The Effects of Globalization and Economic Expansion on Russia Research Paper

The Effects of Globalization and Economic Expansion on Russia - Research Paper Example As a result of this, Russia obtained international acknowledgement as the sovereign successor to the Soviet Union. Russia was honored with a permanent seat to represent the Soviet Union in the United Nations Security Council, and various positions in regional and international organizations. 7 Russia sits on both Europe and Asia. However, it is neither Asian nor European in its standpoint and culture. Russia has remained the largest country in the world, even after the division of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ziegler points out that the nation â€Å"occupies about 6.6 million square miles of territory, and is nearly twice the size of the United States. From East to West, the country stretches over 5,000 miles and occupies 11 time zones† (1). After the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Russia abandoned much of its access to the Black sea. As a result of this fragmentation, Russia was left smaller, landlocked, and geographically isolated. The former Soviet Union w as the third-largest nation in the world with a population of approximately two hundred and ninety million people. Despite the fact that Russia is physically the largest nation in the world, its population has been declining over the years. In this regard, it becomes the ninth largest nation in the world following â€Å"China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria† (Ziegler 2) in terms of population. Over eighty percent of the population of Russia lives on the western side of the nation, while the rest of the population lives in Siberia and Russia’s Far East. 8 Western Russia is populated with majority of Russia’s roads, railways, and air routes. Ziegler asserts that â€Å"Siberia is extremely rich in natural resources-oil, natural gas, gold, diamonds, furs, and timber-but much of its wealth is virtually inaccessible or very costly to extract due to the country’s weak transportation system† (2). Today, Russi a is more ethnically united compared to the former Soviet Union and imperial Russia. This is because before the downfall of the Soviet Union, it had only fifty one percent ethnic Russians. However, the Russian Federation today comprises of eighty two percent ethnic Russians. Tatars are the second largest ethnic group in the Russian Federation; the group comes from Mongols descendants, who controlled the lands in Russia in the thirteenth century. Three percent of Russia’s population comprises of the Ukrainians, who are Russian’s Slavic cousins. Twelve percent of the population is made up of Jews, Germans, Belarusians, Turkic people, Caucasians, and small tribes form Siberia. The ethnic groups in Russia generally relate very well, but from time to time, outbursts of violence occur against non-Russians. 9 According to Ziegler â€Å"Russia as a whole lies much further north than the United States; in this sense it is more comparable to Canada† (2). Russia has a lot of fertile agricultural land, but its location in the north results in cold weather and very short growing seasons. As a result of this, most crops do not fare well on Russian soil. When it was part of the Soviet Union, Russia had great cropland. This was however lost when the Soviet Union was dissolved, great cropland located in Kazakhstan and Ukraine was lost. Crops grown in Russia include rye, winter wheat, potatoes and sugar

The Film American Beauty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Film American Beauty - Essay Example The philosophical idea of beauty Since the early days of Greek philosophy circa 427 B.C., the question of what is beauty has been asked. And in the earthly yet lofty discussion of the Dialogues, Plato narrates how his teacher Socrates draws them to realize that beauty is not only what is fair in physical form-- such as of a face, hands or other parts of the body --- but also what is fair or good in speech and knowledge. â€Å"Is not the good also the beautiful,† says Socrates (Jowett Translation 204). Apart from what is readily understood, Socrates speaks in more mystical terms as he teaches contemplation as a mental gaze to see â€Å" the very essence of beauty itself, everlasting not growing and decaying, or waxing or waning. . . which if beheld one would look and be with, bringing forth and nourishing true virtue† (118). The vision of Socrates on absolute beauty is not what is commonly known about the beautiful things in everyday life. Ordinarily, beauty is referred to with reference to appeal or loveliness mainly of the physical form, often enough of women. It would therefore be interesting to be clarified on what Socrates means by true, simple and divine beauty which â€Å"when beholden with the eye of the mind enables one to realize realities beyond images or physical form. The movie American Beauty may just have a comparable idea about absolute beauty. What American Beauty is In the movie American Beauty, the idea of beauty or the good is typified by the main characters. Living up to his ideal of the military service, Col. Fitts of the Marine Corps thinks military-like authority and discipline is good or beautiful for his family. He therefore subdued his own wife to full subservience and his son Ricky to outwardly regarding him as a role model and war hero. Next door neighbours are the Burnhams with Caroline Burnham bravely standing for the beauty of America’s economic rat-race which has turned her into a fierce competitor at the expense of her husband Lester, who has become less of a husband and more of a liability in her life. The teenage Angela Hayes typifies the young American beauty, obsessed with the need for attention and popularity among schoolmates. Her best friend Jane, daughter of Lester and Carol Burnham, has become the sounding board to her constant craving for adulation and her unending need to be someone special and not ordinary in school. Central to the movie, however, is not Angela, but Lester Burnham. The movie flows with his off-cam narrative and dramatic solutions to solve a middle-age crisis and discover the good and beautiful in life. Closely helping him in his search for life’s meaning is the young Ricky Fitts who introduced him to life space through drugs until Lester’s life was cut short by an assailant’s gun, that of Ri cky’s own father Col Fitts. The varied objects which appeared good or beautiful to the movie’s characters appear to compose the totality of beauty in the American way of life -- authority drawn from soldiery for Col. Fritts, drive for success at the expense of family for Carolyn, search for life space for Lester Burnham, popularity and attention for the insecure Angela, and the double life of discipline-and-drugs for the young Ricky Fitts. Who is the American Beauty It is easy to say that Angela Hayes, the object of a fleeting attraction of Lester Burnham is