Biography of King Abdullah, Ruler of Saudi Arabia

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (August 1, 1924–January 23, 2015) was the king of Saudia Arabia from 2005 to 2015. During his reign, tensions increased between conservative Salafi (Wahhabi) forces and liberal reformers. While the king positioned himself as a relative moderate, he did not promote many substantive reforms; in fact, during Abdullahs tenure, Sauda Arabia was accused of numerous human rights violations. Fast Facts: King Abdullah Known For: King Abdullah was the king of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015.Also Known As: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudBorn: August 1, 1924 in Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaParents: King Abdulaziz and  Fahda bint Asi Al ShuraimDied: January 23, 2015 in Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaSpouse(s): 30Children: 35 Early Life Little is known about King Abdullahs childhood. He was born in Riyadh on August 1, 1924, the fifth son of Saudi Arabias founding king, Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud (also known as Ibn Saud). Abdullahs mother, Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim, was Ibn Sauds eighth wife of 12. Abdullah had between 50 and 60 siblings. At the time of Abdullahs birth, his father Amir Abdulazizs realm included only the northern and eastern sections of Arabia. The Amir defeated Sharif Hussein of Mecca in 1928 and declared himself king. The royal family was quite poor until about 1940,  at which point Saudi oil revenues began to increase. Education Details of Abdullahs education are sparse, but the official Saudi Information Directory states that he had a formal religious education. According to the Directory, Abdullah supplemented his formal schooling with extensive reading. He also spent a long stint living with the desert Bedouin people in order to learn traditional Arab values. Career In August 1962, Prince Abdullah was appointed to lead the Saudi Arabian National Guard. The National Guards duties include providing security for the royal family, preventing coups, and guarding the Muslim Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. The force includes a standing army of 125,000 men, plus a tribal militia of 25,000. In March 1975, Abdullahs half-brother Khalid succeeded to the throne upon the assassination of another half-brother, King Faisal. King Khalid appointed Prince Abdullah second deputy prime minister. In 1982, the throne passed to King Fahd after Khalids death and Prince Abdullah was promoted once more, this time to deputy prime minister. In this role, he presided over meetings of the kings cabinet. King Fahd also officially named Abdullah the Crown Prince, meaning he was next in line for the throne. Regent In December 1995, King Fahd had a series of strokes that left him more or less incapacitated and unable to fulfill his political duties. For the next nine years, Crown Prince Abdullah acted as regent for his brother, although Fahd and his cronies still wielded considerable influence over public policy. King of Saudi Arabia King Fahd died on August 1, 2005, and Crown Prince Abdullah became king, taking power in name as well as in practice. He inherited a nation torn between fundamentalist Islamists and modernizing reformers. The fundamentalists sometimes used terrorist acts (such as bombing and kidnapping) to express their anger over issues like the stationing of American troops on Saudi soil. The modernizers increasingly used blogs and pressure from international groups to call for increased womens rights, reform of Sharia-based laws, and greater press and religious freedoms. King Abdullah cracked down on the Islamists  but didnt make the significant reforms for which many observers both inside and outside of Saudi Arabia had hoped. Foreign Policy King Abdullah  was known throughout his career as a staunch Arab nationalist, yet he reached out to other countries as well. In 2002, for example, the king put forth a Middle East Peace Plan. It received renewed attention in 2005, but has languished since then and has yet to be implemented. The plan calls for a return to the pre-1967 borders and a right of return for Palestinian refugees. In return, Israel would control the Western Wall and some of the West Bank, and receive recognition from Arab states. To placate Saudi Islamists, the king disallowed U.S. Iraq War forces to use bases in Saudi Arabia. Personal Life King Abdullah had more than 30 wives  and fathered at least 35 children. According to the Saudi Embassys Official Biography of the King, he bred Arabian horses  and founded the Riyadh Equestrian Club. He also loved to read, and established libraries in Riyadh and Casablanca, Morocco. American ham radio operators also enjoyed chatting on the air with the Saudi king. At the time of his death, the king had a personal fortune estimated at $18 billion, making him among the top five richest royals in the world. Death King Abdullah became ill and was taken to the hospital at the beginning of 2015. He died on January 23 at the age of 90. Legacy After King Abdullahs death, his half-brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud became the king of Saudi Arabia. Abdullahs legacy is a controversial one. In 2012, the United Nations awarded him a UNESCO Gold Medal for his efforts to promote dialogue and peace in the Middle East. Other groups—including Human Rights Watch—criticized the king for his alleged human rights violations, including the mistreatment of prisoners. Abdullah was also criticized for his policies on religious freedom. In 2012, for example, the Saudi poet Hamza Kashgari was arrested for making several Twitter posts that allegedly denigrated the Islamic prophet Muhammed; he was imprisoned for nearly two years. Humans rights groups such as Amnesty International were highly critical of Saudi Arabias handling of the case. Sources Keyes, David. â€Å"Saudi Writer Hamza Kashgari Faces Charge of Blasphemy after Tweets about Muhammad.† The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 2012.Knickmeyer, Ellen, and Ahmed Al Omran. â€Å"Saudi Arabias King Abdullah Dies.† The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Company, 23 Jan. 2015.Rasheed, Madawi al-. Salmans Legacy: the Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia. Hurst Company, 2018.

`` Indians Textualism, Morality, And The Problem Of...

In Jane Tompkins essay ‘Indians’: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History†, several moral and philosophical problems with anti-foundationalism and poststructuralism are raised through the author s personal experiences and research of what truly happened during the European-Indian conflict when the British attempted to colonize what is now the United States. The most significant problem addressed in Tompkins essay is the tension that exists when poststructuralism is employed to avoid politicization of history because, by claiming every account is tainted with the individual s bias and is thus subjective, a concrete record of past events cannot be written. Without historical accounts to depend on, the study of history is devalued under this philosophical viewpoint and placed in an ivory tower where it can no longer be applied to the real world, creating a moral dilemma regarding the prevention of atrocities rather than create a depoliticized or completely accurate series of historical events. Tompkins essay challenges the poststructuralist mindset and showing how the removal of all subjectivity conflicts with the study of history. She does so by giving accounts of her life through the lens of poststructuralism, both as a child and as an adult doing research in the field of history herself. A large part of the essay consists of this example of the conflict between history and poststructuralism as she analyzes various resources in search of the objective truthShow MoreRelated Defining History Essay574 Words   |  3 Pagesdocument, quot;Indians: Textualism, Morality, and The Problem of History,quot; Jane Tompkins examines the conflicts between the English settlers and the American Indians. After examining several primary sources, Tompkins found that different history books have different perspectives. It wasn’t that the history books took different angles that was troubling, but the viewpoints contradicted one another. People who experience the same event told it t hrough their reality. This becomes a problem when a personRead MoreEssay on American Indians704 Words   |  3 Pages amp;#8220;amp;#8217;Indiansamp;#8217;: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History;, an essay written by Jane Tompkins, a professor of English at Duke University, outlines Tompkins dissatisfaction on how American Indians are portrayed throughout history. As children, we are taught that in amp;#8220;1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue;, and that Peter Minuet bought all of Manhattan Island from the Indians for only twenty-four dollars worth of trinkets. In high school, we were taught thatRead MoreEssay on Historical Truth1410 Words   |  6 PagesHistorical Truth Historical Truth? As a child sits through history class in the first grade, he or she learns of the relationship between Christopher Columbus and the Indians. This history lesson tells the children of the dependence each group had on each other. But as the children mature, the relations between the two groups began to change with their age. So the story that the teenagers are told is a gruesome one of savage killings and lying. When the teenagers learn of this, they themselvesRead MorePsychology Observation Aspects: Biases, Assumptions, and Interpretations833 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction Biases, assumptions and interpretations affect all areas of study. In Science and History, for example, sexual, racial/cultural and personal experience biases significantly influence research. In addition, Perspectivism can empty research findings of all meaning, depending on whether the researcher believes facts exist independent of perspective. Acceptance of universal Perspectivism, combined with triangulated comparison from several sources, can result in approximate truth. Body

The Practice Free Essays

Didn’t recognize the entire word, but quickly started my research on it. I quickly discovered that post-part mothers ingest their own placenta. This slow growing phenomenon, amongst the new mothers who can stomach, is practiced by 99% of mammals, including humans. We will write a custom essay sample on The Practice or any similar topic only for you Order Now The practice of ingesting the placenta, which has been going on in Asian medicine for hundreds of years, seemed inappropriate, unnatural, and disgusting to me as discovered more about it. I don’t think I stand alone when I say that my lack of knowledge on this topic may come as no surprise, since there could be millions of others who are also not educated on this topic. In our society, unless the media presents topics to us, we almost have to be naturally curious or stumble upon things to find out the news of he world or things less commonly known to us regarding health and medical topics. The more grew in my knowledge of this practice, the more I discovered the ingestion of the mothers placenta could actually be very beneficial. Mothers across the world have been practicing this post-birth method for quicker healing from post-part depression, as well as its contribution to other great health benefits such as hormone boosting. While other countries are lacking in the times of placenta encapsulation, other entries such as Europe, the US. And Canada have been partaking in this health benefit to mothers for over a decade. The whole ideology of placenta encapsulation is to replace useful hormones lost during birthing the placenta, decreasing postpartum depression because of an iron-deficiency, promote healing and provide energy, controlling any postpartum bleeding, and promote milk production for successful breastfeeding. Each mother is as unique as the benefits she may experience from participating in placenta encapsulation. How to cite The Practice, Papers