Harem The Power Within Essay Example For Students

Harem: The Power Within Essay In Muslim societies the social interaction between unrelated men and women is restricted. Traditional house design often allowed the women the inner part of the house which would be off-limits to outsiders. This is the concept of Harem, which literally means a sacred or restricted place. However, in Arabic and Turkish the word Harem is also used as a general name for all the women living in an household. According to Alev L. Croutier the most largest Harem of all times was the Harem of the Ottoman Sultans. He claims that in 16th century there were 600 women in the Ottoman Harem. The origin of the girls brought to the Imperial Harem was very diverse. Because the territories of the Empire was expanded into three continent they were girls from European Countries, Iran, Russia, and North Africa. Most of the girls were brought when they were child. The real source for slaves and concubines brought to the Imperial Palace were the continuos wars. These girls were mostly Christian. Because m ost wars were made with the Christian countries. Later in 14th century when the Mediterranean piracy started the source for girls and slaves became the north Africa and Caucasian. Besides the girls who were brought as a war prisoner, there were also girls sent to Sultan by the ministers and princes of other countries and states of the Ottoman Empire. Imperial Harem was above all schools. Before being presented to the Sultan, all girls had to learn Arabic, Turkish, literacy, court manners, music and religion. For talented girls Harem also had private teachers coming from other countries. All girls were made Muslim the day they entered the Imperial Palace. A new Arabic or Persian name were giving to them. After that, older women of the Harem were giving these girls the necessary education in case they could see the Sultan one day. If a concubine who saw the Sultan for one time could have the chance to see him again, she became a favorite. Favorites of the Sultan had more chance to mar ry him. If a girl marries the Sultan and gives birth to a child, then she could guaranty her luxury until the death of her husband. However, the most powerful woman of the Harem and the Empire was the mother of the Sultan. She was also called Valide Sultan which means Mother Sultan. She had a higher income than the Grand Vizier, the vice president, and often acted as the guardian of the interests of the Sultan and the dynasty. Therefore, the dream of all mothers of princes in the Harem was to be a Mother Sultan (Croutier). ?However, the character of an Oriental Harem has often been set forth incorrectly. While it may contain hundreds of women, a very few of these are the actual consorts of the monarch?(DOhsson). A large number are personal servants and entertainers of himself, his mother his consorts, his daughters or his infant sons. Another section consists of those being educated for some personal service. A fourth group, probably the greatest majority, are mere house-servants, w ho attend to all the domestic labors of the Harem and are seldom promoted to more honorable positions. There is finally, a group of older women who preserve order and peace, teach, and keep accounts. The average age in the Harem was 17. Most female children were married off at five to much older men who couldnt see them alone, until they were 13 and had reached puberty. They were usually married off to leading servants of the Sultan, who were thereby more intimately connected with the imperial household (Altindal 46). In Harem, it was forbidden for the girls to talk or even to see other men than the Sultan. There was only one Sultan the rest got turned into eunuchs or killed! Eunuchs were the guardians of the Harem. Although the Sacred Law strongly disapproved the employment of eunuchs, that unfortunate class was thought too useful to be dispensed with entirely. Some were white, brought mainly from the Caucasus region; but the great majority were black brought from Africa. The class deserves mention because several of the important offices of state among the men of the pen were held by eunuchs, and now and then rose to high place in the army and administration. They were mostly black slaves turned into eunuchs when they were children. They had very high education and they were the connection between the Sultan and the girls of the Harem (Altindal 89).They were responsible for choosing new girls for the Harem and informing the Sultan about these girls and making rules to keep the Harem peaceful. For women, being part of a Harem meant emotional and psychological insecurity; and unless they happened to be free, not slaves, and independently wealthy, it meant material insecurity as well. Harem was a boring place for the most part. There really was not that much to do. Women in the Harem could sew, eat, go to the baths, shop, sleep, take care of children if have any and pray That was about it. So the women of the Harem channeled their energy into vanities, and vied for positions of most-favor while trying to maintain their status in a group of 200 to 300 women. It was a fiercely political environment where women fought each other for every tiny scrap of power, or what was perceived as power. From 1541 to 1687 women ruled the Ottoman Empire through the power they created for themselves using the tools forged in the Harem. Some of the women in the Harem were more powerful than the Sultan of the time; there are many examples of these women in the Ottoman history. Tutankhamen As A Teacher EssayIn Ottoman Palace there are many examples of Sultan daughters marrying man who are in age of their grand-father. Ayse Sultan was the daughter of Ahmet I. The first marriage of Ayse Sultan was with Nosuh Pasha when she was only seven years old. Nosuh Pasha had to wait long time before he could enter the bridal chamber. However, he got killed at the second year of his marriage with the baby bride. When the father of Ayse Sultan, Ahmet I, was death when he was 28 years old Osman II became Sultan. Osman was the grand brother of Ayse Sultan. At this time Ayse Sultan was only a teenager and she was again widow after the dead of her second husband Karakas Mehmet Pasha. Osman II found her a new husband and marry her off with the governor of Beylerbeyi , Hafiz Ahmet Pasha. To marry off Ayse Sultan was as important as choosing someone for the government affairs. During the revolt of the janissaries, the mercenaries, Hafiz Pasha was killed; and Ayse Sultan was wi dowed again. A month later in 1632 Ayse Sultan married off with the prime minister of the Sultan Oman, Murtaza Pasha. But unfortunately her marriage with him did not last longer than a year because of the death of her husband. After that, she had three other marriages again with the most important governors of the time. She had her last marriage when she was 50 years old. But this last one ended with her death in 1656 (Wheatcroft 76). During the Ottoman Empire there is no other Harem woman who was used in politics as much as Ayse Sultan was (Altindal 21). Many French historians claimed that the mother of Mahmut II, Nelesdil Sultan was the daughter of a very noble French family. She was brought to the palace when she was 14 years old by the Turkish pirates. The young Aimee was captured in a small Mediterranean island. They changed her name to Naksidil. She was one of the wives of the Sultan Abulhamid I. It is claimed that she was the cousin of Josephine, the wife of French emperor, Napoleon. (Wheatcroft 55)Naksidil Sultan was the mother of Mahmut II. She was the most important person of the reforms made during the Sultanate of his son (Altindal 74). The imperial Harem is one of the most interesting study areas of the Ottoman history. Harem was not only the ?inner part of the house? but it was a school of life full of challenges, restrictions and powers. Many women lived in this golden cage of the Ottoman dynasty; however, only a few of them were intelligent enough to use their power outside the closed doors of the Harem. All of them had an important role in the 900 years rule of the Ottoman Empire by serving the Sultan and giving birth to princes. Besides, concubinage is one of the reasons for the long dynasty of the Ottoman Empire. ?The Sultan had complete control over his partners. There was no possibility of embarrassment, so often caused to other dynasties, by matrimonial or sexual connections with members of the power elite or foreign dynasties?(Keddie 67). Work Cited ListAltindal, Meral. Osmanlida Harem. . Istanbul: Altin Kitaplar Yayinevi, 1993. Croutier, Alev L. ?The World Behind the Veil.? Reference Desk 17 Dec. 1996: n. pag. Online. America Online. 10 Jul. 1997. Available WWW:http://www.aol.com/ref/bookbuy.html. DOhsson, Mouradja I. ?Tableau General de LEmpire Othoman.? Le Journal de LHistoire 23 Apr. 1997: n. pag. Online. America Online. 10 Jul. 1997. Available WWW: http://www.revision/ histoire/120067.list.html. Keddie, Nikki R. , ed. Women in the Middle Eastern History . By Donald Quataert. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1992. Nanji, Azim A. ?Women Men and Gender in Islam.? The Muslim Almanac. Ed. Abdullah Kassami. 2 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1996. Wheatcroft, Andrew. ?Ottoman Renaissance.? History Today Feb. 1996: 55.

Moby Dick Essay free essay sample

Moby-Dick is a novel of darkness. Though Melville did not intend it, his story, I find, can only be read at night by a dim light on my patio, looking out over the starlit desert. As I read, I sense the darkness of his story. I am not moved to fright or horror by it, but I feel those shadows move in. Psyche is near but not yet touchable. Something is missing, at least if you’ve only read to Chapter 40. There is darkness, jocularity, hints of imminent catastrophe, and pleasant old English to be read. The story is only just developing. Ahab, Ishmael, Starbuck, Stub, Flask, and Moby-Dick: all of these characters are well known in our modern, literary world. Ishmael’s narrative sets their qualities clearly, but this is only a tool of literary character development. The reader is not drawn into the horror that has occurred (Ahab’s dismemberment) or into the horror to come until Chapter  41. We will write a custom essay sample on Moby Dick Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We are faced with Ahab’s madness in Chapter 36 and, with Ishmael; we stand in awe of the power of the man, overlooking the depth of his madness. Chapter 41—curiously named by the title of the book—finally brings the horror to reality as Ishmael personifies the shadow within Moby Dick- the whale, and the madness in Ahab. Moby-Dick, the White Whale itself, is only a representation of the sperm whale species so clearly unique and delineated by Melville in earlier chapters. It is difficult to be either drawn to him—Moby-Dick—or repelled by him. That can only happen once the whale becomes the personification of the psychological Shadow. When we personify something, we move it closer to its archetypal meaning. In this essay, Moby-Dick becomes the personification of Shadow in all of us. Within that Shadow are found fear, vengeance, ferocity, and murderous rage. Personification by itself is not enough. Moby Dick is used as a vessel by the shadow, and once the Shadow is contained by the image of Moby-Dick, anyone with knowledge of archetypal images can clinically dissect it and, thereby, miss what Melville is trying to accomplish: linkage of the archetype to the insane Ahab. So the archetype is doubly personified, first in the embodiment of the White Whale, then in the humanity of Captain Ahab. Shadow exists in the presence of humanity, insane or not. If we are to understand madness, it must be personified. As the chapter opens, Ishmael ponders over his own participation in the excitement generated by Ahab’s grandiosity. Transference has occurred and now Ishmael senses, â€Å"A wild, mystical, sympathetically feeling†¦; Ahab’s quenchless feud seemed mine†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1967, p. 155). The counter transference is manifested in the arousal of the crew to do Ahab’s bidding. Before that can happen, though, Moby-Dick must become real. Ishmael relates the factual calamities caused by the sperm whale then, the rumors running widespread throughout the â€Å"fishery. †Ã‚  Ã‚  He points us to these facts and rumors and further says that it is not surprising that â€Å"whalemen should go still further in their superstitions; declaring Moby-Dick not only ubiquitous, but immortal (for immortality is but ubiquity in time)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1967, p. 158). Ishmael cites contemporary authors who rave of the ferocity of the Sperm whale saying even sharks nearby are â€Å"‘†¦struck with the most lively terrors’ and ‘often in the precipitancy of their flight dash themselves against the rocks†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (1967, p. 57). These contemporary authors begin the process of personification. The whale seems to live in rage and fury. The â€Å"phantom† of fear and threat from the white whale strikes animals into their instincts to be fearful of such a mysterious thought. The sharks indeed can be personified as Ahab and his crew, fearful of the whale and the shadow within it. Moby Dick has been shown to hold the Shadow and all the malicious implications of that Shadow. Our fears and terrors now have a point—the whale, in space and time upon which to hang. In some strange way, our fears and terrors have an altar upon which we can sacrifice them. The whale becomes the god and, like Ahab, we point to it as source and origin of all that ails us, consciously and unconsciously. The whale/Shadow lives each day with us. We have reflected, as Ahab has, on its presence and now contemplate its destruction. The moral here is about to be conveyed through the character of Ahab, as his emotions represent the act of emotional self-defense. According to Sigmund Freud, The mind may avoid the discomfort of consciously admitting personal faults by keeping those feelings unconscious, and by redirecting libidinal satisfaction by attaching, or projecting, those same faults onto another person or object, which in this case Ahab projects those faults on Moby Dick, the white sperm whale. And now we turn to Ahab. Ishmael presents us with one telling sentence: â€Å"The White Whale swam before him as a monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung. (1967, p. 160) As with many a madness, Ahab suffered a physical trauma. He lived through the physical healing of that wounding but â€Å"his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another; and so interfusing, made him mad. † (1967, p. 160)  Ã‚  Ishmael incorporates poetic speech in his attempt to say that this madness personified in Ahab could afflict any of us. The soul of a human is affected by physical punishment such as humiliation penetrates the mental state of mind of the victim. One, in act of self-pity, will act upon the most dangerous undertaking to remove the humiliation from their mental state. Ahab comes to personify Madness itself as evinced in his ravings to the crew, his introspection in Chapter 37, and now by Melville’s delineation of the onset of that madness, in the voice of Ishmael. The reader makes this move, not Ishmael. Our own Shadow points to Ahab instead of inwardly; Ahab are substance, which will hold our conception of our own potentiality to madness. We nod our heads in affirmation of Ishmael’s narrative as he talks of â€Å"this grey-headed, ungodly old man, chasing with curses a Job’s whale round the world, at the head of a crew, too, chiefly made up of mongrel renegades, and castaways, and cannibals†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1967, p. 62). It is Shadow that drives this Captain beyond his ability to understand. So Shadow stands now doubly personified in whale and man. The shadow which presents itself through a man’s raging passion subconsciously pushes a victim to think and act beyond the norm to rid our minds of that threatened psyche and the burning fire of revenge in the human soul. We have seen the psychology in this fiction. Now ask: where resides this fiction in psychology? Don’t let the enormity of this story cloud the metaphor. This happens every day in the consulting room. Personification of Shadow gives the client the means whereby to heal. The therapist must recognize the opportunity and make the most of it. It is Psyche that has allowed the presence of Shadow in the consulting room. It is Psyche that allows Shadow to walk with Healing. I have only told the beginning of this story within the story. Once personified, how will the madness and malice come to conflict? Who will win? We all know the story of  Moby-Dick. But have we ever stopped to think that its ending is  not  one of catastrophe, but one of integration?

Extraction of Caffeine Essay Example

Extraction of Caffeine Essay Example Extraction of Caffeine Essay Extraction of Caffeine Essay Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves Jaybee Balilea, Sharmaine Baysic, and Maria Anjelette Patricia Belen 3BIO7, Department of Biology, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines Abstract Extraction is a technique for isolating and purifying organic substances. In this technique, a solution is combined thoroughly with a second solvent that is immiscible with the first solvent. The solute is extracted from one solvent into the other because it is more soluble in the second solvent than in the first. In this experiment, there were two types of extraction used and these were the Liquid-liquid extraction and Solid-liquid extraction. Liquid-liquid extraction involves a liquid solvent to remove a liquid component from liquid while Solid-liquid extraction allows soluble components to be removed from solids using a solvent. These two types of extraction were used to extract caffeine from tea leaves (Thea sinensis). Caffeine belongs to the group of compounds known as Alkaloids. Alkaloids are a diverse group of compounds that are found in plants and contain basic nitrogen atoms. There were three methods used in extracting caffeine from tea leaves. These were isolation, purification and characterization of caffeine. Based on the calculations made and with the use of these three methods, a caffeine percentage of . 05% and melting point range of standard caffeine and purified caffeine, 27 °C and 20 °C, respectively were obtained. Introduction Extraction is a separation technique that involves selectively removing one or more components of a solid, liquid, or a gaseous mixture into a separate phase [1]. The substance being extracted is separated between two immiscible combined phases, and the ratios of its distribution between the phases depend on the relative solubility of the solute in each phase. A type of extraction, Liquid-liquid extraction is a process used in isolating and purifying products from chemical reactions. This technique includes distributing a solute between two immiscible liquids. The immiscible liquids normally encountered in the organic laboratory are water and some organic solvent. This process can be considered a competition between two immiscible liquids for the distribution of solute. Another type of extraction used in this experiment is Solid-liquid extraction. This is a process of removing soluble components from solids using solvent. Caffeine is a natural product belongs to the group of compounds called Alkaloids [3] . It stimulates respiration, the heart and the central nervous system, is a smooth muscle relaxant and a diuretic. In the experiment, tea leaves were use to extract caffeine. Usually in tea leaves there are 30 to 75 mg per cup caffeine. This experiment aims to isolate, to purify, to characterize caffeine from tea leaves and to calculate the percentage yield of caffeine from tea leaves. Results and Discussion The experiment was divided into three parts: isolation, purification and characterization. In isolation part, Lipton yellow label tea leaves were used. And these was pre-weighed and extracted in boiling 100 ml distilled water for 5 minutes. Boiling water was used so that tea leaves swell to release caffeine and other compounds such as tannins. Then the extract in a flask were cooled with use of running tap water and it was transferred in a separatory funnel containing 20ml of CH2Cl2. Dichloromethane was used to selectively extract the caffeine from the water which retains most of the other organic compounds. In this experiment, solubility is the principle behind extraction. The separatory funnel was shook gently to make sure that the solvent moves along the tea leaf particles to extract all the caffeine. The stopcock of the separatory funnel was opened while shaking to release any pressure building up inside. After shaking, the CH2Cl2 lower layer was drained into a clean flask and this shaking and draining was repeated 3 times until all drained CH2Cl2 lower layer was washed with 6M Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). Sodium Hydroxide was used to ensure that other substances which are slightly soluble to dichloromethane are removed by converting them to their salts that remain in the water. The Dichloromethane extract was dried with anhydrous salt (Na2SO4). Anhydrous salt is a catalyst which speeds the drying up of the extract. After that, simple distillation was used and the crude caffeine was obtained. Table 1. Isolation of Caffeine | Weight in grams| Weight of Tea Leaves| 10. 2508g| Weight of Empty Round Bottom Flask| 44. 4257g| Weight of Round Bottom + Crude Caffeine| 44. 4716g| Weight of Crude Caffeine| 0. 0459g| This table shows that the crude caffeine obtained was 0. 0459 g. The % crude caffeine was obtained using this formula : % crude caffeine= weight of crude caffeine weight of tea leaves x 100. With the use of the values in the table (weight of crude caffeine=0. 0459g, and weight of tea leaves= 10. 2508g) and the % crude caffeine formula, the % crude caffeine was 0. 45%. In the purification part, the residue resulted from simple distillation undergone sublimation with the use of the purification set-up. Sublimation is a process of transition from solid phase to gas phase. The result of sublimation which was the sublimate also known as the purified caffeine was used in the determination of caffeine’s melting point which is the characterization part. Also two capillary tubes, glass tubing, the characterization set of separatory funnel Experimental Three Lipton yellow label tea bags were used and the weight of the tea leaves was pre-weighed. The leaves were placed tea bags again and were boiled in distilled water (100ml) for 5minutes. Then the extract was left for cooling down. After that, the tea extract was transferred in a separatory funnel containing 20ml Dichloromethane. The funnel was carefully shaken three times with the stopcock left open to release the pressure inside the funnel. The lower layer of the Dichloromethane (DCM) was drained into a clean flask. The shaken as well as the draining of the DCM were repeated thrice. The DCM extracts were combined and placed again into the separatory funnel. It was then washed with NaOH solution. NaOH layer was removed and the DCM layer was drained into a clean dry beaker containing a half spatula of anhyd Na2SO4. Solution was agitated to let Na2SO4 settle. The solution together with the anhydrous salt was left in the locker to dry up. After allowing it to dry up, the crude caffeine was scraped from the container and was transferred in a filter tube with the fitted inner test tube that served as a cold finger and for at least 35minutes. The cold finger was constantly refilled with ice water. Inner tube was gently removed. Caffeine clinging in a cold finger was scraped off and was transferred in a vial. Then percent yield caffeine was calculated and the weight of the sublimate was also noted. Using mortar and pestle, caffeine crystals were crushed into a very fine powder. One end of a micro capillary was sealed by heating while rotating it at a 45 degree angle from the blue portion of a Bunsen burner flame. Pulverized caffeine was scooped using the open end of the micro tube. Caffeine were packed well at the bottom of the tube by letting it fall inside a one meter long glass tubing and letting it bounce up and down a table top. Same was done on the standard caffeine. Both standard and caffeine samples were tied against a thermometer. Thermometer was clamped and dipped a beaker filled with cooking oil. Cooking oil was heated with the Bunsen burner flame. Cooking oil was constantly stirred to evenly distribute the heat. Temperature range was recorded between the first appearances of liquid within the sample to the disappearance of the last traces of solid. Appendix % crude caffeine= weight of crude caffeine weight of tea leaves x 100 % caffeine = weight of sublimateweight of tea leaves x 100 Group 2 % crude caffeine= 0. 0459g10. 2508g x 100= 0. 45% % caffeine= 0. 0102g10. 2508g x 100= 0. 05% Temperature range= T2-T1 A. Standard Caffeine 27 °C 220 °C = 27 °C B. Purified Caffeine 200 °C- 180 °C= 20 °C References [1] Gilbert,J. Martin S. , â€Å"Organic Chemistry Lab Experiments†. 5th edition, Cengage Learning, USA, ©2011, pp. 73 [2] Engel R. , Kriz G. , Lampman G, Pavia, D. , â€Å"Introduction to Organic Laboratory Techniques, A Small Scale Approach†. 3rd edition, Cengage Learning, USA ,  © 2011, pp. 452 [3] Retrieved on July 11, 2011 from World Wide Web: http//chem. -courses. ucsd. edu/coursepages/uglabs/143A_weizman/expt_3N. pdf [4] Retrieved on July 11, 2011 from World Wide Web: http//ochemonline. pbworks. com/f/05_caffeine. pdf

Irradiation in Food essays

Irradiation in Food essays Food borne illnesses increase dramatically every year, causing death and financial waste in their wake (Shea N.P). Irradiation is the solution but skeptic criticism is implanting fear in the minds of uninformed consumers, consequently preventing the mountains of advantage this new technology has to offer. Skeptics would wait for thousands of so-called new studies to tell us the same thing the old studies told us rather than save lives now. In this paper I will show you that, despite these quarrels over little imperfections, irradiation is a highly regulated, safe way to destroy harmful microorganisms in food and that all proven advantages of food irradiation tower over the few baseless fears of ignorant critics. Each year nearly 80,000,000 people become ill, over 320,000 are hospitalized, and over 5,000 die, all due to food borne illnesses (Robertson N.P). According to Dr. Katherine Shea, a Professor at the University of North Carolina, the Nicholas School of the Environment, and the Medical School at Duke University, these numbers are increasing dramatically each year and the irradiation of food is by far the best solution (Shea N.P). Food irradiation can prevent millions of these food borne illnesses. Irradiation destroys Staphylococcus Aurous and Campylobacter Jejuni which together account for more than 2.6 million food borne illnesses. The irradiation of meat reduces salmonella factors by 99 percent (Lutter N.P). Food irradiation also destroys at least 99.9 percent of the most prominent pathogens such as E coli and listeria monocytogenes (Robertson N.P). These amazing numbers should be enough to persuade everyone to purchase irradiated products but critics say that along with destroying harmful microorganisms, irradiation destroys much of the nutrients in food. This is simply untrue. While the irradiation of food does cause some loss of nutrients, Shea writes that this nutrient loss is comparable...

Social and economic impacts on health care in present day related to Coursework

Social and economic impacts on health care in present day related to budget - Coursework Example Inadequate funds also lead to inadequate drugs to administer to their patients. A society will eventually have an inadequate health care thus leading to loss of lives to people who played vital roles in boosting the state’s GDP either directly or indirectly. Budgetary cut hinders health organization from expansion. A health institution might not be able to improve its structures or have more branches due to lack of enough funds. It also discourages innovation, since there will be no sufficient funds to support any project such as offering ambulance services to both its incoming and outgoing patients (Wang, 2006). Lastly, budgetary cut lowers morale of health workers. There will be no funds to employ new health workers despite the increasing rate of patients. It forces the old health workers to work extra hours in regardless of compensation. Health workers experience salary cut-off or even payment delays since some urgent projects needed immediate funding that took time to bring back the income (Khan & Hildreth, 2002). In summary, every state should put more emphasis on sensitive sectors that often require more funds during budgetary allocation despite the budget

Geographies of war, occupation, resistance, and terrorism Essay - 1

Geographies of war, occupation, resistance, and terrorism - Essay Example It goes without saying that most the Arab World has thrown their weight behind Palestine while the US and its Western allies are behind Israel. In June 7, 1981, Israel had attacked and crippled a nuclear reactor before it became operational in a town near Baghdad. Although it claimed self defense, it came under intense criticism even from US their main allies. Much later, the same strategy was used by US to lead a foreign invasion on Iraq under the guise of different reasons (Kramer & Michalowski, 2005). This paper then will try to answer the question why the US invaded Iraq under Bush administration. Plausible Explanation for the Invasion There are many official justifications that were offered by the Bush administration for its invasion of Iraq. The three main ones were that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, had strong ties with al-Qaeda which all turned to be false after the invasion. The third one was that the sectarian US government was trying to bring democracy in Baghdad. However, unofficially, there are other plausible explanations include control of oil fields and business and for strategic interests. Another explanation that has been overtly explored in the recent past is the assertion that the Israel government and its key supporters in US government caused the Iraq Invasion (Mearsheimer & Walt, 2006). Israel has been over the recent past been dominated by right wing governments and their policies have been supported by their US supporters and have led increased tensions in the Arab world and needless human suffering. However, the idea of invading Iraq is not one of their agendas because it had no value to Israel and if anything it only increased hostility towards Israel in the region (Robert, 2002). It is true that this invasion was supported by many Israel sympathizers and a majority of US Congress members of Jewish origin voted in favor of war resolution together with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Indeed, AIPAC had long been touted as an ardent lobbying and supporter of US invasion of Iraq. Although AIPAC had enormous influence on the matters pertaining to the Israel-Palestinian conflict when it came to congressional voting, it had no role in lobbying for the invasion of Iraq. This was largely due to the knowledge that there was an enormous bipartisan support within the US government to invade oil rich Iraq. There were more powerful interests by the US government than the interests of AIPAC in this country like the arms industry, oil deals among other special interests. As such, these interests from the US government and other lobbyist far outweighed the interests of the Zionist lobby groups (Stephen, 2013). Many people and political analysts have tried to point to Israel as the prime suspect for the invasion by quoting many American Zionists and Israeli officials. However, those who are quoted in support of the invasion had expressed their sentiments after the decision to invade Iraq had been arr ived at in 2002. The invasion intended back then was a two thronged attack which later would be extended to Iran later. What this means is that the Israel lobby groups and the Israeli government was willing to procure public support for an invasion campaign which the Bush led US government had independently determined to undertake. In addition, the Bush administration was an ardent supporter of Israel course of actions in its

Ikea report Essay Example for Free

Ikea report Essay Executive summary This report describes the importance of market research, the target market and market segmentation. How a business can use a situation analysis and SWOT to provide a direction for Ikea. This examines how types of customers and buyer behaviour will impact marketing strategies. Evaluates as a key marketing strategy for Ikea as a case study. Analyses marketing strategies can be used to achieve marketing objectives and describes some ethical and legal things that a business must manage and respond to while marketing. Business Overview Ikea is a well-known global brand with hundreds of stores across the world. In order to improve performance, it must assess its external and competitive environment. This will reveal the key opportunities it can take advantage of and the threats it must deal with. Ikea responds to both internal and external issues in a proactive and dynamic manner by using its strengths and reducing its weaknesses. Through this, Ikea is able to generate the strong growth it needs to retain a strong identity in the market. Ikea’s passion combines design, low prices, economical use of resources, and responsibility for people and the environment. The companys products, processes and systems all demonstrate its environmental stance. For example, clever use of packaging and design means more items can fit into a crate, which means fewer delivery journeys. This in turn reduces Ikeas carbon footprint. Ikea believes that there is no compromise between doing good business and being a good business. It aims to go beyond profitability and reputation. Ikea is intent on becoming a leading example in developing a sustainable business. This will create a better everyday life for its customers. Market research When Ikea conducts market research it is important that the business first determines its information needs. The business should have some idea about the type of information it is looking for. It could vary from customer profiles or brand awareness through to attitudes towards certain new products. Once its information needs are established, the business can determine the most appropriate research method. This is primarily done by IKEA group although individual stores would use sales reports in order to  gather data about the types of customers and popular products that are particular to the area or store. The Target Market The target market is a group of customers for whom a particular product has been developed. The business hopes that these people will buy the product when it is made available in the marketplace. Some products appeal to all consumers, while others have limited appeal. A business needs to understand the nature of consumer markets. The three types of markets Ikea appeals to are Consumer, Mass and niche. The products in Ikea produce are universal to all and with their flat pack design they fall into the niche market. Ikea focuses on meeting the customer demands and satisfying their needs. Ikeas main focus is that of the selling orientation. Market segmentation Market segmentation is the process of breaking down a total market into small markets It allows businesses to focus their efforts and resources on a section of the market. By focusing on a particular target group, It would consider the features that consumers of this target group would be looking for in a product, the appropriate promotional strategies to generate awareness of and sustain interest in the product, and the most suitable pricing policies and distribution channels. Market segmentation and product/service differentiation,Demographic segmentation, dividing consumers into groups based on selected demographics, so that different groups can be treated deferent Situation analysis and SWOT Situation analysis is the way in which a business can examine the current position within the market and provides them with direction for their marketing campaign. SWOT is the first stage of planning and looks at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in a project or business venture. For example, one of Ikeas key strengths is its strategic aim to use no more material than necessary in the production of each item. One particular table, the NORDEN table, uses knotty birch wood. The knots in this wood usually mean it is rejected by other retailers and manufacturers as unsuitable for use. However, IKEA has made the knots part of its design feature. Types of customers. psychographic segmentation, this is based on lifestyle and personality, values and interest, Ikea does not divide the store into sections but you have to walk through the whole store before you can exit, this is a strategy to sell more products. The types of customers vary from people, households, firms, educational institutions, government, clubs and societies, religious organisations. The customers that account for most of Ikeas sale is the bold customer. Ikea is a business that is not aiming towards a purchase occasion but the usage rate of their product, being household items they aim for their products to last well and function to a good quality standard. Ikea has a good user loyalty with a wide range of buyers from the types of customers. Consumers see how affordable Ikea products are and how well they last, as long as they don’t mind putting the product together. The buying process would not be different from Ikea customers but the free yearly catalogue gives purchasers time to plan a trip to Ikea as the Ikea stores are not usually located conveniently due to the large floor space required to house their product. Ikea stores are not usually located outside the inner metropolitan area for this reason. There are psychological, sociocultural, economic and government reasons why people shop or don’t shop are Psychological segmentation Branding. Ikea is ranking 41 in the world’s most valuable brands. The brand name alone is worth 8 million. The brand image for Ikea stands for affordable, contemporary design and its flat pack product range that gives Ikea its identity. The brand name or logo essentially provides a message to the people of the quality and value associated with that product, when they see it they immediately form judgements on the quality, a strong brand name is essentially enhancing the relationship between a business and its customer. Marketing and strategies Product Ikea’s products are tangible, Product matters because it is the reason that customers go to Ikea in the first place. Ikea has the market in flat pack furniture and the unique design attracts customers and meets their needs, this product could include the prestige of owning the product which would also relate to psychological factors. Place Place matters because it is how the customers access the product. The Ikea experience is more than just products, it is a retail concept laid out in such a way that families, singles, couples etc. can enjoy shopping for furniture. A day at Ikea has been described as more of an outing than a shopping trip. Price Price matters because it is at the heart of the Ikea concept. Flat pack furniture cannot compete on price with upmarket, fully assembled pieces, so it is essential that Ikea continues to keep its prices below the competition. Price including pricing methods, market and competition based, Competition based pricing is the commonly used pricing strategy. Promotion Promotion is the most public aspect of marketing and it matters because it helps to drive customers into the stores in order to buy furniture. Ethical and legal. Ikea is recognised as a business that is both legally and ethically a responsible business that looks beyond profit and develops a positive workforce with these practices, advertising is very powerful in developing the wrong or wright idea and misleading advertising is bad ethics. Developing products in 3rd world country is considered unethical because they get payed well below minimum wage. Ikea produces environmentally responsible products, the flat pack design would be argued that it minimizes wastage and the cardboard would be environmentally friendly. The role of consumer law deals with Deceptive and misleading advertising which could be false information about products features and content, false special offers which don’t exist and  overstating the benefits that a product will provide to the consumer. Price discrimination, giving preference to some retail stores by providing them with lower prices than is offered to the competitors of those retailers. The competitor and consumer act aims to discourage the price discrimination in the business environment. Implied conditions and warranties is a great way for a business to ensure the product will last at least the warrantee time, this attracts customers and the consumer expects the business to fulfill their legal obligation to provide a refund or replacement or the product if there is a manufacturing problem within the warranted date, regardless the business by law. Resale price maintenance, this aims to balance the profit maximization of a business, Ikea ensures that the quality of a product in one country doesn’t differ from another. A manufacturer cannot refuse to sell the goods to a retailor if the retailor intends to sell the product for below the recommended price.