assignment, zero plag

Question I: (350 words)

In Europe, the final act in Soviet cold war tactics would be attempted to prevent the NATO and the USA from upgrading their missiles during the early 1980s. This would fail and a new generation of missiles would be placed by the end of 1983.

Once Gorbachev came to power in 1985 a reformist movement swept the USSR but virtually no one thought it would collapse until it did, by the end of 1991.

During the 1990s and until 9-11 some argued that the world had seen “the end of history.” Democratic capitalism would spread relentlessly. The EU as I have noted seemed poised to offer a third way between American capitalism and the old socialist dream.

9-11 and then the Great Recession of 2008-09 punctured this dream. Since 2010 populist nationalism has come to the fore. A question to ponder is whether Putin is on the verge of becoming the most successful Russian leader in terms of spreading his nation’s new world view?

Why has the world embraced him, it seems, more than his communist predecessors?

Question II: (250 words)

• Which of the leverage points listed below is most needed in the US health care system? Defend your answer. Choose only one

Here are the leverage points

1. Transcending Paradigms

2. Paradigms—The mind-set out of which the system—its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters—arises

3. Goals—The purpose or function of the system

4. Self-Organization—The power to add, change, or evolve system structure

5. Rules—Incentives, punishments, constraints

6. Information Flows—The structure of who does and does not have access to information

7. Reinforcing Feedback Loops—The strength of the gain of driving loops

8. Balancing Feedback Loops—The strength of the feedbacks relative to the impacts they are trying to correct