Asian Economic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Asian Economic - Essay Example â€Å"The 1993 World Bank policy research report† (Ryan 802) named The East Asian Miracle, identified eight â€Å"high-performing Asian economies (HPAEs)† (Ryan 802) and classified them into three distinct groups according to the duration of uninterrupted â€Å"positive real economic growth rates between 1960 and 1990† (Ryan 802). Japan alone occupied the first group. By the 1960s, Japan had already become matured as an economy by maintaining a remarkably high focus on economic development. Hence it had become a leader with an enviable record showing sustained economic growth for thirty consecutive years. The second group consisted of four countries recognized as ‘four Asian tigers’; namely, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. All these four economies had witnessed soaring economic growth rates consistently since the mid-1960s until the mid 1990s. Three other countries, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, were referred to as â€Å"newly indu strializing economies (NIEs)† (Ryan 802) by the World Bank. These countries that made the third group of HPAEs had been included in the list of the HPAEs in the beginning of 1970s. The outstanding growth rates and economic performances reflected by the eight nations had one thing in common. Excepting Japan, which had been categorized as a developed country by the 1960s, all the other seven countries had adopted strategic macroeconomic policies and implemented them to manage their economic activities, coupled with carefully selected policy interventions by their individual governments. Research reveals that in all these cases, the government played a decisive role in mobilization of resources. Government policies were assisted by foreign direct investment (FDI) and technological transfer from other industrialized nations of the world, particularly Japan and the USA (Ryan 802). Causes of the financial collapse in Asian economies Heavy dependence on cheap labor input Initially, c ompetitive advantage of these countries was founded on their endowment of abundant labor. Since supply of labor was abundant in these countries, labor input was cheap, which created competitive advantage for these countries in adopting labor intensive technologies of production. However, as the knowledge intensity increased in the exports made by these countries they increasingly started to rely on highly skilled labor force that was more productive than low skilled laborers and was also more disciplined. Krugman had made a controversial contention on the phenomenon of economic growth of the Asian economies (65). The renowned economist had put that these countries would inevitably face a downfall in their economic growth. Since the lofty growth rates of these countries were achieved principally through incorporation of higher amounts of labor input along with capital input into the production process of these economies. This led to higher output and hence higher GDP, but, did not in crease the net level of productivity. This was a stage when the economies were moving along the revenue curve in the zone of increasing returns. According to Krugman, it could be anticipated that these economies would reach the range of diminishing returns (Krugman 65) that would ultimately

Life in the Trenches Essay Example for Free

Life in the Trenches Essay Today, we were once again heavily bombarding the German lines. It was a routine thing nowadays. Some of the more experienced soldiers didnt even notice the heavy German response bombardments that were every second posing a threat to their lives. As we heard a shell landing, we heard attentively just to make sure it wasnt coming direct on us and then, the colossal roar burst from the ground. Life here was getting rather monotonous, always the same routine, four days on the frontline then four days behind lines and then the same thing the following week or so. It wasnt what the papers said up in England, they were written to hide the truth of the massacring that occurred at the battle of the Sommes for one example. Hundreds and thousands of corps lay motionless on the ground. General Haig believed that with heavy bombardments we could break through their lines. He was mistaken. Men were crushed by the machine-gun fire as if dry leaves and they lay there, untouched, rotting away in the muddy earth which emitted an incredibly pungent smell. The mud made it almost impossible to live in these trenches. The water was right up to my knees and there was nothing I could do about it. A lot of my comrades managed to get trench foot which was a disease which made your feet rot due to the fact that they remained submerged for hours if not days. Life was incredibly tough in the trenches, nothing like I had imagined it to be. I thought Id come back as a war hero but from the English articles we read, it seemed to me as if none of our letters had been dispatched or if they had been intercepted in some way, to not allow our families know the real truth. They are made to believe that all is well and that the heroes that saved the French are close to victory. This was not true. Although General Haig did believe he made some progress today, it was nowhere near what we had hopes. The Germans knew about the attack and had built very effective means to defend themselves. They had built dig outs that were up to 12 metres deep underground. This was to protect from any sort of shell attack that the English and the French had. They also had very effective barbed wire that the English didnt completely manage to destroy before the 200,000 men were sent over the top on a suicide mission. The weather was also very unpredictable some days it would be boiling hot and we would die of thirst waiting for something remotely interesting to happen and other times, we would fear for our lives when we could hear a shell whistling like a train in a tunnel, at which point, we would sink our head right into the mud and not rise until we heard a relatively near explosion. The dig-outs were a good initiative seeing as it has always been a fact that the best way to absorb shell shock is with earth. We heard that some of the accommodations for officers were rather nice in the dig-outs. They were full complete with a bed, a pump, and sometimes even some different food that they manage to bring along with them and place it in the cupboards. Everyday, there was fear of the new methods that the Germans had developed of attacking us. There was late news that gas attack was in use. Now it was regulation that we had to carry a mask with us at all times otherwise we could be gassed with new inventions such as the mustard gas which apparently burned right through your skin and you suffered a horrible and painful death. We were all worried about this new gas. We didnt know what it actually smelt like. Apparently, it had a pungent smell hence the name, mustard gas but most of my fellow soldiers feel that they would fall into panic if a gas attack was to take place One of the very few things which I feel is very positive about the whole trench warfare is the comradeship. I had made some pals that would risk their lives if it would mean saving mine. I had never experienced such a feeling until I came to the trenches. It was truly unique. Knowing that you would have to live with these people twenty four hours a day, seven days a week was a way of knowing that somebody would always be there for you. You would seriously bond with someone and would do anything to accomplish the promise you made them. This was particularly moving when one of your closest comrades dies in action and you feel you should have died with him or for him. The danger in the trenches was as dangerous on the front line as to get there. We would be exposed to heavy artillery fire in these measly little trenches that compared to the front line looked as if they were built for dwarves. When our men died, we buried them behind the trenches. It was a petty funeral, no service no nothing, just whoever wanted to attend to dig up a ditch and place his friends in there to rest in piece. It was up to you if you wanted to help seeing as there was always the chance of a stray bullet or a sniper hitting you as you were working. Most were left to rot. After a while, the trenches, with the wet weather deteriorated. There was no more a 4 thick bullet-proof parapet to save your life; the walls of the trench had collapsed to make the trench into a mud bath with water which was to reach your knees. During the wet weather it was truly disgusting. Overall life in the trenches is pretty gross and unhygienic although, some officers did get treated rather well and the food that the English were given which was usually bully beef and jam was of a much higher quality than any other front line army. Diseases spread and people suffer of lack of sleep without forgetting the fact that everyone was homesick and wishing to see their families so basically, apart from making good friends and fighting for your country, the trenches must have been a rather appalling experience.

British Broadcasting Company (BBC)

British Broadcasting Company (BBC) The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was established on October 18, 1922. It was established under the hands of some wireless manufacturers including Guglielmo Marconi (Marconi), inventor of the radio. In 1927, the companys name was changed to the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC is the largest and popular broadcasting companies in the world. The BBC London office alone has 10,000 employees. It is publicly-owned and funded by a television license fee that everyone with a television has to pay. The structure of the BBC is very complex. There are more than 150 subsidiaries and joint ventures, divided into 16 main divisions and out of which nine are broadcasting divisions. In Britain the BBC has got eight television channels and ten radio networks along with 46 local and national radio stations. It has its own website called online site bbc.co.uk. The nine broadcasting divisions are: * Television * Radio and music * News * National and regions * Sports * Factual and learning * Drama, Entertainment and CBBC * New media and technology * BBC world service and global news The BBC networks (like BBC1, BBC3, and Radio 1) are managed by these nine areas. The other five divisions provide the support to program-making and channel-running. Without these the BBC couldnt function. * BBC People * Finance, Property and Business affairs * Marketing, Communications and Audiences * Policy and legal * Strategy and distribution Literature review: Strategic management is a systematic analysis of external and internal environmental factors in order to provide necessary information for effective management practices. In short the strategic management process is explained as below: 1) Formation of vision 2) Preparing mission statement with respect to vision 3) Framing objectives with respect to mission 4) Developing strategies to achieve objectives 5) Implementing strategies 6) Evaluating performance. Cultural web of BBC: Aligning your organizational cultural with strategy. Culture determines how we do the things around us. Once organization adopts some ways of doing particular things in a particular manner and people following it makes the culture. It is very difficult to change the culture of an organization, but dyke was very much success in changing the culture of BBC from bureaucratic to clan control. The difficulties associated with BBC are: 1) Launch of ITV (independent Television) has decreased BBCS market share to as low as 28% 2) Reduced viewers because of the introduction of satellite and cable television in the UK. 3) In 1990 BBCS in- house production department was affected by the broadcasting act of 1990, which states that all television channels are required to source 25% of their television programs from independent producers. 4) The another problem faced by the BBC was low employee morale 5) The work is decentralized 6) No co-ordination between employees of the firm was the major problem 7) There was no mutual trust and employees were not willing to collaborate with each other. The models followed by the BBC before Dyke took the charge: Bureaucratic model: BBC was following bureaucratic model, which Dyke found, it was not suitable to the BBC because, those models will aim at only efficiency through framing strict rules and regulations. Everyone in the organization is bound to follow the rules even though the rules do not meet the persons capabilities. Some employees who have new ideas were also lacking behind because of these rules, which generally restricts their responsibilities. The models and programs of BBC implemented after dyke took the charge: 1) The rational goal model: this model focuses on the organizations ability to achieve its goals. An organizations goals are identified by establishing the general goal, and finding easy ways to achieve the general goals in turn which lead to achievement of organizational goals. 2) The managerial process model: A productivity of various managerial processes like decision making, planning, budgeting, is analyzed for achieving goals. The benefits of this model are: * Improves supervisory behavior and concern for workers * Increases team spirit, group loyalty, and teamwork among workers and between workers and management * Develops confidence, trust and communication among workers and between workers and management * Gives more freedom to set own objectives. 3) Organizational development model: This model also increases the organizations ability to work as a team and to fit the needs of its members. The benefits of these models are same as Managerial process model. 4) The structural functional model: this model tests the durability and flexibility of the organizations structure for responding to a diversity of situations and events. The benefits of this model are: * Helps the organization to be secured in relation to the social forces in its environment. * Improves stability of lines of authority and communication. * Improves stability of informal relations within the organization. * Continuity can be seen in policy making. 5) McKinsey Seven S models: this model helps in facing the competitors by analyzing Strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats {SWOT} of BBC and there by working with respect to the areas where the BBC is weak. The diagram below explains the seven S of this model. Mckinsey 7 s model Clan control: MR. Dyke followed Clan control policy which represents cultural values almost the opposite of bureaucratic control. Clan control works well with values, beliefs, corporate culture, shared norms, and informal relationships to regulate employee behaviors and achieving organizational goals. Critical analyses of the programs implemented in BBC are: MAKING IT HAPPEN On February 07, 2002, Dyke announced the new program One BBC: Making It Happen, in-order to drive internal change at the BBC. The goal of this program was to make the BBC the most creative organization in the world by the year 2007. Dyke wanted to achieve this by giving more freedom to the people, encouraging new ideas, and changing the work culture. He also aimed at building trust among the employees, making them feel more valued, and improving the leadership capabilities of the people in higher positions. In the first step, Dyke and the BBCs senior management identified 7 areas where changes will make a huge difference. Dyke wanted the BBC employees to give their suggestions on how to improve the company in the seven areas through an appreciative inquiry process. For this, he initiated a consultation program called Just Imagine in which seven teams formed on the basis of the seven areas for change; he consulted the staff and managers across the organization. The teams headed by a leader, would record the various suggestions and ideas, come up with proposals for change, and report these to the Executive Committee. Along with 7 teams, 17 divisional teams were formed to carry on Making It Happen at the divisional level and developed the change plans. The consultation process started with the teams hosting the sessions which included a group of employees ranging between 25 and 200 at a time. During the sessions, the employees were asked to explain their most memorable experience at the BBC and the situations that helped in creating the experience and the steps to be taken to make the memorable experience a routine at the BBC. By September 2002, nearly 7,000 employees had voluntarily participated in the sessions, providing ideas and suggestions along with a number of issues. For instance, some employees highlighted that the BBC lacked a proper induction program, which had resulted in a number of new employees leaving the organization within six months of their joining. BBCS SEVEN THEME TEAMS †¢ Inspire Creativity Everywhere: Led by Helen Boaden, Controller Radio 4. This team gathered feedback on ways to improve creativity across the organization. †¢ Connect With All Audience: Led by Jane Root, Controller BBC Two. This team collected ideas on how to connect with audiences of all ages. †¢ Value People: The team, led by Jerry Timmins, Head of Americas, World Service, recorded ideas to create a better relationship among the employees. †¢ We Are The BBC: The team, led by Roger Mosey, Head of Television News, consulted employees and asked them about the steps to be taken to promote oneness among the employees. †¢ Just Do It: The team enquired the steps to be taken to reduce bureaucracy and transform the BBC into a can do organization. The team was led by Sara Geater, Director of Rights and Business Affairs. †¢ Lead More, Manage Less: This team believed that management is about leadership and emphasized that employees should be led rather than controlled. It dealt with what the employees wanted from their leaders. The team was led by Andy Griffee, Controller, and English Regions. †¢ Make Great Spaces: Led by Shar Nebhranjani, Head of Finance, New Media, the team dealt with making the working environment more exciting and creative. Dyke also introduced upfront for London based employees and the outcome is the formation of 6 groups. They are: †¢ One BBC: To create a closer organization. †¢ Leadership: To have great leadership. †¢ Audiences: To inspire and connect to a diverse audience. †¢ Creativity: To be the most creative organization in the world. †¢ Great spaces: To create better places to work. †¢ People: To provide better benefits, etc. THE BIG CONVERSATION On May 15, 2003, Dyke arranged a nationwide meeting of the BBC staff, which he called The Big Conversation. The London station was connected to all the BBC offices across Britain. Nearly 17,000 employees participated in the live interactive event and raised about 3,500 questions. This program was aimed at communicating the steps that would be taken to implement the changes. According to Dyke the important issue that came out of this conversation is related to complaints related the poor management standard. Many employees complained that they were being bullied rather than managed. Dyke found out that the BBC had good leaders, but not many, as there werent any leadership development programs. He was looking for employees to be led well. Any person handling more than 2 employees was put under the program and BBC willing to spend up to  £40 million on leadership development over the next 5 years. BBCS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM This program was developed using the feedback of Just Imagine sessions. The employees wanted to have a good relationship with their managers and good leadership across all levels. Its been found that BBC had 52 different leadership development programs across 17 divisions and that this had resulted in a difference in leadership capabilities across various divisions. During consultations the employees said that they felt the nice when their managers, supported, motivated, trusted and treated them with respect. These aspects were kept in mind while describing the qualities of a leader. The training program would run for six months. The leadership program was developed by BBC senior managers and the Ashridge business school staff. The BBC also involved some of its partners and customers in developing the leadership program. The program, designed around BBC values, was aimed at change in the behaviour of the employees with their subordinates and also aimed at training them to deal with problems that they could encounter as leaders such as managing incompetent staff. Before the start of the program, the managers are nominated for the training by their reporting manager and they were given 360-degree feedback in the company of a professional psychologist. This provided them with their objectives, which will be used for evaluating the progress after the training. The program started for all the 3 levels of leaders with 1 day workshop in which they learned about BBC leadership and important concepts of leadership such as collaborative working etc. Learn gateway provided learning content and material for the employees after the training. Connect gateway enabled the employees to share their knowledge; skills while Talk gateway enabled helped to debate, discuss various topics. Dyke was finally successful with his approaches and programs for a good period of time and thereby helping the BBC to retaining to its original position. References: Books Johnson,G,Scholes,K,whittington,R (2008).Exploring corporate strategy. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. p215-557. Johnson,G,Scholes,K,whittington,R (2005).Exploring corporate strategy. 5th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. p233-563. Electronic sources BBC. (6th September 2001).The Competitive Forces Business Model.Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593345. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Weber,M. (1920).Business Systems The Bureaucratic Model. Available: http://www.bola.biz/systems/bureau.html. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Barnat, R. (2005).The Managerial Process Model.Available: http://www.strategic-control.24xls.com/en128. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Mckinsey. ().7 S model.Available: http://www.managingchange.com/bpr/bprcult/mckinsey.gif. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Mind tools. (2010).The cultural web.Available: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_90.htm. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Business dictionary. (2010).strategic management.Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategic-management.html. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Open learning. (2010).Process of strategic management.Available: http://www.openlearningworld.com/olw/courses/books/Introduction%20to%20Strategic%20Management/Strategy%20Development/The%20Process%20of%20Strategic%20Management_files/image002.gif. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Bolender. (2009).strategic management process.Available: www.bolender.com//BBA4073%20Strategic%20Planning%20and%20Policy. Last accessed 26 March 2010. Kumar,V. (2006). Leadership traning and development at the BBC.ICFAI. 1 (1), p1-13. Froud,J,Johal,S,Leaver,A,. (June 2009). Stressed by Choice: A Business Model Analysisof the BBC.SSRN. 20 (2), p252-264.

Romaticism and Religion in German Nationalism Essay -- Analysis, Hans

Growing out of the romantic movement of the 19th century, there were many factors and various groups that contributed to the rise of German nationalism. With the nation fragmented, and Europe in social turmoil, the German people were lusting for spiritual and emotional unity that Enlightenment thinking could not provide. The population turned to existing religious groups, romantic thinkers, and secular political religions to fill the emotional gap that existed in a modernizing Europe. In the article, â€Å"Romanticism and the Rise of German Nationalism,† Hans Kohn attempts to show how romanticism developed from a completely artistic movement, into a crucial component in the rise of German nationalism. In the first of five sections, Kohn begins by describing the origins of the romantic movement's opposition toward Enlightenment thinking, and of the French Revolution. He argues that the romantics revered history – namely the middle ages – which was the foundation for the development of the â€Å"national community.† This idealization of history that Kohn argues rejected the current times and had the emotional effect of instilling hope to the people, a point he makes clear when he states, â€Å"The romantic movement began as an artistic revolt against eighteenth-century culture which seemed not to satisfy the soul and not to warm the heart.† (FN, 445). The second section of the article focuses mainly on Novalis, who Kohn calls, â€Å"The first great German romanticist.†(FN, 447) He contends that Novalis wished the state played more of an intimate role in people's lives, but makes clear that this was not a political concept, but poetic.(FN, 448). He elaborates by stating that Novalis did not stress unification on a national basis, but based on the sp... ...an denominations – namely Protestantism. Williamson makes this abundantly clear when he states, â€Å"Indeed, I maintain in this study that the longing for myth is best understood not as a secularization of traditional religion or as a form of 'secular religion,' but rather as a development within Christian (especially German Protestant) culture...†(FN, 4) Williamson takes the time to discuss the reforms within Protestantism and keeps religion central in the study. This is a good study for anyone interested in nineteenth-century German intellectual history, and how religion played such a great role in the development of national ideas. In the midst of great change on the European continent, Germany was left in a position of uncertainty. With the arrival of modernization, the population was looking for order and emotional fulfillment in a fragmented and changing nation.

Black People and Affirmative Action Essay

Please be advised that Assignment One on the printed Tutorial Letter 101/3/2013 on pages 12 – 14 has a number of both typographical and numerical mistakes. This happened as a result of a number of factors: the initial assignment reading was too costly for the Department to commission in terms of copyright and had to be retracted at the last minute. The reading on â€Å"Affirmative Action: a losing battle? † was then included but with an almost impossible deadline, which resulted in the errors reflected therein. This is regrettable and we apologise for any inconvenience this might have cost you. The corrected version of the assignment is on page 3 and is attached to this TL and again on my UNISA for your convenience. The marks are out of 100 marks – 50 for Section A and 50 marks for Section B. NB: Please note that the due date has not changed in any way (4 March 2013). 2 ENN103F/102 8. 4. 1. FIRST SEMESTER ASSIGNMENTS The purpose of this assignment is to teach you how to read an article and to critically engage in academic reading and reflecting on the material in an academic manner by answering the short paragraph questions provided as well as an essay. Assignment 01 will be marked fairly fully and sent back to you. Affirmative action: a losing battle? There are considerable reasons to suppose that this topic, which affects all citizens of South Africa, in particular, seems dated. In some instances it is a policy viewed with hostility as it is said to discriminate against sections of the population, yet in others it is seen as beneficial to women, black people and the disabled. Studies show that in many instances this form of historical redress has proven a hindrance to performance and makes the beneficiaries doubt their abilities when viewed by their superiors. This has a negative effect on an organization since the quality of work is seen as being sub-standard. Equally, there are significant indicators, both in industry and the private sector, that the opening up of previously closed avenues through the policy of affirmative action made companies perform better since the beneficiaries of such workplace selection viewed their work as a challenge. Where beneficiaries claim stigmatization by such a selection process, it means they prefer not to have been selected through such efforts. Either way, the battle seems to go on and on. In the light of this ongoing and divisive debate, the level of debate regarding the policy has not progressed further since comparative studies of the policy have not been seriously undertaken. There has been no systematic study of the developments in how the policy actually proves beneficial as a tool of redress. Part of the reason is that, firstly, there is a lack of monitoring of what goes on in organizations, and secondly, that the regulations are not strictly enforced. For instance, companies will usually ‘front’ a black person, a woman or a disabled person, as a chief executive officer and leave the matter of compliance as a secondary issue. Rarely do such companies face serious consequences even if they do business with the government. The question then is whether a time limit should be placed on the policy and Act or whether it should be declared unconstitutional. Consideration has not been taken, for instance, of measures used in other countries to actively promote privilege. Very few advocacy groups ever mention the Naturalization Act of 1790, the Homestead Act of 1862 or even the Federal Housing Administration Loan Program of the 1930s used by the government of the United States of America to promote racial preference; or that such Acts were also used as models for other racially divided societies. Advocacy groups for and against the policy and Act have routinely made it a point that the policy is unsettling, needless and discriminatory, on the one hand, while others argue forcefully that the amelioration of past injustices justifies its implementation. Whichever side is on the ascendancy cannot take the other side’s viewpoint, and in the end the past divisions are set to continue. 3 SECTION A: Short questions Answer the following questions in short paragraphs. Please note that each question will be marked out of 10 marks: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Is the affirmative action policy morally defensible? Explain. In your opinion, which country has successfully implemented the policy of affirmative action and why did it succeed? In your view, why did the South African government choose to implement the Affirmative Action policy and Act, and was it ever justifiable? Does the policy need to be discontinued after a certain length of time, and why? In your opinion, why is it that people from a different racial group are unemployable in certain sectors of the economy and not in others? [10 X 5 = 50] SECTION B: Essay Write an essay of approximately one and a half page on either of the questions below. Please note that each essay will be marked out of 50 marks: 1) Do you think cultivating an equal opportunity society has helped countries such as South Africa and America to move forward? In a carefully worded essay, show why this is the case or why it is not. OR 2) To what extent do you consider such a policy and act relevant to the needs of any society today? [50 marks] Best wishes The ENN103F Team 4.

Free Essays on The Fall Of Fidel Castro

Fidel collapsed today before thousands at an outdoor rally. This is a reminder to all sides of the political struggle that no one is immortal. Fidel Castro is an old man who is closer to death than he was forty years ago. His rambling speech broadcast over Telemundo recently, and passing out at a public forum serves as evidence to back up the previous sentence. This brings us to one of the lies spread by the regime that has been imbibed by almost everyone on the planet, and especially Cuban exiles. The myth is that nothing will change in Cuba until Fidel Castro dies, then the system will end with him. If I believed that to be true I would’ve never gotten involved in the struggle for a free Cuba, and sat around waiting for biology to take its course. However, it is not true. If we look back through the history of tyrants: Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Papa Doc, the Somozas, Kim il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, and a list tragically too long to list here, then you’ll find that when tyrants di e these evil tyrannies have replacements that are equally as evil. Let me provide two notorious examples. The first tyrant of the Soviet Union was Lenin. During Lenin’s tenure outsiders could even claim that the regime had moderated with its New Economic Policy that allowed foreign investment and limited amounts of capitalism to keep the regime from collapsing completely. Did this early engagement of trade with the Soviet Union in the 1920s have a big pay off? Was there a turn to democracy or greater economic liberalization? Lenin died a transition or should I say succession took place. The answer to the previous questions is given with the name Josef Stalin and the murder of 50 million Russians at the hand of their own government. Communism didn’t fall in the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe because of the death of a tyrant, or because of economic engagement. Communism didn’t fall it was pushed. It was knocked down abroad by the effective foreign policy o... Free Essays on The Fall Of Fidel Castro Free Essays on The Fall Of Fidel Castro Fidel collapsed today before thousands at an outdoor rally. This is a reminder to all sides of the political struggle that no one is immortal. Fidel Castro is an old man who is closer to death than he was forty years ago. His rambling speech broadcast over Telemundo recently, and passing out at a public forum serves as evidence to back up the previous sentence. This brings us to one of the lies spread by the regime that has been imbibed by almost everyone on the planet, and especially Cuban exiles. The myth is that nothing will change in Cuba until Fidel Castro dies, then the system will end with him. If I believed that to be true I would’ve never gotten involved in the struggle for a free Cuba, and sat around waiting for biology to take its course. However, it is not true. If we look back through the history of tyrants: Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Papa Doc, the Somozas, Kim il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, and a list tragically too long to list here, then you’ll find that when tyrants di e these evil tyrannies have replacements that are equally as evil. Let me provide two notorious examples. The first tyrant of the Soviet Union was Lenin. During Lenin’s tenure outsiders could even claim that the regime had moderated with its New Economic Policy that allowed foreign investment and limited amounts of capitalism to keep the regime from collapsing completely. Did this early engagement of trade with the Soviet Union in the 1920s have a big pay off? Was there a turn to democracy or greater economic liberalization? Lenin died a transition or should I say succession took place. The answer to the previous questions is given with the name Josef Stalin and the murder of 50 million Russians at the hand of their own government. Communism didn’t fall in the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe because of the death of a tyrant, or because of economic engagement. Communism didn’t fall it was pushed. It was knocked down abroad by the effective foreign policy o...