Obama and US-Israel Relations Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Obama and US-Israel Relations - Article Example In fact, there has come the time when the sovereign state of Israel will be accountable for its actions and the continued pressure from the US for the peace-keeping process in the region will receive more momentum. The significance of Obama is that he has set the right passage for the state of Israel to join the community of peace seeking nations and to recognize its responsibility for the long-standing stalemate in this region. Significantly, this state has been responsible for political and social stalemate in the region and only the regressive reactionary forces of fundamentalism have gained and continue to gain from this state of affairs. Thus, there has come the time for Israel to come of age in this respect and the U.S role is critical. From the radical and critical standpoint of the several critics of Israeli policies it is essential for America to be firm about more than freezing settlements on freshly-grabbed land. For them, Obama has the better chance of doing something mea ningful in the region than any president since Israel's founding. "No wonder, then, that the Obama administration is already reverting to the old pre-Bush assumptions that have repeatedly been discredited in practice: that Israeli "intransigence" is the main obstacle to ending the conflict with the Palestinians; that "restarting" the "peace process" therefore requires putting the onus back on Israel; and that this in turn necessitates forcing Israel back to the 1967 borders." (Podhoretz) Therefore, it time for Israel to stop finding fault with the other side with charges of anti-Semitism and it is for the US to ensure that the peace-process in the region is not affected. The election of Barack Obama to US Presidency has a major impact on the peace process in the Middle East and it is the best thing to happen to the State of Israel since its founding. Whereas it is obvious that the role of the US president Barack Obama in brining the State of Israel back to the global peace process is generally accepted, there are critics who do not believe in this phenomenon of peace-keeping. Ben-Dror Yemini, who has been a fierce critic of the view that Obama can bring about any progress in the matter of Israel and according to him the West remains indifferent to the situation. "And where are the world's leaders Where is the wondrous rhetorical ability of Barack Obama Where has his sublime vocabulary gone Where is the desire that is supposed to be built into all American presidents, to defend and act on behalf of freedom seekers around the globe What is this stammering" (Caspit and Yemini) Yemini, along with Caspit, has been too critical about the abilities of Obama in bringing about peace in the region by forcing Israel to move in the path of peace process. However, it is obvious that the critical arguments made by Yemini do not give an exact explanation of the context of U.S Israel relations under Obama. According to him, "The voices being heard from Obama elicit concern that we are actually dealing with a new version of Chamberlain. Being conciliatory is a positive trait, particularly when it follows the clumsy bellicosity of George Bush, but when conciliation becomes blindness, we have a problem." (Caspit and Yemini) The Ma'ariv correspondents Ben Caspit and Ben-Dror Yemini harshly criticize the limited role of Barack Obama in responding to the needs of the region, especially in checking the

Business and management research project, focusing on CSR and its Essay

Business and management research project, focusing on CSR and its relevant themes. Develop an appropriate and feasible research - Essay Example Thus, they are instruments to sharing news of this positive happening to the society acting as mediators that channel information from the company to their main audience. Indubitably, media companies have an edge in information dissemination because that is their business, but this strength may become their weakness as they become exposed to controversies that predominantly affect their integrity and reputation. Although several studies about CSR are now in existence, there are only a few that focus on the media and entertainment industry, in particular, the media companies. Thus, a study on this matter is proposed to uncover the reality that is taking place in this industry. The objectives of the study are given as follows. To investigate the relationship between CSR, business reputation, and profit To examine CSR in the context of UK media companies To assess the impact of CSR to the reputation and profitability of media companies To determine whether media companies are socially r esponsible and on how their being socially responsible helped in enhancing their reputation and profitability The proposed research targets to contribute factual and reliable information in regard to the issue on CSR that may as well become a reference for future CSR studies. In addition, it seeks to increase society’s knowledge about CSR by means of utilising media companies as the focus of the study. 2. Literature Review Since the 90s up to present, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been receiving overwhelming attention from academic researchers (Crane, et al., 2008, p.3). The arguments in performing CSR research are often in connection with the business itself as a part of society that is obliged to contribute something for it to progress (Crane, et al., 2008, p.3). There is a never-ending issue concerning the responsibility of businesses to the society apart from earning a profit for its owners and shareholders (Benn & Bolton, 2011, p.ix). In the en d, the point at issue is the benefit that a business will reap out of doing well (Benn & Bolton, 2011, p.ix). This concern again raises another issue in respect to how CSR is used for profit maximisation instead of using it as a tool to recognising the business’ societal, moral obligations (Benn & Bolton, 2011, p.ix). The real motive of a business into incorporating CSR initiatives is, therefore, altercated by the academes and business practitioners (Benn & Bolton, 2011, p.ix). The concept of CSR has gone a long way of acceptance and rejection prior to becoming a fundamental area of concern for business practitioners (Crane, et al., 2008, p.3). Studies have been conducted through the years, which have attempted to explain CSR in the context of different types of business. In the study of Knox and Maklan (2006), the increasing impact of CSR to leading multinational firms was examined. Knox and Maklan (2006, p. 4) argue that the notion of a business being socially responsible i s already acknowledged by a majority of people. Still, they believe that the problem lies in the fact that no systematic framework is there to guide firms in understanding the connection between business investments and on how this can be used to perform social responsibilities (Knox & Maklan, 2006, p.34). Knox and Maklan (2006) have contended that different companies must apply a varying approach to CSR that is standard to their business type in