The Radicalism of Osama Bin Laden Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Radicalism of Osama Bin Laden - Case Study Example Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi citizen, was born to a self-made Saudi construction billionaire.   His family life was somewhat unstable as evidenced in the fact that his mother was his father’s tenth wife and was divorced early in his childhood.   With three half brothers and sisters from his mother’s side and over fifteen from his father’s, it would be hard to assume that he benefited from a stable home environment. Nevertheless, while his family life may have been unstable, familial wealth afforded him countless opportunities and experiences.   These included education in the best private schools in Saudi Arabia, education in Europe and the United States as well as unlimited world travel and contact with the global economic and social elite (Jacquard, 2002). Despite these and countless other opportunities, Bin Laden exhibited a persistent tendency towards religious fanaticism and upon the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, joined the mujahedeen forces. Born in 195 7, Bin Laden’s childhood period coincided with the collapse of colonialism and the rise of Arab and Islamic nationalism. His childhood and youth, therefore, unfolded during a period of politically inspired religious and nationalistic fervor. The degree to which the stated influenced him is amply evidenced in his response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As Gunaratna (2002) explains, bin Laden immediately responded to the United States’ call for the liberation of Afghanistan, a Muslim territory, from the atheistic communist forces headed by the Soviet Union and joined the ranks of the mujahideen. During this period he was exposed to extremist Islamic ideology and, according to Gunaratna (2002, p. 21), was afforded the opportunity to establish â€Å"close relationships with several religious authorities,† most of whom like Omar Abdel Rahman, were living in exile having The times into which Osama Bin Laden was born and the way he interacted with and responded to them determined his evolution into a terrorist. It is within the context of these times that the events of September 11th assume a type of inevitability.

Cuban Missile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cuban Missile - Essay Example John F. Kennedy was the US president during this time of crisis. He therefore had to make swift moves to avoid going into war with the Soviet Union. As Robert Kennedy and Arthur Jr. Schlesinger portray in their book In Thirteen Days, they applaud John F. Kennedy for the way in which he handled the crisis.Kennedy’s team of Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm) congregated and deliberated on different ways to deal with the crisis. As Robert puts it, they considered several options. The first one was invading Cuba, option two was ordering air strikes with the intention of taking out the missile areas, the other option was imposing a blockade around Cuba. This was aimed at keeping out the undelivered missiles. The fourth option they considered was presenting a private ultimatum to Nikita Khrushchev and in the event that the missiles were not removed, then a military action was to be taken. The fifth and the last option was to present some offer of trade for the missiles in Cuba and those in Turkey.The fifth option was fronted and therefore at the heart of the crisis Kennedy’s administration agreed to withdraw or remove the US missile s from the republic of Turkey and in exchange the Soviet Union was to also remove their nuclear forces from Cuba. The US central concession handled the matter in secret unlike the Soviet who came out in public. The US thought that the idea of withdrawing from the republic of Turkey would have seen the administration that was in place as weak.