1,506 words

Mercantilism and smallpox in European conquest of the New World

This term refers to an economic system within a nation-state with the purpose to build wealth and prosperity.

~8 min read

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1,340 words

Rastafarianism and reggae music as Jamaican resistance to colonial subjugation

The Rastafari tradition is as unique as the island beauty of Jamaica itself. It is a tradition coming specifically out of the conditions experienced by the Jamaican people, and a direct response on how to ease that experience.

~7 min read

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1,749 words

Tolkien's judicious word choice in The Lord of the Rings

Although the recent motion picture adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, was not the first such enterprise, it did go a long way towards attracting a new generation of readers to the trilogy and its prologue in The Hobbit.

~9 min read

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1,525 words

Thomas Merton's conversion to Catholicism and spiritual journey

Thomas Merton (1915 -- 1968) was a prominent Catholic figure and one of the most important spiritual writers of the previous century, renowned for some of his influential works on Christian living, the first one of them being an autobiographical account called "The Seven Storey Mountain." This work…

~8 min read

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1,639 words

Cross-cultural communication challenges in international business

Nowadays, with almost every country going global, cross-cultural communication has become an integral part of business.

~9 min read

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1,621 words

Interpreting cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment

Even in the contemporary world, one of the most fundamental issues before the Supreme Court involves the meaning and interpretation of the Eightn Amendment to the United States Constitution.

~9 min read

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1,759 words

Lord Macartney's embassy and China's resistance to Western modernization

Two Asian countries, China and Japan, have tried to postpone the process of modernization in the occidental sense of the word as long as possible. By definition, modernization comes along with openness.

~9 min read

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1,071 words

The Iron Curtain and the Cold War division of Europe

Iron Curtain: This term refers to an imaginary "curtain" that fell across Eastern Europe after World War II and which eventually led to the construction of the Berlin Wall, separating East from West Germany.

~6 min read

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1,718 words

King Leopold II's conquest of Congo under the guise of humanitarianism

King Leopold's Ghost is an amazing though disturbing account of one man's ruthless ambition and carnage that resulted in mass murder, subjugation, horrifying cruelty and severe exploitation.

~9 min read

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1,662 words

Enlightenment ideas and the American Constitution's ratification

Enlightenment represents a stage in Western philosophy and culture which spanned the eighteenth century, and advocated Reason as the primary source of authority.

~9 min read

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