14. Nato: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America to Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. In accordance with the Treaty, the fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO provides a forum in which the United States, Canada and European countries can consult together on security issues of common concern and take joint action in addressing them. NATO is committed to defending its member states agaist aggression and to the principle that attack against one or several members would be considered as an attack against all. Today NATO’s forces are helping to bring stability to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Darfur. Dialogue and cooperation with non-NATO countries are helping to overcome the divisions of the Cold War era and to extend security and stability well beyond NATO borders.

NATO concept

The Strategic Concept is an official document that outlines NATO’s enduring purpose and nature and its fundamental security tasks. It also identifies the central features of the new security environment, specifies the elements of the Alliance’s approach to security and provides guidelines for the further adaptation of its military forces.NATO provides a unique forum for discussion and cooperation on defence and security issues in the sense that it not only brings together two continents – Europe and North America - but it also launches multinational initiatives and offers coordinated action in many different areas.While its activities have evolved over time in keeping with changes in the strategic environment, the basic tenets of cooperation within the Alliance remain true to the principles of the Washington Treaty: collective defence, the peaceful resolution of disputes and NATO’s defensive nature. These still characterize the Organization.In addition, NATO remains an essential transatlantic forum for consultation, which aims to defend and promote common values founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, and continues to take decisions by consensus – a decision-making process that is one of the keys to the Alliance’s durability.

16. The Essence of International Humanitarian Law

International humanitarian law is everyone's concern. In a world where warfare and civil strife are a daily reality for millions, international humanitarian law provides a framework of protection for civilians and combatants alike. The conduct for warfare as embodied by IHL is laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

The simplest and most universal definition of humanitarian law is found in the Golden Rule, "Love thy neighbour as thyself." The great Rabbi Hillel’s response to a question on the Torah was, "Do not do unto others what you would not want to be done unto you. This is the essence and the rest is commentary."6 Practically all traditions know this fundamental principle.7 Throughout the history of humankind, all civilisations have developed rules to ensure its survival — in Asia (Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Bushido); in the Middle East (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam); in Africa (a multitude of customs valid only within a given tribe); and in Europe, where the mutual restrictions imposed by chivalry, before the condottieri and lace-clad war generals were supplanted by the humanists (Grotius, Hobbes, Kant, Pufendorf, Rousseau and Vattel, among others)8 — all aimed at avoiding excesses that would turn clashes into anarchy and make peace more difficult to achieve.

Thus, in Article 6 of Perpetual Peace, Kant wrote: "No State at war with another must allow itself hostilities of a kind which would make reciprocal confidence impossible during future peace."9

Humanitarian law may be expressed through the provision of bilateral agreements which can be concluded before hostilities begin (cartels), during hostilities (truces and instruments of surrender), or at the end of a conflict (ceasefires and peace treaties), setting out the treatment to be given to civilians, prisoners, the sick and wounded, and neutral intermediaries. Or it may be formed through multilateral agreements, frequently concluded in reaction to a bloody conflict. Each of the stages of humanitarian law codified in Geneva from 1864 to 1977 resulted from a war that created a shock wave in public opinion: the battle of Solferino (1859) between Austrian and French armies was the impetus for the First Convention, in 1864; the naval battle of Tsushima (1905) between Japanese and Russian fleets prompted adjustment of the Convention on War at Sea in 1907; World War I brought about the two 1929 Conventions, including a much broader protection for prisoners of war; World War II led to the four 1949 Conventions10 and an extensive regulation of the treatment of civilians in occupied territories and internment; and decolonisation and the Vietnam War preceded the two 1977 Additional Protocols,11 which introduced written rules for the protection of civilian persons and objects against hostilities.

Similarly, most of The Hague Law stems from the peace conferences of 1899 and 1907. World War II and regional conflicts prompted the drafting of the United Nations instruments on human rights, disarmament, the prohibition of terrorism and mercenaries, protection of the environment and protection of the rights of children.

The terminology used to refer to these international treaties may vary between humanitarian law, international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts, laws of war, law of Geneva, Red Cross Conventions, law of The Hague, or human rights in armed conflicts. All seek the same objective: to limit the use of violence. Some of these instruments, such as human rights treaties, are based on a peacetime approach, while others, such as humanitarian law, are normally applicable during armed conflicts.

17. Human rights

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law , general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

Universal and inalienable

The principle of universality of human rights is the cornerstone of international human rights law. Human rights are inalienable. They should not be taken away, except in specific situations and according to due process. For example, the right to liberty may be restricted if a person is found guilty of a crime by a court of law.

Interdependent and indivisible

All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to work, social security and education , or collective rights, such as the rights to development and self-determination, are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent.

Human rights entail both rights and obligations. States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights.

18. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. There is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Most common definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants.

Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. Now, in our modern world we have a lot of forms of terrorosm, they are: ethnic, cultural, religious terrorism. The most common types of terrorist incidents include: Bombings, Kidnappings and Hostage-Takings, Armed Attacks and Assassinations, Arsons and Firebombings, Hijackings and Skyjackings. There are three perspectives of terrorism: the terrorist’s, the victim’s, and the general public’s. The phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is a view terrorists themselves would accept. Terrorists do not see themselves as evil. They believe they are legitimate combatants, fighting for what they believe in, by whatever means possible. A victim of a terrorist act sees the terrorist as a criminal with no regard for human life. The general public’s view is the most unstable.

19. Globalization

At present time, it is actual to say that global integration is our future. Global intergration has great influence on all fields of our life, and we can see how it is important in social life, in politics, in economy and technology.

Economic integration is a term used to describe how different aspects between economies are integrated. The most integrated economy today, between independent nations, is the European Union and its euro zone. The degree of economic integration can be categorized into six stages: Preferential trading area; Free trade area; Customs union; Common market; Economic and monetary union; Complete economic integration. In global integration is very important one thesis as globalization Globalization is very important in our modarn life and for our future. It has some positive aspects, which make better our life and help all humanity to live. These aspects are: realization of a global common market, based on the freedom of exchange of goods and capital, political globalization is the creation of a world government which regulates the relationships among nations and guarantees the rights arising from social and economic globalization, increase in information flows between geographically remote locations, growth of cross-cultural contacts, increased circulation by people of all nations with fewer restrictions, development of a global telecommunications infrastructure and greater transborder data flow, using such technologies as the Internet, communication satellites, submarine fiber optic cable, and wireless telephones , increase in the number of standards applied globally; e.g. copyright laws, patents and world trade agreements. We can see that global integration and globalization bring in a lof of positive and necessary things. All countries must help each other, they can exchange the experience, to help less developed countries and respect political and cultural order in these countries. In common all countries can solve their problems and escape on a new level of development.

20. Global trends 2015 (Population).

The international system in 2015 will be shaped (cформирована) by some trends: population, natural resourses, environment, technology, globalization, national and others. The world in 2015 will be populated by some 7.2 billion people, up from 6.1 billion in the year 2000. The rate of world population growth. Increased life expectancy will contribute to a shift towards an aging population in high-income developed countries. The demographic trends will sharply diverge. More than 95 % of the increase in world population will be found in developing countries. Indias population will grow from 900 million to more than 1.2 billion by 2015, Pakistans will go up from 140 mill now to about 195 mill. Some countries in Africa with high rates of AIDS will experience reduced population growth or even declining populations despite relatively high birthrates. Russia and many post-Communist countries of Eastern Europe will have declining populations. As a result pf high mortality and low birthrates, R population may drop from its current 146.5 million to as low as 130 to 135 mill in 2015, while the neighboring states of Central Asia will experience continued population growth. In Japan and West European countries such as Italy and Spain, populatona also will decline in the absence of sharp (всплеск рождаемости) increases in birthrates or immigration. North America, Australia and New Zeland – the traditional magnets for migrants – will continue to have the highest rates of population growth among the developed countries.

22. main environmental problems

Cleaning up air pollution is one of the main problems of to day. Urban air pollution continues to expand as a result of the in creased number of motor vehicles. Exhaust fumes from the engines of automobiles contain a number of polluting substances. Tokyo has such a serious air-pollution problem that oxygen is supplied to policemen who direct traffic at busy intersections. Milan, Ankara, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires face similar problems.

Ecological problems of the modern world are becoming more and more public and this is the reason why ecology has become very much "public term" despite of its originally scientific character. The term "ecology" was used for the first time in 1866 by German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel, and has its root in Greek word „oikos“ (house) which is completely exact root as of the word economy which would imply studying of economy in nature. Modern ecology is generally connected with Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution and natural selection where Darwin pointed the firm connection between animals and their natural habitats. But this firm connection often gets weakened because many people think that Earth has just one purpose, namely to satisfy their needs. Human plans usually do not include concern for lives of many plants and animals that lived in their habitats thousands of years before humans. Unfortunately homocentric system by which all natural goods are used just for human exploit is still very much present in world's philosophy, although it has to be said that ecocentric system based on ecosystem has (thankfully) rising number of supporters as well. The lack of concern for our planet is the main reason why there are today so many endangered species and why pollution can be seen in all corners of the world.

23. Healthy Life Style & Life Expectancy

You hear a lot about living a healthy lifestyle, but what does that mean? In general, a healthy person doesn't smoke, is at a healthy weight, eats healthy and exercises. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

The trick to healthy living is making small changes...taking more steps, adding fruit to your cereal, having an extra glass of water...these are just a few ways you can start living healthy without drastic changesOne of the biggest problems in the world today is lack of activity. We know it's good for us but avoid it like the plague either because we're used to being sedentary or afraid that exercise has to be vigorous to be worth our time. The truth is, movement is movement and the more you do, the healthier you'll be. Even moderate activities like chores, gardening and walking can make a difference.

Just adding a little movement to your life can:

* Reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes

* Improve joint stability

* Increase and improve range of movement

* Help maintain flexibility as you age

* Maintain bone mass

* Prevent osteoporosis and fractures

* Improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression

Eat more fruit. Add it to your cereal, your salads or even your dinners

Eat low-fat or fat-free dairy. Switching to skim milk or fat free yogurt is another simple way to eat less calories without having to change too much in your diet.