TASK

It is a common observation that industrialized countries generate huge amounts of

food waste every day and many commentators argue that this state of affairs is both
impractical and immoral. Write an opinion article in which you describe ways in
which food is commonly wasted (L2). Then, offer opinions and suggestions as to how
we could help to alleviate the problem of food waste (L3).

The issue of food waste is a growing concern, which is especially true in

consideration of the fact that the world’s population continues to grow
exponentially. This population growth should not be a problem in itself but food
production is not growing at the same rate. Let us explore this problem in more
detail and consider ways to remedy the situation. 

Food is wasted in various manners, although several studies have identified

supermarkets as the biggest wasters. It is common practice in many large
supermarkets to reject food which is not in perfect condition rather than keeping it
on the shelves of their establishments – they do this only because of the image that
it presents to customers. 

First level distributors are also to blame for the waste of thousands of tons of food.
The explanation is even simpler in their case -- more offer means lower prices. We
often see in the news that some companies in many countries are discarding fruits,
vegetables and rice in order to better control the price that they may reach at the
market. 

There are several possible actions that can be taken to reduce the waste of food.
Some of these are governmental while others might be taken at the household
level. Some countries such as France are legislating against food waste by imposing
significant fines on supermarket chains if they do not comply with strict regulations.
Additionally, households may be more aware of the problem if governments
conducted targeted advertising campaigns regarding the issue.

However, I would say that fines are not the way to solve this problem. The final
answer needs to involve the education of our children. It is of paramount
importance to educate them in the idea that the production of food is limited and
that they should only buy what is absolutely necessary.

In conclusion, food waste is widespread in our society. It is necessary that we all

make ourselves aware of the importance to reduce the waste of food if we want to
have a better future, starting from our own homes.
VOCABULARY

End up being thrown out

Trash bin
Landfill
Multifaceted approach
Buy-one-get-one-free mentality
Perishable foods near expiration
overstock foods
labels
composting services
grocery stores
leafy greens
misedemeanor (delito)
scraps
food chain
insdustralized nations
developed nations
developing world
leftlovers
Sometimes the cost of labor to harvest a crop exceeds the value of
selling it
Dairy products (productos lacteos)
Careful meal planning
With the spread of globalisation, more and more people in developed countries
have a better quality of life than they had decades ago. However, in many parts of
the world, millions of people don’t have enough food to survive. In this
composition, I’m going to write about aid and development. I’m going to explain
some of the causes of third world poverty and look at what richer countries can do
to help.

So, what are the causes of poverty in developing countries? It seems to me that we
can identify two principle causes: unfair trading and corruption. In the first place,
many developing countries cannot sell their goods at a fair price because of
restrictions and tariffs. Secondly, corruption is often so widespread in these
countries that it seriously affects their economies. Taken together, these two
problems represent almost impossible obstacles for many countries.

Moving on to the question of whether or not developed countries should help

poorer countries, in my opinion, helping poorer countries is a moral obligation. For
example, by providing food and medical aid, we can save many lives. However, I
also think that they shouldn’t be completely dependent on us.

This brings us to the question of what we can do to help poorer countries to help
themselves. It seems to me that there are many things we can do here. In the first
place, we should ensure that money for development is properly spent. This relates
to the point I made earlier about corruption. However, I think we also need to help
developing countries with agricultural and energy programmes. In this way, they
will eventually be able to compete and cooperate with wealthy countries and we
can help each other.

To conclude, in this essay we’ve looked at some of the causes of and solutions to
poverty in third world countries. The problem clearly does not have an easy
solution, but the way I see things is that we are all in the same boat and we will
either sink or swim together. For this reason, both Government and individuals
must do all they can to help those less fortunate than themselves.
1. The Nature of Warfare in the
Late 20th Century
Warfare is a constantly evolving art, it changes from era to era, and in the
20th century, warfare experienced some of its biggest changes in history. The
20th century was a period of unprecedented technological development and
industrialization. As such, warfare evolved a lot from what it was at the begging
of the century. In the late 20thcentury, warfare is distinct in 2 ways; there is an
unprecedented use of technology, and the need for large standing armies is
non-existent. Instead of large standing armies, modern warfare requires small,
elite units which can be deployed in a matter of hours to any location in the
world. To further illustrate my points, I am going to bring up four examples from
recent history which demonstrate the modern nature of warfare. With new
technologies, new types of warfare were created, namely nuclear warfare, and
cyber warfare. These new types of weapons can be hundreds of times more
devastating than any conventional weapons. Special Forces have played an
increasingly important role in warfare. Today, no operation can be successful
without the use of these elite, easily deployable troops. In the late 20 th century,
technological advancements and new tactics have revolutionized the nature of
warfare.

Cyber warfare is a relatively new concept, and only really came around after the
creation of the internet in the late 1960s. Cyber warfare issued more and more
by nations to spy on their enemies, or to disable enemy weapons systems or
power plants. To bring up an example, recently the western world has been
concerned with the rapid development of nuclear technology in Iran. To slow
down Iran’s nuclear development, the US and Israel created a virus called
stuxnet. This virus disabled the power plants in Iran and significantly slowed
down the development on their nuclear technology. Without cyber warfare, the
only way to disable these power plants would be through conventional means,
such as bombs. This shows how cyber warfare is changing the nature of
warfare. Another good example would be the recently-discovered flame virus,
which attacked and infected computers around the Middle East. This virus was
used for espionage, and has been spying on Iran for two years now. Although
no nation has admitted to developing this virus, it was clearly developed by a
nation, and was written by an English-speaking person. The fact that no one
can determine the origin of this virus shows how developed cyber-warfare has
become, and how it is changing the nature of warfare. Countries now are
competing for who can get the upper hand in cyber warfare, because it has
proven to be more effective than conventional means of warfare, and does not
cost as much troops or resources as conventional warfare. Another use for
cyber warfare would be to take out a county’s electric power grid. In 2009,
Russia and China infiltrated the US power grid, and left some malicious
software that could potentially harm the US power grid. China has denied that,
but Russia has released no public statements. Although the US power grid was
not actually attacked, Russia and China could have easily shut it off, causing
mass power outages, which would disrupt the economy and distract the nation
from a conventional attack. There have been instances of cyber attacks which
are still attacks, but have been more humorous in nature. The MI6 hacked into
the Al-Qaida website and changed the recipe for explosives for a recipe for
cupcakes. Humor aside, this shows how cyber warfare can be used by states to
combat terrorism and protect their citizens. There have been a few measures
taken by countries to protect themselves from cyber attacks. Counter measures
include disconnecting the power grid form the internet, and manually catching
and removing viruses which are used for espionage. Cyber warfare is still a
relatively new type of warfare, and has a lot of potential. Although it has not
reached its full potential, cyber warfare is already changing the nature of
warfare as we know it.

Nuclear warfare is another type of warfare that was developed in the

20th century. During World War II, there were fears of Germany developing an
atomic bomb. Albert Einstein sent a letter to the US president, and warned him
about that possibility. This led to the Manhattan project, where the US
successfully created the world’s first atomic bomb. Since then, there have been
only two instances of these destructive weapons being used in warfare. At the
end of 1945, the US wanted to intimidate Japan into surrender, so they
detonated one atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and one in Nagasaki. There is a good
reason as to why these weapons have never been used again. The destructive
potential of a nuclear weapon is so great that a country would have to be truly in
danger of complete annihilation to use one of these weapons. Soon after the
US detonated these weapons, the Russians built their own atomic bombs. This
led to the nuclear arms race during the cold war, and had the greatest impact
on the nature of warfare. The bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined
killed 200,000 people. These were the two smallest atomic weapons ever used.
With the US and USSR both owning nuclear weapons which could easily wipe
out entire cities, the possibility of war between the two nations was virtually non-
existent. This is because both nations knew very well that if they indeed did go
to war, it would result in the extinction of all life on earth. That concept is known
as MAD, or mutually assured destruction. The fact that these two super-powers
could no longer duke it out head-to-head, they had to come up with new means
to disrupt each other. This led to the popularization of guerrilla warfare and
terrorism. Nuclear warfare did not only change warfare by preventing
conventional war, it created a new type of warfare, called guerrilla warfare,
commonly referred to as terrorism. Although guerrilla warfare existed before, it
was not really used a lot, and was never state-funded, however, in the cold war,
since the countries could not fight because of MAD, they resorted to supporting
guerrilla wars against each other. Examples of this include Vietnam, where the
USSR equipped and trained the Vietnamese to be able to take on the
Americans, and resulted in America being defeated in Vietnam. Another
example of this is the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, where the US supported
the mujahedeen, and is the reason why the mujahedeen were able to defeat the
US. Other than Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons also cause major
problems in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The USSR was placing
nukes in Cuba, and this forced the Americans to blockade Cuba. At that point in
time, the world was minutes away from war, but due to MAD, the Soviets turned
around. Nuclear warfare is the most destructive type of warfare created by men.
Nuclear weapons can disable a country, and a nuclear war is sure to end in the
destruction of the human race. Nuclear warfare not only prevented conventional
warfare, but also created a new type of warfare called guerrilla warfare, which
was used by the US and the USSR during the cold war to attempt to weaken
each other. Nuclear warfare is the most revolutionary invention in the history of
warfare, and changed the nature of war forever.

There was another famous Special Forces operation, but instead of succeeding
like Operation Entebbe, it failed. This operation is a perfect example of why
countries need to focus on their Special Forces units and why countries need to
adapt to modern warfare. IN 1980, during the Iran revolution, 52 Americans
were taken hostage. In order to attempt to rescue them, the US military devised
Operation Eagle Claw. This operation was inspired by Operation Entebbe, but
was too complex to be properly executed. Instead of being quick and efficient,
the operation was supposed to last 2 nights, and relied on too many factors to
succeed. During the operation, several US aircraft ran out of fuel, and one of
them crashed, resulting in 8 US deaths. The reason of this failure was not the
incompetence of US soldiers, but rather the lack of training provided to their
special forces, the over complexity of the mission, and the fact that the US did
not adapt to the rapidly changing nature of warfare. This proves that the nature
of warfare did indeed shift, because had it been a conventional situation, the US
could have just used conventional means of warfare, but that is no longer the
way in which wars are fought, because the nature of warfare has changed. This
example is meant to illustrate that conventional means of warfare can be
useless against terrorists and the situations which governments often face
today, such as hostage takings and highjackings. These situations did not exist
50 years ago, and are unique to the late 20 th century, demonstrating that the
nature of warfare has changed dramatically, and that conventional armies are
not as important as they used to be.

In conclusion, technological advancements and new tactics resulted in warfare

in the 20thcentury being completely unique and different than warfare in all other
ages. Several very important advancements in technology, namely the internet
and nuclear weapons have changed the nature of warfare faster than ever
before, which greatly contributed to the unique nature of warfare in the late
20th century. There were also changes in tactics, making conventional warfare
much less important than it was in every other age. Special Forces are now
very important to any nations, because most wars are against terrorists, which
are essentially guerrilla wars, and conventional warfare is ineffective in guerrilla
wars. The nature of warfare in the 20th century evolved greatly and as it stands
today, warfare is centered around technology and highly trained elite units.

hijacking, also spelled highjacking, the illegal seizure of a land

vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance while it is in transit.

Asymmetrical warfare, unconventional strategies and tactics adopted by a

force when the militarycapabilities of belligerent powers are not simply unequal
but are so significantly different that they cannot make the same sorts of attacks
on each other.
Guerrilla warfare, occurring between lightly armed partisans and a conventional
army, is an example of asymmetrical warfare. Terrorist tactics, such
as hijackings and suicide bombings, are also considered to be asymmetrical,
both because they tend to involve a smaller, weaker group attacking a stronger
one and also because attacks on civilians are by definition one-way warfare. War
between a country that is both able and willing to use nuclear weapons and a
country that is not would be another example of asymmetrical warfare.

Modern warfare is warfare that is in notable contrast with previous military

concepts, methods, and technology, emphasizing how combatants must
modernize to preserve their battle worthiness.[1] As such, it is an evolving
subject, seen differently in different times and places. In its narrowest sense, it
is merely a synonym for contemporary warfare.

In its widest sense, it includes all warfare since the "gunpowder revolution" that
marks the start of early modern warfare, but other landmark military
developments have been used instead, including the emphasis of artillery
marked by the Crimean War, the military reliance on railways beginning with
the American Civil War, the launch of the first dreadnought in 1905, or the use
of the machine gun, aircraft, tank, or radio in World War I.[2] In other senses, it
is tied to the introduction of total war, industrial warfare, mechanized warfare,
nuclear warfare,[3] counter-insurgency,[4] or (more recently) the rise of
asymmetric warfare also known as fourth-generation warfare.[5]

Some argue that the changing forms of third generation warfare represents
nothing more than an evolution of earlier technology

Aerial warfare

A Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft firing an AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air

missile, 1982

Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in
warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking enemy concentrations or
strategic targets; fighter aircraft battling for control of airspace; attack aircraft
engaging in close air support against ground targets; naval aviation flying
against sea and nearby land targets; gliders, helicopters and other aircraft to
carry airborne forces such as paratroopers; aerial refueling tankers to extend
operation time or range; and military transport aircraft to move cargo and
personnel.

Asymmetric warfare

A military situation in which two belligerents of unequal strength interact and

take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses. This interaction
often involves strategies and tactics outside conventional warfare.
Biological warfare

Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism
(bacteria, virus or other disease-causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a
weapon of war. It is meant to incapacitate or kill enemy combatants. It may also
be defined as the employment of biological agents to produce casualties in man
or animals and damage to plants or material; or defense against such
employment. Biological warfare involves the intentional release of living
pathogens either in their naturally occurring form, for example the diseased
corpses of animals, or in the form of specific human-modified organisms.

Chemical warfare

Canadian Army soldiers in CBRN hazmat suits with a Blowpipe man-portable

air-defense system, 1987

Chemical warfare is warfare (associated military operations) using the toxic

properties of chemical substances to incapacitate or kill enemy combatants.
Chemical warfare nerve agents are potent anticholinesterase compounds
deliberately formulated to induce debilitating effects or death during wartime
hostilities. A key need for both community emergency preparedness, and
restoration of military installations where agents have been processed and/or
stored, is access to concise and timely information on agent characteristics and
treatment, as well as health-based exposure guidelines derived in a clear
manner by contemporary methods of data analysis.

Electronic warfare

Electronic warfare refers to mainly non-violent practices used chiefly to support

other areas of warfare. The term was originally coined to encompass the
interception and decoding of enemy radio communications, and the
communications technologies and cryptography methods used to counter such
interception, as well as jamming, radio stealth, and other related areas. Over the
later years of the 20th century and early years of the 21st century, this has
expanded to cover a wide range of areas: the use of, detection of and avoidance
of detection by radar and sonar systems, computer hacking, etc.

Fourth generation warfare

Captured Islamic State fighters in front of their surrendered weaponry, 2018

Fourth generation warfare (4GW) is a concept defined by William S. Lind and

expanded by Thomas X. Hammes, used to describe the decentralized nature of
modern warfare. The simplest definition includes any war in which one of the
major participants is not a state but rather a violent ideological network. Fourth
Generation wars are characterized by a blurring of the lines between war and
politics, combatants and civilians, conflicts and peace, battlefields and safety.
While this term is similar to terrorism and asymmetric warfare, it is much
narrower. Classical insurgencies and the Indian Wars are examples of pre-
modern wars, not 4GW. Fourth generation warfare usually has the insurgency
group or non-state side trying to implement their own government or
reestablish an old government over the one currently running the territory. The
blurring of lines between state and non-state is further complicated in a
democracy by the power of the media.

Land warfare

Republic of Korea Army mechanized infantry supported by K21 infantry fighting

vehicles, 2014

Ground warfare involves three types of combat units: infantry, armor, and
artillery.

Infantry in modern times would consist of mechanized infantry and airborne

forces. Usually having a type of rifle or sub-machine gun, an infantryman is the
basic unit of an army.

Armored warfare in modern times involves a variety of armored fighting

vehicles for the purpose of battle and support. Tanks or other armored vehicles
(such as armored personnel carriers or tank destroyers) are slower, yet stronger
hunks of metal. They are invulnerable to enemy machine gun fire but prone to
rocket infantry, mines, and aircraft so are usually accompanied by infantry. In
urban areas, because of smaller space, an armored vehicle is exposed to hidden
enemy infantry but as the so-called "Thunder Run" at Baghdad in 2003 showed,
armored vehicles can play a critical role in urban combat. In rural areas, an
armored vehicle does not have to worry about hidden units though muddy and
damp terrain that have always been a factor of weakness for tanks and vehicles.

Artillery in contemporary times is distinguished by its large caliber, firing an

explosive shell or rocket, and being of such a size and weight as to require a
specialized mount for firing and transport. Weapons covered by this term
include the howitzer, cannon, mortar, and field gun (collectively called cannon
artillery, gun artillery or tube artillery) and rocket artillery. The term "artillery"
has traditionally not been used for projectiles with internal guidance systems,
even though some artillery units employ surface-to-surface missiles. Recent
advances in terminal guidance systems for small munitions has allowed large
caliber shells to be fitted with precision guidance fuses, blurring this distinction.

Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is defined as fighting by groups of irregular troops (guerrillas)

within areas occupied by the enemy. When guerrillas obey the laws and customs
of war, they are entitled, if captured, to be treated as ordinary prisoners of war;
however, they are often treated by their captors as unlawful combatants and
executed. The tactics of guerrilla warfare stress deception and ambush, as
opposed to mass confrontation, and succeed best in an irregular, rugged terrain,
and with a sympathetic populace, whom guerrillas often seek to win over or
dominate by propaganda and reform. Guerrilla warfare has played a significant
role in modern history, especially when waged by Communist liberation
movements in Southeast Asia (most notably in the Vietnam War) and
elsewhere.

Guerrilla fighters gravitate toward weapons which are easily accessible, low in
technology, and low in cost. A typical arsenal of the modern guerrilla would
include the AK-47, RPGs, and Improvised explosive devices. The guerrilla
doctrines' main disadvantage is the inability to access more advanced
equipment due to economic, influence, and accessibility issues. They must rely
on small unit tactics involving hit and run. This situation leads to low intensity
warfare, asymmetrical warfare, and war amongst the people. The rules of
Guerrilla warfare are to fight a little and then to retreat.

Informationised[edit]

Main article: Informationised war

Intelligence[edit]

Propaganda

Main article: Propaganda

Propaganda is an ancient form of disinformation concerted with sending a set of

messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of large numbers of
people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most
basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. The most
effective propaganda is often completely truthful, but some propaganda
presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded
messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the
information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative
of the subject in the target audience.

Psychological

Main article: Psychological warfare

Psychological warfare had its beginnings during the campaigns of Genghis Khan
through the allowance of certain civilians of the nations, cities, and villages to
flee said place, spreading terror and fear to neighboring principalities.
Psychological actions have the primary purpose of influencing the opinions,
emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to
support the achievement of national objectives.

Information

Main article: Information warfare

Made possible by the widespread use of the electronic media during World War
II, Information warfare is a kind of warfare where information and attacks on
information and its system are used as a tool of warfare. Some examples of this
type of warfare are electronic "sniffers" which disrupt international fund-
transfer networks as well as the signals of television and radio stations.
Jamming such signals can allow participants in the war to use the stations for a
misinformation campaign.

Naval[edit]

Main articles: Naval warfare and Modern naval tactics

The USS Gettysburg (CG-64) cruiser and USS Enterprise (CVN-65) aircraft
carrier of the United States Navy, 2003

Naval warfare takes place on the high seas (blue water navy). Usually, only
large, powerful nations have competent blue water or deep water navies.
Modern navies primarily use aircraft carriers, submarines, frigates, cruisers,
and destroyers for combat. This provides a versatile array of attacks, capable of
hitting ground targets, air targets, or other seafaring vessels. Most modern
navies also have a large naval aviation contingent, deployed from aircraft
carriers.[dubious – discuss] In World War II, small craft (motor torpedo boats
variously called PT boats, MTBs, MGBs, Schnellboote, or MAS-boats) fought
near shore. This developed in the Vietnam War into riverine warfare (brown
water navy), in intertidal and river areas. Irregular warfare makes this sort of
combat more likely in the future.

Network-centric[edit]

Main article: Network-centric warfare

Network-centric warfare is essentially a new military doctrine made possible by
the Information Age. Weapons platforms, sensors, and command and control
centers are being connected through high-speed communication networks. The
doctrine is related to the Revolution in Military Affairs debate.

The overall network which enables this strategy in the United States military is
called the Global Information Grid.

New generation[edit]

Main article: New generation warfare

New generation warfare is a Russian military theory of unconventional warfare

based on the Gerasimov doctrine which prioritizes the psychological and
people-centered aspects over traditional military concerns, and emphasizes a
phased approach of non-military influence such that armed conflict, if it arises,
is much less costly in human or economic terms.

Nuclear[edit]

Main article: Nuclear warfare

The interior of a LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile launch

facility in Arizona, United States, 2012

Nuclear war is a type of warfare which relies on nuclear weapons. There are two
types of warfare in this category. In a limited nuclear war, a small number of
weapons are used in a tactical exchange aimed primarily at enemy combatants.
In a full-scale nuclear war, large numbers of weapons are used in an attack
aimed at entire countries. This type of warfare would target both combatants
and non-combatants.

Space[edit]

Main article: Space warfare

Space warfare is the hypothetical warfare that occurs outside the Earth's
atmosphere. No wars have been fought here yet. The weapons would include
orbital weaponry and space weapons. High value outer space targets would
include satellites and weapon platforms. Notably no real weapons exist in space
yet, though ground-to-space missiles have been successfully tested against
target satellites. As of now, this is purely science fiction.