Nation and nationalism

A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, or history, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government. The main characteristics of a nation can be: a common language, a stable community of people, a common economic life.

Nationalism, the sense of belonging to a particular state, has nowadays become an extremely effective force in the political life. Nationalism has not only influenced the formation of nation-states but it also determined the mutual relation between different states.

Nationalism is usually defined as a group of people, united together by powerful ties and bonds—such as, common race, living in contiguous and well-defined territory, having the same faith, common language, and common economy, a common pattern of life, a common history and a common ideal for the future.

Nationalism is close to the patriotism, but nationalism sometimes has some negative characteristics, and in case of Nationalism, the nation feels a dominate position to other nations; and they believe that their nation is the best.

In conclusion I would like to add that True nationalism is based on the ideal of life. It recognizes the freedom of all nations to preserve their distinct identity of languages, culture. Self-love is not bad so long it does not lead to selfishness.

Terrorism in the modern world. Organizations, Goals, Tactics, and Financing

Terrorism is a global problem of the whole World. The aim of terrorism is to make the atmosphere of fear, horror and panic. People who once suffered from terrorists would never forget it. A lot of people who were in Domodedovo airport and in subway in Moscow still hear the voices of wounded and dying. A lot of them now suffer from different phobias and deceases.

The most awful thing is that you can’t be ready for it. You never know where it can happen and you can’t prevent it. The terroristic act which was aimed at children in Beslan shaked the whole World.

When I was searching for the information about terroristic organizations I was shocked how many of them we have: Al-kaida, Abu-nidala, Abu-saifa and tens of names. It’s hard to judge about their purposes, but I strongly believe that nothing could be more important than people’s life.

From newspapers I know that year by year terroristic acts become crueler and weapon more dangerous. All over the World work Al-kaida bases of preparing suiside bombers. It’s not easy to investigate the source of financing such groups, but basically religious contributions were the source of money.

All countries should gather together fighting with terrorism. There is no excuse when innocent people die because of somebody’s inner conflict.

Biosphere and ecological problems

The biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The biosphere always needs a support from the citizens of the Earth. But instead of it, the main problem of the ecology is world pollution. Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up. The most horrible ecological disaster probably was in Chernobyl, Ukrain in April 1986. A part of Belarus was also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people's health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and other nations.

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken. Fortunately, People began to understand that the solving of the problem should have not only mass character, but also an individual attention. The influence of individuals over environment should not be ignored. Everyone should understand that our planet is our home. We have to help every day to the preservation of nature and environment. For example, always remember to save energy by switching off lamps, computers and everything that we do not use. Driving vehicles can also be for environment friendly.

To sum up, environmental problems should be handled by local and international authorities also. Every single person should take care of environment and moreover we have to bring up our children to be conscious citizens of a clean and preserved planet.