Showing posts with label AMERICA POWER OF THE NORTH RISE OF THE SOUTH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AMERICA POWER OF THE NORTH RISE OF THE SOUTH. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 September 2014
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
USA : is this the end?
Made in China
Click HERE to find out!
Questions/to do (cf. the above video):
- Complete the following sentence: It was "the drive to the West that gave the sense that America was ... destiny." (18secs)
- How is "decline" defined? (27secs)
- What clothing items worn by the journalist were made in China (44secs), and what does this say about America do you think?
- What is "already history"? (1min 18secs)
- What is the USA's "feeling of superiority" due to? (1min 32secs)
- What does "from the barrel of a gun" mean when describing the power of the USA? (1min 39secs)
- Where are the USA's intercontinental ballistic missiles based? (1min 42secs)
- What is "deterrence"? (2mins)
- What is the job of the two navigators? (2mins 13secs)
- In your own words, describe and comment the captain's answer to the question: "Is American power as great as it was?" (2mins 35secs)
- In your own words, describe and comment the captain's answer to the question: "Does America act for good in the world?" (2mins 52secs)
- What was the USA's military budget in 2011, and how does this compare to other countries? (3mins 19secs)
- What would "take generations to erode", and do you agree? (3mins 33secs)
- What may be "a burden, not a blessing", and why? (3mins 36secs)
- What is "the other source of American might? (3mins 45secs)
- What "seems inevitable"? (3mins 51secs)
- What is the "frontier feel" in North Dakota due to? (4mins 5secs)
- Research why fracking is "a controversial technique". (4mins 22secs)
- How will the USA avoid relying on the Middle East or on anyone else for its energy? (4mins 37secs)
- Where is the "new frontier"? (4mins 52secs)
- What is "taking us on to the next frontier"? (5mins 21secs)
- What does "patriotic optimism" mean, and, in your opinion, what other countries share this attitude? (5mins 29secs)
- Do you share the journalist’s analysis that America "is a very young country, still growing up and changing"? (5mins 36secs)
- Describe Randel Ratten's attitude (5mins 37secs)
- A "new dawn can be within reach" says the journalist; what does he mean? (6mins 8secs)
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Is the USA losing its influence in Latin America?
Document
1: extracts from the May 6th 2006 article “Navigating the
Nationalization and Denaturing the Strife: The Aftermath of Bolivia’s Gas Golpe”
by Larry Birns and Michael Lettieri, published on the website of the Council On
Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
Document
2: cartoon by Chappatte in the International Herald Tribune (2006)
Washington may soon be persuaded by U.S.
rightwingers to respond to the nationalization of Bolivia’s petrol industry (…)
White House hardliners (…) see Evo Morales’ action as a clear sign of a
dangerous growth in Hugo Chávez’s influence (…)
Geopolitically, Morales must also be attuned to
the needs and concerns of other regional leaders. Lula and Kirchner’s opinions,
whose countries previously received preferential pricing on Bolivian gas,
cannot be easily discounted. Both leaders are concerned with ensuring their
country’s energy supplies, and for Lula, finding a path between keeping
industrialists dependent on gas imports happy and maintaining the ghost of his
leftist credentials will be crucial for his reelection (…)
Some in Washington, who comprise the
ideological heart of the anti-Chávez crusade, have taken the nationalization as
a sign that the Bush administration, distracted by Iraq, has thus failed to effectively
contain Caracas’ spreading influence and that Washington is in real danger of
losing Latin America. The nationalization’s high media profile could force the
State Department to take a tough approach to the region, even to the point of
mobilizing the CIA and the U.S. military, but it is more likely to work its way
by undermining the all-important chink (weakness) in the armor: the Latin
American armed forces.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Monday, 22 April 2013
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Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Five questions on lesson 1 of The USA, the rich and the mighty
- What was the population of the USA in 2006?
- What is meant by "hard power" and "soft power"?
- How and why has Disney expanded to Asian countries?
- What advantages does the US's dominant position as regards Internet use give the USA?
- How does its prospective mission to Mars illustrate the USA's expansionist aims?
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
The end of an Empire? By Agathe & Alice
Mark Urban’s article Is the US on the decline or simply in an economic slump? was
published on the BBC News website in September 2012 (click on the link above to read the article and watch the video).
There are a lot of articles about the subject of the
US’s decline and it was one of the topics during a debate between the two presidential
candidates. For Obama, “the USA is back”; conversely, Romney thinks his country
is in decline. According to a poll, 60% to 70% of American citizens think their
country is in fact in decline.
Mark Urban evokes different aspects of the US’s
decline, beginning with the military aspect. The USA still has today a powerful army present
everywhere in the world. Obama’s point of view is that the Government has to
focus on the country itself (economy, education, health, unemployment, etc.) and spend less on arms. Obviously, his competitor Romney is against this idea: he accuses Obama of
being the cause of the decline of the USA’s power in the world.
Then, the journalist deals with the USA’s
cultural influence through Hollywood, Google, Apple, etc. With the new BRICSAM powers
getting stronger on the global scene, the USA seems to be losing that influence
on the world.
Both candidates have been sparring over trade
relations with China; Obama suggests new tariffs on Chinese car imports.
The article ends with a comparison between the USA and
Britain. Apparently, the US “Empire” is condemned to disappear, just as the
British Empire did…
Thursday, 13 December 2012
America's soft power. By Agathe and Alice
This is a cartoon drawn by Cox and Forkum in 2003 and published on their website. It deals with the culture clash between the USA and France.
In the cartoon there are two men who are the stereotypes of a Frenchman
and an American.
On the left, The American is wearing a cowboy costume just like in a
Western movie; he has a gun and his ready to shoot. He is spluttering in the
Frenchman’s face, irritated by the other man’s apparent indifference. He is
yelling "feet!" louder and louder.
The French guy is wearing a blue sailor-striped tee shirt which is
apparently too small for him. Moreover, he seems to have a protuberant stomach
as he obviously drinks too much wine (he is holding an empty glass of wine) and
eats too much good food. He is smoking a cigarette and seems very self-assured.
The USA and France want to impose their culture on others. But, even if
there are some differences, we share the same values, and a common
"Western" culture. Seen from a wider perspective, our cultures are in
fact quite similar and France and the USA are both culturally important in the
world.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Monday, 6 August 2012
Saturday, 28 July 2012
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