United Arab Emirates History and Independence

Before its re-creation as the United Arab Emirates in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States, a collection of sheikhdoms extending from the Straits of Hormuz to the west along the Persian Gulf. It wasn’t a country so much as an expanse of loosely defined tribal groups spread out over some 32,000 square miles (83,000 sq. km), about the size of the state of Maine. Before the Emirates For centuries the region was mired in rivalries between local emirs on land while pirates scoured the seas and used the states’ shores as their refuge. Britain began attacking pirates to protect its trade with India. That led to British ties with the Trucial States’ emirs. The ties were formalized in 1820 after Britain offered protection in exchange for exclusivity: the emirs, accepting a truce brokered by Britain, pledged not to cede any land to ​any powers or make any treaties with anyone except Britain. They also agreed to settle subsequent disputes through British authorities. The subservient relationship was to last a century and a half, until 1971.​​​ Britain Gives Up By then, Britain’s imperial overreach was exhausted politically and bankrupt financially. Britain decided in 1971 to abandon Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, by then made up of seven emirates. Britain’s original aim was to combine all nine entities into a united federation. Bahrain and Qatar balked, preferring independence on their own. With one exception, the Emirates agreed to the joint venture, risky as it seemed: the Arab world had, until then, never known a successful federation of disparate pieces, let alone bicker-prone emirs with egos enough to enrich the sandy landscape. Independence: December 2, 1971 The six emirates that agreed to join in the federation were Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Sharjah, and Quwayn. On Dec. 2, 1971, the six emirates declared their independence from Britain and called themselves the United Arab Emirates. (Ras al Khaymah initially opted out, but eventually joined the federation in February 1972). Sheikh Zaid ben Sultan, Emir of Abu Dhabi, the richest of the seven emirates, was the union’s first president, followed by Sheikh Rashid ben Saeed of Dubai, the second-richest emirate. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have oil reserves. The remaining emirates do not. The union signed a treaty of friendship with Britain and declared itself part of the Arab Nation. It was by no means democratic, and rivalries among the Emirates didn’t cease. The union was ruled by a 15-member council, subsequently reduced to seven—one seat for each of the unelected emirs. Half the 40-seat legislative Federal National Council is appointed by the seven emirs; 20 members are elected to 2-year terms by 6,689 Emiratis, including 1,189 women, who are all appointed by seven emirs. There are no free elections or political parties in the Emirates. Iran’s Power Play Two days before the emirates declared their independence, Iranian troops landed on Abu Musa Island in the Persian Gulf and the two Tunb islands that dominate the Straits of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Those islands belonged to Ras al Khaymah Emirate. The Shah of Iran contended that Britain had wrongfully granted the islands to the Emirates 150 years before. He was retaking them, he alleged, to look after oil tankers traveling through the Straits. The Shah’s reasoning was more expedience than logic: the emirates had no way to endanger oil shipments, though Iran very much did. Britains Enduring Complicity in Complications The Iranian troop landing, however, was arranged with Sheikh Khaled al Kassemu of the Sharja Emirate in exchange for $US 3.6 million over nine years and Iran’s pledge that if oil were discovered on the Island, Iran and Sharja would split the proceeds. The arrangement cost Sharjas ruler his life: Shaikh Khalid ibn Muhammad was gunned down in a coup attempt. Britain itself was complicit in the occupation as it explicitly agreed to let Iranian troops take over the Island one day before independence. By timing the occupation on Britain’s watch, Britain was hoping to relieve the emirates of the burden of an international crisis. But the dispute over the islands hung over relations between Iran and the Emirates for decades. Iran still controls the islands. Sources and Further Information Abed, Ibrahim, and Peter Hellyer. United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective. London: Trident Press, 2001.  Mattair, Thomas R. The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa. Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 2005.Potts, Daniel T. In the Land of the Emirates: The  Archaeology and History of the UAE. London: Trident Press, 2012.  Said Zahlan, Rosemary. The Origins of the United Arab Emirates: A Political and Social History of the Trucial States. London: Routledge, 1978.

The Events Of The Summer Olympics And Michael Phelps...

From the year 2008 many of us still remember the important events of the Summer Olympics and Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals and being the first person to ever do this in history. We also remember the election of the 43rd president of the United States Barack Obama who was the first black president to be elected before going on and being elected for a second term. Out of all of these great events in American history in the year of 2008 the most remember event in this year is the financial turmoil that was caused by the crash of the stock market and caused the second biggest recession in United States history. A recession is a â€Å"period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally†¦show more content†¦It is also said that these factors are the biggest reason why recessions occur. As some may already know, the recession of 2008 was the second worst in U.S. history and really makes you wonder what were the causes of th is devastating event and also what was happening before this. According to moneymorning.com the biggest reason for the recession of 2008 was a Housing bubble that eventually led to subprime lending. From 1996 to 2006, home costs nearly doubled. Robert Shiller s Home index number changed from 87.0 to 160.6. revealing sixty fifth of this growth occurred from 2002 to peak costs in 2006. When the bubble burst, costs quickly plunged. The index was at one zero five.7 by 2009. This surge in growth followed by fast decline is not shown within the history of U.S. real housing costs, in line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is estimated that about 7 million Americans lost their homes due to this recession, it is also estimated that about 1.2 million households were lost in this recession according to bobsullivan.net and nbcnews.com. This only shows a part of how strong this recession ended up being and why us as Americans are so thankful that this nightmare finally ended years ago. Before the recession eventually

Frankenstein and Exploration Free Essays

Frankenstein and Exploration â€Å"Curiosity killed the cat. † This phrase is used in reference to children, animals, and even adults. With cats, curiosity often leads to exploration. We will write a custom essay sample on Frankenstein and Exploration or any similar topic only for you Order Now The phrase refers to a negative experience with exploration. A negative experienced exploration would be, for example, a stray cat that has found a family’s full garbage can to rummage through. Some people do not tolerate cats in their garbage cans, let alone cats themselves. This could get the cat in serious trouble or even killed. On the other hand, an example of a positive experienced exploration for a stray cat is finding a good home with a family who takes care of the cat and accepts it into their home. The positive and negative aspects of exploration have many different outcomes and consequences not just for cats, but for people or even other beings as well, depending on the kind of explorations. Exploration is defined as the act of investigating unknown regions. The unknown regions could be a physical place in the world, a place in the imagination, or even the acquiring of knowledge. Positive explorations are the most thought of aspects of exploration itself. They lead to great achievements in life for those who pursue it. As for negative explorations, they do not lead to great things. Sometimes acquiring too much knowledge can impact someone or something in a negative way, causing very bad consequences in their life. Exploring is mostly caused by a want of knowledge. Many great people in history are famous because of their strive for knowledge, causing them to go on a great exploration. The there are people like Victor Frankenstein. He wanted so much knowledge that he went above and beyond the expectation of mankind; he created life. This led to the fall of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. This is one example of how exploring can affect you in a negative way with too much knowledge. You could say that the less you know, the better off you are. Curiosity is the desire to learn about anything. This goes hand in hand with exploration. Any being that explores is more than likely curious about something they do not know. Famous explorers or even cats start out being curious. This curiosity leads to an exploration to gain the knowledge that they did not have before. Victor Frankenstein wanted to be famous. This led him to curiosity with life itself, which in turn led to exploring. He explored the ways of life and how life itself works. After all was said and done, Victor Frankenstein gained the knowledge that he nor anyone else had ever acquired. This knowledge led to his and the monster’s death. Maybe â€Å"curiosity killed the cats,† the cats being both the monster and Victor Frankenstein. Walton is striving for knowledge of what is beyond the boundaries of the ordinary way of living. He is exploring the North Pole with hopes of returning with a plethora of new knowledge. On his voyage, he encounters Victor Frankenstein at the end of Frankenstein’s journey. Walton is warned by Frankenstein to stay away from the acquiring of too much knowledge. Victor Frankenstein has been through the whole process of being curious, leading an exploration, and gaining too much knowledge. He knows that if Walton is just like he is, Walton will end up like him. Victor Frankenstein does not want to see anyone go through the misery that he was put through during his lifetime. The monster was created and then left on his own to fend for himself. He had no idea what the world consisted of and the dangers lurking everywhere he went. Much like a toddler, Frankenstein’s monster wanted to know and learn everything there was to learn in the world. He taught himself all the dangers of life, like fire and bad weather, and even how to speak and read. He acquired so much knowledge that he started looking back on his life. He hated Victor Frankenstein for leaving him to battle the world alone. He hated his creator so much that the monster wanted to destroy Frankenstein. If he would not have gained the knowledge like he did, the monster would not have known anything about his creator and how negatively Frankenstein treated him. The monster’s way of exploring was through this gaining of knowledge. This way of exploring is seen in many ways, making exploration a symbol for gaining knowledge, and reversely gaining knowledge is then made a symbol of exploration. Walton, Frankenstein, and the monster all had explorations of their own. Walton’s exploration was prevented by Victor Frankenstein for the good of Walton’s life. He was on his way to a negative exploration, and Frankenstein knew it. Frankenstein also knew that Walton’s exploration started with simple curiosity, much like himself. He did not want Walton going through what Frankenstein had to go through. The monster’s exploration was negative because he decided to use it in a negative way. He gained knowledge of Victor Frankenstein and decided to destroy him for making the monster’s life miserable. The monster is much like the cat. He did not have a home; he moved from one place to another often and did not stay very long near populated areas. He was always getting into other people’s stuff, like at the village. The whole village went after the monster for terrorizing the village. This is similar to a stray cat getting into a family’s garbage can. More than likely, a member of the family will chase the cat away before it does any more damage. After being rejected all his life, the monster finally gave up and committed suicide. In a way, the monster is like the cat, and curiosity definitely killed this cat. How to cite Frankenstein and Exploration, Papers

Bartleby

Bartleby- The Scrivener Essay In Herman Melvilles Bartleby the Scrivener, the author uses several themes to convey his ideas. The three most important themes are alienation, mans desire to have a free conscience, and mans desire to avoid conflict. Melville uses the actions of an eccentric scrivener named Bartleby, and the responses of his cohorts, to show these underlying themes to the reader. The first theme, alienation, is displayed best by Bartlebys actions. He has a divider put up so that the other scriveners cannot see him, while all of them have desks out in the open so they are full view of each other, as well as the narrator. This caused discourse with all of the others in the office. This is proven when Turkey exclaims, I think Ill just step behind his screen and black his eyes for him.p.2411 The other scriveners also felt alienated by the actions of the narrator. His lack of resolve when dealing with Bartleby angered them because they knew that if they would have taken the same actions, they would have been dismissed much more rapidly. The narrator admits to this when he said, With any other man I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence. 2409 The next theme is mans desire to avoid conflict. The narrator avoids conflict on several occasions. The first time Bartleby refused to proofread a paper, the narrator simply had someone else do it instead of confronting him and resolving the issue right then. By ignoring the problem, he left the door open for more disobedience. As expected, Bartleby continued to refuse to proofread and the narrator eventually gave up on asking him to do it. The narrator went to great lengths to avoid a confrontation. When Bartleby refused to leave the office after being fired, the narrator chose to move his office to a different location instead of removing the eccentric man by force. The narrator informs the reader of this idea when he says, No more then. Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. I will change my offices. 2422 By doing so, the narrator displays just how far man is sometimes willing to go to avoid conflict. The final theme is mans desire to have a free conscience. Melville reveals this theme through the actions of the narrator as well as the new tenants of the office. The narrator attempts to appease his conscience by giving Bartleby money above his wages when he fired him. The new tenants of the office try to put the responsibility of dealing with Bartleby back on the narrator, but they are denied and eventually have the man removed from the premises by law officers. Herman Melville uses the actions and reactions of the characters in Bartleby the Scrivener to disclose three important themes, alienation, mans desire to avoid conflict, and mans desire to keep a free conscience. In doing so, he gives us an  inside look into the workings of the human mind. The reader is left with the impression that all people, including lawyers, have compassion for other humans, and at some point, that compassion will show through.