Regenerative Battery For Human Electric Hybrid Bicycle Engineering Essay

Regenerative Battery For Human Electric Hybrid Bicycle Engineering Essay In this report, a proposed project, the human-electric hybrid bicycle, also known as Pedelec driven mainly by human pedalling force with additional assistance force from the battery powered electric motor that has a regenerative power feature during declining slopes. Introduction Automobiles have always been essential for people living in cities as a form of transportation to carry out their daily routine. According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, a staggering number of 77,609,901 cars and commercial vehicles were produced in the year 2010. A 25.8 percent change compare to the previous year (OICA, 2011). Based on a research report of the Fifth U.S. Climate Action Report, transportation activities contribute thirty-three percent of the worlds emission of carbon dioxide in 2007 and nearly up to sixty percent of emission came from the combustion of petroleum from personal transportation (U.S. Climate Action Report, 2010). Consequently, it is without doubt, cars are one of the major causes of global warming due to the emission of green house gasses. Currently, hybrid and electrical vehicles seems to be the preeminent solution to counter the problem that arises from petrol powered automobiles without eliminating its advantages. Ho wever, electrical powered vehicles have its own disadvantages as it requires a certain amount of charging time. On the other hand, electric bicycle are making huge waves among town communities because it is less strenuous compare to the standard bicycle, thus, enable users to travel longer distance without using much energy. Amount of time needed for charging still arises in electric bicycles. The Regenerative Battery for Pedelecs on declining terrains is able to solve the problem by enabling the user to automatically charge the bicycle battery during downhill slopes. Literature Review Electric bicycle, Hybrid Bicycle and Human-Electric Bicycles or Pedelecs have only recently become a worldwide phenomenon due to the rise in petroleum prices. The technology of these types of bicycles is still relative new and research popularity has merely beginning to rise in the past recent years. Therefore, there is lack of research papers and literature available in the area of hybrid or electric bicycle in scholarly journals or professional organization such as the IEEE. The following literature review evaluates on eleven scholarly journals to elucidate the technology involved in developing electric, Hybrid or Pedelecs bicycles and its performance characteristics. Among the eleven journals included, a report by Muetze and Tan (2007) gave a detailed and organized report based on the characterization of electric bicycle, both theoretically and experimentally. The report includes as well the requirements of different performances ideal for electric bicycles and obstacles faced to endorse it. Regulations and safety factors for electrics bicycles in countries such as Japan, Europe, China and United States are outlined. Research was done to discover the advantages and disadvantages of technical performances for different part type of the bicycles such as the assist type, motor, motor assembly, motor placement, throttle and battery type. The report also includes a power over speed graph collected from results collected with different parameters such as the influence of weight, influence of the slope and influence of wind. Results gathered from the report is able to provide a guideline for developing an electric bicycle suitable for the market trend a nd improve the performances of electric bicycles for future developments. While the assessment on the performance of electric bicycle is essential, energy management too must be given consideration. Morchin (1998) identifies the energy consumed by electric bicycle and emission of green houses gasses can be reduced by two methods. Such aspects can be achieved by optimizing the ratings of the battery and engine while delivering power output by each source under expected driving conditions (Morchin, 1998). In the report, an on-board energy manager was mounted on an electric bicycle to track the energy level in the battery and effectively divide loads between the battery and the engine. The Langranges theorem was used to calculate the energy consumed under affecting parameters of air drag, hill slopes and friction. However, the study done only applies to electric powered bicycles and not for hybrid bicycles or Pedelecs. Research can be done to extend for various types of bicycles and different type of terrains. The term hybrid used in the paper is rather misle ading because the paper focuses on fully electric bicycle while the term hybrid bicycle often refers a bicycle that runs on both petroleum gas and electricity or human pedal force with a battery powered motor. In a related research on power management in electric assisted bicycle, Brand and Ertugrul (2007) examines and discover that an in-hub direct drive located on the front wheel of the bicycle could give better performance by electric braking and stable manoeuvring. Furthermore, the report conducted experiments on 17 riders from different categories. All riders are evenly divided based on gender, weight, age, regular and irregular cyclist. The report is comprehensive and able to substantiate the effectiveness of the in-hub direct drive. Additionally , the report concentrate on evaluating riding conditions of various type of rider group to determine the optimum power requirement and does no focuses on designing an alternative for electric bicycles. It is noted in the report that aerodynamic streamlining and development of a high efficiency inverter can be a further developed from the report. Most of the study done about electric bicycles revolves around the battery storage system. Solutions may compromise of electric regeneration (Liu et al., 2008); (Somchaiwong Ponglangka, 2006), or petroleum-electric bicycle (Nagendran Senthil, 2010);(Xiong, et al., 2010) . Liu, et al., (2008) designed four regenerative braking strategies by turning mechanical energy into electrical energy to extend the battery life-span. Matlab and Simulink were used to create a model of the electric bike and the four proposed regenerative braking strategies. The four braking control strategies are Most Feedback Power (MFP), Most System Efficiency (MSE), Fixed Torque Control Strategy (FTC) and Fixed Feedback Current Control (FFC) (Liu, et al., 2008). Clear description and illustration were given on all the four purposed strategies. The report illustrates theoretically using computer simulations and there were no prototype build or practical experiment conducted with bicycle users. Alternatively, Somchaiwong and Ponglangka (2006) proposed a regenerative power control system to solve the increment of cycle speed of motor that are redundant for example, during a downhill path. The research experiments on the relationship between the voltages supplied and motor speed. The result shows that if the cycle motor runs on the specific speed requirement, the motor would in turn generate a specific output voltage. Another prevalent solution battery problems faced in electric bicycles are petroleum-electric hybrid bicycles. Nagendran and Senthil (2010) proposed a Hybrid Bicycle with Three Speed Transmission System to solve problems faces in current electric bicycles. The purposed idea of the hybrid bicycle runs on both electric and petroleum to recharge the bicycles battery storage system. An added feature to the purposed idea is a three speed gear for effective control the speed of the motor and IC (Internal Combustion) engine. The bicycle runs like an ordinary electric bicycle on Phase One. When the battery storage system is depleted, the motor would then runs on the internal combustion engine. A Change Over is installed to connect and disconnects the motor from the IC engine or vice-versa. A shaft coupler is used to connect the chain drive while a chain drive is used to obtain balance of the bicycle. The research does not illustrate the practical construction of the three speed transmission system. In a related topic, Liu, et al., designed a LPG (Liqufied Petroleum Gas) electric hybrid bicycle that is able to run on fully engine driven, fully electric motor driven or hybrid mode. Due to space limitation in the bicycle a four-stroke spark ignition LPG engine power system is introduced in the research. The gasoline engine was modified into a LPG engine by increasing the compression ratio, enlarging the spark advance angle and increasing the ignition energy. The research also includes the design of the transmission system and control system of the hybrid bicycle. A prototype of the design was developed and several tests were conducted on city traffic conditions. While most studies focuses on a single bicycle type such as electric bicycle or Pedelecs, Indulal Nair (2007) incorporates both types of bicycle and the implementation of Fuzzy Logic as a control system. The bicycle runs on three different modes, Manual Mode, Power Mode and Automatic Mode. Manual Mode works like an ordinary where pedalling is required with no extra assistance. Power Mode fully runs on electricity and does not require any paddling while Automatic Mode provides electric assistance on top of manual pedalling. Fuzzy Logic is implemented to provide comfortable riding and sufficient drive assistance under any conditions. After the completion of the design, arrays of inputs were fed to the Fuzzy Logic Controller using Matlab Simulation to study the outputs. Results from the simulation found that the performance of the system over various conditions were acceptable. The research states that the design can be further extended into larger vehicles. To optimize the potential of battery storage system, Sousa, et al., (2007) developed an electronic converter powered by two type power supplies, the battery and super capacitors. Batteries are the primary storage while capacitors are used to avoid deep discharging of the battery and as a backup storage. In this research, supercapacitors are used instead and can able to serve as a primary storage source. The developed system was built on the electric bicycle and results were gathered. A decision circuit is needed because the design is capable in increasing the autonomy of electric vehicles to avoid high current peak and fast discharges of the batteries. The research open doors for future work such as improving power circuit to increase efficiency and analyse the autonomy by altering the role of the battery and supercapacitor. Coates and Charkey (2002) states that batteries testing on Sealed Nickel-Zinc Batteries are conducted for electric bicycle applications because it provides the s ame amount of energy with half the weight compare to the standard lead-acid batteries. Hsu,et al., (2011) poses a solution to provide comfort and safety measure in different types of Pedelecs riding environment while optimizing the performance of the battery. The quality of riding conditions can be improved by overcoming three forces of nature, air drag, friction and hill drag. The key to the solution is the pedalling power and total power of the required power should be constant and sufficient additional power is provided to overcome any of the three forces. The design is also able to solve instability problem in Pedelecs when the motor abruptly occurs by keeping the instantaneous acceleration of the assisted power be kept within the Safety Zone and Comfort Zone. Real environment simulation scenarios were conducted on different road types and pedal force in urban areas. Results confirms the design has better energy utilization compare to existing conventional and delta learning rule based assisted power methods. The report provides room for further research on solving the method to automatically adjust the motor to the different type of physical conditions of the riders. After the evaluation of all the eleven journals, it can be concluded that most of the journals focuses on solving the problems currently faced by electric bicycle that provide insufficient energy in the battery storage and insufficient power assistance. There are ample room for further development on electric bicycles and Pedelecs because it technology is relatively new. Further research done on this area would benefit societies living in urban area to be used as a form of environmental friendly transportation as opposed to conventional cars and motorcycles. Problem Statement Based on previous research done on electric bicycles, most studies concur that the depletion of petroleum and the rise in the emission of greenhouse gasses are the factor that contribute to the advancement of electric bicycles (Brand Ertugrul, 2007; Hsu, et al., 2011; Indulal Nair, 2007; Morchin, 1998; Nagendran Senthil, 2010; Sousa, et al., 2007; Xiong, et al., 2010). In spite of this, there are still plenty of room for further development and enhancement in the area of electrical bicycles. The battery storage system incorporated in electric bicycles provides insufficient energy for long distance travels and does not carry self-charging capabilities (Coates Charkey, 2002; Nagendran Senthil, 2010). Electric assisted bicycles or Pedelecs confront problems such as an abrupt driving force when the motor is triggered (Hsu, et al., 2011). Project Background The project focuses on improving the overall performance of electric assisted bicycle or Pedelecs. Since there is a demand on electric bicycles, it would be beneficial for society and business organization to enrol the development of Pedelecs. In a report by Time News, most electric bicycles run on lead-acid batteries and are unsuitable for the rising requirements of daily transportation (Ramsy, 2009). Numerous solutions were established by various engineers and organizations to counter these problems. Some researchers focus on the regeneration of electricity from external sources (Somchaiwong Ponglangka, 2006; Xiong, et al., 2010). While some concentrate on using distinctive forms of power management (Brand Ertugrul, 2007; Hsu, et al., 2011; Morchin, 1998; Nagendran Senthil, 2010). For the proposed Regenerative Battery for Pedelecs project, it confronts both of these methods to solve the battery problems that arise from conventional electrical bicycle. In addition to replacing ca rs to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses, the regenerative power during a declining gradient reduces the dependency on electricity. The generation of electricity from Independent Power Producers (IPP) indirectly affect the environment. For instance, the construction of Hydroelectric Plant requires large areas particularly in remote areas and substantial quantities of fossil fuels are used to power up machineries (McKinney, et al., 2007). The natural habitat, home to both flora and fauna would be destroyed in the process. The proposed regenerative power is designed to reduce the power consumption in the battery storage while providing rechargeable power supply at the same time. The regenerative power incorporated in the design would be able to solve issues relating to the insufficient power in the battery storage system. It would be able to expand the life cycle of the battery for longer distance travels. Most electric bicycles owners today complain that electric bicycles do no t provide sufficient power assistance. The latest Pedelecs today has power-assistance during hill climbing or on irregular surface roads to provide the additional boost without having the rider to exert much force. However, Hsu,et al., (2011) states that there are insufficient power assist to overcome three forces, air drag, friction and hill drag. Air drag and friction does not require much power compare to hill drag. The motor of the power assist provides enough force to overcome hill drag, friction or air drag while the pedalling power by the rider remains constant. This would be enable riders to conserve energy for longer riding. Most seniors find that conventional bicycles are strenuous and dangerous. Therefore, some seniors would rather stay in the comfort of their homes without getting much exercise and fresh air. Pedalecs would be able to encourage seniors to overcome their fear towards conventional bicycles. In urban town areas, getting out buying some groceries would sometimes be a hassle especially if the grocery shop is not within walking distance. Most people today would rather drive their car out to buy some fruits and vegetables or to fetch the daily newspaper. It is a very unhealthy habit that began to manifest among the town citizens. Little did they know that getting fresh air by cycling or taking a daily stroll would improve the well-being of the person and reduces health risk such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. According to a Congressional Report, less than one trip in one hundred percent is by bicycle (Congress, 2002). The report also mentioned that frequent bike trips would also cure the addiction of smokers and alcoholics. Regenerative braking in electric bicycles is gaining popularity too. The Panasonic Vivi RX 10-S features a braking system that recharges a 10AH Li-ion secondary batter located next to rear wheel of the bicycle (Toto, 2008). Liu, et al., (2008) mentioned that braking control can be used to convert mechanical energy to electric energy by improving battery life-span. Using the same theory, the proposed design is able to make use of hilly areas to generate electricity. Since no energy is needed for bicycle going downhill, the bicycle still moves downwards due to the forces of gravity. For certain cases, with the regenerative power, braking is not required because the regenerator is able to reduce the speed of the overall bicycle while going downhill. Methodology The scope of this research is divided into five stages. The time scope of the project is expected to be completed in 9 months. Research At the beginning of the Final Year Project, intensive research on the area of electric bicycles must be done before designing of the project takes place. Research would be an explanatory research in the beginning to obtain an overview on the research area and to discover alternatives to the research objective. Evaluation on other research papers done to identify the new developments in technology and rooms for further studies is noted. Solutions can be developed by acknowledging the problem faced by the society today. Qualitative Research such as surveys and Questionnaires can be conducted to identify the current problem faced for further development. This is important because the success of a product is determined by meeting the demand of society today. Brainstorming sessions are required after the collected data is evaluated to determine the feasibility of the project and to acquire various alternatives to the problem. This stage is expected to complete within a month. Design The designing process takes place after the evaluation of the collected data is finalised. A basic concept should be achieved at this stage. All the knowledge on mechanics, electronics and programming is required to design the proposed idea. Computer simulations are to be use to design and test the feasibility of the idea. Autodesk Inventor can be used to construct the framework and provide a visual overview of the bicycle. Matlab and Labview can be used in the programming development of the regenerative power system. Computer simulations are used before the construction of the bicycle to virtually simulating the design while reducing unnecessary expenditure. This stage is expected to complete in 2 months. Implementation The implementation stage involves building the prototype based on the finalized design. A conventional bicycle is required as the main structure of the design. Motor, Lithium Ion Battery and Transmission System is needed to modify the bicycle into an electrical-assisted bicycle. Torque Sensors, Slope Sensors or Tilt Sensors are installed to sense when the motor is needed. The Slope or Tilt Sensors can be replaced by Apple Application known as Gyroscope for an extra appealing feature. Additional hardware such as a state-of-charge indicator, power tab hub and throttle switch can be added later on. This stage is expected to complete in 3 months. Testing The testing phase involves the practical assessment on the now fully built bicycle. Various tests would be performed to determine the performance of the entire system. Two types of testing can be conducted, laboratory testing and field testing. Laboratory testing involves a set of variables such as power, efficiency, cycle speed, life-span of the rechargeable battery and the motor. For field testing, a laptop with a PCMIA card is incorporated to the system to acquire the data. The testing would involve around twenty volunteers from different age group, gender, weight and physical fitness level. All volunteers have to go through a predetermine path with different type of terrain in an urban area. The laptop is used to record data such as pedalling torque, bicycle speed and applied power. The data collected is to be used to evaluate the performance of the system. A set of feedback forms could be given out at the end of the testing to gauge the satisfactory level of each volunteer towar ds the system. This stage is expected to complete in 2 months. Report Report writing is to be conducted at the end of all the four stages. The scope and design process in building the system are to be complied. The data collected are tabulated in graph and figures to illustrate the outcomes. This stage is expected to complete within month. Limitations There is some limitation that would be encountered in the process of implementing the system. Budget constrain would be a factor due to the costly hardware needed to construct the bicycle. A full-size prototype is more appropriate because a smaller-scale prototype would not be serving its purpose. In a newspaper report by The Star, due to safety issues, electric bicycles may be taken off the road if the Cabinet accepts a recommendation from the Transport Ministry (Kong, 2011). If the amendment of banning electric bicycle is implemented throughout the country; it may also affect the field-testing of the system. Research Objectives This study embarks on the following objectives: To produce an environmental friendly transportation as an alternative to petrol consumption cars To solve instability issues involving the abrupt acceleration when the motor is turned on To provide an alternative regenerative power on declining slopes to lengthen the life-span of the battery storage system To improve the overall performance to Pedelecs that are available in the market today To design a form of transportation for suitable in dense populated urban areas Research Question What are the current impact on the environment and ways to solve the problem? What are the current issues faced by electric bicycle? What addition or alternative regenerative power can be installed to conventional electric bicycles? What can be done to appeal to the market segment to buy the product? How to solve issues involving unhealthy habits of the society by relying on cars for short distance travels? Significance of the Project The proposed regenerative bicycle would be able to serve as a stepping stone for further development on electric assisted bicycles. Studies by other researches can be done by referring of the design system used and the data collected. Limitations and problems identified can be solved by future research. The proposed design hopes to significantly reduce the emission of greenhouses gasses emitted by petrol driven cars. If the design meets the demands of the society, manufactures would start producing more electrical assisted-bicycle which in return, reduces the market price of the system to reach out to all segments of the society. Expected Results The expected outcome of this project is to successfully develop a working actual size electrical assist bicycle prototype capable of converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. From the project, novel theories can be established that would indirectly benefit other areas of sciences. Furthermore, the theories presented would lead to implementation for future potential applications. The tabulations of data collected from the project is to also encourage potential researchers especially budget constrain researchers to engage in the area of electric powered vehicles. A stable handling electrical assisted bicycle is expected to be built to provide safe and comfortable riding experience. In return, physically fit or unphysical fit riders would be able to fill the joy of riding a bicycle for travelling or recreational use. The design and technology incorporated in the project is expected to appeal to the society and provide as an alternative to cars and motorcycles. This would direct ly reduce carbon footprint and slower the process of global warming.

The World Today As A Unipolar Society

The World Today As A Unipolar Society The world is a complex and dynamic with almost endless combinations of events leading to different outcomes. Sovereign states, multinational corporations, NGOs, militias, terrorists, regional and global organisations, media outlets and rogue states affect global relations. Environmental changes, natural disasters, regional and inter-state conflict, economic instability, migration and demographic changes are a fraction of the events that add uncertainty to the path of future global relations. So can we neatly categorise this multifarious world? Gordon Allport said categories are nouns that cut slices through our environment. This applies to all things, not simply to a persons nationality or skin colour. From birth we learn to categorise the world, to drop items or situations into buckets that broadly meet its features. This helps us process complex information without being utterly overwhelmed. Regarding world order; no two situations are alike but we are able to apply the basic constructs to a polar system. There are those who argue for unipolarity, multipolarity and nonpolarity. This essay will assess each of the arguments in turn and, in conclusion, you will be presented with an opinion based on those arguments. In 1939 the international system was multipolar with France, Germany, Italy, Japan, USSR, UK and US as the major global powers. This balance of power led to a total war between two alliances with two superpowers emerging, the USSR and US. From 1945 these two superpowers were engaged in a political and military standoff, the Cold War, which despite its deadly potential delivered a degree of stability to world order. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 left a period of uncertainty that saw the US take the role as global hegemon. This power shift has been ongoing since well before WWII, even before Carl von Clausewitzs days in the multipolar early 19th century, and above all this demonstrates the dynamic and ever shifting nature of the international system of power. Unipolarity can be defined as a system in which a single power is geopolitically preponderant because its capabilities are potent enough to preclude the formation of an overwhelming balancing coalition against it  [1]  . To suggest that a unipolar state must be capable of achieving all its goals, everywhere, by itself is nonsense  [2]  . If this were the case there would never have been a unipolar state on the global stage. There have, of course, been unipolar powers; America is the most recent and the best example but the Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire and Chinas Han Dynasty are other examples. There is no stomach for anything other than US hegemony on Capitol Hill. The US has dominated since the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. An entire generation of Americans has grown up knowing nothing apart from US hegemony and they are not keen to lose it. Following the end of the Iraq War there was no flurry of US innovation to try and prevent future Iraq wars; there was instead a shift in the doctrinal approach of the Pentagon towards counter insurgency and more money spent on equipping the military to fare even better in future Iraq wars. Key factors defining superpower status are military, economic, political and technological. An economically strong US has built a military, unmatched in terms of the size of its technologically advanced forces. The US Navys fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 navies combined.  [3]  China and India have larger armed forces than the US but the US has more forces stationed overseas (460,000 is 146 countries). It has the most technologically advanced weaponry in the world, spending almost as much on defence as all other nations combined  [4]  . This ability to project power globally is significantly unmatched by any power in the world and this gives the US a more prominent place at the international table. Of the four key factors, military power is the most relevant to maintaining US global hegemony but even US culture has migrated around the globe. MTV, CNN, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Disney and Hollywood are but a few US brand names in what is known in some camps as th e McDomination Effect. The US enjoys a unique geographical advantage, having allies on each of its borders; Canada, Mexico (an uneasy ally but a strong trading partner), and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Other states tend to have their ascent to superpower status blocked by their neighbours. The huge margin between the US and its nearest competitors may have reduced in recent years but it remains. Furthermore there is no other single country that can compete with the US in all areas of power. Yale historian Paul Kennedy claimed the US would suffer from imperial overstretch but, in such awe of US success in Afghanistan in 2002, he wrote nothing has ever existed like this disparity of power; nothing. The notion of overstretch is largely ill founded as the potential final nail in the coffin for the US; unlike Great Britain, France and Spain before it, the US does not crave territory, almost before they put boots on foreign soil they are looking for an exit strategy  [5]  . The commonly held view is that unipolarity is unstable, mainly due to the tendency of other states to seek counterbalance and inevitably cause conflict. In this case, however, there are no power enemies that are seeking to directly counter the US. Indeed, following the September 11 attacks India, Pakistan, Russia and even China have revised their foreign policies regarding the US. Even North Korea may be entering back into dialogue in April with the US over dismantling its nuclear programme. Which other countries enjoy the ability to disregard the international system without retribution? Not only disregard the system but draw their allies along with them, such as with the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cases of torture of terror suspects, the last invasion of Iraq, not signing up to the Ottowa Treaty (despite being a P5 member of the UN Security Council), the Highway of Death massacre in Iraq; the list is extensive but the point remains that the US remains at the head of the international table despite multiple infringements of international law or, in the case of the Ottowa Treaty, setting a poor example to the international community. Charles Krauthammer coined the Unipolar Moment in the early 1990s and in 2002 he suggested that moment had become the Unipolar Era. Since 1990 however, the US has been at war in the Middle East, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia in the main. It has suffered a disastrous presidency under Bush and financial meltdown following the collapse of the sub-prime market. In addition it has suffered a major terrorist attack, a catastrophic diversion of attention from Afghanistan to Iraq regarding WMDs and has suffered a moral own goal by practising torture and violating human rights, specifically the authorised use of waterboarding by CIA personnel on US terror suspects. Financially the country is a shell following Bushs presidency; he took office with $120 billion in reserve and left a deficit of $1.2 trillion eight years later. In every dimension other than military power the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from U.S. dominance. That does not mean we are entering an anti-American world but we are moving into a post-American world, one defined and directed from many places and by many people  [6]  . Many argue, most notably Richard Haass, that the unipolar moment is over, that sovereign states have lost the monopoly on power in a world now dominated by dozens of state and non-state actors, each with a significant amount of power. In todays world, states are challenged from above, by regional and global organisations (UN, NATO, IMF and WTO), from below by militias and terrorist groups (drug cartels, Al Qaeda, CIRA and Hezbollah) and from the side by NGOs (Amnesty International, the Red Cross and Greenpeace) and the media. The six major world powers are joined by global, regional and functional organisations that wield tremendous power; consider OPEC for example. In this nonpolar environment, mechanisms for providing solutions to world problems are becoming multilateral in nature and not state driven. Recent meetings at the UN have been held including government departments, UN agencies, NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, foundations, think tanks and universities  [7]  . Military might does not equate to effect. The events of 11 Sep 01 demonstrate that a small organisation with minimal funding and manpower can strike a devastating blow to a powerful state. The events since have shown that, even with the full prosecution of its power, the US has been unable to bring the war on terror to a satisfactory conclusion. Power and influence have become less synonymous in recent years due, in part, to the decline of the US on the world stage but also to the growth in stature of other states and non-state actors. The increase in production and consequential consumption of fossil fuels has seen substantial funds flow to oil producing countries. These countries have enjoyed the benefits of these profits and are now rising in power and influence themselves. The success of the US machine has contributed to its own downfall. The dollar is in decline, worldwide talks are taking place regarding the cessation of trading in the dollar for oil; already many global exchan ge holdings are now in other currencies.  [8]  The emerging BRIC and Middle Eastern countries are discussing alternative currencies for international reserve. Globalisation is a major factor in the global diffusion of power. In both the physical and the virtual world, borders have become more porous over the last 20 years and therefore less susceptible to state control. In the same way that states have increased in their ability to succeed financially and technologically, non-state actors have matured in the same way. This, coupled with more porous borders in a smaller world has enabled far more actors to exert their influence around the globe. Terrorist groups communicate worldwide via internet, move funds electronically via internet and move members internationally via a high tech worldwide air bridge. Media groups such as CNN and Al Jazeera distribute current footage of war zones across the world that has not been subject to government censorship; many non-western countries receive instant footage in their native language, not subject to western control. US primacy has been challenged and found wanting. The dollar is in decline and countries are regularly able to resist US petitions (Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Zimbabwe most recently). Other states have grown significantly (including China, Brazil, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia) and there has been a great deal of backlash to Americanism. Despite the decline of US hegemony, no state has stepped up to the plate to take on the role of hegemon. This, combined with globalisation, has led to a unipolar world. So what of multipolarity? Irans rise to nuclear power seems inevitable; supported by both Russia and China, financially and in the UN, the US appears powerless to halt Irans nuclear progress. Irans accumulation of wealth shows no sign of waning, especially as it holds three fifths of the worlds oil reserves and two fifths of the worlds natural gas reserves. Russia has made a massive comeback under Putin. It holds half of the worlds supply of nuclear weapons and has the third largest gold and foreign currency reserve in the world. There is heavy reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies across the continent and, with the financial crisis pushing investors to liquidate assets into oil, gold and other commodities, Russia benefited greatly in recent times. China has also rapidly risen as a diplomatic and economic power; at current rates the country will lead the US in GDP by 2050. Despite its unusual peaceful rise to power, compared with Britain, the US, Japan, Germany and Russia before it, China may be prepared to support Russias objection to a possible US anti-missile shield in Europe by use of military power. China has been one of the first to move into Africa, capitalising on untouched oil and mineral reserves. Also there has been a direct challenge to the US might via cyberspace; Chinese hackers have repeatedly compromised Pentagon computer security, rendering entire systems inoperative. India is another rising power and a nuclear power. It too has very good relations with Russia and China, who has given financial support. Unfortunately India suffers with a similar problem to the EU in that it is a multi-faceted entity that faces challenges from within regarding a single voice and unity in aim. Further to this it is hampered in its quest for hegemony in South Asia by Pakistan who, although significantly weaker in conventional terms, possesses a nuclear capability. Brazil has made a meteoric rise in power in recent times. Already a mineral rich country it has recently discovered extensive oil reserves offshore and has signed a multi-billion dollar military technology sharing deal with France. It sits under the US security umbrella and has no serious threats from its neighbours and does not seek to be a military power but an economic one. Vast swathes of land have been made fertile and the country now leads the world in the exports of many foodstuffs and is the second highest producer of ethanol in a world looking for alternative fuels. The Muslim world is increasing in power across the world. Birth rates in Muslim countries are increasing and the availability of medical services is improving this gives rise to longer life expectancy coupled with a larger young population. With the concentration of fossil fuels in Middle Eastern countries and the financial benefits that brings we can expect to see increase in the effect of the Muslim world on the west. This may take the form of states increasing in production and becoming more powerful but there is a chance this could mean increased migration to the west. The US remains primus inter pares but is no longer hegemon. It now relies on more imports and is able to export less (exports of goods and services grew by 12.0% in 2008 to $1.84 trillion, while imports increased 7.4% to $2.52 trillion  [9]  ). Meanwhile other countries are growing at increasing rates (China grew 9.6% in 2008 compared with 1.1% in the US  [10]  ). Chinas GDP growth may be increasing but it is unlikely that spending on defence will come close to the US. The poor majority Chinese population will continue to sap economic growth. EU GDP may be in excess of the US and its armed forces may be great in number but the union is not yet truly unified and the region is suffering an ageing population. Japan too is suffering an ageing and shrinking population. India is making huge advances in its economy but suffers from a bureaucratic system with little in the way of infrastructure. Russia could be seen as a possible contender again, although it is challenged from within by a declining population (falling at about 0.5% per year since 1991  [11]  and internal challenges to its government. The most recent example of nonpolarity is Iran. With the surge in oil prices Iran has accumulated wealth and power and is now seemingly aspiring to join the nuclear family. Despite its protestations, the US is unable to turn the tide without significant help from other states and organisations to assist with sanctions or to block access to nuclear technology and materials.  [12]  Iran now has the ability to exert influence over OPEC, which in turn could significantly affect the US. There is no doubt that the US still leads the world in the power stakes but its place at the top has become more unsteady in recent years. Iraq and Afghanistan have cost a considerable amount to fund and have turned opinion against them around the globe. US intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan has seen its national debt rise to over $250 billion; this coupled with the recent sub-prime market crash has seen the US economy weakened considerably. Hence the accumulation of wealth elsewhere in the world has a more marked effect. GDP growth differentials are reducing. The EU already beats the US GDP by some considerable margin and both Japan and China are closing the gap The world today But polarity is not a binary phenomenon. The world will not stay unipolar for decades and then suddenly, one afternoon, become multipolar  [13]  . The US remains primus inter pares more powerful in more areas than any other country. This does not mean, however, that it remains at the top of a unipolar system; Iran is a case in point. Success in the US has fed many other countries around the world, particularly oil producing states. China has benefited from US trade and with all While the concept of categorisation discussed at the beginning of this essay has clear benefits, we cannot simply assign one of the given categories to the world today. Unipolarity has been a reality since the collapse of the Soviet Union but the unipolar moment is truly over. The US does not have the ability to act with impunity or support any longer. There is a definite case of imperial overstretch, given its financial position, with the war on terror. Heavy economic and financial reliance on China sits paradoxically with the US position regarding Russia, Iran, India (opposed as it was to the Indian nuclear testing programme) and, more irritatingly, Chinese cyber war. There may currently be no state that is directly challenging the US on the global stage but the door of opportunity is certainly open for others to pose a threat to the US if conflict is provoked. While it is true that globalisation has increased the power of non-state actors to have an effect on the world stage, they are only able to apply pressure to sovereign states. Ultimately the sovereign states retain the real power, the combination of military might, geopolitical influence, economic power and technological advancement. Other actors play a key role in making the system work and providing solutions to global problems (global warming, financial crises, conflict prevention and so on) but the state remains king on the world stage. Multipolarity is re-emerging as nation states amass wealth, technology and increase cooperation through globalisation. There is possibility of conflict arising from this situation, especially with the Middle Eastern situation and with various states opposed to the US and its foreign policy. The reality would appear to be that we are in a transition phase between two elements of polarity, those being the unipolar world of the post Cold War era and the multipolar world of the future.

Holdens Depression in J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye Essay

Everybody feels depressed at some time or another in their lives.   However, it becomes a problem when depression is so much a part of a person's life that he or she can no longer  experience happiness.   This  happens to the young boy, Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye.   Mr. Antolini accurately views the cause of Holden's depression as his lack of personal motivation, his inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness to overlook the obvious which collectively results in him giving up on life before he ever really has a chance to get it started.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Holden lacks the essential ability to motivate himself, which he needs to survive in the 'real' world.   He continues to be kicked out of every school he attends because he fails to apply himself, his simple reasoning being 'How do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don't' (213).   Everybody else in his life tries to encourage him to care about school and his grades but it doesn?t make any difference.   From the start of the novel Holden?s history teacher at Pencey tells him ?I?d like to put some sense in that head of yours, boy.   I?m trying to help you.   I?m trying to help you, if I can? (14).   But the fact of the matter is he can?t help him, Holden has to help himself.  Ã‚   The drive to succeed has to come from within him, ?I mean you can?t hardly ever do something just because somebody wants you to? (185).   In order for Holden to succeed he has to want it for himself.   The only pr oblem being Holden is unable to will him into doing anything he is not genuinely interested in, therefore missing out on further knowledge he could acquire that would truly entice him.   Holden gives up on school because he fears if ... ...why he never found them.   He will not allow himself to because by this point he had given up on school and eventually he gave up on the whole world.   Tragically though, he gives it all up before he truly has a chance to get it started.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mr. Antolini?s theory as to what is wrong with Holden is right on, it?s just too bad he was unable to get through to Holden.   Due to the fact that Holden has already given up on himself and is unwilling to apply the valuable advice he has been given.   He has lost the substantial ability to find happiness in life and therefore can?t find the energy to motivate himself in anything he does.   It?s a tragedy that someone as bright as Holden Caulfield is unable to find the strength within himself to persevere in a world of insanity. Works Cited: Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1994.

The Temptations. Essay -- essays research papers

The Legends In Life An Artist or group’s talent can be defined by the way the listener is pulled into the music. Writing about fundamental emotions to a compound condition that happened in the past, the artist must grasp the listener and wrap them into a nostalgic trance from the lyrics. The type of lyrics that can convey the reader into the past, present, or future time. The Temptations has mastered this talent. From their time to the present day, the Temptation’s music can still be looked upon in the 21st Century culture. They became soul writers and masters of touching inner emotions that listeners held. The Temptations were a group of individuals that represented their culture in time. The smooth lead vocalist to, to the brawny brick toned baritone, the artist became a great influence to many groups and artist of the coming future. The rhythmic style of The Temptations can be heard in many Rhythm and Blues groups of the past decades. At their time, The Temptations were the group to be, and at present are considered legends in their genre of music. The legends manifested many hit songs that broke cultural barriers. Their songs played in countries where English was not the first spoken language. Thus, are praised as one of, or if not, the greatest soul groups that has ever existed throughout the world. If politics or government were not capable in breaking cultural barriers, the suave songs that many learned to love became a benefactor. As an individual, the songs by The T...

A Two Tale Comparison :: essays papers

A Two Tale Comparison Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is â€Å"Cinderella†. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella â€Å"There are some 700 versions of Cinderella†.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under s ome criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society. In present day society, where political correctness and equality are at the top of the priority list, by reading essays such as the one by Karol Kelley we find that this might not have been the case in earlier days. Fairy tales such as Cinderella have been found guilty of possessing subliminal socialization traits. Classifying genders as inferior and molding young girls into the female that society expects them to be. In Charles Perrault’s version, which is considered the most common, Cinderella is seen as passive, limited, dependent and inferior. As critics argue, these traits can hinder a child’s self esteem. Karol Kelley states that the â€Å"expectations and the promises of the Cinderella story are psychologically harmful to women.† (p648). The fact that Cinderella is a limited character may give the girl an impression that she should be happy with what she has and not have any or aspirations in her life. That is, until her Prince comes to rescue her. Since these comments were made, the Cinderella story has been modified and changed. In order to see how gender roles have changed in fairy tales from the old to the new, let’s compare the classic version of Cinderella by Charles Perrault to a recent version which is a movie that was released in 1998 called â€Å"Ever After†which was directed by Andy Tennant.

Compare and contrast these two newspaper articles Essay

The tabloid and broadsheet articles have the same topic but are written in extremely different styles. They are both in the same place within the two papers and are not on the front page. This shows they are not major stories. The lexis and syntax are different as is the graphology. The tabloids aim for target readers in social groups C2, D and E while the broadshhet papers aim for target readers in social groups A, B and C1. The tabloid paper uses the pyramid formation to lay out the pages. The headline is made the biggest piece of writting to grab attention. A pun is put in to get you to then read on. For Prince Harry they use ‘ His Royal Styness’ which is a play on words were they involve the story and how he is being punished by having to work on a farm. The tabloid then focuses mainly on the pictures which have been manipulated by adding in people that aren’t there to make Harry look worse so more people will want to read the rest of the story. The picture was superimposed and this sets you up for the following text. The writting its self isn’t very informative and uses a basic lexis and syntax ‘for wearing a Nazi uniform to a pal’s fancy dress party. ‘ this uses a more Colloquial language. The style is informal and the writer uses a semantic field of ‘Nazis and pig farming’. The tabloid also has small side stories and links that lead of in another direction, they have a story still involved with the royal family but moves of Prince Harry and on to the whole royal family when they have a survey about them. The writer makes the overall register quite playful and slightly mocking towards the Prince making him look less respectable † Weed the plants (not that weed Harry)† is put into embarasses him as he had been acused of doing cannabis before. The writting is more opinion based â€Å"The rowdy royal† than factual based and it doesn’t state who the quotes are from in name †a security resource revealed†. Unlike the broadsheet paper so it shows that the tabloid paper is more factual. In the broadsheet paper the quotes seem more reliable because it says exactly who is saying it and it gives a short amount of information about who the quote is from †Ian Davidson, the MP for Glasgow†. This article doesn’t exploit the story and use it as an excuse to mock Prince Harry. The writer Andrew Pierce puts in his opinion subtly. The writer makes fewer puns and uses fewer pictures and focuses more on the actual text. Pierce uses a more intellectual syntax and using a wider and more polysyllabic words †recomendations, combination and commemorate†. Pierce uses longer more complex scentences using more clauses † the hearings, which will be televised, begin on February 7†. The target readership is for people who generally enjoy reading, like those in social groups A, B and C1. Pierce took a different perspective on this story and didn’t focus on Harry so much but spread the story wider to cover the whole of the royal family questioning them politaclly and morally. â€Å"Plans by German politicians †¦.. could cause further embarrassment for the Royal Family† This shows that the braodsheet paper is taking things into more depth. The graphology is plainer with just the headline, the text and a small picture making you focus more on the actual text. The overal register is more serious and truthful. The broadsheet paper and tabloid papers are on two very different levels. The broadsheet is more in depth and formal, while the tabloid is more informal and uses a more colloquial language. This shows the different styles of writting used and the different layouts.

The years

The years of 1901-1912 were a time of fast moving evolution for the united States on the stage of world relationships. As Roosevelt entered office, the â€Å"Big Stick† was placed firmly in his hands. He took control of affairs and handled them in the way that he felt should be handled. Nevertheless, when Taft entered office and he did not want to play as large of a role furthermore, big dollar diplomacy evolved out of this desire. Big Dollar diplomacy would have never evolved If It wasn't for the big stick and for his one Incentive alone it shows that Roosevelt polices were far more effective.Roosevelt placed the united States Into situations she had never had to deal with In the past. This won the respect of the nations of the world. The Big Stick at period was so overpowering that It far exceeded the country's capableness. Roosevelt personality did not take Into consideration that at many times In order to form the point of potency he desired he had to dull the rest of the blade. This was unquestionably shown in the structure of the Great white Fleet.Roosevelt had the sire to show the world the naval capabilities of the united States so he formed the great fleet of battleships to take a tour of the world- while incidentally leaving the rest of our nation's welfare completely exposed. On the bright side however, the Big Stick was the influential force of strong nationalistic feelings. It awakened the country and made it feel pleasurable as it left a period of crime and corruption in politics. Most importantly, although it was still years away, it allowed us to start prepping for World War One, politically as well as militarily.When the traditional Taft entered office after Roosevelt, he realized that the he would have to show the nation he was not the same type of leader as Roosevelt was. He was not proficient enough of taking the huge risks Roosevelt had made common practice during his presidency. However, Taft was faced with great tasks. He could not let the newly formed American Empire fall by the curb. He could not let the other countries of the world loose respect for us and gain more land in far off places. So Taft developed a new form of global policy.Big Dollar Diplomacy as it was called was more of a maintenance driven policy than anything else. Instead of expanding the empire with the Big Stick, Taft took benefit of American economic and industrial force. There could have been no better change flanked by the radical policies of Roosevelt and the traditionalist ones of Wilson. The big dollar maintained American strength and influence, but did not expand It. This was shown by Tuft's desire to build a transcontinental railroad in China. Taft kept us on the point with world affairs UT, only at the conservative level that he knew we could handle safely.By utilizing the dollar he hit other nations where It hurts, the pocket. He made others Like those In South America loyal to us and paved our status In the world. Big Stick an d Big Dollar diplomacy were both victorious polices In the respect that they skillfully validated what they were Intended to do. However, Big Dollar was more of a patch. It was adapted as a â€Å"do the least that we can† type of policy. Therefore I believe that the Big Stick was far more victorious. If we did not have the lumber of Dollar.