecurity is yet to materialize as it is facing a myriad of challenges in addition to the growing criticism back at home. Crucial concern now to the United States foreign policy on Iraq is how to maintain peace and stability in a volatile country so as to implement the set program towards reconstruction. Bibliography Richard A. Falk, Howard Friel, 2004. The Record of the Paper: The New York Times on US Foreign Policy and International Law, 1954-2004. Verso. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, 2003. Behind the War on Terror: Western Secret Strategy and the Struggle for Iraq. CLAIRVIEW BOOKS. Harvey W. Kushner, 2003. Encyclopedia of Terrorism. SAGE. Anna Mulrine, September 16, 2008. Four Challenges Petraeus Leaves Behind for His Successor in Iraq. News World Report. Retrieved on 0ctober 15, 2008 from http://www. usnews. com/articles/news/iraq/2008/09/16/four-challenges-petraeus-leaves-behind-for-his-successor-in-iraq. html? PageNr=2 Stefan Halper, Jonathan Clarke, 2005. America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order. Cambridge University Press. Robert J. Pauly, 2005. US Foreign Policy and the Persian Gulf: Safeguarding American Interests Through Selective Multilateralism. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Robert J. Pauly, Tom Lansford, 2005. Strategic Preemption: U. S. Foreign Policy and the Second Iraq War. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Thomas George Weiss, Margaret E. Crahan, John Goering, 2004. Wars on Terrorism and Iraq: Human Rights, Unilateralism, and U. S. Foreign Policy. Routledge Thomas E. Ricks, 2006. Fiasco, The American Military Adventure In Iraq. Penguin. Chollet, Derek and James Goldgeier, 2008. America Between the Wars. Public Affairs, Perseus Books Group Allawi, A. , 2007. The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Thirty Years From Now :: essays research papers

As I sit here, I wonder what I will become; all I see is pure success like no one has ever seen. My life is full of great and achievable goals that can fulfil my life with happiness. I see myself see myself thirty years from now becoming the most successful person the world has seen. I will have graduated high school and college with 4.0 GPA, majoring in aeronautical engineering while being in the national honors society. I will have made my college possible because of baseball. In doing all of these awesome achievements, I’ll be the best baseball player that has ever played being drafted number one by the Yankees in my freshman year of college. I will have starred at shortstop under Coach Joe Torre. Driving in a record 80 home runs shattering Mark Mcgwires’ record. Later, I will set the record for most golden gloves ever achieved by a major league baseball player. During my career in baseball I will meet a beautiful woman that just became a professional model signing with Nautica. After being married for a few years we will have two kids; while, concluding my career in New York and moving to California. Later I will pursue my career in politics. First running for U.S. senate and representing the Democratic party. After seeing that my life would be fulfilled much better if I could change the world in a more drastic way I will run for president. After all of the harsh campaigning I will when the race and proudly represent our country. When I am educated into the office I will begin with my inauguration address and captivating the country I will leave to get to my new home â€Å"The White House.† I will become the most effective president the county has ever seen. Starting with my most important policy â€Å"Education.† I plan to stress helping out the middle class family with taxes, health insurance, and Medicare. In doing this I plan on looking out for the senior citizens with good retirement funds. I will also encourage peace with the world and strengthening our military. Once I have completed my first term as president I will be elected once again and have an even str onger effect on our country. After resigning and touching the country with my great and inspiring State of the Union address I will pursue my career in aeronautical engineering.

Organisation’s present and future information technology capability Essay

Conduct a detailed investigation of the organisation’s present and future information technology requirements insofar as they will impact on document production processes. Write a report in which you set out details of your findings. Include details of any information which you were not able to access but which would have assisted you to evaluate the organisation’s present and future information technology capability. Overview The organization that I’m currently based at comprises of two separate cafes. There is a main site (site 1) where most of the production is produced and then delivered to the second smaller site (site 2). The main site is where the majority of the paperwork is done and the majority of work is also done from there. Site 1 comprises of a desktop PC which is networked to a Point of Sale system at both sites and a printer. There are also email capabilities from the PC. Site 2 consists of only a Point of Sale system and they receive all documentation from Site 1. The only form of communication available is through the telephone. There is a major emphasis with both sites on compliance control such as temperature monitoring, pest recording, maintenance recording, product and menu signage, and cleaning records. Information Technology Requirements There could be a number of changes that would improve the communication between the two sites and the running of Site 2. A PC and a printer installed at Site 2 would enhance the efficiency of accessing documents required to fulfill compliance requirements. The addition of email access would also enhance the communication between sites and quick sharing of documents and menu updates. Email would also speed up the process of emailing documents such as maintenance requests, OFI requests, and other related material and provide a resource management system for ordering of paper, ink cartridges, etc. The daily counting of the till could also be instantly processed. Document Standards There is a good process in place for the standardization of documents but there is room for improvement. Document standards for menu design and  specials boards need to be implemented as there is inconsistency in layout, font type, font size, and punctuation. A standard template for all documents need to be designed with protected areas to ensure consistency and control. A form should also be developed to provide the staff with the opportunity to request alterations. Security measures need to be in place to ensure employees do not use standard documents for non-work related purposes and that privacy legislation is being enforced. There should also be schedualled automatic backups of documents to minimise staff disruption and prevent data loss.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 13

The Demon Gate. Elena glanced over her shoulder at the backseat of the Prius. Bonnie was blinking sleepily. Meredith, who'd gotten much less sleep but heard much more alarming news, was looking like a razor blade: keen, sharp as ice, and ready. There was nothing else to see except Damon with his paper bags on the seat beside him, driving the Prius. Out the windows, where an arid Arizona dawn should be blinding its way across the horizon, was nothing but fog. It was frightening and disorienting. They had taken a small road off Highway 179 and, gradually, the fog had crept in, sending tendrils of mist around the car, and finally engulfing it whole. It seemed to Elena that they were being deliberately cut off from the old ordinary world of McDonald's and Target, and were crossing a border into a place they weren't meant to know about, much less go. There was no traffic in the other direction. None at all. And as hard as Elena peered out of her window, it was like trying to look through fast-moving clouds. â€Å"Aren't we going too fast?† Bonnie asked, rubbing her eyes. â€Å"No,† Damon said. â€Å"It would be – a remarkable coincidence – if anyone else were on the same route at the same time we are.† â€Å"It looks a lot like Arizona,† she said, disappointed. â€Å"It may be Arizona, for all I know,† Damon replied. â€Å"But we haven't crossed the Gate yet. And this isn't anywhere in Arizona you could just accidentally walk into. The path always has its little tricks and traps. The problem is that you never know what you'll be facing. â€Å"Now listen,† he added, looking at Elena with an expression she had gotten to know. It meant: I'm not joking around; I'm talking to you as an equal; I'm serious. â€Å"You've gotten very good at showing only a human-sized aura,† Damon said. â€Å"But that means that if you can learn one more thing before we go in, you can actually use your aura, make it do you some good when you want it to, instead of just hiding it until it pops up out of control and lifts three-thousand-pound cars.† â€Å"Like what kind of good?† â€Å"Like what I'm going to show you. First of all just relax and let me control it. Then, little by little, I'll slacken the controls and you'll take them up. By the end, you should be able to send your Powers to your eyes – and see much better; to your ears – and hear much better; to your limbs – and move much more quickly and precisely. All right?† â€Å"You couldn't have taught me this before we started on this little excursion?† He smiled at her, a wild, reckless smile that made her smile, too, even if she didn't know what it was about. â€Å"Until you showed how well you could control your aura throughout the path – the way here – I didn't think you were ready,† he said bluntly. â€Å"Now I do. There are things in your mind just waiting to be unlocked. You'll understand when we unlock them.† And we unlock them – with what? A kiss? Elena thought suspiciously. â€Å"No. No. And that's the other reason you've got to learn this. Your telepathy is getting out of hand. If you don't learn how to keep from projecting your thoughts, you'll never make it past the checkpoint at the Gate as a human.† Checkpoint. That sounded ominous. Elena nodded and said, â€Å"All right; what do we do?† â€Å"What we did before. Like I said, relax. Try to trust me.† He put his right hand just to the left of her breastbone, not touching the cloth of her deep gold top. Elena could feel herself flushing, and she wondered what Bonnie and Meredith must think of this if they were watching. And then Elena felt something else. It wasn't cold; it wasn't heat, but it was something like the furthest extremities of both of them. It was pure Power. It would have knocked her over if Damon hadn't been holding her by the arm with his other hand. She thought, he's using his own Power to prime mine, to do something – – something that hurt – No! Elena tried, vocally and telepathically, to tell Damon that the Power was too much, that it hurt. But Damon ignored her pleas even as he ignored the tears that spilled onto her cheeks. His Power was leading hers now, painfully, throughout her body. It was in her bloodstream, dragging her own Power behind it like a comet's tail. It was forcing her to take the Power to different parts of her body and let it build and build there, not letting her exhale it, not letting her move it on. I'm going to burst – All this time her eyes had been fixed on Damon's, broadcasting her feelings to him: from indignant anger to shock to agonized pain – and now†¦to†¦ Her mind exploded. The rest of her Power went on circling, without causing any pain. Each new breath she drew added more Power to it, but it simply circulated through her bloodstream, not increasing her aura, but increasing the Power that was inside her. After two or three more quick breaths she realized that she was doing it effortlessly. Now Elena's Power wasn't simply sliding around smoothly inside her, looking from the outside like any other human's. It was also filling several burst swollen nodes inside her and where it did that, it changed things. She realized that she was looking at Damon with round eyes. He might have told her about how this would feel, rather than letting her go into it blind. You really are a total bastard, aren't you? Elena thought, and, amazingly, she could feel Damon receive the thought, and could feel his automatic response, which was pleased agreement, rather than otherwise. Then Elena forgot about him in the dawning of a new understanding. She was realizing that she could keep circulating her Power inside her, and even build it higher and higher, getting ready for a truly explosive burst, and show nothing of what it was doing on the surface. And as for the nodes†¦ Elena looked around her at what a few minutes ago had been barren wilderness. It was like taking bullets of light through both her eyes. She was dazzled; she was enthralled. Colors seemed to come to life in a painful glory. She felt that she could see much farther than she ever had, on and on into the desert, and at the same time, she could distinguish Damon's pupils from his irises. Why, they're both black, but different shades of black, she thought. Of course, they go together – Damon would never have irises that didn't complement his pupils. But the irises are more velvety, where his pupils are more silky and shiny. And yet it's a velvet that can hold light inside it – almost like the night sky with stars – like those kitsune star balls that Meredith told me about. Right now those pupils were wide and set unyieldingly on her face, as if Damon didn't want to miss a moment of her reaction. Suddenly, the corner of his lip quirked in a faint smile. â€Å"You did it. You learned to channel your Power to your eyes.† He spoke in a bare whisper that she could never have detected before. â€Å"And to my ears,† she whispered back, listening to the amazing symphony of tiny sounds around her. High in the air, a bat squeaked on a frequency too high for any ordinary human ear to notice. As for the fall of grains of sand around her, they formed something like a tiny concerto as they struck rock and bounced with a tiny ping before falling to the ground below. This is amazing, she told Damon, hearing the smugness in her own telepathic voice. And I can talk to you this way any time now? She would have to watch out for that – telepathy threatened to reveal more than she might want to send to a recipient. It's best to be careful, Damon agreed, confirming her suspicions. She'd sent more than she'd meant to. But Damon – can Bonnie do this, too? Should I try to show her? â€Å"Who knows?† Damon replied aloud, making Elena wince. â€Å"Teaching humans how to use Power isn't exactly my forte.† And what about my different Wings Powers? Will I be able to control them, now? â€Å"About those I have absolutely no idea. I've never seen anything like them.† Damon looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head. â€Å"I think you'd need someone with more experience than I have to learn to control those.† Before Elena could say anything else, he added, â€Å"We'd better get back to the others. We're almost at the Gate.† â€Å"And I suppose I shouldn't be using telepathy then.† â€Å"Well, it is a rather obvious giveaway – â€Å" â€Å"But you'll teach me later, won't you? As much as you know about controlling Power?† â€Å"Maybe your boyfriend should be doing that,† Damon said almost roughly. He's afraid, Elena thought, trying to keep her thoughts hidden under a wall of white noise so that Damon wouldn't pick them up. He's just as afraid that he'll reveal too much to me as I am afraid of him.

Richard Surname Meaning and Family History

Richard Surname Meaning and Family History Derived from the given name Richard and meaning powerful or brave, the Richard surname is Germanic in origin, composed of the elements ric, meaning power and hard, meaning hardy or brave.   Richard is the 6th most common last name in France. Surname Origin: French Alternate Surname Spellings: RICHERD, RICKARD, RICARD, RICKARD, RICHARDS, RITCHARD, RICHARDSON, RICHARDSSON, RICQUART, RIJKAARD, RICKAERT, RYCKEWAERT Famous People with the Surname RICHARD Maurice  Richard -  Canadian ice hockey star; first NHL player to reach 50 goals in a seasonCliff Richard  - British film actor and singer; dubbed the British Elvis PresleyAchille Richard - French botanist and physicianÉdouard Richard   - Canadian historian and politicianÉtienne Richard  - French composer and harpsichordistFleury Franà §ois Richard   - French painterJules Richard  - French mathematician who stated Richards paradoxPaul Richard - Mayor of New York, 1735–1739 Where is the RICHARDSurname Most Common? According to surname distribution from  Forebears, the Richard surname today is interestingly found in the greatest numbers in Tanzania, where more than 90,000 people bear the surname. It is also extremely common in France, ranking as the 9th most common last name in the country, and Canada, where it ranks 58th. Richard is the 511th most common surname in the United States. Surname maps from  WorldNames PublicProfiler  indicate the Richard surname is by far the most common in areas with at least a partial French-speaking population, including New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in Canada, Louisiana in the United States, and the regions of Pays-de-la-Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine  (formerly Poitou-Charentes), Lorraine, Bourgogne-Franche-Comtà © (formerly Franche-Comtà ©), Centre, Bretagne and Champagne-Ardenne in France.   Genealogy Resources for the Surname RICHARD French Surname Meanings and OriginsDoes your last name have origins in France? Learn about the various origins of French surnames and explore the meanings of some of the most common French last names. How to Research French AncestryLearn about the various types of genealogical records available for researching ancestors in France and how to access them, plus how to locate where in France your ancestors originated. Richard  Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Richard  family crest or coat of arms for the Richard surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. RICHARD  Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Richard  surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Richard query. FamilySearch - RICHARD  GenealogyExplore over 12 million  results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Richard surname and variations on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. DistantCousin.com - RICHARD  Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Richard. GeneaNet - Richard  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Richard surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Richard Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Richard surname from the website of Genealogy Today. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back toGlossary of Surname Meanings Origins

The Hun-Driven Barbarian Invaders of the Roman Empire

The Hun-Driven Barbarian Invaders of the Roman Empire The Mongol Great Khan Genghis ancient precursor, Attila,  was the devastating fifth-century Hun warrior  who terrified all in his path, before dying suddenly, under mysterious circumstances, on his wedding night, in 453. We know only limited, specific details about his people, the Huns- armed, mounted archers, illiterate, nomadic Steppe people from Central Asia, perhaps of Turkic rather than Mongolian origin and responsible for the collapse of Asian empires. We do know, however, that their actions induced waves of migrations into Roman territory. Later, the recent immigrants, including Huns, fought on the Roman side against other movements of people considered- by the proud Romans- barbarian invaders. [T]he status quo of the period was disturbed not only by their direct action but even more by their being instrumental in setting into motion the great upheaval of peoples commonly known as the Và ¶lkerwanderung.~ The Hun Period, by Denis Sinor; The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia 1990 The Huns, who appeared on the borders of eastern Europe, after A.D. 350, continued to migrate in a generally westward direction, pushing the peoples they encountered further west into the path of Roman citizens. Some of these, mainly Germanic, tribes eventually set out from Europe into northern Roman-controlled Africa. The Goths and Huns Agriculturist Goths from the lower Vistula (the longest river in modern Poland) began attacking areas of the Roman Empire in the third century, attacking along the Black Sea and Aegean regions, including northern Greece. The Romans settled them in Dacia where they stayed until the Huns pushed them. Tribes of Goths, the Tervingi (at the time, under Athanaric) and Greuthungi, asked for help in 376 and settled. Then they moved further into Roman territory, attacked Greece, defeated Valens at the Battle of Adrianople, in 378. In 382 a treaty with them put them inland in Thrace and Dacia, but the treaty ended with the death of Theodosius (395). Emperor Arcadius offered them territory in 397 and may have extended a military post to Alaric. Soon they were on the move again, into the western empire. After they sacked Rome in 410, they moved over the Alps into Southwest Gaul and became foederati in Aquitaine. The sixth-century historian Jordanes relates an early connection between the Huns and Goths, a story that Gothic witches producing the Huns: XXIV (121) But after a short space of time, as Orosius relates, the race of the Huns, fiercer than ferocity itself, flamed forth against the Goths. We learn from old traditions that their origin was as follows: Filimer, king of the Goths, son of Gadaric the Great, who was the fifth in succession to hold the rule of the Getae after their departure from the island of Scandza,and who, as we have said, entered the land of Scythia with his tribe,found among his people certain witches, whom he called in his native tongue Haliurunnae. Suspecting these women, he expelled them from the midst of his race and compelled them to wander in solitary exile afar from his army. (122) There the unclean spirits, who beheld them as they wandered through the wilderness, bestowed their embraces upon them and begat this savage race, which dwelt at first in the swamps,a stunted, foul and puny tribe, scarcely human, and having no language save one which bore but slight resemblance to human speech. Such was th e descent of the Huns who came to the country of the Goths.Jordanes The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, translated by Charles C. Mierow Vandals, Alans, and Sueves Alans were Sarmatian pastoral nomads; the Vandals and Sueves (Suevi or Suebes), Germanic. They were allies from around 400. Huns attacked the Vandals in the 370s. The Vandals and company crossed the icy Rhine at Mainz into Gaul, on the last night of 406, reaching an area that the Roman government had largely abandoned. Later, they pushed on across the Pyrenees into Spain where they drove out Roman landowners in the south and west. The allies divided the territory, supposedly by lot, initially so that Baetica (including Cadiz and Cordoba) went to a branch of the Vandals known as Siling; Lusitania and Cathaginiensis, to the Alans; Gallaecia, to the Suevi and Adsing Vandals. In 429 they crossed the Straits of Gibraltar into northern Africa where they took St. Augustines city of Hippo and Carthage, which they established as their capital. By 477 they also had the Balearic Islands, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. The Burgundians and Franks The Burgundians were another Germanic group probably living along the Vistula and part of the group whom the Huns drove across the Rhine at the end of 406. In 436, at Worms, they almost came to an end, at Roman and Hunnish hands, but some survived. Under the Roman general Aetius, they became Roman hospites, in Savoy, in 443. Their descendants still live in the Rhà ´ne Valley. These Germanic people lived along the lower and middle Rhine by the third century. They made forays into Roman territory in Gaul and Spain, without the incentive of the Huns, but later, when the Huns invaded Gaul in 451, they joined forces with the Romans to repel the invaders. The famous Merovingian king Clovis was a Frank. Sources Ancient Rome - William E. Dunstan 2010.The Early Germans, by Malcolm Todd; John Wiley Sons, Feb 4, 2009Wood, I. N. The barbarian invasions and first settlements. Cambridge Ancient History: The Late Empire, A.D. 337-425. Eds. Averil Cameron and Peter Garnsey. Cambridge University Press, 1998.Huns, Vandals, by Matthew Bennett. The Oxford Companion to Military History, Edited by Richard Holmes; Oxford University Press: 2001The Huns and the End of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, by Peter Heather; The English Historical Review, Vol. 110, No. 435 (Feb. 1995), pp. 4-41.On Foederati, Hospitalitas, and the Settlement of the Goths in A.D. 418, by Hagith Sivan: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 108, No. 4 (Winter, 1987), pp. 759-772The Settlement of the Barbarians in Southern Gaul, by E. A. Thompson; The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 46, Parts 1 and 2 (1956), pp. 65-75 * See: Archaeology And The Arian Controversy in the Fourth Century, by David M. Gwynn, in Religious Diversity in Late Antiquity, edited by David M. Gwynn, Susanne Bangert, and Luke Lavan; Brill Academic Publishers. Leiden; Boston: Brill 2010

Basque History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Basque History - Essay Example While the ETA did declare a unilateral cease-fire on March 22, 2006, on September 23, 2006, the organization announced that it would resume hostilities until the achievement of Basque independence (ETA). To understand the sentiments at work in all three of these documents - particularly the harsh dichotomies of the Arana piece - it is good to have an understanding of the dynamics at work within the ETA. To people outside of the Basque region, and, in particular, outside of Spain, the mission of the ETA sounds just like one of many small revolutionary groups, agitating for its own few square miles of self-determination, if only to avoid the larger taxing entities in the country around it (Funes, p. 499). Each of these little splinter groups has its own manifesto that spouts idealistic words and phrases, its own shrill anthem that sounds to the modern person listening from abroad much like, quite frankly, the declarations that leapt from the American colonies to the government of Great Britain in the later days of the eighteenth century. The modern chapter of the Basque story begins during the reign of Francisco Franco, and his attempts to drive the Basque nation off the very face of the planet. Because there had been Basque sympathizers with the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, Franco decided to eliminate any signs of Basque culture from the public consciousness. The Basque flag could not be displayed; Basque holidays could not be publicly celebrated; teaching the Basque language, or even speaking it in public, were forbidden; baptizing children who did not have Spanish surnames was proscribed (Sullivan, p. 88). This crackdown against non-Spanish cultures was not carried out throughout the country, however. While Guipuscoa and Biscay were also singled out for this attempted annihilation of local culture, because of their ostensible sympathies with the Republican cause, other territories were left alone. Because the regions of Alava and Navarre had been allied with Franco's faction during the Spanish Civil War, those regions were permitted to keep a reasonable degree of self-government (Clark 1984, pp. 82-84). The results of this cultural attempt at extermination may have been predictable. Once the civil war ended, many Basques left the rural parts of Castile, Galicia, Extremadura, and Andalusia, which diluted the identity of those regions, in which only a percentage of the initial Basque population remained (Hamilton, p. 138). The rest of the world, however, took notice of this repressive activity. Beginning with the excesses of the Franco era and ending with the transition in Spanish government to a democracy in 1975, the ETA received gestures of sympathy from around the globe. The peak of this support came in 1970, after the controversial "Burgos Trials," in which the Franco government showed its cruel and oppressive side to an international audience (Clark 1984, p. 128). The tide of international opinion, however, began to turn against the ETA as the 1970's progressed. In 1973, the ETA assassinated Franco's successor, Almirante Luis Carrero Blanco, and became increasingly radical after Spain became a democracy. The kidnapping and assassination of Miguel Angel