Human Rights Violations in the War on Terrorism Essay -- Terrorists Te

Following the September 11th terrorist attacks in which at least 3,000 people were killed, the United States has pursued policies that violate human rights in order to wage the war on terrorism. These policies include the adoption of new security measures, the poor treatment of captured fighters at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, and the willingness of the Bush administration to overlook human rights violations in other countries in return for their support in the war on terrorism. When the enemy is faceless, as it is in the United States' fight against terror, there is a tendency to violate human rights in order to identify the perpetrators and anticipate further atrocities. Violations include detaining suspects without sufficient evidence or cause, denial of access to lawyer, and unfair trials. In addition to these violations, the United States has passed legislation that allows for the indefinite detention of non-US nationals facing deportation on national security grounds. This is currently the case with Mazen Al-Najjar, a Muslim academic who came to the United States in 1981 as student and later became a university professor. In 1997, Al-Najjar was detained for three years after government lawyers claimed that he had raised funds for a terrorist organization. A judge later ruled that there were insufficient reasons for concluding that he posed a threat to national security and he was released. However, he was placed back into custody in November 2001 when immigration agents claimed that he "had established ties to terrorist organizations." According to Amnesty International, no new evidence was presented to support this claim and he is currently being held in solitary confinement for twenty-three hours a day in a ... ...ver, the United States has established military bases there, and is thus willing to overlook several violations in exchange for cooperation against terrorists. While the threat of terrorism does require the adoption of specific security measures and policies, a grave danger exists in that human rights may be sacrificed in the name of security. The United States and its allies must do all that they can to ensure that human rights and freedoms are preserved. As a supporter of international law, the United States should be expected to adhere to a higher standard when it comes to the application and enforcement of these basic rights. Therefore, the United States must not use or condone the use of terrorism as an excuse to curb human rights. Human rights must govern how states treat people at all times. It is only then when states will truly be able to sustain peace.

Ceremony- Rewrite Essay

Tradition is the illusion of permanence. It defines who people are and gives them a place in their community; it is an expression of belonging and individuality at the same time. In Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko exposes throughout the novel many Native American characters. Some follow the traditions and others are ashamed of them. Silko expresses that only the ones that follow them are the ones that find themselves. They know who they are and are stronger and wiser. Because of this, they are the ones that will survive in this horrible modern world. Tayo is a boy that is proud of his origins and follows the traditions of his tribe. Rocky, on the contrary, tries to avoid the traditions and follow the white ways. Consequently, he thinks it will give him an advantage. He considers that white people are better. Both boys are influenced by their family and events that occur during their childhood. Both Rocky’s parents are Native Americans. Auntie, his mother, is one of the most negative characters in the novel. She does not follow the morals of the Native Americans; she is instead Christian and is close-minded. She influences Rocky to the white ways; she is the one that tries to make everything possible for Rocky’s success as a white. She even takes him to white school. â€Å"You drink like an Indian, and you’re crazy like one too—but you aren ´t shit, white trash. You love the Japs the way your mother loved to screw white men.† Tayo is the child of a Native American woman and an uncertain white f ather. Tayo is bullied by this all the time since he was young. In school, he said â€Å"Mexican eyes, the other kids used to tease me.† Tayo’s mother name is Laura. Laura was confused with the mixing of both cultures and ends up being ashamed of both. In addition she becomes an alcoholic and abandons Tayo. People assault Tayo for looking different. They accuse him of thinking he is better because he is half- white. In contrast, he tries to fit in and be accepted in his community. He feels rejected. Native Americans live together, all with their brothers and sisters. Auntie is bother when Tayo shows up in her house. Grandma and Josiah do not because they are accustomed to live all together. Auntie raises Rocky and makes him her own way. On the other hand, Tayo is raise by Josiah and Grandma. They teach him the traditions and storytelling. The key is there, that makes Tayo and Rocky different: the way they are raise. It develops their feelings for their origins and makes them proud or ashamed of where they belong and who they are. Also, when Tayo and Auntie are alone she makes it clear that he is different in a wrong way. Auntie wants no success for Tayo, only for Rocky. This makes Tayo feels like an outsider in the family and gives the sentiment of not belonging anywhere, but he never loses faith. Yet, family motivates Rocky to act white. Tayo has to make an effort to be noticed in the family; he has to take care of the cattle and even decides to join Rocky in the army. While Rocky has to do nothing and family members support him the most. Going to war is something that Tayo does for belonging. It has some success; Rocky calls him â€Å"brother† and not â€Å"cousin†. In white school, teachers teach them that storytelling is pure superstition; it which is science they have to believe in. Tayo and Rocky are taught the same, Rocky succeeds and Tayo does not. Despite the fact that the teachers tell Tayo that traditions and storytelling are nonsenses he stills believes. Nevertheless, Rocky, â€Å"After their first year of boarding school in Albuquerque, Tayo saw how Rocky deliberately avoided the old-time ways. Old Grandma shook her head at him, but he called it superstition, and he opened his books to show her.† Rocky through Auntie’s previous influence, gets easily motivated by the white teachers. The teachers’ goal is to eliminate their beliefs, so Native Americans would start thinking â€Å"white†. Watching Rocky’s success in school â€Å"he listened to his teachers, and he listened to his coach†¦They told him, â€Å"Nothing can stop you now except one thing: don’t let the people at home hold you back†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Auntie†¦wanted him to be a success. She could see what white people wanted in an Indian, and she believed this way was his only chance.† Rocky now thinks as a white man, but Tayo is still loyal to his Native American beliefs. Rocky’s decision to go to the war is driven by the goal of being as a white man and â€Å"belonging in America†. Rocky dies in war. Tayo and friends that attended white school together come back. All of them are suffering from an internal conflict, post traumatic effect. Tayo wants to cure himself and starts a traditional ceremony. The other men are like Rocky, they want to be white and reject their own culture. â€Å"So they tried to sink the loss in booze, and silence their grief with war stories about their courage, defending the land they had already lost.† The ones that are like Rocky, consequently, automedicate themselves with alcohol because they believe in nothing else. If Rocky had returned from the war he would have found in the same situation. In war they triumph, they are equally important as white men. â€Å"She looked at these Laguna guys. They had been treated first class once, with their uniforms. As long as there had been a war and the white people were afraid of the Japs and Hitler.† Without their uniforms, without being recognized as American soldiers, the Native Americans are again found discrimination. So they drink even more to remember that belonging â€Å"Here they are, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during war†¦ Belonging was drinking and laughing with the platoon, dancing with blond women, buying drinks†¦ They repeated the stories about good time like long medicine chants† . They are killing themselves with alcohol, the same way Rocky would do if he had back from the war. Because they prefer alcohol over medicine plants, or anything that is from their own culture. They already feel white and they like it more. In spite of this, Tayo cures himself and starts even a better life, the ceremony makes him a survivor. Leslie Marmon Silko between Tayo and Rocky shows the reader, even when Rocky is dead, how traditions can save the souls of who believe. Rocky and the other men modernize everything and eliminate their own origins. The people that they really are inside. Tayo, instead, combines the traditions and creates a new ceremony that includes white culture, but preserves the origins of the Native Americans. The other men are dead alive. Tayo is like that after the war, but ceremonies save him and make him a true survivor. Also, he has the function of a connection between the older and younger generations of Native Americans. The author concludes that in this modern and horrible world, only the ones that adapt and accept the change positively will survive and be happy. People should never forget their roots because that is what they purely are.

Domain Names as Internet Properties Essay

What are your long term plans for your domain name? Do you expect to convey the name and the goodwill associated with it to an interested buyer or bequeath it your heirs? Perhaps you intend to use the domain name to secure a loan for a business expansion or for your child’s college tuition. You may be in for a surprise. The intellectual property community asserts that domain names, as source indicators, are akin to trademarks. However, trademark law cannot be effectively grafted on to domain names because of the discrepancies over geographical boundaries and context-sensitive use. In order for a trademark registration to issue, the mark must be used in interstate commerce to identify the source of a class of goods or services. Identical trademarks can co-exist so long as they are associated with non-competing types of goods or services or are used in different geographic areas. Domain names are registered on a first-come, first-served basis. The first individual or company to complete the registration template for an available name gets the sole right to be associated with it. For a reasonable fee, currently hovering at $10 a year, the registrant can brand and propagate the name in a worldwide marketplace. The registrant receives the exclusive right to use that name for a website presence, global e-mail, and network file transfers. But every domain name must be unique, and it is this technical requirement that makes domain names potentially valuable resources which are substantively different from trademarks. Compaq Computer Corp paid $3. 35 million in July 1998 for rights to ALTAVISTA. COM, purchased from a California start-up called Alta Vista Technology. The transaction included existing traffic of a half million visitors a day who were already expecting to find the Alta Vista search engine at that domain name. As the price bar for domain names rises, NSI’s customers may resist being subject to the vagaries of the registrar’s feudal regime. Simple and unencumbered ownership endows the registrant with a type of predictable, if limited, sovereignty. Through legislation and judicial acknowledgment, registrants who meet certain individual responsibilities should be allowed a perpetually renewable and assignable right to enjoy this new source of wealth. Many domain names have become the cornerstone of multimillion-dollar business plans. In the fall of 1999, VirtualVineyard of Palo Alto, California, acquired Wine. Com of Napa, primarily for its domain name. While the $3. 3M-plus acquisition included an operating business, the CEO of Wine. Com estimated that about 70 percent of his company’s value was its name. The current controversies over domain names highlight the interplay of technology, law, economics and politics. Court opinions trail society’s changes and conundrums resulting from technology of recent vintage. Yet, nearly everyone agrees on one point: domain names are caught in a legal thicket. If domain names are property, then existing contracts such as NSI’s harsh Service Agreement must be rewritten. Although the implications of the Umbro decision are yet to be fully assessed, and NSI’s appeal remains to be heard, the magistrate recognized that each knotty domain name dispute before the court may be breaking new legal ground. References Unknown (1999). ‘Mortgages’ for domain names. BBC Sci/Tech News. Retrieved November 26, 2006 from http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/science/nature/533455. stm Oppedahl, C. (1997). Remedies in Domain Name Lawsuits: How is a domain name like a cow? Patents. com. Retrieved November 26, 2006 from http://www. patents. com/pubs/jmls. htm

Torture is not Morally Permissible

Torture is not Morally Permissible Introduction To understand this statement we need to define the term torture. According to United Nations Convention against Torture, torture is an act of severe infliction of pain or suffering; be it mental or physical. There are three reasons that lead to torture namely to gather information, for punishment purpose and crimes of hate.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Torture is not Morally Permissible specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Torture is outlawed in most countries, and is considered anti-Christian by such denominations as The Roman Catholic. Torture does not work. Most people therefore say it is not permissible and only shows lack of moral authority in a society that practices it. It demeans a person’s human rights, shows lack of respect to his ego and results into hatred from the tortured. Arguments against torture Some philosophers argue for torture. For example, Miller states that a thief who steals a car with a child inside. The police get hold of him and have to torture him to release information on whereabouts of the vehicle, failure to which the child may die of heat stroke if not found within twenty minutes. Miller’s other example is that of a terrorist who hides a nuclear time bomb in a city. The police must find this time bomb early enough, failure to which it will kill crowds of people. In both cases, Miller argues that torture is acceptable. Miller states that torturing the thief and the terrorist will make them furnish the police with the required information. Miller further argues that the thief is considered derisive, pugnacious and rebellious. Miller concludes that upon beating, the thief will realize the beatings will go on until he releases the necessary information of the whereabouts of the child. However, beating the thief is more or less likely to make the thief defiant and angry rather than repentant. He feels oppressed and hated. Other approaches to the matter would be more operative. For example, offering a gift if the thief releases the car and the child, asking the mother to plead with the thief to have mercy upon the child or opting to withdraw the charges completely. The thief is just interested in the car and he is not after killing the child. The beatings will go on until the twentieth minute, after which this will be no more important for the sake of the child. It will only be a punishment. In reality, the thief will decline to offer the information after the twenty minutes elapse as he will be accused of murder.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the terrorists’ scenario, torture is unlikely to be effective too. The terrorist is committed to his cause and is willing to die for the act. Often, some terrorists even go to an extent of bombing themselves. Torture will only make terrorist more reluctant to relea se the information1. Terrorists may even send the police into various likely locations which may end up being fruitless searches until the bomb is detonated. This way, a terrorist escapes torture and the plan is executed. The terrorist’s community or family members may forward the information to save their relative’ hence, hindering the mission. In both cases torture is not permissible. In the thief’s scenario, it involves subjecting one person to pain to save another. Both are human beings and need recognition. Hence, the two scenarios just show how torture works but are naà ¯ve to bring out its effects as well as the moral implications. The philosophers who propose torture fail to display how torture works and do not show evidence of its effectiveness. Torture is not permissible as the culprit may be innocent. In some instances, innocent people are charged with holding of important information which poses a risk to the lives of people. These individuals are i n most instances, unaware of what is happening. Items are stolen from a shop, but a shop attendant is accused of the offence. Robbers hijack a bus, a passer-by is accused. Bomb attacks occur; innocent citizens are hostage of the attacks. These are some of the instances, where innocent individuals are tortured innocently. They lose their liberty, identity and their dignity. For example, a report released by wikileaks in December 2010, stated that Khaled EL-Masri who was a Germany citizen was arrested by mistake and taken to Afghanistan. His arrest was simply because his name resembled that of a real terror suspect whose name was Khalid Al-Masri. Worse still he was dumped in Albania when CIA realized he was innocent. Torture may sometimes make people look guilty even when they are not. For example, an innocent individual is held captive of an offence, upon torture he pleads guilty to escape the injustice. In other instances, the expression of pain by the tortured convinces the witness es and the torturer of his guilt. There is also the need to protect life. An individual should not be tortured to death for claims of committing crime2. The tortured also have a right to sanctity of life and Kant states that it is our duty to allow this sanctity to thrive. Some individuals are however to release information they do not have a clue. An example is a terrorist’s wife who will be tortured to tell the whereabouts of her husband. A thief’s son may be exposed to torture to give information about the hidings of his father. Torturing these individuals is not permissible as they are neither involved in the criminal act itself nor the reason behind the crime.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Torture is not Morally Permissible specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Torturing innocent people is usually referred to as using persons as a means to an end. In other words, the torturers are willing to end crim e by spilling innocent blood. One is left to wonder if prevention is really better than cure. Hence torturing innocent people is less tolerable than failing to prevent the danger that occurs to other people by not being vigilant. Torturing an innocent person is far too huge a cost for any intended purpose. There are times when the innocent are tortured to death. This is done as a form of punishment so that others may learn from the scenario. This is wrong as life deserves preservation irrespective of conditions or results. There is a responsibility involved in killing as compared to letting a person die which does not. While killing is terrible, letting a person is merely out of negligence. When torturing one individual to save thousands of people, the importance of torture must be made in no indefinite terms3. We are therefore required to stimulate the circumstances necessary for survival of human beings and provisionally to uphold the ends or contentment of these people. We are mo rally impermissible to kill our morally innocent. We should therefore make a huge sacrifice to preserve the greater innocence of individuals. Where the individual is innocent of an offence, torture is not permissible either. This is because it is morally condemnatory and does not regard the victim. For example when we kill a terrorist, we violate his negative right of not receiving any harm although we have a duty towards the citizens to protect them. Torture ethically tints our society. It leads to corrosion of a state’s character. As stated earlier, it is an evil that receives much condemnation from all over the world. A society that tortures its people is considered as one that lacks morals and does not uphold the rights of human beings. Christians particularly condemn the act of torturing others, quoting Jesus’ words when He forbade His disciples from giving an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Christians further claim that Jesus was tortured on the cross for our sake and fled us from the bondage of sins. Torture harms the victim, the torturer and eventually the entire society. Torture is too much an evil to be considered a means towards an end. It is considered a means through which sadists meet their satisfaction. Torture thus imparts a spirit of revenge. Tortured individuals develop a feeling of revenge and will want to inflict the same pain and suffering upon the torturer4. For example, bombing of terrorists hiding venues makes the terrorists react angrily by bombing the attackers too. It is rarely appealing. Tolerance of torture perverts the societal morals. It shows moral decay in a society. Individuals who are subjected to torture may become rebellious after the exercise.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In fact, the rebellion might be practiced in form of a coup d’à ©tat in some countries. They may lose a sense of living and become demoralized. In an organization, employees who are subjected to torture, may become demotivated and perform poorly. This in turn may translate into low profits for the organization. A tortured victim lacks defense. In a scenario where an individual is being tortured to reveal crucial information, his only defense is the information he is withholding. Hence when we torture individuals we deny them the peace and joy whereby individuals are furnished with the means to accomplish needs, live with a purpose and delight in pleasure with lack of pain. We therefore ought to view people as ends not means. Torturing individuals is not a means to end unfairness or to clean the world. In fact torturing a wicked person does not add any peace. Conclusion In conclusion therefore, torturing the innocent does not reduce peace in the world. Neither is it a means t o acquire justice. Torturing people to death is inherently wrong as there is something sacred and special about sentient rational life which deserves preservation. If torture is used as an extraordinary measure for resolving our problems, its use will be normalized. Individuals henceforth be treated with a lot of brutality whenever need arises. There will be loss of integrity and respect for human rights will be no longer upheld. In a nutshell, torture is morally disgraceful. It yields lies and hatred and demeans the torturers along with the tortured. It is a vice which we should all fight against. Footnotes 1 The terrorist is committed to his cause and is willing to die for the act. Often, some terrorists even go to an extent of bombing themselves. Torture will only make terrorist more reluctant to release the information 2 There is also the need to protect life. An individual should not be tortured to death for claims of committing crime. 3 When torturing one individual to save th ousands of people, the importance of torture must be made in no indefinite terms 4 Tortured individuals develop a feeling of revenge and will want to inflict the same pain and suffering upon the torturer

Points About Bullet (and Other) Lists

Points About Bullet (and Other) Lists Points About Bullet (and Other) Lists Points About Bullet (and Other) Lists By Mark Nichol When constructing vertical lists- sets of words, phrases, or sentences that are formatted vertically below an introductory phrase rather than included within a sentence (the latter is called an in-line list)- take care that the syntactical and grammatical structure of the list is consistent. In the following list, for example, notice the difference in the syntactical structure of the first two items and the third item; the first two are phrases, and the third is a complete sentence: When establishing an effective awareness program, senior management should consider the following: Reinforcing the message through regular training Repetition of themes, ideas, and structure in order to drive cultural change The message and its content must be relevant to the audience with whom the company is trying to communicate. To be consistent, all items in a list should have the same structure (complete sentences or phrases). But note, too, that the grammatical form of the first two items differs: The first word in the first item is a verb, and the first word in the second item is a noun. All three items should be grammatically consistent as well. The following revision addresses both problems: When establishing an effective awareness program, senior management should consider the following: Reinforcement of the message through regular training Repetition of themes, ideas, and structure in order to drive cultural change Relevance of the message and its content to the audience with whom the company is trying to communicate. To better illustrate the problems this revision solves, here’s the vertical list formatted as an in-line list: â€Å"When establishing an effective awareness program, senior management should consider the following: reinforcing the message through regular training; repetition of themes, ideas, and structure in order to drive cultural change; the message and its content must be relevant to the audience with whom the company is trying to communicate.† Clearly, something is amiss. In addition to possessing syntactical and grammatical consistency, the text that introduces the list and the list itself should be grammatically integrated. In the original and revised versions above, the introduction is a complete sentence, and thus correctly ends with a colon. In the revision below, note the alternative format for the introduction: It ends abruptly mid-sentence, but each (slightly revised) list item independently finishes the statement. Because of this seamlessness, no colon is required, and the first word of each list item should not be capitalized: When establishing an effective awareness program, senior management should reinforce the message through regular training repeat themes, ideas, and structure in order to drive cultural change communicate the relevance of the message and its content to the audience with whom the company is trying to communicate. In each variation, because the vertical list is replicating an in-line list, only the last item is punctuated. Note that if the list items are all complete sentences, each one should be punctuated, as in the revision below: When establishing an effective awareness program, senior management should consider the following: Senior management should reinforce the message through regular training. Senior management should repeat themes, ideas, and structure in order to drive cultural change. Senior management should communicate the relevance of the message and its content to the audience with whom the company is trying to communicate. Note that in illustrating this point, these list items are unnecessarily redundant to the last part of the introduction, as well as repetitive. If all items in a list begin with the same word or phrase (or can easily be revised to do so), incorporate that word or phrase into the introduction and start each list item with the first distinct word in the phrase, as shown in the original revision. If the items in a list consist of single words or short phrases, no punctuation at all is required after the items, as shown here: When establishing an effective awareness program, senior management should consider the following factors: reinforcement repetition relevance Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?40 Fish Idioms7 Other Types of Pronouns

What Happened to the Mayan Civilization The Mistery of A Great Essay

What Happened to the Mayan Civilization The Mistery of A Great Civilization - Essay Example The most famous theories of the collapse of the Mayan civilization are as under however there is no consensus of opinion among the researchers: 1. The Disaster Theory: The researchers of Maya civilization believed that there was surely a catastrophic event which doomed the Mayans. The event may be an earthquake, an epidemic disease, flood or the volcanic eruption. Such a disastrous event can be the only explanation behind the immediate downfall of civilizations. It is reasonable that a large number of people can be killed or displaced only if a sudden hazard takes place. It can at once kill people and destroy cities. The theory is widely celebrated for the reason of the fall of the Mayan civilization (Thompson, p96). The theory matches with religious explanations of the causes of the falls of the nations. This theory as regards the Mayan civilization was however rejected because the history shows that Mayan civilization took about 200 years for its downfall; it was not sudden. Some o f the cities declined while many flourished for quite a reasonable part of the time. Had there been an earthquake, flood, disease or volcanic eruption, each and everything would have simultaneously been removed of the surface of the earth. As this was not the situation, the theory was rejected by a large faction of researchers. 2. The Warfare Theory: The Mayans were a peaceful civilization. But their later history reveals that they were a warring people always busy in wars among in between and against others. Their historical record tells of the fact that they always discovered newer methods of warfare. The stone-carvings deciphered recently openly tell that Mayans fought frequently among themselves. Cities went to battles quite often worth mentioning of which are Tikal, Copan and Dos Pilas. In 760 A.D, Dos Piloas was destroyed after ruthless invasion. The theory is quite an interesting and reasonable explanation of the causes of the downfall of the Mayan civilization. History has a lways told that mutual war-fares and misunderstandings have caused the nations to drown in the seas of obscurity. The researchers have only one query here; whether they fought enough to bring their downfall? This is quite reasonable that war brings with it human sufferings, financial crisis and collateral damage. They warred with each other and the cities of the Mayan civilization caught the fire of distrust and discontent sufficient enough to disbelieve them their culture (Miller, p18). 3. The Famine Theory: In the periods of history between 1000 B.C. and 300 A.D, the basic occupation of the Mayans remained the Agriculture. They practiced in it and earned their livelihood. Agriculture was so largely practiced that even small family-plots were not left uncultivated. Corns, beans and squash were their main plantations. On seas and riversides as well as in lakes, they carried out fishing for their food needs. With their advancement in many fields, the cities grew and their population increased. Their progress attracted people from other civilizations as well. They came and penetrated them. A moment came when their population grew to the extent their resources could not bear any more. The local production was far less than their required limits. They were however an advanced civilization and learnt to upgrade their resources. They improved their agricultural procedures and equipments. They improved their trade. However the penetration of the outsiders and the increase in local population were the issues which

Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management Assignment

Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management - Assignment Example Vodafone reached this enviable position through a series of alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions. Section 2 of this paper analyzes Vodafone’s value chain and elucidates its capabilities and core competencies. The Porter’s generic strategies have been discussed and an explanation of which type of strategy Vodafone pursued has been detailed in Section 3 of the paper. Section 4 of the paper discusses in depth the acquisition strategies of Vodafone. An in-depth analysis of pre-acquisition rationale and steps involved therein like analysis of strategic fit, valuation methods and due diligence has been done. The post integration efforts have also been detailed in this section. An attempt has been made to apply the Haspeslagh and Jemison Framework in the post integration efforts. The discussion in this section extends to gauging the overall effectiveness of the acquisition strategy. Any organization with a global footprint can pursue a global strategy, a multi-domestic strategy or a transnational strategy. Vodafone’s choice of International strategy has been discussed in Section 5 of this paper. An organization is able to compete successfully in the marketplace if it can deliver superior value to its customer vis-Ã  -vis the rival firms. The creation of this value entails a series of activities which have been referred to as the value chain by Michael Porter. The arrangement and completion of various activities and their linkages determine whether the firm will be able to manufacture a product for which the customer is willing to pay a price that is higher than the cost of producing the product. The activities in the value chain are divided into two broad categories namely primary activities and support activities (Grant, 2010, Pg 111) . The primary activities enable the manufacturing of the product that the organization intends to sell in the market. This offering may be goods (tangible products) like