TURKEY’S “CHESS GAME”

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSC0H1mX-GolHa9aT0-H66Ug6k2vVq0Om7kD-0AR2L6uX-GFf-KdoyfDWzMvPfJZNNHHW14kSAn2oDHdxiY7Mlevs_yZEnPnn-iMYxraXnJKzyMr4EjPVXlmucwxre27x_RW8P31gijx0Y/s1600/infohighway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSC0H1mX-GolHa9aT0-H66Ug6k2vVq0Om7kD-0AR2L6uX-GFf-KdoyfDWzMvPfJZNNHHW14kSAn2oDHdxiY7Mlevs_yZEnPnn-iMYxraXnJKzyMr4EjPVXlmucwxre27x_RW8P31gijx0Y/s400/infohighway.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt;"></span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">EXPLAINING TURKEYS NUCLEAR POLICIES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Richard Weitz</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Despite its challenging neighborhood, TURKEY has an exemplary nuclear nonproliferation record. Several favorable factors have allowed TURKEY to abstain from developing its own nuclear weapons and make strong declarations in favor of nuclear nonproliferation. Having physical access to the U.S.-NATO nuclear weapons has been a form of compensation for TURKEY’S not developing its own national nuclear arsenal. Even so, while TURKEY can boast a largely successful nuclear nonproliferation record, certain plausible developments could still undermine it and force a reluctant Ankara to seek its own nuclear arsenal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BACKGROUND</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">During the Cold War, the TURKISH government relied on its membership in the multilateral NATO alliance and, more importantly, its bilateral alliance with the UNITED STATES to ensure its security against the Warsaw Pact. Neither the collapse of the bloc, nor the wars involving neighboring IRAQ, which under Saddam Hussein sought nuclear weapons and used chemical ones, nor IRAN’S nuclear ambiguous ambitions has prompted TURKEY to pursue nuclear weapons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S nonproliferation bona fides were highlighted by the March 26-27 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. TURKEY’S delegation reported progress in adopting international treaties against nuclear terrorism, supporting UN and IAEA efforts in these areas, holding training courses for its customs and nuclear workers on nuclear security issues, participating in anti-nuclear smuggling initiatives, shipping dangerous highly enriched uranium in spent reactor fuel to the UNITED STATES for more secure storage, and upgrading the safety and security regulations for its emerging civilian nuclear energy program, especially the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although the focus of the summit was on keeping dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists, the delegates naturally focused on the nuclear proliferation problems presented by NORTH KOREA and IRAN. Much of the bilateral meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apparently focused on the IRANIAN nuclear issue. “I believe there is a window of time to resolve this question diplomatically, but that window is closing,” Obama said after that meeting.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which assumed office in 2002, has at times deviated from Washington’s preferred policy regarding IRAN, though its approach has corresponded to the mainstream international view regarding IRAN’S nuclear activities. The AKP leadership accepts IRAN’S right to pursue all nuclear activities providing they have exclusively peaceful purposes as verified by appropriate international monitoring. Unlike Western diplomats, AKP leaders profess to accept IRANIAN denials that they are seeking nuclear weapons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the absence of convincing evidence to the contrary, TURKISH officials oppose the imposition of economic and other sanctions against IRAN by the UN Security Council or by individual countries. These sanctions can severely harm IRAN’S neighbors and key economic partners, like TURKEY. TURKISH officials want to prevent other countries, such as ISRAEL, from employing — or threatening to employ — force against IRAN to attack its nuclear facilities. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKISH officials consider the “dual-track” approach adopted by the Council and other countries toward IRAN — combining offers of cooperation with threats of attack and sanctions — counterproductive. Instead, they argue that the best way to prevent IRAN from seeking nuclear weapons is to address the underlying sources of insecurity that might induce Tehran to seek them. Rather than rely on threats and sanctions, they want to offer IRAN security pledges in return for reciprocal IRANIAN guarantees that Tehran will not use its nuclear activities for military purposes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKISH leaders have sought to mediate the nuclear dispute between Tehran and the West. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 2010, TURKEY worked with BRAZIL to achieve a confidence-building exchange of enriched uranium between the parties. After the West rejected that proposal, TURKEY adopted a lower profile regarding IRAN. But the recent intensification of Western sanctions to encompass IRAN’S energy exports has galvanized TURKEY, heavily dependent on IRANIAN natural gas, into action. TURKEY has renewed its diplomatic efforts and once again offered to host talks on its territory. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/energy-games-in-eastern-mediterranean.html"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/energy-games-in-eastern-mediterranean.html</span></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IMPLICATIONS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Several favorable factors have allowed TURKEY to abstain from developing its own nuclear weapons and make strong declarations in favor of nuclear nonproliferation. These include its membership in NATO, its strong defense ties with the UNITED STATES, and its lack of a major nuclear energy program.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S defense policy remains closely integrated in NATO. TURKEY’S security ties to the UNITED STATES offered a supplementary guarantee that became important whenever it looked like NATO’s EUROPEAN members were unwilling to wage war to defend TURKEY from its foreign adversaries. The UNITED STATES remains Ankara’s closest foreign defense partner and a major source of TURKISH military technology.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Problems arose during the two Western-led wars against IRAQ, which led Ankara to doubt the credibility of NATO and U.S. security commitments. Although the UNITED STATES did offer some protection, some EUROPEAN members of NATO proved reluctant to meet TURKISH requests to deploy air and missile defenses to protect TURKEY from IRAQI missile strikes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Form Ankara’s perspective, the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that have reportedly been stationed in TURKEY for decades under NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangement help bind the U.S.-NATO security dimensions together. Having physical access to the U.S.-NATO nuclear weapons was a form of compensation for TURKEY’S not developing its own national nuclear arsenal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to public sources, TURKEY has more U.S. nuclear weapons than any other alliance member outside the UNITED STATES. Of the 200 or so B-61 nuclear bombs still stationed in EUROPE, TURKEY hosts approximately 90 of them at Incirlik Air Base. Public opinion polls show that TURKISH citizens do not like hosting these weapons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXMYNkzPEXJfDJFqd0nwygIa7c2qU_k1ocUPPMAwo2acExct9ggc6mf1oEfcG5L6GzFuxXAgPc47PiUvm44vHZe5FdWJmiKddqG_uKKsze7M-VnWEODiMFzNd6hEc04TG_-zkQ8bpUz-e/s1600/Defense_Spending_by_Country_2010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXMYNkzPEXJfDJFqd0nwygIa7c2qU_k1ocUPPMAwo2acExct9ggc6mf1oEfcG5L6GzFuxXAgPc47PiUvm44vHZe5FdWJmiKddqG_uKKsze7M-VnWEODiMFzNd6hEc04TG_-zkQ8bpUz-e/s640/Defense_Spending_by_Country_2010.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Until recently, it was feared that TURKEY’S national security establishment would resist the possible removal of the U.S. nuclear weapons in TURKEY, either unilaterally or as part of an arms control deal with RUSSIA. But the AKP government has effectively tamed its generals and they would likely accept a decision of the government to remove them, perhaps as part of its initiative to create a nuclear-free zone in the greater MIDDLE EAST. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The TURKISH military does not appear to practice or otherwise plan to use these weapons under any scenario. They are a symbolic manifestation of TURKEY’S security links to Washington and Brussels that could be replaced by something else — perhaps integration within EU defense structures — should these ever develop into effective institutions — or, more plausibly, the emerging U.S.-NATO ballistic missile defense (BMD) architecture.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY has made the controversial decision to host a U.S.BMD radar, again within the NATO context, in order to reinforce Ankara’s security ties with the West in the face of the more complex threat emerging from IRAN. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The decision was both presented and facilitated by the restructuring of the U.S. missile defense architecture in EUROPE by the Obama administration, which relocated the initial U.S. deployments out of EAST CENTRAL EUROPE and toward the BALKANS, BLACK SEA, and eastern MEDITERRANEAN regions. The new structure, with the interceptor missiles based in ROMANIA and on nearby U.S. warships, offers TURKEY greater BMD coverage as well as the opportunity, though unsought, to play a major role in that architecture.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/arms-build-up-in-middle-east.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/arms-build-up-in-middle-east.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Despite TURKISH lobbying not to identify IRAN as the main target of the NATO BMD network, IRANIAN leaders and media clearly consider the decision to host the radar in the face of IRANIAN and RUSSIAN opposition an unfriendly act. But the decision has proven useful in silencing Western critics of the AKP’s eastern orientation and has been overshadowed by the more serious differences between Ankara and Tehran regarding SYRIA. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The latent conflict for influence in IRAQ between IRAN and TURKEY, backed by Western governments, has reinforced Turkey’s security alignment with the West, with many U.S. officials now considering Ankara the most influential U.S. ally in the greater MIDDLE EAST.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CONCLUSIONS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S government must be pleased by how the April 13-14 meeting in Istanbul on IRAN’S nuclear program turned out. Despite many obstacles, the IRANIAN negotiating team joined their international counterparts in Istanbul, discussed important issues such as uranium enrichment and sanctions, and agreed to launch a sustained negotiating process to resolve them.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although no concrete changes in either side’s positions emerged from these talks, and TURKEY’S role in the future IRANIAN nuclear discussions looks set to decline as the negotiating venue moves elsewhere and the parties no longer require TURKEY as a mediator, the TURKISH government can be satisfied that they did not collapse in recriminations or, as some IRANIANS demanded, relocate elsewhere due to IRANIAN-TURKISH tensions over SYRIA. Even so, while TURKEY can boast a largely successful nuclear nonproliferation record, certain plausible developments could still undermine it and force a reluctant Ankara to seek its own nuclear arsenal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The IRANIAN negotiations will now move to Baghdad. Wide differences separate the parties, but an agreement that would limit IRAN’S enrichment activities, make its nuclear program more transparent, and address uncertainties regarding IRAN’S past and future nuclear plans, in return for a suspension of some sanctions still seems the best outcome. TURKEY would certainly welcome a reduction in IRANIAN-related tensions, even if Ankara lacks the means to achieve such a benign outcome through its own exertions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Several developments, however, could move the environment in a more adverse direction. Most obviously, unambiguous evidence could arise that IRAN is pursuing nuclear weapons, which would compel TURKEY to reassess its nuclear weapons policies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S plans to expand its domestic nuclear energy program would, for the first time, provide its government with the scientific, technical, and industrial foundations to pursue genuine nuclear weapons options, as IRAN’S own development of the capacity to make nuclear weapons has demonstrated to Ankara and others. But TURKEY’S leaders might still decide that, even if IRAN developed a small nuclear arsenal, they would be better off continuing to rely on NATO and Washington as well as TURKEY’S powerful conventional military, bolstered by national and multinational missile defenses, rather than pursue an independent TURKISH nuclear force as a means of deterring even a nuclear-armed Iran.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">However, the certainty of these Western security guarantees is also not immutable. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY looks set to have a major confrontation with its EUROPEAN allies when CYPRUS assumes the rotating six-month EU presidency in July. And the unexpectedly close ties between the Erdoğan and Obama administrations, which are underpinned by the partnership that has been established between Secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would not invariably persist with a change in leadership in either or both capitals.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This article was first published in the Turkey Analyst, a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center. © Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, 2012.</i></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

TURKEY’S “CHESS GAME”

EXPLAINING TURKEYS NUCLEAR POLICIES By Richard Weitz   Despite its challenging neighborhood, TURKEY has an exemplary nuclear nonproliferat...

Read more »

Collection Development Manager - MicroMarketing

<strong>Collection Development Manager</strong> - We are seeking a Collection Development Manager to select the titles, offered each month from publishers that are most appropriate for circulation in public libraries. The Company: <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>MicroMarketing</strong></span> is a Connecticut-based family-owned business committed to supplying value-added services to librarians that save them time and money. Since 1991 we’ve been exclusively a wholesaler of print, audio and video media to public libraries throughout the United States and have built thousands of successful relationships. Apart from the friendliest customer service in the industry, we provide free expert monthly collection development recommendations, free library packaging, liberal replacement terms, free MARC records, online account management, pre-ordering and EDI facilities and accurate free walk-to-the shelf processing with no shipping delays. We are located in a waterfront location in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Job Responsibilities: MicroMarketing prepares a “sales campaign” monthly for Books, Audio Books, and Video DVD’s and it is the responsibility of this position to review all printed and web-based literature to select the new releases we sell each month. Once the product is selected it is the responsibility of this position to develop the literature that is posted on the web and made available for e-mailing customers and prospects. Qualifications: A successful applicant will be a confident individual with experience in collection development in a public library or book store. You have a love of books and can work across a wide range of product categories including children’s and adult fiction and non-fiction. You will have a strong work ethic and the ability to work well with others in the office. A successful candidate will also have strong skills in the use of MS Word, Excel, and the internet as a research tool. Initially this is a part time position, estimating 30 hrs per week, possibly growing into full time. Please submit your resume to: <a href="mailto:steve@micromarketing.org">steve@micromarketing.org</a>.

Collection Development Manager - MicroMarketing

Collection Development Manager - We are seeking a Collection Development Manager to select the titles, offered each month from publishers...

Read more »

Reference and Instruction Librarian - Loomis Chaffee School

<strong>Reference and Instruction Librarian</strong> - Start Date: Late August 2012. Job Status: Faculty full-time (40 hours) academic year. The Katharine Brush Library at <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>The Loomis Chaffee School</strong></span> is searching for a dynamic, progressive, and technology oriented Reference and Instruction Librarian. One of three professional librarians, the Reference and Instruction Librarian will assume the primary responsibility of coordinating a library instruction and information literacy program, including information literacy curriculum development and student assessment. The Loomis Chaffee School is a four-year, coeducational, college-preparatory boarding school located on a 300-acre campus in historic Windsor, CT. Chartered in 1874 by five siblings who had outlived all of their children, the school embodies their democratic and inclusive vision. In the classroom, on the playing fields, or on stage, Loomis Chaffee’s 650 students experience a challenging and transformative education in a community that cares about each individual. Thirty-three percent of the students receive financial aid. For more information on the school, please visit <a href="http://www.loomis.org/" target="_blank">www.loomis.org</a>. Candidates should send a cover letter and resume to the Director of Human Resources via e-mail to <a href="mailto:hrdirector@loomis.org">hrdirector@loomis.org</a> or they can mail it to: 4 Batchelder Road, Windsor, CT 06095 Attn: Human Resources. <a href="http://www.loomischaffee.org/cf_news/view.cfm?newsid=3068" target="_blank">Click here for the full job ad</a>: including essential duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills.

Reference and Instruction Librarian - Loomis Chaffee School

Reference and Instruction Librarian - Start Date: Late August 2012. Job Status: Faculty full-time (40 hours) academic year. The Katharine B...

Read more »

Educational Assistant (Embedded Librarian) - Manchester Community College Library

<strong>Educational Assistant (Embedded Librarian)</strong> - (12 Month, Part-time, Perkins Grant Funded) ANTICIPATED STARTING DATE: September 2012. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Manchester Community College Library</strong></span>, Manchester Connecticut, is seeking a library science graduate student currently enrolled in an ALA accredited MLS or MLIS program for a position as an embedded librarian. A demonstrated understanding of the mission of the community college and a demonstrated ability to respond to and work with multiple constituencies and involvement in support of a culturally and ethnically diverse population are essential. Applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications as stated are encouraged to put in writing precisely how their background and experience have prepared them for the responsibilities of this position. RESPONSIBILITIES: The embedded librarian works collaboratively with faculty to assist students in online (through Blackboard Learn) and hybrid science courses, providing research assistance and other library services in person and virtually. Responsibilities include: working with students to locate scholarly articles in subscription online databases, locating books and other materials, assisting students with proper citation formatting and avoiding plagiarism, formulating search strategies, and evaluating research materials. The embedded librarian will also be responsible for monitoring online research discussions and questions, resolving technical difficulties in accessing online materials, and will inform students of all new library services. The embedded librarian will also be responsible for designing LibGuides online subject guides for various disciplines. Other duties include providing on ground research assistance to students, faculty and staff in the MCC Library. MINIMUM SALARY: $24.94 per hour; up to 15 hours per week. APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Send letter of intent, resume, names and addresses of three references to: Paula Cook, Interim Associate Director of the Library, Manchester Community College, PO Box 1046, Great Path, MS #15, Manchester, CT 06045-1046 OR via email to: <a href="mailto:pcook1@mcc.commnet.edu">pcook1@mcc.commnet.edu</a>. APPLICATION DEADLINE: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. MANCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, M/F. PROTECTED GROUP MEMBERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

Educational Assistant (Embedded Librarian) - Manchester Community College Library

Educational Assistant (Embedded Librarian) - (12 Month, Part-time, Perkins Grant Funded) ANTICIPATED STARTING DATE: September 2012. MINIMUM...

Read more »

Library Professional - Richmond Memorial Library, Malborough

<strong>Library Professional</strong> - <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Richmond Memorial Library</strong></span>, Marlborough. We are seeking a part time (no benefits) library professional for small, busy library in suburban Hartford. We need an enthusiastic, experienced reference librarian who has an interest in cataloging and can do everything from circulation to adult programming. Must have worked with an ILS - Sirsi experience preferred. Hours include nights and weekends. MLS preferred. Salary, DOE, $20 to $26.50 per hour. Please email resume and names/contact information for three references to: <a href="mailto:nwood@richmondlibrary.info">nwood@richmondlibrary.info</a> by <span style="color: red;">May 16, 2012</span>, no calls please.

Library Professional - Richmond Memorial Library, Malborough

Library Professional - Richmond Memorial Library , Marlborough. We are seeking a part time (no benefits) library professional for small, ...

Read more »

Explore the magic of Microsoft's SongSmith

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Microsoft's SongSmith is such a fun free tool to use in the classroom. If you join Microsoft's <a href="http://www.pil-network.com/" target="_blank">Partners in Learning Network</a> as an educator you can download and install this programme for free. It is really worth it!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SongSmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. Basically, you choose a musical style and beat from their options, sing into your PC’s microphone, and SongSmith cleverly creates backing music for you. That song can be saved and shared with students, friends and family, posted online, or even used to create your own music videos. I used to use it as a reward session for those students who had completed their required tasks, and it was always a big hit!</div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Introducing SongSmith</span></b></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is one of my favourite videos about Microsoft SongSmith. I find the story a bit cumbersome at times but the video definitely highlights the essence of the programme. </div><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3oGFogwcx-E?rel=0" width="420"></iframe> <b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />How do you use SongSmith? </span></b><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Here is a tutorial on how to use SongSmith from the UK Partners in Learning YouTube channel.<br /><br /></span></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LuoHejVm9hU" width="420"></iframe> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is my version of how to install and use SongSmith.</span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"></b><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0pt 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/microsofts-songsmith-and-how-to-use-it" title="Microsoft's SongSmith and how to use it">Microsoft's SongSmith and how to use it</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse12707024" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=songsmith2-120426155942-phpapp02&stripped_title=microsofts-songsmith-and-how-to-use-it&userName=fionabeal" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <embed name="__sse12707024" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=songsmith2-120426155942-phpapp02&stripped_title=microsofts-songsmith-and-how-to-use-it&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">fionabeal</a>.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Classroom uses of SongSmith </span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have been collecting ideas on how to use SongSmith in the classroom. Here are a few of them.Maybe you have some other ideas to contribute?</span></div><div id="__ss_12707133" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/classroom-uses-of-songsmith" title="Classroom uses of SongSmith">Classroom uses of SongSmith</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse12707133" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=classroomusesofsongsmith-120426160857-phpapp01&stripped_title=classroom-uses-of-songsmith&userName=fionabeal" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <embed name="__sse12707133" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=classroomusesofsongsmith-120426160857-phpapp01&stripped_title=classroom-uses-of-songsmith&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">fionabeal</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am sure you'll find this Microsoft free tool very engaging and very useful especially if you are a teacher. Why not give it a try? </span></div></div></div>

Microsoft tools Resources Technology integration Tutorials Web tools Explore the magic of Microsoft's SongSmith

Microsoft's SongSmith is such a fun free tool to use in the classroom. If you join Microsoft's Partners in Learning Network as an e...

Read more »

British "Chess Game"

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normale Tabelle"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8EsX99JDf95ymKsQ2z-KB7GP-Alnm3X3lElEgyqFjyXimTlxJwuWN_votZo1e7F9b0V92CqWpEvW1loQnrhVLeeNMgKETcW6HFanl7q1FQJS5u-QdTc5Z1Lcn3BpICBlFhkYDitvVyCo/s1600/BritishEmpire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8EsX99JDf95ymKsQ2z-KB7GP-Alnm3X3lElEgyqFjyXimTlxJwuWN_votZo1e7F9b0V92CqWpEvW1loQnrhVLeeNMgKETcW6HFanl7q1FQJS5u-QdTc5Z1Lcn3BpICBlFhkYDitvVyCo/s320/BritishEmpire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">BRITAIN’S STRATEGY</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">  </span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By George Friedman</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">via Stratfor</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN controlled about one-fourth of the Earth's land surface and one-fifth of the world's population in 1939. Fifty years later, its holdings outside the BRITISH ISLES had become trivial, and it even faced an insurgency in NORTHERN IRELAND.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN spent the intervening years developing strategies to cope with what poet Rudyard Kipling called its "recessional," or the transient nature of BRITAIN'S imperial power. It has spent the last 20 years defining its place not in the world in general but between continental EUROPE and the UNITED STATES in particular.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE RISE OF BRITAIN</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN'S rise to its once-extraordinary power represented an unintended gift from Napoleon. It had global ambitions before the Napoleonic Wars, but its defeat in NORTH AMERICA and competition with other EUROPEAN navies meant BRITAIN was by no means assured pre-eminence. In Napoleon's first phase, FRANCE eliminated navies that could have challenged the BRITISH navy. The defeat of the FRENCH fleet at Trafalgar and the ultimate FRENCH defeat at Waterloo then eliminated FRANCE as a significant naval challenger to BRITAIN for several generations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This gave BRITAIN dominance in the NORTH ATLANTIC, the key to global power in the 19th century that gave control over trade routes into the INDIAN and PACIFIC OCEANS.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This opportunity aligned with economic imperatives. Not only was BRITAIN the dominant political and military power, it also was emerging as the leader in the Industrial Revolution then occurring in EUROPE. Napoleon's devastation of continental EUROPE, the collapse of FRENCH power and the underdevelopment of the UNITED STATES gave BRITAIN an advantage and an opportunity. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As a manufacturer, it needed raw materials available only abroad, markets to absorb BRITISH production and trade routes supported by strategically located supply stations. THE BRITISH EMPIRE was foremost a trading bloc. BRITAIN resisted encroachment by integrating potential adversaries into trade relationships with the empire that it viewed as beneficial. In addition, the colonies, which saw the benefits of increased trade, would reinforce the defense of the empire. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As empires go, BRITAIN resembled ROME rather than NAZI GERMANY. Though Rome imposed its will, key groups in colonial processions benefitted greatly from the relationship. Rome was thus as much an alliance as it was an empire. NAZI GERMANY, by contrast, had a purely exploitative relationship with subject countries as a result of war and ideology. BRITAIN understood that its empire could be secured only through Roman-style alliances. BRITAIN also benefitted from the Napoleonic Wars' having crippled most EUROPEAN powers. BRITAIN was not under military pressure for most of the century, and was not forced into a singularly exploitative relationship with its empire to support its wars. It thus avoided Hitler's trap.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring Food for thought:</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">Empires</span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Romans invented the road in order to move their armies efficiently and fast and subsequently became an Empire</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjNNkvJSBUIsmWKplJXcUlUNJA5AtMhsRu0kIuV9UOyQcoSmNQeBvFihSoKYFHlP0o9P9aT-GvuJrrBF8gbXxy3v0C1VN-8fc89k_0eAiOYklw7p5Xq0VStxeAA-nrPTU4sKGrgV01vNz/s1600/r_roman_road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjNNkvJSBUIsmWKplJXcUlUNJA5AtMhsRu0kIuV9UOyQcoSmNQeBvFihSoKYFHlP0o9P9aT-GvuJrrBF8gbXxy3v0C1VN-8fc89k_0eAiOYklw7p5Xq0VStxeAA-nrPTU4sKGrgV01vNz/s200/r_roman_road.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The British invented the railroad in order to connect strategic trade routes and thus became an Empire</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwDun_O4Ew8bfphSRlWbxOFzTLenrunUYwgPBHQWOdA-Bki7lRtMkQim8YnEcHXiDB4052ZxiWRyOPPyK5FyUBbJKHpfflKVrihODqpCJTVhy9rdel9Qa6Ix9qqT4WNn8EMbpezFS6zq3/s1600/A_compound_locomotive_on_British_Railways_in_1948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwDun_O4Ew8bfphSRlWbxOFzTLenrunUYwgPBHQWOdA-Bki7lRtMkQim8YnEcHXiDB4052ZxiWRyOPPyK5FyUBbJKHpfflKVrihODqpCJTVhy9rdel9Qa6Ix9qqT4WNn8EMbpezFS6zq3/s200/A_compound_locomotive_on_British_Railways_in_1948.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Americans invented the info high way, connecting the world digitally, thus controlling information and subsequently became and Empire</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BX4sxHzYdntbrnT17r1qk-RDEZDxmtdx2exZwWCb88ojRge6l1j2Zwonh2rmapV_pCVhgz9aG6GhaAOXRaJN3PcUgcIgv3OK5AAcC0FNVZD9UhxWsxZ-KcqegTkIavtlpN4Y8Am6sWrk/s1600/infohighway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BX4sxHzYdntbrnT17r1qk-RDEZDxmtdx2exZwWCb88ojRge6l1j2Zwonh2rmapV_pCVhgz9aG6GhaAOXRaJN3PcUgcIgv3OK5AAcC0FNVZD9UhxWsxZ-KcqegTkIavtlpN4Y8Am6sWrk/s200/infohighway.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE GERMAN AND U.S. CHALLENGES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This began to change in the late 19th century with two major shifts. The first was GERMAN unification in 1871, an event that transformed the dynamics of EUROPE and the world. Once unified, GERMANY became the most dynamic economy in EUROPE. BRITAIN had not had to compete for economic primacy since Waterloo, but GERMANY pressed BRITAIN heavily, underselling BRITISH goods with its more efficient production. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The second challenge came from the UNITED STATES, which also was industrializing at a dramatic pace -- a process ironically underwritten by investors from BRITAIN seeking higher returns than they could get at home. The U.S. industrial base created a navy that surpassed the BRITISH navy in size early in the 20th century. The window of opportunity that had opened with the defeat of Napoleon was closing as GERMANY and the UNITED STATES pressed BRITAIN, even if in an uncoordinated fashion.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The GERMAN challenge culminated in World War I, a catastrophe for BRITAIN and for the rest of EUROPE. Apart from decimating a generation of men, the cost of the war undermined BRITAIN'S economic base, subtly shifting London's relationship with its empire. Moreover, BRITISH power no longer seemed inevitable, raising the question among those who had not benefitted from BRITISH imperialism as to whether the empire could be broken. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN became more dependent on its empire, somewhat shifting the mutuality of relations. And the cost of policing the empire became prohibitive relative to the benefits. Additionally, the UNITED STATES was emerging as a potential alternative partner for the components of the empire -- and the GERMAN question was not closed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">World War II, the second round of the GERMAN war, broke BRITAIN'S power. BRITAIN lost the war not to GERMANY but to the UNITED STATES. It might have been a benign defeat in the sense that the UNITED STATES, pursuing its own interests, saved BRITAIN from being forced into an accommodation with GERMANY. Nevertheless, the balance of power between the UNITED STATES and BRITAIN completely shifted during the war. BRITAIN emerged from the war vastly weaker economically and militarily than the UNITED STATES. Though it retained its empire, its ability to hold it depended on the UNITED STATES. BRITAIN no longer could hold it unilaterally. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITISH strategy at the end of the war was to remain aligned with the UNITED STATES and try to find a foundation for the UNITED STATES to underwrite the retention of the empire. But the UNITED STATES had no interest in this. It saw its primary strategic interest as blocking the SOVIET UNION in what became known as the Cold War. Washington saw the empire as undermining this effort, both fueling anti-Western sentiment and perpetuating an economic bloc that had ceased to be self-sustaining.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FROM SUEZ TO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The U.S. political intervention against the BRITISH, FRENCH and ISRAELI attack on EGYPT in 1956, which was designed to maintain BRITISH control of the Suez Canal, marked the empire's breaking point. Thereafter, the BRITISH retreated strategically and psychologically from the empire. They tried to maintain some semblance of enhanced ties with their former colonies through the Commonwealth, but essentially they withdrew to the BRITISH ISLES. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As it did during World War II, BRITAIN recognized U.S. economic and military primacy, and it recognized it no longer could retain its empire. As an alternative, the BRITISH aligned themselves with the U.S.-dominated alliance system and the postwar financial arrangements lumped together under the <b style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">Bretton Woods</span></b><span style="background-color: white;"> s</span>ystem. <a href="http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/item.shtml?x=320747">http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/item.shtml?x=320747</a><span>  and </span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbeKUYTo8MSaO_2xnR33RI29n7W8WWZtdAnWpUowH6AQ3cb_6Uyc6Je1s7yqj6w-KGzYT14evW2lNtt0stk2r86VAPrrFRFnJCy55ptWW1Hl7AGFwfIKHc5MBQgs6YgFlMhr4J3yDF9HhB/s1600/f1-3-bretton_woods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbeKUYTo8MSaO_2xnR33RI29n7W8WWZtdAnWpUowH6AQ3cb_6Uyc6Je1s7yqj6w-KGzYT14evW2lNtt0stk2r86VAPrrFRFnJCy55ptWW1Hl7AGFwfIKHc5MBQgs6YgFlMhr4J3yDF9HhB/s400/f1-3-bretton_woods.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/10/food-for-thought_24.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/10/food-for-thought_24.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The BRITISH, however, added a dimension to this. Unable to match the UNITED STATES militarily, they outstripped other AMERICAN allies both in the quantity of their military resources and in their willingness to use them at the behest of the AMERICANS.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We might call this the "lieutenant strategy." BRITAIN could not be AMERICA'S equal. However, it could in effect be AMERICA'S lieutenant, wielding a military force that outstripped in number -- and technical sophistication -- the forces deployed by other EUROPEAN countries. The BRITISH maintained a "full-spectrum" military force, smaller than the U.S. military but more capable across the board than militaries of other U.S. allies. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBNlVanstEkdx9s4o_rRpW44P_3AtLNvdCQvr_HEXQNw2ZCu3FiFDPjqrymKDO7JXAegWuz6psAmH8v8SG-MJuTB0K0l8UuU2w3SL2AF1gO7ezoDXgab_DyrvYon-cPn08KwpBEi28CH0/s1600/1898c-Poster_promoting_British_American_relations-Donaldson_Litho_Co-LC-USZC2-5745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBNlVanstEkdx9s4o_rRpW44P_3AtLNvdCQvr_HEXQNw2ZCu3FiFDPjqrymKDO7JXAegWuz6psAmH8v8SG-MJuTB0K0l8UuU2w3SL2AF1gO7ezoDXgab_DyrvYon-cPn08KwpBEi28CH0/s400/1898c-Poster_promoting_British_American_relations-Donaldson_Litho_Co-LC-USZC2-5745.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The goal was to accept a subordinate position without being simply another U.S. ally. The BRITISH used that relationship to extract special concessions and considerations other allies did not receive. They also were able to influence U.S. policy in ways others couldn't. The UNITED STATES was not motivated to go along merely out of sentiment based on shared history, although that played a part. Rather, like all great powers, the UNITED STATES wanted to engage in coalition warfare and near warfare along with burden sharing. BRITAIN was prepared to play this role more effectively than other countries, thereby maintaining a global influence based on its ability to prompt the use of U.S. forces in its interest.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Much of this was covert, such as U.S. intelligence and security aid for BRITAIN during the Troubles in NORTHERN IRELAND. Other efforts were aimed at developing economic relationships and partnerships that might have been questionable with other countries but that were logical with BRITAIN. A good example -- though not a very important one -- was London's ability to recruit U.S. support in BRITAIN'S war against ARGENTINA in the FALKLAND Islands, also known as the MALVINAS. The UNITED STATES had no interests at stake, but given that BRITAIN did have an interest, the U.S. default setting was to support the BRITISH. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There were two dangers for the BRITISH in this relationship. The first was the cost of maintaining the force relative to the benefits. In extremis, the potential benefits were great. In normal times, the case easily could be made that the cost outstripped the benefit. The second was the danger of being drawn so deeply into the U.S. orbit that BRITAIN would lose its own freedom of action, effectively becoming, as some warned, the 51st state.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN modified its strategy from maintaining the balance of power on the Continent to maintaining a balance between the UNITED STATES and EUROPE. This allowed it to follow its U.S. strategy while maintaining leverage in that relationship beyond a wholesale willingness to support U.S. policies and wars. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN has developed a strategy of being enmeshed in EUROPE without FRANCE'S enthusiasm, at the same time positioning itself as the single most important ally of the only global power. There are costs on both sides of this, but BRITAIN has been able to retain its options while limiting its dependency on either side.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As EUROPE increased its unity, BRITAIN participated in EUROPE, but with serious limits. It exercised its autonomy and did not join the EUROZONE. While the UNITED STATES remains BRITAIN'S largest customer for exports if EUROPE is viewed as individual countries, EUROPE as a whole is a bigger customer. Where others in EUROPE, particularly the GERMANS and FRENCH, opposed the IRAQ war, BRITAIN participated in it. At the same time, when the FRENCH wanted to intervene in LIBYA and the AMERICANS were extremely reluctant, the BRITISH joined with the FRENCH and helped draw in the AMERICANS.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">KEEPING ITS OPTIONS OPEN</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BRITAIN has positioned itself superbly for a strategy of waiting, watching and retaining options regardless of what happens. If the EUROPEAN UNION fails and the EUROPEAN nation-states re-emerge as primary institutions, BRITAIN will be in a position to exploit the fragmentation of EUROPE to its own economic and political advantage and have the UNITED STATES available to support its strategy. If the UNITED STATES stumbles and EUROPE emerges more prominent, BRITAIN can modulate its relationship with EUROPE at will and serve as the EUROPEANS' interface with a weakened UNITED STATES. If both EUROPE and the UNITED STATES weaken, BRITAIN is in a position to chart whatever independent course it must.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The adjustment BRITISH Prime Minister Winston Churchill made in 1943 when it became evident that the UNITED STATES was going to be much more powerful than BRITAIN remains in place. BRITAIN'S willingness to undertake military burdens created by the UNITED STATES over the last 10 years allows one to see this strategy in action. Whatever the BRITISH thought of IRAQ, a strategy of remaining the most reliable ally of the UNITED STATES dictated participation. At the same time, the BRITISH participated deeply in the EUROPEAN UNION while hedging their bets. BRITAIN continues to be maintaining its balance, this time not within EUROPE, but, to the extent possible, between EUROPE and the UNITED STATES.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The BRITISH strategy represents a classic case of a nation accepting reversal, retaining autonomy, and accommodating itself to its environment while manipulating it. All the while BRITAIN waits, holding its options open, waiting to see how the game plays out and positioning itself to take maximum advantage of its shifts in the environment.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It is a dangerous course, as BRITAIN could lose its balance. But there are no safe courses for BRITAIN, as it learned centuries ago. Instead, the BRITISH buy time and wait for the next change in </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">history.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b style="color: blue;">Does Turkey follow a similar strategy? Read the following articel </b></span></span></div>

British "Chess Game"

BRITAIN’S STRATEGY   By George Friedman via Stratfor BRITAIN controlled about one-fourth of the Earth's land surface and one-fifth of t...

Read more »

where do i put all of this

When Amelia started pre-school I loved every stinkin piece of art she brought home. Every piece was incredible. "Obviously my child is an art prodigy", I would think.<br /><br />Then, she brought home more. And more. At times she'd bring home 3 or 4 things a day. It slowly turned from "what an amazing picture you made" to "another picture...great". <br /><br />While I love my child, and of course think she's the best at everything she does, it was getting a bit out of control. There were projects everywhere. I think they breed in the night. Like some sort of sick Toy Story movie.<br /><br />To corral the crafty chaos I put a small out of the way corner to use. This little alcove is off of the kitchen and leads downstairs to the family room, out to the garage thru one door and to a side yard thru the other door. A perfect place to add some craft cheer.<br /><br />Each month I hang what she brings home on the door(s). Then, at the end of each month I take her picture with that month's display and then we take it all down and throw them away, keeping 1 or maybe 2 to go in her memory box.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRot5qUNfeyUeiniLL0IYihSIDAiGkmsuPymlH-0P2J7Q0OWTmD5hSGw6aZPRdXbbp73rIow4WCz9zCXaCuH_GXFfO40hwRwxfq_9z4oP0sSaxjJgFAto9a-DKyF_49JRxJV_NATZsZVm/s1600/-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRot5qUNfeyUeiniLL0IYihSIDAiGkmsuPymlH-0P2J7Q0OWTmD5hSGw6aZPRdXbbp73rIow4WCz9zCXaCuH_GXFfO40hwRwxfq_9z4oP0sSaxjJgFAto9a-DKyF_49JRxJV_NATZsZVm/s640/-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some months there is more participation in the picture than in others. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPS35npb2kKCrvNY6SCK7G2o1ycuHGXaCOwnuK53T721FBCECGdv94cauvtfMGqxYmQ_kfP2YFefwNYm6M1X0QdeIvLpGFMSsprLHHxOrEhPecCwC0NHjzv1ArLMFogEZvqaouqEhJ0-w7/s1600/-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPS35npb2kKCrvNY6SCK7G2o1ycuHGXaCOwnuK53T721FBCECGdv94cauvtfMGqxYmQ_kfP2YFefwNYm6M1X0QdeIvLpGFMSsprLHHxOrEhPecCwC0NHjzv1ArLMFogEZvqaouqEhJ0-w7/s640/-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We make sure to always get the calendar in the shot so we know which month we looking at. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDmzAao3nQsV8x0_qLrUbS7zbn903XsVJaOzXMoifXozpiTHo4yDJepoVlUsWeCkm9E1ylOEGRZ5gr6d5q-3i_Zn6QLsdmTIxtRcwb5uq35OrwW9TspZsSYXbZX_ACUPHfoq7F5772ICU/s1600/P4045761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDmzAao3nQsV8x0_qLrUbS7zbn903XsVJaOzXMoifXozpiTHo4yDJepoVlUsWeCkm9E1ylOEGRZ5gr6d5q-3i_Zn6QLsdmTIxtRcwb5uq35OrwW9TspZsSYXbZX_ACUPHfoq7F5772ICU/s640/P4045761.JPG" width="422" /></a></div> And some months I forget to remove the dog bowl before taking the picture.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxv6aAh5NnrNJ5mMkWzcWJjD8RYiiSP-Qqnvg9L3L3sgy03jT1O3G50fnVWl4GsLP8YJuxcyjid3Pq3aYAWWhsdgjDMRU7_qc_6JFe3MmzTFb55pQauuy-VmTvAXP-lPAGdn1eVnxYnDn/s1600/P5026195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxv6aAh5NnrNJ5mMkWzcWJjD8RYiiSP-Qqnvg9L3L3sgy03jT1O3G50fnVWl4GsLP8YJuxcyjid3Pq3aYAWWhsdgjDMRU7_qc_6JFe3MmzTFb55pQauuy-VmTvAXP-lPAGdn1eVnxYnDn/s640/P5026195.JPG" width="422" /></a></div>We've got two years worth of these pictures so far and it has been really fun to look back at them and see how she's changed and how her art has matured. The paper monster is tamed!<br /><br />What do you do to keep school projects and information overflow from taking over?

where do i put all of this

When Amelia started pre-school I loved every stinkin piece of art she brought home. Every piece was incredible. "Obviously my child is ...

Read more »

Free SchoolNet online short courses for May and June for South African educators

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="post-title entry-title" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">SchoolNet SA is always pleased to be able to announce its initiative of providing free short online courses to South African educators in technology integration. Please take note of the courses for May (Create your own wiki) and June (Get the most from Google Docs). Here are the details:</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /><br />Current course -</b><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SchoolNet's 'Create your own Wiki' free online course</b></span><b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">(</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">May 2012)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhltKvw2WD1iSYTsa-y6zy8ME-rddD35_me6asA6-nKGzPhTMcn2PrH_giYptYD5XKBsLE4j81RQqbdQLvKwPIBX-fNxKkOH0cnMlnKOe27-39yIjpmA_qky-nFNf1bxE8oO7XqovIFQ/s1600/wikispaces.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhltKvw2WD1iSYTsa-y6zy8ME-rddD35_me6asA6-nKGzPhTMcn2PrH_giYptYD5XKBsLE4j81RQqbdQLvKwPIBX-fNxKkOH0cnMlnKOe27-39yIjpmA_qky-nFNf1bxE8oO7XqovIFQ/s320/wikispaces.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">If you are a South African teacher and would like to sign up for this free course, please click on the link below to be taken to the sign up page. You will then be sent an email directing you to the online course platform.  The course starts officially on 3 May  but it is the type of course where you can easily catch up. The course is supported by 'how to' webinars</span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Course content</u>:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Week 1: How to create a wiki using Wikispaces</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Week 2: Make your wiki look and work like a website</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Week 3: Add writing, photos, audio and video to your wiki</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Week 4: Using your wiki for online projects</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEpfNGtOU0hELW5iTldIQVVhTXhnd0E6MQ" target="_blank">Sign up for the wiki course here.</a></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Next month's</b></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> free online course - Make the most of Google Docs</span> </span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(June 2012)</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZpNVsURX54uDYpQDNvPuvz8W-RQfT_83VD01Ybxe5Xz2a7a0kd8FWtEvPlqmWpNwF8DSr0sG9SdTa7IsOM8kBKjSDRNtiKQtHQfOonUrsuN42rdZikqfEzvR27kYjX0lJVoonBWPcyc/s1600/Google+docs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZpNVsURX54uDYpQDNvPuvz8W-RQfT_83VD01Ybxe5Xz2a7a0kd8FWtEvPlqmWpNwF8DSr0sG9SdTa7IsOM8kBKjSDRNtiKQtHQfOonUrsuN42rdZikqfEzvR27kYjX0lJVoonBWPcyc/s320/Google+docs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">This will be a four week course for Schoolnet Premium Members offered during June and centring on the popular Google Docs and how they can be used to enhance a classroom experience. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The course is supported by 'how to' webinars. </span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Course content</u>:</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Week 1 (beginning May): What can you do with Google Docs? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Week 2 (beginning May): Google forms are incredible<br />Week 3 (beginning May): Create and share a presentation using Google Docs<br />Week 4 (beginning May): Tips and tricks with Google Docs</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/schoolnet.org.za/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHA5UXBubVRtVEd6bVFFalNYOHktUmc6MQ" target="_blank">Sign up for the Google Docs course here</a></span></span></div></div>

Free online courses Free SchoolNet online short courses for May and June for South African educators

SchoolNet SA is always pleased to be able to announce its initiative of providing free short online courses to South African educators in te...

Read more »

The British Council partners with Schoolnet SA, Sangari SA and Softstart to establish IT hubs in South Africa

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This report is given by Janet Thomson the Executive Director of SchoolNetSA</span><br /> </i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The British Council has formed partnerships with SchoolNet South Africa, Sangari SA and Softstart to establish IT Hubs in South Africa as well as promoting a range of future projects for South African classrooms and communities. </span><span style="font-size: small;">On Saturday March 31^st the Zenzeleni Community Centre in Mpophomeni in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands saw the opening of the first of the British Council’s IT Hubs in Southern Africa opened by the Mayor of the Umngeni Municipality, Her Worship Honourable Mayor Mbali Myeni.</span> </div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="194"><br /></td> <td width="270"><br /></td> <td width="307"><br /></td></tr><tr> <td width="270"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>  <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemsFEoiSbOlb7Ngjx_zhExap0cIUSGP8Gya2AlsO66ZatvsBm46V1-QUQHgMRuRMLr-yLJ_hg7cZiYJxI0S36BOhmfZS9uoU6ch8m4Rb1OkpuMdLdPiI_F81V10OjSctRvdrCwP9Kxfc/s1600-h/clip_image010%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="clip_image010" border="0" height="142" hspace="12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcVYC2eAhiGAFHzGM18WIRH90bQGX1N0w8fcdx1DUdc3Y6dwABq0TW-fpXEAGM1_g_oPcOe5x1HcQTBdaf4NxlBUZcR7x7OjovfNK_GjVpPIxJdZpmR74_0cZD-zK0mB5MlfmS1gdG4Q/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image010" width="244" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr Bonginkosi Ndlovu from the community welcomed all visitors, sponsors, local community members and stakeholders. Mr Chris Khoza representing members from the board of trustees of the Zenzeleni Community Centre provided the background to the development of the centre and the colourful and sometimes tragic history of the Mpophomeni community itself.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="clip_image012" border="0" height="163" hspace="12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1b4eqCbcpziaRqUJBGs2LM1_ipGkeYCwvZ8ZxGfrJGl1IX0yNxVFHi5cvW6U9UqO11dzxSrcZK3Et7rs3Pg3MVJSnLmPdu4XVxWD8xyyHhNhwbykJxjEYtEoMRTxy5E4oqvHsKAmgvk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image012" width="244" /></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The representative from the British Council, Mr. Remo Chipatiso explained how the British Council is currently restructuring projects for schools worldwide into an all-encompassing Schools Online programme which will cover their Connected Schools programme as well as the DfID (Department for International Development) programme Global Schools Partnerships.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15zcrgjlGppHsGyKbig4UOh40bDHe5YyLtMEeob6CcZ7WlcO7RJ54oIXcSzoDyk6YEDNpk1vZ2xRY1jC1GhkPfS4Jekl3IlDBIwNzMPu_8CSPmujyE0Om61mG9ebiWZsPaOx3kclNq5M/s1600-h/clip_image014%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="clip_image014" border="0" height="164" hspace="12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAjKNFT1cSautENGFLdADeJU1qSR_7DqvaAp1-3U_De_g58D00ZgOJsU31SUc4LomRkWUmL3Q0mjKN0nlGXx1SJzOc3MUhPSvyqC-6QjZPg_u5fUoslsysFh5Ywa13UiejOj99JisjTg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image014" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The provincial Department of Education was represented by Mr Phillip Dikgomo, Director of Maths Science and Technology who delivered a highly informative address outlining the array of considerations when using educational technologies in schools and communities. </span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkBwd-gucICb3E0SdkNeUoD7kI1RyRReIIXk3CyBKiFEE7u_6N0W0xaSu7EpwMgZIO_WmOhvTvPnsxdwezW_SSpeUVyGz6bQqFz9egTBaZJ742gp4lHrDi3yB5p7f6qHdR80Sn4oAJ_Y/s1600-h/clip_image016%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="clip_image016" border="0" height="244" hspace="12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQKvbOMY6Bn9t3tAhuJi0dgLCCUJC-CD0lZIKOl2FPNN2sYYgHqQB9Grqukyp5g7ZPrBzctknX6bpR95kvBXllz8A7Wu5LMMdCM_p_Flp4Vj31vPrul_kllp5iDGOICYmRJfvTYMax1s/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image016" width="169" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">SchoolNet SA for the first time ever had funded the provision of a bank of 25 netbooks that have a greater hard drive capacity than most desktop computers. Even more remarkable is the extent of the coverage of the connectivity that has been arranged for the centre. A number of options were discarded in favour of a mesh satellite solution which provides connectivity to a staggering 5 Kilometre radius in the Mpophomeni community.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">  </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All the speakers and stakeholders present were concerned about the security of these very portable devices.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However Janet Thomson was confident that the hardware would be secure as she recounted the history of hardware at the centre since the late 1990s with only one burglary having been recorded when the community was very quick to point out that the perpetrators had been from Durban and very much from outside the community. All community members present pledged that they would protect this valuable resource that had been donated and would ensure that it produced the promised returns.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">  </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The British Council had organised a competition for the local schools to participate by designing a logo for the new IT Hub. LeAnne Ponen from the British Council awarded a prize of a digital camera to Khulekani from Mphopomeni High School for his design. The British Council has a programme for Digital Ambassadors who represent their countries at international educational events. There are two such teachers from KwaZulu-Natal, Sibongile Mshengu from Mpophomeni High School and Siyanda Msomi from Mzuvele High School in KwaMashu.</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9ystcJ9HAt_I7xN_M9mYMcnn8zQ1bdaZh1QXO94odeSDLqszuPljxbMXzdr1Y3KcMvES9L7uWe9_24OnDdNFEVbt94JX1ar83O52TASiysPycLQ5QbCmAtmBFqn-tIAp3dAbXF1GUWg/s1600-h/clip_image018%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="clip_image018" border="0" height="214" hspace="12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBFxpca2n65Rzgu5oVb45O8pqyMMW28TO_KvlBePJpYV4n0H5sd7htxr0oc8s1tkor6vG7xd34kD5S0tAHE4DT5r4Asxxi5LvepKJia4I0FRc8VLMRaT4Z3637Rzsjz4eApgaiR46uRQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image018" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Before performing the opening of the IT Hub by cutting the ribbon on the door of the computer room, the Mayor, the Honourable Mbali Myeni delivered her address. All those present were interested to hear that she had completed a Masters degree in the study of ICT for development in the Umngeni area and was indeed very knowledgeable in the field of Information and Communication Technologies. All attendees were then invited to view the hardware in the centre. This was followed by a video presentation by Mrs Hlengiwe Mfeka of SchoolNet SA who had recently returned from a trip sponsored by the British Council to Nairobi Kenya to represent South Africa. She had been accompanied by Siyanda Msomi. Hlengiwe made instant use of the newly donated Sangari SA ibox by projecting her video of the trip onto a wall in the computer centre. The benefits of the Sangari iBox were explained by the Director for Maths Science and Technology, </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr Dikgomo.</span></div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="385"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2uskKAKU8_RMa4fc0bJRQtfphDARobqGxFRrEae8yycmRRYFD5Aw_1KtmzF9p7XOJglxhlsq18xzVsaAAeb4aEBlwerXeRfognD-9LNVvT2V_5K1VVGDGLra9mDdUwg1QBS7IBBjUc4/s1600-h/clip_image020%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="clip_image020" border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghV2Kbxn1Q2L_Mx19DG12oNymgX4rdYQBiOOu6GwyohDZyPllEE80VTwoO-X12UOzGv-R49PEYED2WKyWKNZGDjalsZbhZafymzCF998cZA9K_BW6K_iGGu2APF1OGuW6jxKyAhhMynhs/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image020" width="244" /></a></td> <td valign="top" width="385"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuD9kI3cIHpEwnwC3DIyscY3xNp8jTm6W1rMpyx1hkkEjuP-lGywOBPjJ7Pp9iRZO2CrzTJLSBX2f0CC0jsD1GhgVN702c85Ig447Fy-D7tl6IbuWyz_EizWn9l0uHKo7bndp4WEJZD8/s1600-h/clip_image022%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="clip_image022" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpyTwH10SVt92MYu9UtaQr2HXzp2HQt4Gz23WeMxgthacxPhJb6IjDCtr_PS3GbuTAhkn_vzYVBoTNWSTVW1FqR3QMphVDilQWMNTOvEOylPOP3NqVnkYGGKhi_XPTqwdnXYYGPjiY5Q/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image022" width="244" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The day’s proceedings were rounded off by a vote of thanks from Omashani Naidoo from SchoolNet SA who managed to thank the numerous individuals and companies who had made the launch of this hi tech facility at the Zenzeleni Community centre possible.</span> </div></div>

news The British Council partners with Schoolnet SA, Sangari SA and Softstart to establish IT hubs in South Africa

This report is given by Janet Thomson the Executive Director of SchoolNetSA   The British Council has formed partnerships with SchoolNet Sou...

Read more »