French and Indian War DBQ Essay

For many years, throughout the 1600s and early part of the 1700s, the British pursued a policy of salutary neglect toward its colonies. Britain enacted a series of Navigation Laws, but these attempts to regulate trade were minimally enforced. The colonists had a generally friendly attitude toward the British overall since they enjoyed the benefits of an imperial relationship without accompanying restrictions. However, this relationship was dramatically altered by the French and Indian War. The course of the war itself significantly affected the political and ideological relationship of the colonists to their mother country, in as much as the colonists found the British imposition of restrictions and its hierarchical army to be repulsive to liberty, while the British saw the need for greater imperial control. However, it was the economic aftermath of the war, which left British with a staggering war debt and a need to raise new colonial revenues that militated most heavily against col onial cooperation with the British. The French and Indian War, called the Seven Years’ War in Europe, had its antecedents in the settlement of the French and the British in the Ohio Valley, region of the American continent. Both the French and British sought to control lands in the region, while Native Americans resisted the attempts of both to settle. The Indians largely played off of both sides to maintain an uneasy balance of power, but one group eventually decided to grant trading concessions to the British, giving England greater access to the interior of the continent. France saw this as a threat to its own territories and summarily constructed forts of defense, like Fort Duquesne. The British followed suit, building forts of their own. One such effort was to build Fort Necessity near Fort Duquesne, which George Washington led. At the fort, however, Washington became embroiled in a conflict with the French forces there he was captured and forced to surrender. Thus began the French and Indian War. The colonists had a largely friendly and amicable attitude toward the British at the outset. For example, General Washington praised the British General Braddock in a 1755 letter a man of â€Å"abilities and experience† (Doc. C). The long British policy of salutary neglect allowed the colonists to enjoy the benefits of trade with and protection from the British without the discomfort to frBigid control. However, this changed as the war progressed. In the second stage of the French and Indian War, beginning in 1756, Britain sought to impose greater control on the colonial war effort. British Prime Minister William Pitt tried to control the contact of the fighting himself,† â€Å"impressing† (forcibly enlisting) colonists to fight and imposing other restrictions on colonial freedom. A colonial soldier, for example, wrote in 1759 of how he was unlikely to get liquor or clothing and of how he was subject to martial law.† He protested that he, too, was a man of E nglish blood, but that he was not afforded the â€Å"Englishman’s liberty† (Doc. D). This political control by Britain led to riots and colonial resistance; pretty soon, the consequences of it overwhelmed any befits it may have offered, and William Pitt was forced to back down. However, for the rest of the war, the political legacy of repression remained in colonial minds and produced hostility to British control. Another ideological aspect of the interaction between Britain and its colonies furthered this hostility. The colonists themselves were organized into voluntary units of men fighting with relative equality. The British, meanwhile, were organized into hierarchical divisions in which rigid order was maintained. The Massachusetts soldier who protested political repression also noted this when he observed that the British troops â€Å"are but little better than slaves to their officers† (Doc. D). This ideological idea of a righteous American army together with a rigid British one further augmented the colonial resistance to British oppression. The colonists not only saw British political interference in their affairs as illegitimate; they also resented British hierarchy. The British, however, took from the war an entirely different perspective. The colonists may have seen themselves as great aid in the struggle; one sermon by Reverend Thomas Bernard in 1763 portrayed New England as the greated helper of Britain in the effort. However, the British saw the colonists as lazy and unhelpful. England was further outraged by the fact that some American merchants had actually sold supplies to the French West Indies during the war against France. The political and ideological lessons learned by the British, therefore, were that the colonists are too independent and must be made to act properly. The conlusion, then, was that greater imperial control was necessary. While political and ideological differences may have contributed to the change from a friendly relationship to a hostile one, economics was a major factor as well. The 1763 Treaty of Paris gave Britain all of France’s territory east of the Mississippi, except Canada (Doc. A). This doubled the size of the British Empire and augmented the necessity of stationing British troops on the border to protect against Indian raids. This was at the same time that Britain faced a staggering war debt from the seven years of fighting. Yet, the colonists largely refused to contribute to a war fought for their own defense. A 1763 British Order in Council found that the revenue from the colonies couldn’t even pay a fourth of the cost of collecting it. It also reported that â€Å"neglect, connivance, and fraud† had hampered revenue collection in a time of greatest need (Doc. F). The British, thence, saw it as justified to seek new sources of revenue from the colonies. The principle vehicle for doing so was the 1765 Stamp Act, part of Prime Minister Greenville’s program to exert greater control over the colonies. The Act required that all paper products – from wills and deeds to playing cards – have a stamp on them. This was the first direct tax (a tax paid outright, rather than an indirect one incorporated into the full price of a good) imposed by Britain. All previous taxes could be construed by the colonists as ones imposed by Britain to regulate commerce. However, this act could not be interpreted that way; it could only be seen as an unequivocal attempt by Britain to raise revenue. This provoked outrage from colonists all over. Lawyers and influential members of society were affected; newspaper publishers, one of the most influential groups on public opinion, were outraged by the tax. The Pennsylvania Journal even announced that it would â€Å"expire† because of the â€Å"dreadful† tax (Doc H). A Stamp Act Congress was formed to resist the revenue increase, while the Sons of Liberty terrorized collection agents. Such colonial protests continued as Britain further attempted to impose control, until these events eventually produced the American Revolution. The French and Indian War transformed relations between the colonies and Britain from one of friendly respect to one of hostile distrust. During the course of the war, political repression by Britain and ideological opposition to Britain’s hierarchical army produced the seed of American protest; at the same time, Britain saw the necessity of imposing greater control on its recalcitrant colonies. The economic results of the war, however, were even more disastrous. The costs of the fighting and protection of a newly enlarged territory forced Britain to impose new revenue like the 1765 Stamp Act so the colonists would pay their own share. However, the colonists bitterly resented this unequivocal British attempt to raise revenue without the consent of their colonial assemblies. In this way, the French and Indian War soured the rapport between Britain and its colonies that eventually produced the American Revolution.

National Museum of Anthropology

Armageddon, judgment day, doomsday, annihilation—dark as they may be in connotation, these are the terms many people associate with 21st December 2012. In anticipation, astrologists, scientists, and media men have foreshadowed the near future with a catastrophic picture of the earth’s end. As time approaches, public obsession on the earth’s destruction continues to spread, leaving us to our own interpretations and causing panic to the general public, including of course the business sector. As the day draws near, people question themselves how they should prepare for the destruction.Undoubtedly, many religious followers will form big crowds in churches and houses of worship to plead for God’s mercy. At the same time, computer programmers may think this phenomenon as another Y2K in the making, thus backing up files and creating new programs seem rational at this point. Moreover, some governments have already pronounced concern on the issue, and pushed some efforts to prevent disaster. However, in the midst of all these, it is equally wise to consider pondering on the phenomenon with skepticism. This way, we could come up with a good judgment of whether to believe the prophecy or not.The 2012 hysteria started with the observation that the 13th Baktun of the Mayan Long Count calendar, also referred to as the Aztec calendar, ends on 12-21-2012, a winter solstice (Soveign 2008; Eden n. d. ; Cooper n. d. ). The calendar which is carved on the Aztec â€Å"sun stone† is currently on exhibit in the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Relevantly, some people ponder that since the â€Å"sun stone† shows days of the sun, its final day which is December 21, 2012 ultimately predicts the â€Å"end of the sun.† History recounts a number of phenomena predicted by the Mayas, some of which include solar and lunar eclipses, taking into consideration the rotation of the earth and its speed. T he Mayas also predicted that in 1996, people would create an inter-dimensional network that could enable people to communicate despite a far distance such as the Internet. These prophecies establish reliability of the Mayas and their Long Count calendar in predicting future astrological events.In line with the 2012 phenomenon, many are awed by the Mayan prophecy as the date corresponds with the galactic alignment in which â€Å"the ecliptic of our solar system will intersect with the Galactic plane, called the ‘Galactic Equator’ of the Milky Way. † (Eden n. d. ) At the same time, the earth will also be aligned with the center of the Galaxy where there is maximum mass. This alignment, which never occurred before could definitely cause disruption in the earth’s activity. Furthermore, the said date coincides with the earth’s solar maximum.During this time, solar flares, sunspots, and coronal mass ejections are strongest. These flares come from the sun and shoot through planets, discharging radiation and strong electrical currents and causing problems for satellites, communications, and power grids. (Raeder, as mentioned in Eden n. d. ) An investigation conducted by NASA's THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) satellite declares that conversely, galactic alignment will create â€Å"a huge breach,† allowing more sun particles to come in, possibly causing great danger to both living and non-living creatures.Implications to Different Sectors In line with the upcoming phenomenon, investors to electric and power companies should take precautions in the next three years. Due to strong electrical currents predicted by experts, power failure may likewise take into play. On the contrary, those who have invested in solar energy might reap the harvest, though this still needs in-depth investigation. Moreover, since the forecasted catastrophe is caused by the flares of the sun, it basically implie s earth’s need to contradict the main force, which is heat energy.To control excessive amount of heat onto the earth’s surface, we may need to make serious efforts to counter this by taking better care of our environment. Basically, plant and marine life, which produce the greatest amount of oxygen should be multiplied in order to save the planet. While the Mayan prediction and scientific explorations offer substantial explanation regarding the 2012 catastrophe, let us consider how other sectors of the society react to the said end. In particular, we may note portions of the business sector that thrive from the said prophecy.For example, Sony Pictures Entertainment will release a movie titled, â€Å"2012† in November this year. This movie, directed by Roland Emmerich, centers on the doomsday of 2012 based on the Mayan prophecy. As early as last year, the movie outfit has already released a teaser trailer and launched a Web site that not only promotes the film bu t also invites viewers to register for lottery. Similarly, a number of Web sites (i. e. , December212012. com) that have been established are used not only to promulgate the news but also to sell products that bear captions related to 2012 phenomenon.Some of these include books, t-shirts, caps, and other accessories. All these reveal a hidden agendum of how some profit makers earn from the panic they have just caused the people. These also give the impression of how this prophecy would culminate to a meaningless end similar to prophecies made in the past, such as the Y2K. The truth regarding galactic alignment offers enough warning for everyone to start preparing for the next cycle of weather disturbances and natural disasters. Although many visionaries including Nostradamus (mentioned in December212012.com) offer common views regarding doomsday, we should not allow ourselves to be victims to profit-seekers who proliferate the news only for their personal gain. May this also serve a s a call to stop sensationalizing the issue because at the end of the day, no one can really predict what exactly will happen in the future. Furthermore, may this remind media people and Web authors of their responsibility to our people to tell and live the truth. Works Cited Cooper, Adrian. â€Å"The Year 2012. † (n. d. ). Retrieved 4 March 2009 < http://www. whatismetaphysics. com/year2012. html>. Eden, Dan. â€Å"December 21, 2012: The Real Doomsday? † (n. d. ).Viewzone. Retrieved 3 March 2009 . Emmerich, Roland. â€Å"2012. † (2009). [Film]. NY: Sony Pictures Entertainment. â€Å"History Presents Nostradamus 2012. † (2006). Retrieved 3 March 2009 < http://www. december212012. com/articles/news/History_To_Air_New_Nostradamus_Special. htm>. Raeder, Jimmy. â€Å"Important Update: January 2009. † In Eden, Dan. â€Å"December 21, 2012: The Real Doomsday? † (n. d. ). Retrieved 3 March 2009 . â€Å"Soveign, Mark. â€Å"What Exactly will Happe n in 2012? † (2008). Retrieved 4 March 2009 .

Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Assignment 2 - Essay Example ve with regard to what computer systems their software runs on and what computer systems it does not through sabotaging the Max OS X operating system. The situation with Apple is more complex and deserves a more concrete explanation. Apple produces an operating system which is supposed to only run on machines which are made by Apple. In recent times, Apple moved to the Intel processors and along with this move, it left the door open for other companies to use the same motherboard and chips to provide Mac clones. One such company is Psystar, which has produced computers running Mac OS X at rates which are much cheaper than comparative Apple computers. The exclusivity of Mac OS X running on Apple made machines is therefore under threat and it is likely that Apple would want to put a stop to this. At the same time, there have been court rulings which hold â€Å"that a software publisher cant require you to run an operating system on a specific type of hardware (Himowitz, 2008, Pg. 1)†. However, there is nothing stopping Apple from releasing an update to its Mac OS X system which stops the computer from running if an ‘unauthorized’ system is detected. Essentially, Apple â€Å"can always sabotage the usurper by issuing updates that wont run on the alien machine, or that disable it (Himowitz, 2008, Pg. 1)†. Here, sabotage may be entirely legal and the only result of the sabotage would be that a lot of the people using Psystar created Apple computers could be left holding the bag. Apple has done the same in the past with its iPhone devices which were hacked to run on wireless carriers other than the ones licensed by Apple. The laws and the ethics concerning this topic need to be defined further since once a buyer has purchased a device or has bought a piece of software it should be permissible for them to use it any way they like. Apple should not be able to sabotage an iPhone which is not being used in the manner Apple would like to see it being used. If Apple

Art History Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art History - Research Paper Example Modern paintings keep with this tradition as they continue to focus on the urge of mankind to promote peace and tranquility in a fragmented world. The cultural and social upheavals of the renaissance period gave birth to this concept of modern art. The Factory by the Sea was painted by Stuart Davis in 1932. Davis was born in New York in 1892, and he died in 1964. While growing up, Davis was surrounded by accomplished artists. After travelling to Paris in 1929, Davis returned to the United States with a new distinctive style in his paintings. The Factory by the Sea painting has abstract patterns of dark outlines and contrasting colors that portray aspects of the American life. Davis looked at his subject matter in the Factory by the Sea painting in an avant-garde manner. The Factory by the Sea painting has distinctive style that has supported the development of later artists such as de Kooning and Gorky. In the Factory by the Sea painting, Davis has illustrated how gripping abstract paintings can be when compared to traditional portraits when simple symbiotic patterns are used effectively. The Factory by the Sea painting is dependent on form, composition and color. The relationship between the natural world and man-made structu res are explored in the Factory by the Sea painting. Recognizable structures and shapes that are within irrational emotions and thoughts are evident in the Factory by the Sea painting. The color theory in the Factory by the Sea painting is unorthodox and very instinctive. This color is the aspect that most viewers of the painting first notice. To enhance the vivid colors in the painting, more oxide and neutral colors have been used. The Factory by the Sea painting is my favorite of all three paintings in this paper. This is because it keeps the viewer interested because it is difficult to fathom hence intriguing (Tytler 213-228). The viewer sees something that reminds them of a

Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (PHS&T) as Element of Essay

Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (PHS&T) as Element of International Logistics - Essay Example However, in the recent times the term is used quite often. International logistics involves not only transportation, although transportation is considered to be a significant component of international logistics. There are other elements of the international logistic systems as well such as packaging, storage and handling. Since in the context of international logistics, people generally refer to the goods that move across national borders, this segment of logistics can be identified to be in a category all by itself. (Long, D. C., â€Å"International Logistics: Global Supply Chain Management†). Elements of International Logistics Packaging, Handling, Storage, And Transportation (PHS&T) consists of the resources, design concerns, actions and processes for ensuring that the equipments, systems and the related support items are properly packaged, stored, handled, preserved as well as transported from one place to another (Gabel, â€Å"Logistics Element Manager’s Desk Gui de†). ... Main focus is upon the safe delivery of the goods and services without any potential damage and deterioration of the systems and spares (Gabel, â€Å"Logistics Element Manager’s Desk Guide†). The numerous elements of international logistics such as packaging, storage, handling and transportation include the requirements, the resources, the methods and the considerations for the purpose of ensuring that the equipments and materials as well as related support systems are stored, preserved, handled, packaged, and transported appropriately (Lancioni & Chandran, â€Å"The Role of Packaging in International Logistics†). It is to be remembered that the firms need to have proper planning for the logistics systems to operate smoothly in the international market. The firms are supposed to examine each and every aspect in a proper way. As soon as the shipment leaves the docks of the shippers it takes greater effort for them to control till it reaches the consignee’s location. It has been noticed that the international logistics systems tend to work well in circumstances when all the possible phases have been planned in a systematic manner. One of the significant areas in context of international logistics is packaging. It is to be mentioned that packaging determines the condition at which the product will reach the location of the customers (Lancioni & Chandran, â€Å"The Role of Packaging in International Logistics†). Material handling encompasses various aspects of work in progress, movements of raw materials or finished goods within the plant or in warehouse. Packaging, handling, storage and transportation (PHS&T) plan is generally prepared in order to identify the distribution and the transportation procedures

Suicide bombing and why it is a common terrorist act Essay

Suicide bombing and why it is a common terrorist act - Essay Example Early 1990's, Palestinians is trying to resist against Israeli occupation in West Bank and Gaza where young Palestinian men, and women to strap themselves with explosives making their way to Israeli Jewish areas whether crowded with soldiers or civilians and blowing themselves up killing and injuring dozens of people around them including police, men, women and children (Asad, pars 11 ). An act resulting from humiliation by the army, and/or seeking revenge for the killing or injury of a relative or a friend, desperation and frustration from the oppressive Israeli occupation, unemployment and confinement, imprisonment and torture, hopelessness, racism, discrimination, as well as other reasons , (Ateek, pars 10 ). These young people were not born "terrorists". But they are born a in the image and likeness of God. They were born human beings with love of life and freedom. But all of them, with no exception, were born under the Israeli military occupation. The only Jews they knew were Is raeli soldiers carrying guns and dehumanizing Palestinians that made them terrorist. The only thing that Palestinians wants is to end Israeli occupation and the establishment of their own state along side the state of Israel ( Ateek, pars 13 ).On the other hand, Israeli continue its oppressive and punitive measures against them killing people to assassinate Palestinian leaders and even destroying homes. Thus suicide bombings came to be perceived as a more potent tool of resistance that can reciprocate the pain and hurt they were experiencing. And as they were driven deeper into despair, their desire to hit back in any way possible grew in intensity. From a Palestinian perspective, therefore, the real sequence of the cycle of resistance has been this: Israeli occupation, Palestinian resistance, greater Israeli oppressive measures, and greater attempts on the Palestinian side to increase the resistance, and the vicious circle goes on. Their main objective and desire to take away as ma ny Israeli lives as possible using their own bodies as tanks and shells to destroy and devastate Israeli areas. If the oppressors have the heart (or should one say lose the heart) to kill women and children and to make the life of Palestinians miserable, the suicide bombers are not going to spare Israeli lives that in Islam, they called suicide bombers as "shuhada "a martyrs and its prize in depending their homeland is a paradise rather than a human military medal ( Ateek pars 22). A Muslim Perspective . There are three main reasons why suicide bombings become a more powerful phenomenon according to Hamas leader, Khaled Mash'al, namely, the religious, the nationalist or patriotic, and the humanitarian. Humanitarian suicide

Build sales proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Build sales proposal - Essay Example Moreover, the introduction of the project presents three significant components such as sale proposal elaborates the potential clients regarding novel ideas, service, and the product. The second argument that is made by sale professionals in favour of sales proposal is that this service is mandatory and beneficial for them. Last, but but not the least is that it is important and mentioned in sale proposal is to enhance the expectations of project success (Wise Geek, 2015). Sale proposal is the integral part of successful sale deal; it is a pitch that allows sale professionals to land either new or prior business (PandaDoc, 2015). Mylocalpitch is an online platform that has been set up by fans that are passionate about sports. It also represents fans that have struggled for a long time to encounter the places across London they can play in; namely Sanford Loudon and Jamie Foale. The major aim of this platform is to allow players to grasp the information regarding the closest sports facilities from their home, hence, allowing them to book easily these facilities online and can enjoy the sports passion anywhere in London (Mylocalpitch, n,d, a). In addition, with the aim to be the one-stop shop for London residents, the website is focusing on 13 sports that are major and will continue to add more as will grow. The website is also searching for courts and pitches so its clients can make a purchase of sports equipment via online mode of shopping. Companies that offer sports services and advertise at my local pitch platform and can maximize their business (Mylocalpitch, 2015). It is essential to know the market to which the proposal is being presented. This proposal is not being written in response to RFP (Request For Proposal); therefore it has become pivotal to take the market research into consideration. The market research is vital in a sense that after recognizing market needs and competitors, a better sale

Operations and Enterprise Resource Planning Essay - 1

Operations and Enterprise Resource Planning - Essay Example However, Oxfam seeks to ensure that no aid is lost based on past experiences. In order to manage its operations, the recommendation is Systems Applications and Products. SAP Business ByDesign will offer a solution to the best i to Oxfam’s operations and enterprise resource planning. Using this solution, SAP business ByDesign will offer accounting and financial support, processes and distribution, CRM, reporting and administration. SAP business ByDesign offers financial accounting, banking, budgeting, and financial reporting; and web-oriented customer management, sales opportunity, customer support, and Microsoft outlook integration. In operations, SAP Business ByDesign offers inventory management and production planning, while reporting and administration involve automatic alerts, dashboard reports, and customization and incorporation. Through the integration of this and other services, Oxfam will obtain one precise source of each of its critical data for the entire organization. Additionally, the software will enhance the organization’s donors and volunteer-base through web oriented CRM and e-commerce abilities. Additionally, Oxfam’s publicity campaign implementation will take a proactive approach through workflows, automatic alerts, and effective response to the needs of its customers and events. For a user friendly, responsive, and robust system, I recommend SAP supply chain management (SAP SCM). This application will assist Oxfam in its disaster management through adapting specific organization’s supply chain processes, especially given the fast changing and unpredictable environment, given that the specific level of disaster is normally unknown for most emergency and disaster cases. However, Oxfam has to ensure that none of the aid taken to the hit areas goes to waste and this means that real-time data can be obtained. The implication of using SAP ByDesign is so as to

Challenges Doing Business in India Essay Example for Free

Challenges Doing Business in India Essay Trade barriers are created to encourage domestic players by making it more difficult for foreign firms to compete. Traditionally, India has had several types of trade hurdles for foreign exporters, such as, Import Quotas, Subsidies, Trade Samples and Tariff/Duty. The most critical barrier to trade is tariffs or the tax imposed on imports. High tariffs in several sectors continue to bar foreign businesses from increased market access. Red-tapism and Corruption Traditionally, Indian bureaucracy has been mired in red tape which proved to be a frustrating experience for foreign investors. These include limited access to Government offices, cumbersome and multitude paperwork, lack of coordination between various departments processing the documentation, long waiting period for approvals, and above all ambiguous rules. However, with the economic reforms of early 1990s, the level of bureaucratic hurdles which the MNCs had to overcome, gradually reduced making it easier to do business. Corruption is another big hurdle when doing business in India. Areas like electricity supply, judiciary (particularly lower courts), Police, land administration are counted in the most corrupt category. Since all these are essential in building up a business, corruption proves to be a major hurdle for starting business in India. Inadequate Infrastructure It has long been felt that roads and communication in India need substantial investment in order to make them world class. Problems with the countrys education and power situation are also counted amongst the toughest obstacles for doing business. Today, there is an increased private participation in ports, roads and other key sectors. Infrastructure development has emerged as a niche market for foreign investors in India with several states looking to build world class infrastructure. The problem area is the absence of a clear-cut policy framework, which has hampered private investment in the infrastructure sector.

Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation Essay Example for Free

Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation Essay These include search, cloud computing, software, and online advertising technologies. Most of its profits are derived from AdWords. Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University. Together they own about 16 percent of its shares. They incorporated Google as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. Its mission statement from the outset was to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful, and its unofficial slogan was Dont be evil. In 2006 Google moved to headquarters in Mountain View, California, nicknamed the Googleplex. Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions and partnerships beyond Googles core search engine. It offers online productivity software including email, an office suite, and social networking . Desktop products include applications for web browsing, organizing and editing photos, and instant messaging. The company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system and the browser-only Chrome OS for a netbook known as a Chromebook. Google has moved increasingly into communications hardware: it partners with major electronics manufacturers in production of its high-end Nexus devices and acquired Motorola Mobility in May 2012. In 2012, a fiber-optic infrastructure was installed in Kansas City to facilitate a Google Fiber broadband service. The corporation has been estimated to run more than one million servers in data centers around the world and to process over one billion search requests and about 24 petabytes of user-generated data each day. In December 2012 Alexa listed google.com as the most visited website in the world. Numerous Google sites in other languages figure in the top one hundred, as do several other Google-owned sites such as YouTube and Blogger. Its market dominance has led to criticism over issues including copyright, censorship, and privacy. History Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in Stanford, California. While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, the two theorized about a  better system that analyzed the relationships between websites. They called this new technology PageRank; it determined a websites relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, that linked back to the original site. A small search engine called RankDex from IDD Information Services designed by Robin Li was, since 1996, already exploring a similar strategy for site-scoring and page ranking. The technology in RankDex would be patented and used later when Li founded Baidu in China. Page and Brin originally nicknamed their new search engine BackRub, because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site. Eventually, they changed the name to Google, originating from a misspelling of the word googol, the number one followed by one hundred zeros, which was picked to signify that the search engine was intended to provide large quantities of information. Originally, Google ran under Stanford Universitys website, with the domains google.stanford.edu and z.stanford.edu. The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997, and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998. It was based in a friends . In January 2013, Google announced it had earned $50 billion in annual revenue for the year of 2012. This marked the first time the company had reached this feat, topping their 2011 total of $38 billion. Financing and initial public offering The first funding for Google was an August 1998 contribution of from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given before Google was incorporated. Early in 1999, while graduate students, Brin and Page decided that the search engine they had developed was taking up too much time and distracting their academic pursuits. They went to Excite CEO George Bell and offered to sell it to him for $1 million. He rejected the offer and later criticized Vinod Khosla, one of Excites venture capitalists, after he negotiated Brin and Page down to $750,000. On June 7, 1999, a $25 million round of funding was announced, with major investors including the venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Sequoia Capital. The company offered 19,605,052 shares at a price of $85 per share. Shares were sold in an online auction format using a system built by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, underwriters for the deal. The sale of $1.67 billion gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. The vast majority  of the 271 million shares remained under the control of Google, and many Google employees became instant paper millionaires. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited because it owned 8.4 million shares of Google before the IPO took place. There were concerns that Googles IPO would lead to changes in company culture. Reasons ranged from shareholder pressure for employee benefit reductions to the fact that many company executives would become instant paper millionaires. As a reply to this concern, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised in a report to potential investors that the IPO would not change the companys culture. In 2005, articles in The New York Times and other sources began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy. In an effort to maintain the companys unique culture, Google designated a Chief Culture Officer, who also serves as the Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Chief Culture Officer is to develop and maintain the culture and work on ways to keep true to the core values that the company was founded on: a flat organization with a collaborative environment. Google has also faced allegations of sexism and ageism from former employees. The stock performed well after the IPO, with shares hitting $700 for the first time on October 31, 2007, primarily because of strong sales and earnings in the online advertising market. The surge in stock price was fueled mainly by individual investors, as opposed to large institutional investors and mutual funds. The next year, against Page and Brins initial opposition toward an advertising-funded search engine, Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords. When the company changed names to Overture Services, it sued Google over alleged infringements of the companys pay-per-click and bidding patents. Overture Services would later be bought by Yahoo! and renamed Yahoo! Search Marketing. The case was then settled out of court; Google agreed to issue shares of common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license. In 2001, Google received a patent for its PageRank mechanism. The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor. In 2003, after outgrowing two other locations, the company leased an office complex from Silicon Graphics at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The complex became known as the Googleplex, a play on the word googolplex, the number one followed by a googol zeroes. The Googleplex interiors were designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects. Three  years later, Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million. By that time, the name Google had found its way into everyday language, causing the verb google to be added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, denoted as to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet. 2013 onward Google announced the launch of a new company called Calico on September 19, 2013, which will be led by Apple chairman Arthur Levinson. In the official public statement, Page explained that the health and wellbeing company will focus on the challenge of ageing and associated diseases. As of September 2013, Google operates 70 offices in more than 40 countries. Google celebrated its 15-year anniversary on September 27, 2013, although it has used other dates for its official birthday. The reason for the choice of September 27 remains unclear, and a dispute with rival search engine Yahoo! Search in 2005 has been suggested as the cause. The Alliance for Affordable Internet was launched in October 2013 and Google is part of the coalition of public and private organisations that also includes Facebook, Intel and Microsoft. Led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the A4AI seeks to make Internet access more affordable so that access is broadened in the developing world, where only 31% of people are online. Google will help to decrease internet access prices so that they fall below the UN Broadband Commissions worldwide target of 5% of monthly income. The corporations consolidated revenue for the third quarter of 2013 is reported in mid-October 2013 as US$14.89 billion, a 12 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. Googles Internet business was responsible for US$10.8 billion of this total, with an increase in the number of users clicks on advertisements. Acquisitions and partnerships Since 2001, Google has acquired many companies, primarily small venture capital-funded firms. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole, Inc. The start-up company developed a product called Earth Viewer that gave a three-dimensional view of the Earth. Google renamed the service to Google Earth in 2005. Google acquired Urchin Software in April 2005, using their Urchin on Demand product to create Google Analytics in 2006. In October 2006, Google announced that it had acquired the video-sharing site YouTube  for US$1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13, 2006. Google does not provide detailed figures for YouTubes running costs, and YouTubes revenues in 2007 were noted as not material in a regulatory filing. In June 2008, a Forbes magazine article projected the 2008 YouTube revenue at US$200 million, noting progress in advertising sales. On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, giving Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick had with Web publishers and advertising agencies. Later that same year, Google purchased GrandCentral for $50 million. The site would later be changed over to Google Voice. On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker On2 Technologies for $106.5 million. Google also acquired Aardvark, a social network search engine, for $50 million, and commented on its internal blog, were looking forward to collaborating to see where we can take it. In April 2010, Google announced it had acquired a hardware startup, Agnilux. In addition to the many companies Google has purchased, the company has partnered with other organizations for research, advertising, and other activities. In 2005, Google partnered with NASA Ames Research Center to build of offices. The offices would be used for research projects involving large-scale data management, nanotechnology, distributed computing, and the entrepreneurial space industry. Google entered into a partnership with Sun Microsystems in October 2005 to help share and distribute each others technologies. The company also partnered with AOL to enhance each others video search services. Googles 2005 partnerships also included financing the new .mobi top-level domain for mobile devices, along with other companies including Microsoft, Nokia, and Ericsson. Google would later launch AdSense for Mobile, taking advantage of the emerging mobile advertising market. Increasing its advertising reach even further, Google and Fox Interactive Media of News Corporation entered into a $900 million agreement to provide search and advertising on the then-popular social networking site MySpace. In 2007, Google began sponsoring NORAD Tracks Santa, displacing former sponsor AOL. NORAD Tracks Santa purports to follow Santa Claus progress on Christmas Eve, using Google Earth to track Santa in 3-D for the first time. Google-owned YouTube gave NORAD Tracks Santa its own channel. In 2008, Google developed a partnership with GeoEye to launch a satellite providing  Google with high-resolution imagery for Google Earth. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 6, 2008. Google also announced in 2008 that it was hosting an archive of Life Magazines photographs. Some of the images in the archive were never published in the magazine. The photos were watermarked and originally had copyright notices posted on all photos, regardless of public domain status. In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment in a renewable energy project, putting $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota. The company announced the two locations will generate 169.5 megawatts of power, enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and return profits. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a twenty-percent stake in the project to get funding for its development. In February 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC granted Google an authorization to buy and sell energy at market rates. The order specifically states that Google Energy—a subsidiary of Google—holds the rights for the sale of energy, capacity, and ancillary services at market-based rates, but acknowledges that neither Google Energy nor its affiliates own or control any generation or transmission facilities. The corporation exercised this authorization in September 2013 when it announced that it will purchase all of the electricity produced by the not-yet-built 240-megawatt Happy Hereford wind farm. Also in 2010, Google purchased Global IP Solutions, a Norway-based company that provides web-based teleconferencing and other related services. This acquisition enabled Google to add telephone-style services to its list of products. On May 27, 2010, Google announced it had also closed the acquisition of the mobile ad network AdMob. This occurred days after the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into the purchase. Google acquired the company for an undisclosed amount. In July 2010, Google signed an agreement with an Iowa wind farm to buy 114 megawatts of energy for 20 years. On April 4, 2011, The Globe and Mail reported that Google bid $900 million for six thousand Nortel Networks patents. On August 15, 2011, Google made its largest-ever acquisition to-date when announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion subject to approval from regulators in the United States and Europe. In a post on Googles blog, Google Chief Executive and co-founder Larry Page revealed that the acquisition was a  strategic move to strengthen Googles patent portfolio. The companys Android operating system has come under fire in an industry-wide patent battle, as Apple and Microsoft have sued Android device makers such as HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. The merger was completed on the May 22, 2012, after the approval of Peoples Republic of China. This purchase was made in part to help Google gain Motorolas considerable patent portfolio on mobile phones and wireless technologies to help protect it in its ongoing patent disputes with other companies, mainly Apple and Microsoft After the acquisition closed, Google began to restructure the Motorola business to fit Googles strategy. On August 13, 2012, Google announced plans to layoff 4000 Motorola Mobility employees. On December 10, 2012, Google sold the manufacturing operations of Motorola Mobility to Flextronics for $75 million. As a part of the agreement, Flextronics will manufacture undisclosed Android and other mobile devices. On December 19, 2012, Google sold the Motorola Home business division of Motorola Mobility to Arris Group for $2.35 billion in a cash-and-stock transaction. As a part of this deal, Google acquired a 15.7% stake in Arris Group valued at $300 million. On June 5, 2012, Google announced it acquired Quickoffice, a company widely known for their mobile productivity suite for both iOS and Android. Google plans to integrate Quickoffices technology into its own product suite. On February 6, 2013, Google announced it had acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million. Channel Intelligence, a technology company that helps customers buy products online, is active globally in 31 different countries and works with over 850 retailers. Google will use this technology to enhance its e-commerce business. The official confirmation of Googles acquisition of the Israel-based startup Waze occurred in June 2013. Waze is promoted as a community-based traffic and navigation app. Following the acquisition of Waze, Google submitted a 10-Q filing with the Securities Exchange Commission that revealed that the corporation spent US$1.3 billion on acquisitions during the first half of 2013. The filing also revealed that the Waze acquisition cost Google US$966 million, instead of the US$1.1 billion figure that was initially presented in media sources. The 2012 acquisition of WIMM Labs, a company that previously made an Android-powered smartwatch, was confirmed in August 2013. As of August 31, 2013, Google has not publicly commented on the news concerning WIMM Labs. The acquisition of  Flutter, a creator of hand gesture recognition technology, was confirmed by the corporation in early October 2013. The reported price is US$40 million and Google spokesperson stated: Were really impressed by the Flutter teams ability to design new technology based on cutting-edge research. Flutters technology allows users to enact hand gestures to control navigation for apps such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and Winamp. Google data centers As of 2011, Google Inc. owned and operated six data centers across the U.S., plus one in Finland and another in Belgium. On September 28, 2011, the company announced plans to build three data centers at a cost of more than $200 million in Asia and purchased the land for them. Google said they will be operational within two years. Products and services Advertising For the 2006 fiscal year, the company reported $10.492 billion in total advertising revenues and only $112 million in licensing and other revenues. In 2011, 96% of Googles revenue was derived from its advertising programs. Using technology from the company DoubleClick, Google can determine user interests and target advertisements so they are relevant to their context and the user that is viewing them. Google Analytics allows website owners to track where and how people use their website, for example by examining click rates for all the links on a page. Google advertisements can be placed on third-party websites in a two-part program. Googles AdWords allows advertisers to display their advertisements in the Google content network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. The sister service, Google AdSense, allows website owners to display these advertisements on their website and earn money every time ads are clicked. One of the criticisms of this program is the possibility of click fraud, which occurs when a person or automated script clicks on advertisements without being interested in the product, causing the advertiser to pay money to Google unduly. Industry reports in 2006 claimed that approximately 14 to 20 percent of clicks were fraudulent or invalid. In February 2003, Google stopped showing the advertisements of Oceana, a non-profit organization protesting a major cruise ships sewage treatment practices. Google cited its editorialpolicy at the time, stating Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations. The policy was later changed. In June 2008, Google reached an advertising agreement with Yahoo!, which would have allowed Yahoo! to feature Google advertisements on its web pages. The alliance between the two companies was never completely realized because of antitrust concerns by the U.S. Department of Justice. As a result, Google pulled out of the deal in November 2008. In an attempt to advertise its own products, Google launched a website called Demo Slam, developed to demonstrate technology demos of Google Products. Search engine According to market research published by comScore in November 2009, Google Search is the dominant search engine in the United States market, with a market share of 65.6%. Google indexes billions of web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire through the use of keywords and operators. In 2003, The New York Times complained about Googles indexing, claiming that Googles caching of content on its site infringed its copyright for the content. In this case, the United States District Court of Nevada ruled in favor of Google in Field v. Google and Parker v. Google. The publication 2600: The Hacker Quarterly has compiled a list of words that the web giants new instant search feature will not search. Google Watch has criticized Googles PageRank algorithms, saying that they discriminate against new websites and favor established sites. The site has also alleged that there are connections between Google and the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. Google also hosts Google Books. The company began scanning books and uploading limited previews, and full books where allowed, into its new book search engine. The Authors Guild, a group that represents 8,000 U.S. authors, filed a class action suit in a New York City federal court against Google in 2005 over this service. Google replied that it is in compliance with all existing and historical applications of copyright laws regarding books. Google eventually reached a revised settlement in 2009 to limit its scans to books from the U.S., the UK, Australia, and Canada. Furthermore, the Paris Civil Court ruled against Google in late 2009, asking it to remove the works of La Martinià ¨re from its database. In competition with Amazon.com, Google sells digital versions  of new books. On July 21, 2010, in response to Bing, Google updated its image search to display a streaming sequence of thumbnails that enlarge when pointed at. Though web searches still appear in a batch per page format, on July 23, 2010, dictionary definitions for certain English words began appearing above the linked results for web searches. The Hummingbird update to the Google search engine was announced in September 2013. The update was introduced over the month prior to the announcement and allows users ask the search engine a question in natural language rather than entering keywords into the search box. Productivity tools Gmail, a free webmail service provided by Google, was launched as an invitation-only beta program on April 1, 2004, The service was upgraded from beta status on July 7, 2009, at which time it had 146 million users monthly. The service was the first online email service with one gigabyte of storage. It was also the first to keep emails from the same conversation together in one thread, similar to an Internet forum. The service offers over 15 GB of free storage, shared with other Google Apps, with additional storage ranging from 20 GB to 16 TB available for per 1 GB per year. Gmail uses AJAX, a programming technique that allows web pages to be interactive without refreshing the browser. Steve Ballmer, Liz Figueroa, Mark Rasch, and the editors of Google Watch have criticised the privacy of Gmail, but Google claims that mail sent to or from Gmail is never read by a human being beyond the account holder and is only used to improve relevance of advertisements. In 2004, Google started opensource software project hosting, called Google Code, which allows developers to download incomplete programs at no charge. Google Docs, another part of Googles productivity suite, allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on documents in an online environment, similar to Microsoft Word. The service was originally called Writely, but was obtained by Google on March 9, 2006, and was released as an invitation-only preview. On June 6 after the acquisition, Google created an experimental spreadsheet editing program, which was combined with Google Docs on October 10. Enterprise products Google Search Appliance was launched in February 2002, targeted toward providing search technology for larger organizations. Google Apps allows  organizations to bring Googles web application offerings, such as Gmail and Google Docs, into their own domains. The service is available in several editions: a basic free edition, Google Apps for Business, Google Apps for Education, and Google Apps for Government. In the same year Google Apps was launched, Google acquired Postini and proceeded to integrate the companys security technologies into Google Apps under the name Google Postini Services. Other products Google Translate is a server-side machine translation service, which can translate between 35 different languages. The software uses corpus linguistics techniques, where the program learns from professionally translated documents, specifically UN and European Parliament proceedings. Google launched its Google News service in 2002, an automated service which summarizes news articles from various websites. In March 2005, Agence France Presse sued Google for copyright infringement in federal court in the District of Columbia, a case which Google settled for an undisclosed amount in a pact that included a license of the full text of AFP articles for use on Google News. In 2006, Google made a bid to offer free wireless broadband access throughout the city of San Francisco along with Internet service provider EarthLink. Large telecommunications companies such as Comcast and Verizon opposed the efforts, claiming it was unfair competition and that cities would be violating their commitments to offer local monopolies to these companies. In his testimony before Congress on network neutrality in 2006, Googles Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf blamed the tactics on the fact that nearly half of all consumers lack choice in broadband providers. Google currently offers free wi-fi access in its hometown of Mountain View, California. In 2010, Google announced the Google Fiber project with plans to build an ultra-high-speed broadband network for 50,000 to 500,000 customers in one or more American cities. On March 30, 2011, Google announced that Kansas City, Kansas would be the first community where the new network would be deployed. In July 2012, Google completed the construction of a fiber-optic broadband internet network infrastructure in Kansas City, and after building an infrastructure, Google announced pricing for Google Fiber. The service will offer three options including a free broadband internet option, a 1Gbit/s internet option for $70 per month, and a version that  includes television service for $120 per month. The project, called Android, turned out not to be a phone but an operating system for mobile devices, which Google acquired and then released as an open source project under the Apache 2.0 license. Google provides a software development kit for developers so applications can be created to be run on Android-based phones. In September 2008, T-Mobile released the G1, the first Android-based phone. On January 5, 2010, Google released an Android phone under its own company name called the Nexus One. A report in July 2013 stated that Googles share of the global smartphone market, led by Samsung products, was 64% in March 2013. Other projects Google has worked on include a new collaborative communication service, a web browser, and a mobile operating system. The first of these was first announced on May 27, 2009. The company described Google Wave as a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. The service is Googles email redesigned, with realtime editing, the ability to embed audio, video, and other media, and extensions that further enhance the communication experience. Google Wave was initially in a developers preview, where interested users had to be invited to test the service, but was released to the general public on May 19, 2010, at Googles I/O keynote. On September 1, 2008, Google pre-announced the upcoming availability of Google Chrome, an open source web browser, which was then released on September 2, 2008. On July 7, 2009, Google announced Google Chrome OS, an open source Linux-based operating system that includes only a web browser and is designed to log users into their Google account. Google Goggles is a mobile application available on Android and iOS used for image recognition and non-text-based search. In addition to scanning QR codes, the app can recognize historic landmarks, import business cards, and solve Sudoku puzzles. While Goggles could originally identify people as well, Google has limited that functionality as a privacy protection. In 2011, Google announced Google Wallet, a mobile application for wireless payments. In late June 2011, Google soft-launched a social networking service called Google+. On July 14, 2011, Google announced that Google+ had reached 10 million users just two weeks after it was launched in this limited trial phase. After four weeks in operation, it reached 25 million users. At a launch event on July 24, 2013 in San Francisco, U.S., a newer version of the Nexus 7 Google tablet device was released to the public, alongside the  Chromecast dongle that allows users to stream YouTube and Netflix videos via smartphones. In 2013 Google launched Google Shopping Express, a delivery service initially available only in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Moto X  Speaking at the D11 conference in Palos Verdes, U.S. in late May 2013, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside, a former Google employee, announced that a new mobile device will be built by his company, which is wholly owned by Google, at a 500,000 square-feet facility in Texas, U.S. formerly used by the Nokia company. The facility will employ 2,000 people by August 2013 and the new phone, named the Moto X, will be available to the public in October 2013. The Moto X features Google Now software, and an array of sensors and two microprocessors that will mean that users can â€Å"interact with in very different ways than you can with other devices,† in the words of Woodside. Media reports suggest that the phone will be able to activate functions preemptively based on an awareness of what the user is doing at any given moment. Corporate affairs and culture On Fortune magazines list of best companies to work for, Google ranked first in 2007, 2008 and 2012 and fourth in 2009 and 2010. Google was also nominated in 2010 to be the worlds most attractive employer to graduating students in the Universum Communications talent attraction index. Googles corporate philosophy includes principles such as you can make money without doing evil, you can be serious without a suit, and work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun. Employees After the companys IPO, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt requested that their base salary be cut to $1. Subsequent offers by the company to increase their salaries have been turned down, primarily because their main compensation continues to come from owning stock in Google. Before 2004, Schmidt made $250,000 per year, and Page and Brin each received an annual salary of $150,000. In 2007 and early 2008, several top executives left Google. In October 2007, former chief financial officer of YouTube Gideon Yu joined Facebook along with Benjamin Ling, a high-ranking engineer. In March 2008, Sheryl Sandberg, then vice-president of global online sales and operations, began her position as chief operating officer  of Facebook. At the same time, Ash ElDifrawi, formerly head of brand advertising, left to become chief marketing officer of Netshops. On April 4, 2011, Larry Page became CEO and Eric Schmidt became Executive Chairman of Google. In July 2012, Googles first female employee, Marissa Mayer, left Google to become Yahoo!s CEO. As a motivation technique, Google uses a policy often called Innovation Time Off, where Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Googles newer services, such as Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense originated from these independent endeavors. In a talk at Stanford University, Marissa Mayer, Googles Vice President of Search Products and User Experience until July 2012, showed that half of all new product launches at the time had originated from the Innovation Time Off. Googleplex  Googles headquarters in Mountain View, California, is referred to as the Googleplex, a play on words on the number googolplex and the headquarters itself being a complex of buildings. The lobby is decorated with a piano, lava lamps, old server clusters, and a projection of search queries on the wall. The hallways are full of exercise balls and bicycles. Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted video games, table football, a baby grand piano, a billiard table, and ping pong. In addition to the recreation room, there are snack rooms stocked with various foods and drinks, with special emphasis placed on nutrition. Free food is available to employees 24/7, with paid vending machines prorated favoring nutritional value. In 2006, Google moved into of office space in New York City, at 111 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. The office was specially designed and built for Google and houses its largest advertising sales team, which has been instrumental in securing large partnerships. As of February 2012, a significant engineering team is based in New York City, and has been responsible for more than 100 engineering projects, including Google Maps, Google Spreadsheets. As of September 2013, Googles East Coast office is located at 76 Ninth Ave, New York City, New York. In November 2006, Google opened offices on Carnegie Mellons campus in Pittsburgh, focusing on shopping-related advertisement coding and smartphone applications and  programs. By late 2006, Google also established a new headquarters for its AdWords division in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Other office locations in the U.S. include Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York City; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Reston, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Furthermore, Google has several international offices. In October 2006, the company announced plans to install thousands of solar panels to provide up to 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough to satisfy approximately 30% of the campus energy needs. The system will be the largest solar power system constructed on a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world. The idea of trimming lawns using goats originated from R. J. Widlar, an engineer who worked for National Semiconductor. Google has faced accusations in Harpers Magazine of being an energy glutton. The company was accused of employing its Dont be evil motto and its public energy-saving campaigns to cover up or make up for the massive amounts of energy its servers require. Easter eggs and April Fools Day jokes Google has a tradition of creating April Fools Day jokes. On April 1, 2000, Google MentalPlex allegedly featured the use of mental power to search the web. In 2007, Google announced a free Internet service called TiSP, or Toilet Internet Service Provider, where one obtained a connection by flushing one end of a fiber-optic cable down their toilet. Also in 2007, Googles Gmail page displayed an announcement for Gmail Paper, allowing users to have email messages printed and shipped to them. In 2008, Google announced Gmail Custom time where users could change the time that the email was sent. In 2010, Google changed its company name to Topeka in honor of Topeka, Kansas, whose mayor changed the citys name to Google for a short amount of time in an attempt to sway Googles decision in its new Google Fiber Project. In 2011, Google announced Gmail Motion, an interactive way of controlling Gmail and the computer with body movements via the users webcam. Googles services contain easter eggs, such as the Swedish Chefs Bork bork bork, Pig Latin, Hacker or leetspeak, Elmer Fudd, Pirate, and Klingon as language selections for its search engine. The search engine calculator provides the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the  Universe, and Everything from Douglas Adams The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. When searching the word recursion, the spell-checkers result for the properly spelled word is exactly the same word, creating a recursive link. When searching for the word anagram, meaning a rearrangement of letters from one word to form other valid words, Googles suggestion feature displays Did you mean: nag a ram? In Google Maps, searching for directions between places separated by large bodies of water, such as Los Angeles and Tokyo, results in instructions to kayak across the Pacific Ocean. During FIFA World Cup 2010, search queries including World Cup and FIFA caused the Goooogle page indicator at the bottom of every result page to read Gooooal! instead. Philanthropy In 2004, Google formed the not-for-profit philanthropic Google.org, with a start-up fund of $1 billion. The mission of the organization is to create awareness about climate change, global public health, and global poverty. One of its first projects was to develop a viable plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that can attain 100 miles per gallon. Google hired Larry Brilliant as the programs executive director in 2004, and the current director is Megan Smith. In 2008 Google announced its project 10100 which accepted ideas for how to help the community and then allowed Google users to vote on their favorites. After two years of silence, during which many wondered what had happened to the program, Google revealed the winners of the project, giving a total of ten million dollars to various ideas ranging from non-profit organizations that promote education to a website that intends to make all legal documents public and online. In 2011, Google donated 1 million euros to International Mathematical Olympiad to support the next five annual International Mathematical Olympiads . On July 2012, Google launched a Legalize Love campaign in support of gay rights. Tax avoidance   Google uses various tax avoidance strategies. Out of the five largest American technology companies it pays the lowest taxes to the countries of origin of its revenues. The company accomplishes this partly by licensing technology through subsidiaries in Ireland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Netherlands. This has reportedly sparked a French investigation into Googles transfer pricing practices. Following criticism of the amount of  corporate taxes that Google paid in the United Kingdom, Chairman Eric Schmidt said, Its called capitalism. We are proudly capitalistic. During the same December 2012 interview Schmidt confirmed that the company had no intention of paying more to the UK exchequer. In 2013, Schmidt responded to questions about taxes paid in the UK by pointing to the advertising fees Google charged UK companies as a source of economic growth. Google Vice president Matt Brittin testified to the Public Accounts Committee of the UK house of commons that his UK sales team made no sales and hence owed no sales taxes to the UK. Environment Since 2007, Google has aimed for carbon neutrality in regard to its operations. In June 2013, the Washington Post reported that Google had donated US$50,000 to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank. In July 2013, it was reported that Google had hosted a fundraising event for Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, who has called climate change a hoax. See also Comparison of web search engines Criticism of Google Dont Be Evil Google Google Balloon Internet Google Catalogs Google China Google Chrome Experiments Google logo Google platform Google Ventures – venture capital fund Google X Google+ Googlebot – web crawler Googlization List of Google domains List of mergers and acquisitions by Google Ungoogleable References External links not add links at the Internet Archive at Hoovers Bibliography: Wikipedia

America and Multilateralism: A History

America and Multilateralism: A History Perhaps it is safe to surmise from the very beginning that there does not appear to be a country in the world that is not affected or has not been affected in one way or the other by the United States of America. Short of this, there most certainly does not remain in existence a country, people or society which has no knowledge, however limited, of the United States of America. No single day passes without the American power being addressed or diagnosed in one capacity or the other by the global media. Over time, but in particular, in more recent times, no other country’s political, domestic, economic defence or capabilities and abilities have been more studied or discussed than the extent at which America has been. In actual fact, it is safe to surmise that very few political issues today provoke such strong and diverse responses as the role of the United States of America in its attempt to re-shape world affairs.[1] The recent terrorist attack on America of grave consequence s, its reaction to it and the wars in Afghanistan as well as Iraq have intensified the debate about the nature and prospects of American super power. There remains a school of thought that continues to celebrate the United States’ achievements in proclaiming as well as bringing liberty, democracy and prosperity to every corner of the world. Others are more inclined towards condemnation of America’s pursuit of hegemonic status and its attempt to impose a single economic system and a narrow set of moral belief on other nations around the world. Whichever school of thought one belongs to re America’s performance on the international podium, most have arrived at the conclusion that the history of the twenty-first century will be determined to a large extent by the way American power is used, and by the way in which other major political players on the international front react to it. The nation has often been referred to as an imperial, an empire or hegemony. Most p eople still continue to perceive America as that democratic land of roses where ‘anything can happen’. Some still believe in, especially those outside the shores of the country and straining to one day be admitted into the great country, what they call the ‘American Dream’. It is supposedly a country where ‘anything is possible’. Often times however, America is no longer beheld with rose tinted spectacles. Given its recent history world over, this is hardly a surprise of any significance. The word which best comes to mind when America, that great nation is under discussion as it constantly is for diverse reasons, is hegemony. What, it might be useful to enquire at this juncture, is hegemony? In lay man’s terms, hegemony, succinctly put, is leadership by predominance (some might even say aggression) of smaller and weaker states or nations by naturally bigger nations in an effort to achieve world domination. Does America therefore stand ri ghtly accused of attempting to dominate the world through its conceptualisation of global politics, foreign policies and armed forces, or at least to dominate those nations which are considered smaller and weaker? It is common knowledge that while some countries practice communism or socialism, America was and remains a capitalist country where the motto right after ‘In God We Trust’ is a universally accepted but unspoken ‘survival of the fittest’. In the introductory words of G. John Ikenberry in his book ‘America Unrivalled’, â€Å"The pr-eminence of American power today is unprecedented in modern history. No other great power has enjoyed such formidable advantages in military, economic, technological, cultural or political capabilities. We live in a one-super power world, and there is no serious competition in sight†[2] These words immediately bring to mind perhaps the most controversial wars of all times and America’s gargantuan contribution or one might even dare say blatant single minded orchestration of the same, the Iraqi invasion (and on-going war till date) in 2003. It is worth reminiscing at this juncture how the world watched and waited with bated breath while the United Nations deliberated on whether or not the United States should be granted the authorisation to invade Iraq based on its reports about the so-called axis of evil and the weapons of mass destruction they supposedly had in the making which it further claimed posed un-foretold threats to the international world. It is yet another point in favour of the argument that America is fast becoming or indeed has all but attained the status of an hegemonic state that President George W. Bush announced to the world that regardless of the UN’s decision and that of its Member States, America will forge ahead in war against Ir aq and Afghanistan, alone if they had to. In his exact words, â€Å"†¦when it comes to our security, we really do not need anyone’s permission†[3] It was later argued that it would appear that even the United Nations, a so-called world moderator and international emblem of peace, is nothing but yet another tool in America’s already brimming tool box. Although at the time, this announcement from the Bush Administration sounded as arrogant and ‘above the law’ as it really was, there were many who felt America would be justified in its decision in the wake of the September 11 attack. September 11 2001 (hereafter referred to as 9/11) brought about the turning point in history, international law and the use of force against terrorism. The words of an American man considered very patriotic indeed comes to mind at this controversial stance of George W. Bush re brushing off the world’s opinion and/approval to its use of force in the name of figh ting terrorism. The man, none other than Richard Holbrooke, former United States ambassador to the United Nations, who once stated after careful observation, one should imagine, that the Bush administration threatens to make a â€Å"radical break with 55 years of a bipartisan tradition that sought international agreements and regimes of benefit to us†[4] Many years, loss of lives both civilian and military, reports of horrible treatments meted out to prisoners of war (PWO) by the American soldiers against every rule of Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention, America’s refusal to withdraw its troops even after the fall of Saddam Hussein (its greatest enemy) the question on everyone’s lips is whether the war was indeed for all the altruistic reasons quoted by America in its rather fabricated reports or for more reasons closer to home. The question can even be posed all the way back to Operation Desert Storm in the same Iraq in 1993. Did America invade Iraq on both occasions for economic gain and ultimately to place itself as the world’s super power. Although it appears now to the world that the Bush administration is the one responsible for dramatically drawing America away from multilateralism, a look back into the Clinton administration will confirm that this is not remotely true. Under the Clinton administration, America neither waited for the United Nation’s approval/authorisation before deploying the North Atlantic Treaty Operation (NATO) to Serbia in 1999 nor prior to its bomb attack on Iraq in 1998. There were also other Conventions, Acts and Treaties America rather conspicuously refrained from signing or ratifying such as the banning of further use of Land Mines (the Ottawa Convention of 1997). The difference perhaps would be where the Clinton administration adopted diplomacy in its delivery of such unilateral decisions; the Bush administration simply forges ahead with no regard for the world’s opinion, appro val or in most cases disapproval. In the era immediately after the World War (II), America’s strength was not only viewed during the war with the deployment of its armed forces, which later formed an alliance with the United Kingdom amongst others (the allied forces) but also after the war in its attempt to rebuild Germany as well as other war torn countries in the war aftermath. In this, America had strategised and was apparently successful in ensuring that the world did not revert to its closed regional dealings of the 1930s prior to the war. The founding of the United Nations on 24 October 1945 also saw to it that the beginning of what is now known as globalisation was established. A post war era of multilateral character and significance was thus built around economic and security agreements such as the Bretton Woods Agreement on monetary as well as trade relations among nations. The American-led NATO security pact followed much later. This international order which came into existence after the war (World War II) was effectively one which was multilateral in character. A more open system of trade and investments began to emerge, largely encouraged by America. Economic and security matters as well as political relations became indistinguishable and indivisible among nations in what is best described as an open world market or globalisation. This is evident in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as well as the Bretton Woods agreement earlier mentioned. An alliance tie emerged between the United States and the Great Britain in particular and the European continent in general in a scenario one could simply put in lay man’s terms ‘rub my back and I will rub yours’. America’s economic as well as security assistance to the Asian region is also worth mentioning. America ensured and continues so to do, that weaker and smaller states are afforded security assistance, protection and granted access to its markets, technology and country in general. In th e wake of America’s Green Card Lottery scheme, the support and admiration of other smaller states for which the scheme was intended and who continues to benefit from the same was firmly secured. In a similar vein after the world war, citizens of many nations flocked in their thousands to America from world over and started life over again after the war. In what is not unlike the stone age ‘trade by barter’ arrangement, the participating states in turn continue to ensure that political stability is maintained in their relationship with the United States, making available to America their diplomatic, economic and logistical support in return. For instance, America has training grounds in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, perhaps as a lasting result of Operation Desert Storm. Going back in history however, it remains indelible that there were 5 world super powers including America itself. How then can Ikenberry infer that America has no competition in sight in its steady climb to the top in the international hemisphere? Who were the other four super powers and what became of them? The five major contenders when the United Nations was founded in 1945 were Russia, Great Britain, China, and France. It is accurate to say that the cold war put paid to Russia’s contention with America. The Great Britain, as exhibited more recently under the Tony Blair administration is more or less a lap-dog to American’s policies and remains a rather very friendly ally than a potential contender. Yet it will be nothing short of fallacious argument to say that America has no contender or is without competition in one form or the other. Worth remembering as well is Germany and France’s initial reluctance as well as refusal to throw their weight behind the Ir aqi invasion in 2003. America’s hegemonic state is therefore not without challenges as well as challengers, it is however the multifaceted character of America’s power that makes the country so far reaching, daunting, provocative and formidable to less equipped and smaller countries. The collapse of the Soviet Union in the Cold War saw an acute decline in rival ideologies and even tighter alliances formed between the United States and other regions. Following the Cold War, America continued to grow from strength to strength. In the 1990s its economy was commendably and successfully restructured. Also growing in significant progression alongside its economy is its armed forces and global recognition as a state to reckon with. By the turn of the millennium, America’s economic and military growth had wedged a seemingly insurmountable gulf between itself and other major players in world politics. While the late 90s saw Japan’s economy grow by 9 per cent, the European Union altogether by 15 per cent, American economy grew by a significant 27 per cent, nearly doubling and tripling that of the other regions.[5] This did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. In fact literally doffing his hat to the United States in a speech in Paris (1999), the French Foreign Minister, Hubert Vedrine, observed that the growth witnessed by the world in America â€Å"is not comparable in terms of power and influence to anything known in modern history†[6] America’s devotion to its armed forces can by no means be ignored. America boasts an army that is better equipped and out numbers the armed troops of well over 14 countries put together. There are training grounds for the United States army in well over 40 locations world wide. This automatically means that when another weaker or slightly less advantageous state envisages itself in trouble, the first point of call for protection and assistance, when and if necessary is the United States of America. In its usual confidential, bordering on arrogant manner America’s National Security Strategy declared to the world that their forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries/would-be challengers from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or even remotely equalling, the power of the United States.[7] It is not impossible or even unthinkable for America to utilise its military capacity to impose its policies on other states in different regions of the world. It has been observed already that America spends on its armed forces more than the next fourteen countries combined and that the U.S. military expenditures will shortly be equal to the rest of the world combined.[8] Another scholar of repute, Paul Kennedy, also surmised that it is already the case that all the other navies in the world combined could not dent American maritime supremacy.[9] Still on the issue of security, expressing his own opinion and an opinion apparently shared by many others world over, Barry Possen has suggested that the United States’ command of the sea, space, and air forces is the ‘key military enabler of the U.S. global power position’.[10] Assuming its economic growth remains as healthy as it has been since the 90s, the concentration of world military power may continue for several decades yet. Even at the current level of U.S. capabilities, it is the general view that ‘the United States can shoulder the burden of maint aining global security without much help from Europe’ or the rest of the world for that matter.[11] It begins to appear obvious that perhaps America’s initial support for multilateralism in international trade and globalisation was borne of a grander strategic move to acquire and retain more power while legitimately promoting international reliance of one state on the other, one region on others for support, growth and assistance. A quick glimpse at major historical turning points such as 1919, the end of World War II in 1945 and the period immediately after the Cold War all but confirms this logic. It would appear that America promoted multilateralism in such a strategic way so as to signal restraint and commitment from other states.[12] This precipitated the acquisition of support, if not actual trust, acquiescence and cooperation of other weaker states. But surely when one country is placed so much higher than others in the case of all animals are equal but some more than others, there naturally arises the problem of balance of power or even equality before the law. What the majority of member states may attempt with the United Nations and come out facing adverse repercussions for is the same thing the United States will not only attempt but carry out and come out smelling of roses. For the sake of this discussion, should one be given to a flight of fancy however fleetingly and imagine or a moment that a member state such as Ghana or Nigeria threatens the use of force against Cameroon and declares to the world that the same will be effected whether or not the United Nations and indeed the world approves of its actions. At the very least, economic sanctions will immediately be placed on such a country. However in the name and under the umbrella of 9/11 it would appear that America is permitted to do and undo whatever catches its fancy and of course promotes its economic as well as military growth. How else can one begin to explain the issue of thousands held prisoner at the US military operated prison and indeed a recreation of Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, for years with neither charges nor trial in the name of fighting terrorism? America claims not to have jurisdiction in Cuba to try these prisoners yet it has the power and the authority to imprison them in Guantanamo Bay. What, one is right to ask, happened to the universal (at least in democratic states) ‘writ of habeas corpus’? Another example of America’s marked shift from multilateralism to unilateralism and establishing itself as a super power above the rest of the world is again glimpsed shortly after the controversial invasion of Iraq in 2003, when America was quick to submit allegations against North Korea as well as Iran for also becoming threats to the international community as they were manufacturing nuclear weapons. In an ironical twist however, in 1998, Japan, perhaps once one of America’s closest allies, was reportedly furious with America when its officials unilaterally decided that funding for North Korean Nuclear reactors was to con tinue despite Japan’s complaints that North Korea was firing missile over its territory.[13] What then can possibly put an end to America’s domination of the international stage and its rise towards a super power of hegemonic characteristics? It has been established that the two most important factors in the growth of any nation; its economy and defence, remain the two areas where America continues to excel and prosper rendering it even more of a force to reckon with by other nations of the world. Is it then any wonder that many are of the school of thought that it is only a matter of time before America seeks to completely dominate the world and by so doing, simply crush out weaker states of the world. It is enough to alert the world that more than any other administration before it, the Bush administration is significantly departing from materialism especially on agreements dealing with arms control and proliferation. Multilateralism, as Ikenberry’s book posed the debate, does indeed seem to be on the decline in America’s policy and political stance. I t has become to America a selective game where multilateralism is embraced when it adds to the muscles in its already bulky biceps and unilateralism at every other turn. As America continues to systematically depart from multilateralism and promote more unilateralism in its foreign policies and decisions on security affairs affecting not only its boundaries (assuming such a word as ‘boundary’ exists in the American dictionary) but also spread ashore to other nations of the world, the world may very well be moving rather rapidly towards the final unravelling of America as a hegemonic nation. What and who in the world can then possibly challenge America’s hegemony? Surely it would take a large scale war or a crucial global economic crisis to challenge or even come close to threatening America’s hegemony. While this might be very well put and even precise in theory, surely either option will definitely have grave repercussions on the international community. However, Ikenberry argues in his book, ‘America Unrivalled’, that there are limits to the United States’ hegemony such as it stands at the moment. He is of the opinion that a complete hegemonic order would require not just preponderant capabilities but also some significant degree of acquiescence on the part of other states, especially the other major players in world politics for the maintenance of such order. Following the Cold war, America acquired the support and cooperation of one of the major players in that region, Japan. Japan was once America’s closest ally as a result of this, however even Japan is becoming resentful, as presumably are the rest of the world, at America’s increased unilateralism (as in the North Korean case mentioned above) and the selective choice of multilateralism only when it favours the nation in one form of economic or security purpose or the other. It is therefore not impossible that other major players in the world, on examining their alternatives on how to best rid America of its hegemonic status and by so doing release the unsuspecting world from American domination, may very well challenge its hegemonic position. Capitalising on the regional and international relationships once promoted by America, the other major super powers in the Asian Region and the European Union could orchestrate an over throw of America’s position as an hegemonic state or at the very least challenge the same. Not ignoring the power and importance of smaller or weaker states however, they would quite naturally also have to be involved. This however would be an all scale war, the magnitude, repercussion and significance of which will tremble the world perhaps more than every previous wars put together! Any would-be hegemonic challenger would most naturally have already arrived at the very same conclusion. Apart from the fact that every single one of these would-be challengers rely on the United States for one as pect of its sustenance or the other, it would take a lot of consideration, meetings, strategising and concrete persuasion to convince every member state of the necessity of such a global war. With its present and ever growing resources both at home and abroad, it is therefore only a matter of time before America, at whom the war is intended, becomes aware of the plans and builds up enough or adequate defence against the same. While it is not impossible that several nations of the world may come together and challenge America’s build up to hegemony, to say that the world may never recover from such a large scale war may perhaps be the understatement of the existence of mankind. In a brief state of fantasy, were one to assume that this large scale war does take place and does remove America from the pinnacle of power it currently occupies, there is no telling how many decades or even centuries it would take to rebuild a world of international trade and globalisation. Another da nger in that is another country seizing the opportunity and rising very rapidly to the throne of hegemony, in this instance however, a country not so democratically inclined as America, for instance, China. The world as we know it now may cease to exist as a result of such a war. It is now 2008 yet traces of the Second World War still remain evident in some areas in the Eastern part of Germany as one imagines it does in other affected parts of the world. If the argument here is then that a full blown war against America’s hegemony may do the world greater harm than good, what then can possibly stop America’s climb to the top of the world? As mentioned earlier, the strength of any nation lies in its economic as well as military growth. One, quite naturally, is not devoid of the other however as training camps, gears and facilities will be difficult to procure without a booming economy. Should the world then experience a global economic crisis, the like of which it is yet to ever experience, perhaps this will in a way also bring America to the same level as other countries or at least less dominant? In this present day, at least the European Union and America are experiencing an economic crisis that has been likened to the worst in many decades till date. The Great Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland recently announced that the country is indeed in recession. China and Japan have also reported major decline in sales and poor performances on their Wall Street equivalent. Japan has actually announced to the world, like Great Britain, that it is indeed in the middle of a torrid recession. While this economic crisis may very well be unpleasant and indeed wrecking a lot of harm on the economy of the countries involved, it will take much more than this to cripple America or to reduce its hegemonic status. Even at this point in time, the US Dollar continues to rise against the British Pound and the Euro. Should the world experience an economic crisis of such negative significance that all the major states as well as even the ones considered smaller and weaker are effectively affected, America’s hegemony, in my humble opinion, will most certainly be thoroughly challenged. This will be brought about by the fact that the international community in a bid to survive and revert to some semblance of normality will be forced to depend one on the other for that means to survival, America included. Such a scenario will almost take the world back in history to the early days when the advantages of globalisation and inter dependence of nations on one another was first discovered. Such an economic crisis w ill render it almost impossible for states to continue to concentrate on military training and equipments. One should imagine that nations will be more concerned with the immediate welfare of their people such as housing, medical care and social services as undoubtedly unemployment will rise astronomically in the face of an economic crisis of any significant magnitude. From everything hereinabove appearing and the examination of different (learned) opinions as well as scenarios, it is therefore perhaps appropriate to conclude by agreeing with the debate that should a full blown war orchestrated by would-be challengers of America’s hegemonic state fail, surely an economic crisis of significant global scale will not only challenge but also probably, however temporarily, bring an end to America’s hegemony. America will be forced to revert to the multilateralism way of international politics and to abandon unilateralism in a bid to promote globalisation and a closer knit international community. Bibliography John, G. Ikenberry, ‘America Unrivalled: The Future of the Balance of Power’ (Cornell University Press, 2002) John, Ikenberry, ‘Is American Multilateralism in Decline?’ Perspectives on Politics 1:3 (2003) ‘Hegemony or Empire’ The Redefinition of US Power under George W. Bush, Edited by Charles-Philippe David and David Grondin (2006) Richard Little, Michael Smith, ‘Perspectives on World Politics’ Ikenberry, G. John, ‘Liberalism and Empire: Logics of Order In The American Unipolar Age’, Review of International Studies (2004) Stephen M. Walt, ‘Keeping the World â€Å"Off-Balance†: Self-Restraint and U.S. Foreign Policy’, in Ikenberry, America Unrivalled, pp. 121-154. Charles A. Kupchan, ‘Hollow Hegemony or Stable Multipolarity?’, in G. John Ikenberry (ed.), America Unrivalled: The Future of the Balance of Power (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002), p. 72. According to Kupchan, the European Union is emerging as the main competitor of the United States in a future multipolar international system. Whither American Power? David Held and Mathias Koenig-Archibugi Published in: American Power in the Twentieth-First Century, edited by David Held and Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004. Kennedy, Paul, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers’ 1987 Footnotes [1] David Held and Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, ‘Whither American Power?’ In American Power in the Twentieth-First Century [2] G. John, Ikenberry ‘America Unrivalled’ Pp 1 [3] Quoted in Balz 2003, A1 [4] Purdum 2002., 1 [5] Ikenberry [6] Quoted in Craig R. Whitney, ‘NATO at 50’ With Nations at Odds, Is It A Misalliance? New York Times 2, 1999 [7] President of the United States, The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (Washington D.C.: White House, September 2002), p. 30. [8] G. John Ikenberry [9] Paul Kennedy, ‘The Greatest Superpower Ever’, New Perspectives Quarterly, 19 (2002). [10] Barry R. Posen, ‘Command of the Commons: The Military Foundation of U.S. Hegemony’, International Security, 28 (2003), pp. 5-46, p. 8. [11] On the durability of U.S. supremacy see William C. Wohlforth, ‘The Stability of a Unipolar World’, International Security, 24 (1999), pp. 5–41. [12] Argument was developed by Ikenberry 2001 [13] Marshall and Mann, ‘Goodwill Towards the United States is Dwindling Globally’