Histroy 101 Western Civ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Histroy 101 Western Civ - Essay Example The role of the Persian Wars in shaping the relationship between Athens and the other Greek city states First of all, the Persian Wars helped Athens to be a remarkable naval power within the Greek city-states. The Greek attempt to be free from the authoritarian rule of Persian rulers resulted in Persian Wars and the Greek victory in the end. Lim makes clear that â€Å"With Athens at the helm, the city-states brought under Persian control began to rebel, beginning a conflict known as the Persian Wars (circa 499-479 BC)† (41). Within this context, the Persians considered the Greek victory as insignificant. On the other side, the Greek city-states under Athens and Sparta considered that the victory in Persian Wars helped them to enjoy liberty. One can easily identify that the Persian influence among the Greek city-states, before the Persian Wars, was based upon despotism. But the Greek city-states were not ready to be under the Persian rule. To be specific, the Persian Wars can b e evaluated as the Greek attempt to be independent and democratic. Within this scenario, the role of the Persian Wars in shaping the relationship between Athens and the other Greek city states is significant. ... But this cohesion was not long lasting because Sparta was against the ultimate control of Athens over the Greek city-states. But the military and maritime supremacy acquired by Athens helped her to emerge as the most powerful city-state. For instance, the victories in Marathon, Plataea etc, helped Athens to be most powerful and influential. To be specific, the Athenian supremacy in land and water forced the Greek city-states to accept Athens as their leader. But this did not help much to reduce the scope of future conflict between Athens and Sparta. Later, the Persians made use of Sparta as a tool to destroy the unity among Greek city-states. In short, Persian Wars united the Greek city-states under Athens. Moreover, the Persian Wars paved the way for the formation of Delian League (alliance of Greek city-states against Persian invasion) under Athens. Why did the Persian Wars lead to the Peloponnesian War? As pointed out, Sparta was not ready to accept the leadership of Athens among the Greek city-states. This eventually led to the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between Athens and Sparta (say, Peloponnesian League). The victory in the Persian Wars did not extinguish the Spartan jealousy over Athenian supremacy. Within this scenario, the Persians considered the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta as a golden chance to instill hatred among the Greek city-states. Their idea proved to be successful because the Peloponnesian War wiped out the unity among the Greek city-states. The Persian camp exploited the conflict between Athens and Sparta to destroy the cohesion among the Greek city-states. To an extent, the Persian idea became successful because Athens and Sparta were never able to regain their previous status.

Renewabe Energy Sources Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Renewabe Energy Sources - Research Paper Example Renewable energy sources and the significant opportunities for the energy efficiency exist over a wide geographical area. Deployment of the renewable energy and technological diversification of the energy sources would result in a significant energy security and economic benefits (Johansson, 2007). There are several uncertainties surrounding the future of renewable sources of energy. There are claims that the available sources will be unable meet the demand in the future. In the past, the renewable energy has been terribly expensive to produce and use than fossils fuels. The renewable resources are mainly located in the remote areas, and it is terribly expensive to build the power lines in urban areas where electricity produced is needed. The use of this energy sources is also limited by the fact that they are not always available for use. During the cloudy days, they may be no solar power produced (Tiwari, 2012). When the winds are calm, and there is drought there would be no hydrop ower produced in such a case. The use and production of the renewable sources has grown in the recent years as a result of high prices of gas and natural oil. The use of this energy is expected to continue rising over the next thirty years, although EIA projects will have to continue relying on the non-renewable fuels in order to meet the energy needs. Other sources of energy like the fossils cause an environmental hazard because they contribute in the global warming. The United States is the leading consumer of energy; her energy is expected to rise in the future. Alternative sources will be used; this will ease the burden of importing petroleum products (Fra?ss-Ehrfeld, 2009). Therefore, U.S should be in the front line in developing the energy sources such as the wind and solar power. This will substantially boost the economy, hence reducing global warming and also help their citizen to save money. Unfortunately, oil companies have always been able to influence the department of E nergy to reject proposals on additional sources of energy. It has always been that the decision of the department on the project will depend on the opinions of the oil companies. Few countries have the capabilities of storing the energy for use. This is an exercise which requires funding; this makes it difficult to establish various points where the energy can be stored (Laughton, 2006). Sources like geothermal and water requires funds to implement the project. Lack of knowledge can also be a problem when implementing the project of renewable from of energy. Projects like geothermal and hydropower have to be implemented by electrical engineers, which might be a significant problem while finding one. Solar energy utilizes the infrared radiations to emit energy. This can be used at night and does not require additional resources. Despite requiring, no resources the people implementing must have the required knowledge to implement the project successfully. Energy is a necessary resourc e that is necessary for all industrial societies. Natural sources of energy like fossil fuels pose a risk to the environment. Other sources of energy are not sufficient to meet the demand for energy. These conditions require the United States to find alternative sources of energy. These alternative sources must meet the demands of energy which will reduce the risks of global warming. Th