Foreign Policy Issues Faced by UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Foreign Policy Issues Faced by UK - Essay Example The three issues of international concern to the U.K. are discussed in greater depth below. Discussion The United Kingdom has been in the forefront of international news lately and these three foreign policy issues are the fight against terrorism, the economic crisis in Europe and the on-going war in Libya of which Great Britain and France took the lead roles for all NATO members in cooperation with the United States of America. The three international issues are important to the United Kingdom because it is leading member of the European Union as well as a major player in the international arena of politics, economy and the oil industry. On the whole, an evaluation of the newspaper's approach to presenting the news will show it tries to present a balanced view of the news, without any sensationalism, slant or any personal opinion either of the reporter or the newspaper's news editors. This is as it should be as the task of any newspaper is to inform its readers and any views on the news should always be properly relegated to the opinion-editorial page (op-ed section). If ever, the personal views of the reporter are largely muted or very subtle an ordinary reader would hardly notice it. The fight against Islamist terrorism is of great interest to the United Kingdom. It is a primary concern to the country as it itself had once been a victim of these terrorists attacks. It was not too long ago when four suicide bombers detonated themselves in a well-coordinated attack by riding on London's trains and set off the bombs back in July 07, 2005 that targeted civilian train passengers. The four bombers declared themselves as jihadists and had links to the terror network of Al Qaeda. The recent successes of the American's anti-terrorism efforts should be of good cheer to the English people as well because it implies a safer environment for every British citizen. The killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan back in May this year is a great victory against international ter rorism. The recent news about the assassination of Mr. Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen should be reason enough for a celebration (Hider 1) as this guy in a way had assumed the ideological leadership of Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States which is the lead agency tasked to fight terrorism overseas had targeted him despite Mr. Awlaki being an American citizen. He is a native American of sorts, having been born in New Mexico but he took up jihad (Dozier and Apuzzo 1) and was responsible for several failed bombing attempts using airplanes also. The second news item of international significance for the United Kingdom is the on-going financial and economic crisis in Europe caused by the risk of default by Greece. The country is one of the strongest economies in Europe, besides Germany and France, It is only expected that it will also play a leading role in resolving this latest debt crisis by contributing to a bailout fund and st amping a seal of approval for any loans to be given out to Greece. But is it also in a quandary of sorts, as the country itself has not yet fully recovered from an earlier financial crisis brought about by the bursting of the American housing sub-mortgage bubble in 2007 and is also suffering from a large budget deficit that has necessitated big cutbacks. Great Britain had seemed headed for a mild economic recovery just six months ago but the situation today has completely deteriorated due

The Future of Airline Operators amidst the Oil Crisis Essay

The Future of Airline Operators amidst the Oil Crisis - Essay Example Theories abound the origin of oil, and like other forms of fossil fuel, is believed to have come from ancient animal and plant remains that was buried under soil and mud through a very long period of time and settled down into the Earth's crusts. The buried ancient animal and plant matter piled upon the Earth's crust and eventually compressed and heated by the Earth's immense internal pressure and temperature. The oil then seeped through the rock layers forming reservoirs, most of which are found in desserts, ocean bottoms, ice layers and many other external terrain formations (Wikipedia, 2006a). These oil reservoirs are being harvested right now by countries that were fortunate enough to have an oil reserve in their midsts, particularly in the Middle East where the most abundant oil reserves are found. These countries now form the organisation known as OPEC (Oil Producing and Exporting Countries) which controls most of the world's oil supply and prices. While it seems like the suppl y of oil is unlimited it is not, the supply of oil is beginning to dwindle. ... d was way cheaper back in the period of the World Wars it was at these period that oil was still abundant and conflicts on the price and supply of oil were non-existent. The OPEC was not founded yet and inflation was not too much prevalent back then. Brandly (2004) the current oil crisis is predicted by Hubbert's Peak (or Hubbert's model or theory as some authors put it) which states and assumes that oil is non-renewable and that even though organic matter is currently added to the Earth's crust and that the rate of decomposition and conversion of this organic matter into crude oil will not catch up with the world's demand for oil. The 'peak' in Hubbert's Peak refers to the highest point of oil production at a certain area which will be soon followed by a sudden drop leading to a crisis. According to those who believe in Hubbert's theory, the world is now at its peak and is nearing another major oil crisis not because of political conflict but mainly due to a real short in oil supply . In a National Geographic article written by Appenzeller (2004), oil companies are now putting more human and financial resources in finding new oil sources. It only means that the actual crisis is happening not after the 1st drop of oil has been extracted but rather in the present when oil production is at its peak. The world is predicted to run out of oil in about 5 to 30 years from now. The oil shortage will not only affect transport and power generation, but also other factors as Amos (2004) reported, stating that oil process will affect birth rates, food prices and other commodities. This is especially true with Third World countries where the price of oil on the world market affects the basic commodities. Amos (200) points out that the economic depression will force people