Do not spend significant portions of your paper describing the examples. The solution you are creating needs to be clearly linked to the course theories and concepts to help highlight your knowledge and thinking with regards to global leadership. As such, focus on explaining and applying the theoretical concepts that lead up to the solution. You will need to follow APA guidelines for paper writing. The most important part of writing a formal paper is that your ideas are based in the theory and research. It is important to quote, cite, and reference those sources. There is no right or wrong answer for this paper, but you must make your argument based on the standards set above and in a clear and concise manner. This means with a clear thesis statement, detailed explanations, apparent connection between theory and behaviors, and strong organization. You must use at least two of the major concepts discussed during the semester as the background logic for a single solution to the global leadership issue. You may use more theories if you wish, but do not spread yourself too thin. It is much more important to get indepth with the theories rather than throw in a lot of buzz words. Medieval Influence ©2013 iStock After ancient Greece, and especially Rome, declined, western Europe returned to some older ideas of governance for a while. One in particular was the feudal system, which, while not a dictatorship or monarchy, exchanged land for loyalty. So while people were allowed to be free on their own land to some extent, the way they obtained that land was by working for someone in power (technically the land was still owned by that wealthy person or family). But people were willing to give away some of the freedoms that came during ancient Greek times, as the economy was in great flux (often in a bad way) and attaching to a wealthy manor was a way to stabilize one’s personal economy, which in turn stabilized the economy at large. This tradition is still seen today in places like the United Kingdom, albeit in a much less influential way. These traditions are for the most part symbols that remind people of how the feudal system helped the region. But other ideas to aid in stability emerged during this time that still exist today. For instance, King Charlemagne, the ruler of a Germanic tribe that covered modern countries such as Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Germany encouraged education and scholarship ("History," 2013). These values helped establish schools for the masses, which then grew. And public education became standard fare in western Europe, which then spread that cultural value across the globe. Renaissance ©2013 Creates The word renaissance is a French word that means rebirth or renewal. But the roots of that word actually come from the Latin nascentia meaning “to be born,” which is quite fitting, as the renaissance was a cultural movement in western Europe focused on the “rebirth” of ideas and values from ancient Greece, such as a return to democratic ways via events such as the French Revolution ("Renaissance," 2013). But other key values arose, such as a humanism (a focus on the wonderful abilities of humans) (Manetti as cited in Clare & Millen, 1995). That humanism then translated into realistic art, the creation of modern science with its focus on observation, and reformation of religion (in particular more democratic involvement by the people and a personal relationship with a deity). A corollary of the humanism that arose during this time was that of self-awareness; as people focused more on the human being, knowing oneself became more important as well. These factors played an important development in modern culture. For instance, without the emphasis on observation and precise measurement in science, we would not have many of the modern technologies that now aid us in our daily lives. Or without the shift to self-awareness, knowing one's strengths and weaknesses as a leader may never have become an option, as it would be assumed that divine rights, such as those bestowed upon royal families, were the only way to become a leader. Instead, we now often focus on fixing shortcomings and developing leaders through acquisitions of skills and specific behaviors (Northouse, 2015). Victorian Era and Imperialism ©2013 iStock The Victorian Era is named after England’s Queen Victoria (approximately 1837 to 1901). It was a period of expansionism of Western Europe to new regions. England, France, Holland, Portugal, and Spain in particular competed for resources to fuel a technologically advancing culture in western Europe; they each built fleets of ships to trade with countries around the globe (Cody, 1988). Those trade fleets eventually evolved into imperial fleets designed to acquire as much territory as possible for the home country, as raw resources were becoming scarcer in the home countries, and having exclusive rights to materials was significantly more advantageous than having to negotiate prices with competitors offering higher bids. This led to western European countries spreading their cultures throughout the world; for instance, as we previously discussed with regard to South America, Portugal and Spain had a tremendous influence there and in Latin America in general, while England had a profound effect on places such as North America and India, while the Dutch had influence in South Africa, and France in Africa and the Caribbean. The imperialism of this time period led to the establishment of mini versions of western European governments all over the world, which established the western European languages as the official languages of those places, which in turn led to the spread of western European ideals, such as democracy (albeit somewhat ironically by overtaking previously existing cultures). Many of the countries took these lessons to heart, though, eventually breaking free from the western European countries through revolutions or through negotiation and setting up their own forms of democracy that blended the ideas from western Europe along with their local traditions. Modern Western Europe: The European Union After World War II, modern western Europe started to form, and in 1951 six countries saw the need to create a shared trade market to help establish peace in the region by reducing competition for resources. So Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands formed the European Coal and Steel Community, and by 1957 the Community expanded to include many other goods and services and became the European Economic Community. The success of the trade agreements lead Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom to join in 1973, and environmental and social policies were added to the scope of the Community’s mission. In 1979, a European Parliament was elected to oversee the European Economic Community. During the 1980s Greece, Portugal, and Spain joined, and by 1993 the Community had developed a plan to create a single European trade market, and developed a more specific treaty that included intergovernmental assistance between member countries and at the same time renamed the Community the European Union (EU). Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined in 1995. In 2002, the European Union created the euro, a currency used in all the EU’s countries. The euro is now a major world currency, whereas prior to that only a few countries from western Europe had currencies considered major. The 2000s saw many countries join from eastern Europe, with Croatia joining in 2013, while several other countries are negotiating or working European Union laws into their constitutions so that they can join ("European Union," n.d.). ©2013 Photodisc The cultural effects of the European Union have been significant. For one, “(t)he EU seeks to preserve Europe's shared cultural heritage—in language, literature, theatre, cinema, dance, broadcasting, art, architecture and handicrafts, to name but a few—and help make it accessible to others” ("European Union," 2013). So the cultures of the EU are afforded legal protections that many other cultures around the world do not have. That said, the EU does enforce several standard criteria for joining in the first place, such as human rights laws, democracy, protective laws for those from minority groups, and a market economy (known as the Copenhagen criteria) ("European Union," n.d.). So each joining country’s cultures does have to adapt somewhat to join in the first place, which helps create the shared cultural heritage mentioned above. But other side effects are that travel between countries is now easier without the barrier of different currency, which allows for the exchange of ideas to occur more easily.
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