European Union Establishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Union Establishment - Essay Example Though, the primary task of my paper is to, after conducting the research and deeply studying the EU concepts, answer the question of whether the EU was mainly created due to political or economical reasons. It is rather surprising that the European Union was officially created fourteen years ago, in 1993, because the idea of United Europe was pursued by many thinkers long before the 1990s. The list of historical personalities, who in different ways followed an idea of EU, is remarkable. It starts with Charlemagne, Charles V, Napoleon, and Metternich, and can be continued with such intellectuals and philosophers as Rousseau, Marx, Kant, and Leibniz the remarkable thinkers who proposed the idea of a European Community "as a long-term desirable political objective" (Davies). Furthermore, the first great effort to integrate an imperative section of Eurasia and the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea was brought up in the times of Roman Empire. It was the time when the idea about "eurocenttrism" and superiority of the European civilization arose for the first time (Davies). For those living in Europe, World War I and World War II meant the beginning of the end of the traditional time-honored European civilization. ... For the majority it was the period of perplexity and uncertainty, the Europeans were simply squeezed between the two growing powers: the USA and the USSR. Though, there was a minority of people who, having survived the wars, drew some important conclusions. At that point of time people realized that the way Europe reacted to wars and actually its capacity to react to military operations depended on its ability to surmount the hostile nationalism that brought about only catastrophes, desolation, and misery (European History Spartacus Educational). For that little group of people it was clear that the time to adopt the ideal of a joint and peaceful Europe as a common project has come (Davies). Nonetheless the fact that there was only a minority of those advocating the creation of joint and peaceful Europe, there were three reasons, or so to say "realities" that evidently showed that the time for new orientation towards the European integration had come. To begin with, the Europeans, even the most nationalistic ones were fully aware of their overall political and economical weaknesses. The world was once and forever changed by the wars, and the eminent and traditional European hegemony was in the past, while the two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were formed possessing a superior economic, political and military strength. Secondly, having learnt the lesson from the two drastic wars, the European countries were fully aware of impossibility and malignancy of repeating the confrontation among European States. The last but not least reason for the establishment of European Union was a desire to create an open, just and more affluent continent in which the international relationships were developed in a frame of harmony, peace, and unity.

To what extent does the internet represent a more democratic medium of Essay

To what extent does the internet represent a more democratic medium of information - Essay Example The concept of democratic media is also in contrast to state-run operations in which the media embodies the value system of the state itself. As such, democratic media can be highlighted by its structure and roles. With regard to structure, democratic media is essentially organized and overseen by ordinary citizens or their grassroots organizations; in terms of functions, democratic media, as a matter of priority, pursue serving the informational, cultural, and other communication needs of members of the public from which the media constitute or represent (Gaur 2006, p.6). Majority of the world media, today, can be regarded as embroiled in a hyper-commercialized agitation. In most countries, fewer than ten transnational media conglomerates control much of the media with almost every aspect of media culture under commercial exploitation right from sports, education, and arts. For some, this trend of concentration of media power and the resultant commercialization of public discourse s pells a disaster. An informed and active citizenry relies on the media in exercising its public service role and popular government need popular information, or ways of attaining it to be considered democratic (Bennett 2007, p.22). The case for media rests on two broad propositions: first, media play critical roles in social, political, economic, and cultural functions within contemporary democracies. In such societies, media can be regarded as the principal source of political information and admittance to public debate, and the platform to an informed, participating, self-governing citizenry (Gaur 2006, p.7). Democracy necessitates a media system that avails the masses with a wide range of opinion and analysis and debate on critical issues, mirrors the diversity of citizens, and fosters public accountability on the premise of powers-that-be and the powers-that-want-be (Bennett 2007, p.24). Second, media structuring, as exemplified by patters of ownership, subsidy, management, and regulations, are a critical determinant of media content. Given the non-competitive nature of media markets, the assertion that the media in contemporary society â€Å"gives people what they want† is unconvincing, to the exception of one media-the internet. Most media firms possess enough market power to dictate the content that can be perceived as most profitable to them (Cohen 2005, p.3). An easy route to this end (profitability) features increasing commercialism facilitated by a large number on ads, enhanced influence by advertisers over the non-advertising content, programming that yields to merchandising, and all forms of cross promotions with non-media forms. For any media to be considered democratic, it must wean itself the negativities associated with media ownership, regulation, management, and subsidy (Hoggart 2004, p.2). As such, the media system must eliminate the enormous power held by selected corporations and advertisers that dictate the media culture. The rece nt success witnessed by the commercial media can be attributed to a number of factors: commercial media operate at all geographical levels as highlighted by the Intra and inter-corporate connections exchange content. Commercial media all collectively and individually lobby to bring strategic influence to bear on