Comparison between cases of ethnic conflict usually encounters scepticism. Unhappy nations like unhappy people, feel themselves to be unique. However analogies with other places have had a place in Northern Ireland. In general, these analogies appealed more to nationalists than it did to the unionists. It was only after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 did unionist attitudes change
American aversion to counterinsurgency is deeply ingrained in the American way of warfare. Since the 1940s the US Army has trained, equipped, and organised for large-scale conventional operations against like adversaries. They have traditionally employed conventional military operations even against irregular enemies. I hope to show that America’s conventional supremacy and in particular their approach to war may prove to be counterproductive in this new century of small wars.
The election of Barack Obama as American President has seen unprecedented interest in American politics, not only domestically but also internationally. There is no doubt that he is a superb orator and with his message of change for which over 60million Americans voted for, we have witnessed history in the making. But what are the immediate foreign policy challenges facing the new Obama administration, and how will his style of leadership and conduct of foreign policy differ from that of the Bush administration?
In recent years declassified documents relating to attempts by the Kennedy administration at withdrawing US forces from the conflict in Vietnam have been released, causing much debate among scholars and historians. Previously not much was written about Kennedy’s decision to withdraw US personnel from Vietnam in over 40 years of historical writing.
In this paper I will assess an important element of American foreign policy, that of nation building. I will focus on the American reconstruction of Germany and Japan in the aftermath of the Second World War and to evaluate their impact and successes and to ascertain whether those lessons on nation-building can be implemented today in Afghanistan.
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