East Asia Past and Present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

East Asia Past and Present - Essay Example The membership has expanded to ten countries that include Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Brunei and Vietnam. East Asia had experienced decades of internal conflicts and economic depression, but the formation of ASEAN enabled sub-regional cooperation and trade liberalization (Borthwick 71). The main three pillars include economic growth and cooperation, social progress, and political-security. The model of security and stability in the region attained high success and ASEAN started playing a major security role in even beyond Southeast Asia. The security matters in Southeast Asian countries encompass various political, economic, social, cultural and military dimensions and ASEAN has utilized regional cooperation in order to further peaceful external environment and allow the member states to concentrate on their domestic development priorities (Borthwick 29). ASEAN was a focus of rivalry and competition between the US and Soviet Union, but ASEAN preferred regional solutions by declaring the r egion as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality in 1995 (Holcombe 241). ASEAN rise to greater importance in East Asia affairs has been facilitated by the ASEAN Free Trade Area that aims at enhancing the competitive advantage of local manufacturing. The region has signed free trade agreements with China, Japan, Australia and India that aim boosting economic growth in the community. The free trade agreements have led to consistent growth in member states GDP by between 4 percent to 7 percent since the end of Cold War. The region has benefited from technology transfer and e-commerce evolution since member states like Malaysia and Singapore account for more than 50 percent of e-commerce transactions in the entire region (Borthwick 81). The economic community is committed to equitable economic development and integration with the global economy as demonstrated by the consistent reduction in import duties (Borthwick 112). ASEAN member states

Life of Martin Luther Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Life of Martin Luther - Research Paper Example Luther was convened as a revolutionary defender of the truth, and religious freedoms of Christians but some people viewed him as a religious rebellion leader. However, most of the contemporary Christians consent that martin influenced and shaped the protestant Christianity more than any leaders. Luther saw the necessity of reforming the church because he wanted to abolish the traditions, papacy laws and restore churches of Christ from perishing. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the life of Martin Luther, his accomplishments and the goals for reforming the church. Although Martin saw a need for protestant reform because of the schism within western Christianity, he wanted to abolish the traditions, papacy laws, promote unity and restore churches of Christ from perishing. ... enrolled in Erfurt university, which was one of the most significant universities in German and it was full of conflicts among the Renaissance humanists and the scholastics people, who practiced theology and philosophy. Luther joined in the faculty of philosophy where he embarked on both theology and law studies; therefore, this was the period when Luther read widely and graduated with a master degree. During the year 1505, the promising law career seemed certain and Luther rejected the world; thus he decided to become a preacher. Additionally, despite the disappointment from the parents for not being a lawyer, Luther experienced a conversation of having been struck by a bolt of lightning. Martin began to study law in order to fulfill the dreams of his father that his son will one day became lawyer. However, Martin had a terrible thunderstorm that narrowly struck him to death; thus he eventually cried to God and promised to live as preacher3. Although this opinion did not please his parents, Martin decided to change the course of his future despite the strong disappointments from his parents. Luther started learning theology and one time when he was sitting in his room, he started reading the bible randomly. Luther became to a passage in the manuscript of Roman 1: 17, which was from Saint Paul revealing that the justice from God can be revealed to those who only has faith because it is through faith that the just shall live forever4. Events That Took Place Prior To Martin’s Conversion Prior to Martin’s conversion, the events that drastically altered the course of Luther’s life took place near Stotterheim. The law student was altered into a humble preacher seeking for the grace of God. The awful thunderstorm struck Luther when he was on his way back to Erfurt