The Western Expansion into South East Asia Essay

The Western Expansion into South East Asia - Essay Example The first phase of Western expansion into South East Asia was characterized by a scenario whereby the Western Imperialists invaded the South East Asia and facilitated a division of the region in relation to territories; this was compared to their division of Africa into various nations. For instance: The British took complete control of the Indonesian Islands while the French took control of Indochina. However, this period was characterized by a scenario where; the French, the Dutch and the British took control of the South East Asia region (Schopper, pg. 29, 2008). On the other hand, during the second phase of the expansion, the United States of America was involved in the act where they acquired the Philippines, the Guam as well as Puerto Rico. Another difference between the First Phase and the Second Phase of Western Expansion into the South East Asia occurred into the sense that the First Phase was not characterized by incidences of conflict: The Dutch, the French and the British , expanded their colonial effects into various parts of the South East Region without undergoing any conflict with the native inhabitants of these region or even other colonialists. However, during the second phase of the expansion, a series of conflict occurred frequently majorly due to resistance among the natives for instance: The United States of America being one of the Colonialists that acquired the Philippines underwent a fierce battle with the Filipino Nationalists in the year 1899.

Cuban Missle Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cuban Missle Crisis - Essay Example The role of Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis provides insights to the success or failures of him as a leader of the Soviet Union. However a lot of research on his role in the event has focused primarily on explaining the reasons of his decisions to place the missiles in Cuba. Taubman, points out that placing of the missiles in Cuba are viewed by Khrushchev as a cure for the entire world thus alleviating the domestic troubles and showing to his colleagues that he was a worthy leader. Khrushchev in his memoirs explains his decision of placing the missile and crisis as; â€Å"We shipped our weapons to Cuba precisely for the prevention of aggression against her! That is why the Soviet government reaffirmed its agreement to the removal of the ballistic rockets from Cuba† (Khrushchev). The reasoning behind placing of the missiles as given by Khrushchev was logical and can be considered as a justifiable personal reaction. According to White, it was noted that Khrushchev as a pe rson was ‘innovative and conciliatory,’ but also ‘erratic and dangerous’ (White, Missiles in Cuba, Kennedy, Khrushchev, Castro and the 1962 Crisis), thus such decision coming from him can be attributed to his incongruous personality mix. However the decision of Khrushchev was in view of the Soviet Union’s â€Å"Caribbean Crisis† and in an attempt to counter the increasing global power of US and the hostile stance it had taken in Latin America. In the last month of year 1962, Khrushchev stated that he could see â€Å"a possibility of defending the freedom-loving people of Cuba by stationing missiles there.† (White, Missiles in Cuba, Kennedy, Khrushchev, Castro and the 1962 Crisis). For Khrushchev, Cuba was a ray of hope in the iron curtain, through which he could see the opportunity to bolster the image and power of Soviet Communism and to reject the Beijing accusation. Through this he had the opportunity to address the most critical iss ues concerning the Soviet Union, like: settlement over Berlin, military strategic parity with US and to attain communist prestige in the eyes of Beijing. Although the decision of Khrushchev for placing the missile can be seen as a serious tactical blunder, but his actions during the crisis along with response from Kennedy helped in preventing an atomic war. Although another medium could have been adopted by Khrushchev to strike a better deal for Soviet Union, however he deserves respect for risking his careers, setting aside his pride and withdrawing the missiles. Since the 1962, the unbroken state of Cuba is attributed to the Cuban-Soviet relations serve as a victory for the Soviet Union (Roeschley) Also, as a result of the Soviet-American pact on not invading Cuba was a success for the Soviet in securing victory for Latin American states thus protecting Cuba from another attack like that of the Bay of pigs. In his memoirs, Khrushchev recalls it as, â€Å"if Cuba fell, other Latin American countries would reject us, claiming that for all our might the Soviet Union hadn’t been able to do anything for Cuba except to make empty protests to the United Nations, we had to think of some way of confronting America with