Ethics, No Secrets Policy and Counselor Values Essay Example

Ethics, No Secrets Policy and Counselor Values Essay Bullet Point Responses Julie Sanders * I believe it is unethical for the counselor to reveal anything said in individual counseling with the husband. She didn’t address a â€Å"no secrets† policy in the informed consent. Sharing this information with the wife without his permission is unethical. In marriage counseling the â€Å"no secrets† policy needs to be addressed and explained in the informed consent. Since she did not have a policy concerning this, she is bound by confidentiality which should have been in her informed consent. It is not the job of the counselor to instill his/her values onto a client. The counselor shold try to remain as neutral as possible. Even if the husband feels the extra-marital relationship is enhancing the marriage, his wife still doesn’t know about it, and he seems to be the only one benefitting from the affair. The counselor should remain as neutral as possible when discussing this with the husband and encourage him to brin g this up in a conjoint session. It is not the therapist’s decision to make since she did not have a â€Å"no â€Å"secrets policy in place. I don’t think the therapist should â€Å"persuade† the husband to give up the affair or bring it up in joint counseling. In my opinion that is still imposing her values on the client. With that said, I do think, in a sense, that the therapist is colluding with the husband. However, she is responsible for the situation by not clearly stating confidentiality and â€Å"no secrets† in her informed consent. * According to Corey (p. 98) counselors should have a process of self-examination to discover their own biases, beliefs and values. I think it is unethical to refer a client because of a therapist’s personal beliefs. Saying that, if the counselor has strongly held beliefs and values, they should be addressed in the informed consent and explained to client’s before the counseling process begins. This would give the counselor basis for referral. Since the counselor is bound by confidentiality, she cannot tell the wife of the husband’s affair, but if the counselor addressed value’s bias in the informed consent, she can offer that as a reason for referral. It is not the counselor’s job, nor is it ethical for the counselor to inform the wife of the affair. * I don’t believe it is in the best interest of the original client (the husband) for the counselor to offer marriage counseling to the couple. The scenario does not address the training of the counselor in this field. If I were the counselor, I would continue to see the husband, dealing with his issues and refer the couple to a marriage counselor. Assignment Questions Julie Sanders ii) I want you to read over the informed consent and make sure you both understand the guidelines we will be operating from. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics, No Secrets Policy and Counselor Values specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics, No Secrets Policy and Counselor Values specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics, No Secrets Policy and Counselor Values specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer There are several important sections that I would like you both to understand before signing the form. I’ll be happy to discuss and answer any questions regarding these areas. In the beginning of the consent for is a section I would like to bring your attention the purpose of therapy, procedures, the possibility of a negative outcome, possible benefits, fee structures, your rights and responsibilities and also either one of you can withdraw at any time (Corey, p. 474). I have a â€Å"no secrets† policy. Since you are here for couple’s counseling I feel you need to be open and honest with each other. If one of you shares a â€Å"secret† with me individually that I might feel necessary to share, I will decide if it needs to be shared with your spouse. iii) I will not share my values with you regarding marriage or extramarital affairs I don’t think it would be ethical because it could sway your decision making, and how I personally feel about an issue is not the problem being addressed. For your best interests, I feel it is best that I remain as neutral as possible. v) In the beginning of the counseling process along with informed consent I would address the issue of blindsiding a partner. The clients and I would address the issues involved in being honest as opposed to being â€Å"brutally† honest in a way that could cause harm. If after discussing the effects of an ambush, it happens anyway, I would ask the â€Å"ambushee† how that made them feel an d the ambusher the reasoning behind the â€Å"attack. † Hopefully this would encourage a rational, honest and meaningful dialogue between the two.

The Interrupters Essay Essays

The Interrupters Essay Essays The Interrupters Essay Essay The Interrupters Essay Essay Gang force is a major job in many topographic points in many topographic points. and if the Interrupters maintain up and spread out their work. it could be lessened. Harmonizing to the US legal web site. â€Å"Gang force means condemnable and non political Acts of the Apostless of force committed by a group of people who on a regular basis engage in condemnable activity against guiltless people. † ( UsLegal. com ) In the film The Interrupters. by Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz. there is a group of force interrupters that are working on disrupting and halting force in Chicago. The pack force has gotten out of control. and there are many guiltless people and immature kids being killed because of this pack force. A solution to this job would be for the force interrupters to maintain making what they are making. but besides seek to spread out their group and happen more people to assist them out disrupting force. Although the job of pack force may neer really disappear wholly. the interrupters are making a good occupation of halting it so far. and it can merely acquire better from here. In order to assist work out the job of pack force. the interrupters merely necessitate to maintain up what they are making and acquire more people to assist them. It is a really good thought that the interrupters have all one time been involved in pack force or something of the kind. Then. the people that they are seeking to assist can associate to them alternatively of believing they are merely some kind of authorization figure seeking to state them what to make. it is a batch easier for the people in packs to associate to person who one time was besides in a pack. The interrupters can speak to the people about how they were one time in packs and how much their life has turned around since recognizing that that was non a good life style to populate. In the film. every individual that the interrupters had worked with ended up recognizing that what they were making was non a good live to populate. and by the terminal of the film. all of them were seeking to acquire their lives on a better path. For illustration. Flamo. who Cobe could hardly even acquire to speak to him or listen to anything he said. had a occupation and was happy to be working. At the get downing Flamo was merely worried about drugs and desiring to kill people. but Cobe did non give up on him. and at the terminal he had a occupation and was non making that material any longer. Capryshia was another 1 that was highly difficult to work with. but by the terminal they had gotten to her. and she was go toing school and acquiring her life on path. Although the interrupters may non be able to wholly halt pack force. they are decidedly acquiring someplace with it. They have helped many people to recognize that pack force is non a good manner to populate your life. It merely takes clip. and finally over clip we could stop up seeing a batch less gang force. All we need is for people like this to maintain working at it and acquiring more people to assist them accomplish this end. Some people might state that the interrupters are non assisting the pack force because of the sum of pack force that still exists. They might state that it is non even worth the interrupters clip because merely a few people are acquiring helped. and merely some pack force is acquiring stopped. This is a valid point. but you have to get down someplace. Cipher is traveling to be able to merely snarl their fingers and stop the force. It is traveling to take clip. and the interrupters know that. They are making what they can for the clip being. and it candidly appears to be working. They are working on acquiring more interrupters to fall in them and finally will be able to halt a batch more force. Just expression at what they have done already ; there are a batch of people that have shied off from the pack force because of what these fantastic people are making. It’s good for the people involved in the force interrupters to cognize that the interrupters have besides been portion of pack force before. so so they know that there is hope for them to clean up their lives. Although some people may thiknk that the interrupters are blowing their clip because they think that they are merely assisting a few people. the interrupters are making a truly good occupation and demand to go on making what they are making. There will likely neer be a complete halt to gang force. but we are headed in the right way with seeking to decrease the sum of force we are seeing ; we merely necessitate clip. Another thing that could be a solution to the pack force job would be for the interrupters to acquire the constabulary involved with them. Although it could be bad because the people in the packs are more likely to desire to speak to person that is non in authorization. the interrupters teaming up with the constabulary could be a aid. It would be best for the interrupters to seek to make the most that they can on their ain visual perception that the people in packs are more comfy around them. but when it comes down to them non being able to nterrupt the force. they could so name the constabulary and acquire the constabulary involved. Although the people in the packs are non traveling to desire the constabulary to be at that place. they will at least be a small more intimidated by the constabulary. and if things do non halt. the constabulary can collar them. A batch of the times. one time a individual in a pack spends a nice sum of clip in gaol for what they have done. they come to recognize that the things they are making truly are non deserving disbursement so much clip in gaol over. In the film. there was a male child that spent a few old ages in prison for trying to rob a hair cutting topographic point. Once acquiring out of gaol. he wholly got his life back on path. He chiefly realized how much him being gone affected his household. particularly his small brother and sister. He went and apologized to the people at the topographic point and candidly felt highly awful for what he did. If the interrupters get the constabulary involved and get down acquiring more people in serious problem for the pack force they are perpetrating. the rates of force will besides travel down to because people realize that making that much clip off from your household the people that love you truly is non deserving the force. Peoples will get down to desire to alter their ways if they see so many people really acquiring in serious problem for their actions. Maya Angelou. harmonizing to mayaangelou. com. is a â€Å"celebrated poet. memoirist. novelist. pedagogue. playwright. manufacturer. actress. historian. film maker. and civil rights militant. † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //mayaangelou. com/bio/ ) . She was born in St. Louis. Missouri. but spent most of her life turning up in Stamps. Alabama. While here. she saw a batch of racial favoritism. but at the same clip took the clip to pay attending and retrieve the Afro-american civilization and household values. Throughout her life. Maya did many unbelievable things. excessively many to even get down to advert. but she has a really celebrated verse form called â€Å"Still I Rise. † This verse form is all about different obstructions she has faced because of her race and other things. but ever ends with â€Å"but still I rise. † She is seeking to state people that despite of the adversities you face. you still necessitate to lift and demo the people that you can lift up after confronting these. Maya is besides stating others in the verse form that they need to be proud of their heritage. and they will confront troubles because of it. Despite any troubles. they still need to lift and get the better of it. There is ever another twenty-four hours to go a better individual. This verse form can associate greatly to the Interrupters and the pack force. These people that are involved in pack force frequently feel like their lives have already been ruined. and this is the lone solution to it. They want to travel out and wounded people who have said bad things about them or their household. They think that the lone solution to being discriminated against. talked about. set down. etc. s to stop it with force. Just like the interrupters have shown with Capryshia and Flamo. there is hope. They need to still lift up after these things are said to them. Rather than allow it trouble oneself them so much and seek to work out it with force. they need to lift up and be above it. Show people that they really can acquire back up after it. and possibly the people would derive a spot more regard for them. Maya Angelou went through man y adversities in her life. and she merely rose up after them and was ready to confront the following adversity. There is really much hope for these people involved in the pack force. The interrupters are at that place to demo them that there is a batch more to life than being in packs and desiring to ache people overtime they look at you the incorrect manner. The interrupters overcame all of their gang force issues and now want to assist others get the better of them excessively. This is a immense sum of cogent evidence that it can be done if people are traveling from being in packs and killing people to being a force interrupter that wants to halt all of this because they know there is a better life in front. The film The Interrupters gives us a new visible radiation on how much pack force there really is in Chicago. which is right in our backyard. Although it is sad to see the sum of force taking topographic point and people being killed. it is good to cognize that there are people out at that place seeking to halt it and wining. Although it may look that at that place has non been much advancement. the interrupters have made a great halt toward stoping it. and they need to go on what they are making so we can maintain seeing more and more advancement in the old ages to come.

Political Theories Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Political Theories Class - Essay Example This led to her detainment and interrogated by the Gestapo. Fearing for her life in Germany, she fled to France. In chapter three, she majors on why the Nazi government hated the Jews. She claims that the government spread this hatred because most of the Jews properties in Germany. In a bid for the German government to gain control of its citizens, they had to create a common enemy. She states that the holocaust was not about eliminating Jews but about consistency and megalomania among the Germans. In chapter 4, Hannah writes about a junior Jewish officer in the French army convicted of high treason. There was no extensive examination of the extension presented. Dreyfus was the soldiers name; this affair caused a significant scandal in the French government. The actual French officer who was a traitor was a senior officer acquitted after two hearings of his trial, and his name cleared. This shows how the government can make mistakes in trying to control the activities of its people. After his hearing in Paris, a considerable scandal arose, and that led to his reinstating in the army as principal. In conclusion, Hannah focuses on the effects the Jews suffered from totalitarianism. Her Jewish background helps her in

The potential for gaining weight is higher when work is for a night Essay

The potential for gaining weight is higher when work is for a night shift rather than day and evening shift - Essay Example Conventionally, the innate biological clock have more often been overlooked and set aside by its anatomic owner because of changes in lifestyle, and because of economic developments which is now more of intensified productivity to cope with increasing demand. Consequently, organizational operations maybe 24/7, which requires at most 3 different sets of workers. So, there are those that are assigned to day shift. There are also separate set of workers assigned for the evening shift. And, another set is assigned for the night shift. The workers assigned for the day shift are the most likely set of people who obeys the law of nature in terms of meeting the number of hours for rest at a particular time of the night that the body has been accustomed to while growing up. Thus, given that the same set of people eats at regular interval, a balance diet, then, biological physiologic functions of the body can be presumed to run normal as well as body size and weight. Conversely, the potential for gaining weight is higher when work is for a night shift rather than day and evening shift.

Religion and Morality Essay Example for Free

Religion and Morality Essay Morality as dependant on religion The idea of whether morality and religion are linked or not was first looked upon by Plato, where in his Euthyphro Dilemma he asks, Is what is pious loved by the Gods because it is pious, or is something pious because it is loved? In other words he is questioning whether things are good because God commands them to be, or does God command them because they are good? I will first examine the view followed by theists today, that things are good because God loves them and that religion and morality are linked. There are a number of ways which you can establish a possible link between religion and morality, the first being heteronomously. Heteronomy is the view that morality depends on religious belief, or things derived from religion. The rules in heteronomous societies are from religious authority so will obviously be linked to religion, however a non-religious person is still capable of being heteronomous as they live and abide by the cultures laws therefore adopting a morality based on religion. To a certain extent it is hard to deny aspects of heteronomy, since words like good and evil are shaped by religion. It would be hard to present an ethical theory free from these terms. A theonomous link can also be made, where morality and religion depend on one source (for example, in Western cultures God) who is the fundamental designer of what is moral. Unlike Heteronomy, Theonomy does not require a religious authority as it is to do with the individuals personal belief in the aforementioned source. The Natural Law theory developed by Aquinas is considered theonomous, in which an uncaused cause is the creative source for all. We can access God directly in this theory by fulfilling our purposes in life set by Him at our creation. The view that things are good through Gods command is directly illustrated in The Divine Command Theory, the common theory adopted by believers in the God of Classical Theism. According to Emil Brunner (1947), The Good consists in always doing what God wills at any particular moment, as it essentially impossible for God to command an evil act. If nothing was commanded or forbidden by God then there would be no wrong or right and arguably, there would be chaos. The DCT can be seen to provide a strong foundation for a stable necessary morality to be built upon as well as personal reasons to abide by it. For example, taken from the views of Kant (although not directly aimed at the DCT) the belief in the existence of an afterlife gives us incentive to live a moral life, which we otherwise may not be able to force ourselves to do. The presence of such an afterlife, and the fear of punishment make it rational (According to William Craig) to go against your own self-interest for the benefit of others, as self-sacrificial acts are looked upon well by God. This provides more answers to the question Why be Moral? The DCT can be accessed through the Decalogue in the Bible (Exodus 20, old Testament), which provides a set of ten absolute, deontological commands by God. Also through the New Testament in Jesus Sermon on the Mount where he makes laws much more situationalist with teachings such as Love your neighbour, which are flexible and apply to many situations. Finally, many theists argue that it does not make sense for morals to exist in a non-moral universe as there is nowhere they originate from, they dont fit into a natural universe. They do however fit into a theistic universe where they were created by a moral creator (i.e God), it is then easy to see why they exist. This is supported by philosophers such as John Newman who states that feelings of responsibility and guilt point to God, and by D.I Trethowan, who suggests that an awareness of obligation is an awareness of God. Aii) Morality as independent from Religion A belief in morality as being totally independant from God is an autonomous belief, and there are many arguments in compliance with Autonomy, very much to do with the idea of free-will. If we really are to act with personal freedom of choice then we cannot act out of fear of Gods punishment, it totally voids the notion of free-will; and if God is omniscient and omnipotent he would know what decisions we are to make anyway and he would have the ability to stop us making the wrong ones. James Rachels concludes that no being like God can exist who requires us to abandon our moral autonomy is worth worshipping. There are theories in concurrence with Autonomy which allow still for a good, firm morality without dependency on religion such as Utilitarianism (greatest good for greatest number) so it can be said that religion is unnecessary There are many autonomous arguments against the DCT, beginning with the fact that God himself is not bound by any moral law. This would mean that Gods Ten Commandments could easily have been totally the opposite to what they are, encouraging acts like murder and we would still consider them to be good as God is the epitemy of good. This worrying problem was recognized by philosophers such as G.W Leibniz, who decreed, Why praise him for what he has done, if he would be equally as praiseworthy if he had done the contrary? There is belief that if God had commanded acts such as murder, people still would not do them as we through our intuition feel they are intrinsically wrong. Another difficulty with the DCT lies in the many different interpretations which can be drawn from God. The existence of lots of different religions all with equal claim to God makes it very complicated as we cannot tell which one is right. Also, if morality depends on God then surely it would be impossible for an atheist to live a moral life, but this is obviously untrue as so many atheists do live morally. Further criticisms of the DCT stem from its assumption that God is omnibenevolent, a claim which is not easy to comprehend for the atheist because of the undeniable existence of evil. Lastly, many people argue that religion is itself immoral, as it is through religion that the most part of suicide bomb attacks, and other horrific acts are carried out. Examples could be drawn from the events in America involving the Twin Towers, or more recently the teacher in Sudan who is imprisoned for allowing a teddy to be named after the prophet Muhammad. If not for religion, these arguably ridiculous acts would never be justifiable. Hume said on the subject, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous. Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion, clearly advocates the theory that religion is immoral when he discusses the story of Lot. This righteous man is to be saved from the destruction of Soddom and Gomorrah because he is the most worthy man, however he offers his daughters for gang rape. According to Dawkins this emphasizes the serious disrespect for women in an intensely religious culture. B) To what extent is one of these claims more convincing than the other Going back to the basics of the Divine Command Theory, there are 613 commands in the Bible which were originally in effect, but are not now because they are outdated, and theists argue that an omniscient God used them knowing they would be relevant for different times. These theists fail, however to a provide a logical explanation for why there is nothing in the Bible which can be related to biological advances such as cloning, an omniscient God should be capable of filling in these gaps in moral law. Furthermore, as Dawkins relevantly points out how can someone decide that parts of the Bible are now irrelevant, this is just picking and choosing which parts are in your best interest to follow. This suggests that the Bible and therefore the DCT does not in fact provide a stable foundation for morality as there are numerous conclusions to be drawn from relevant parts. It must also be taken into consideration that the Bible is not in its original form, through hundreds of years it has been composed and revised so (as put forward by Dawkins again) does it not seem strange that we base our whole morality on such a distorted teaching. Another feature of the DCT, is that everyone will be judged by God, punished for their sins, often in the form of natural disasters. People could say that the recent tsunami and Hurricane Katrina incidents were a form of punishment, but as Dawkins once again highlights, why did this have to happen? It is hard to believe that everyone who died in these disasters was evil, so why could our omnipotent God of Classical Theism not just strike down the individuals without causing so much collateral damage. Moreover, this persuasively further argues the immoral messages religion can be seen to give. Often, it is argued that the set in stone rules of the DCT inspire people to live a moral life out of the incentive of making it to heaven, and avoiding hell. This may be true, but does it not tarnish the goodness of an act when it is done out of selfish reason? Does it then make that act immoral? Yes it does, so it can then be said that the DCT again fails to provide a stable, reasonable basis for morality. These set in stone rules are also cause for discussion, as they are obviously inarguable to a Divine Command Theorist. To them, consequentialist views such as killing someone to save a greater number would undisputedly be wrong. Even if our intuition is what is telling us that defying a command is right, the believer in DCT would say it is our intuition at fault; They do, however fail to take into consideration that by their own decrees intuition is given to us by God to live morally, so why would we intuitively want to go against God? Dawkins arguments suggest that religion is responsible for the most part of evil in the world and his descriptions of people like terrorists as e.g. Not psychotic; they are religious idealists who, by their own lights, are rational certainly make sense. However he makes it seem that no religious person has the capacity to do good, which can easily be refuted at the mere mention of the names Mother Theresa, or Martin Luther King. He also unsurprisingly doesnt mention the likes of atheist like Stalin who birthed communism in Russia. Despite this, the majority of Dawkins views and the massive flaws in the DCT show the latter statement in the initial question (Is something good because God commands it, or does God command something because it is good?) to be the most convincing of the two. Although the DCT offers a way for humanity to be good, religion itself harbors too many inconsistencies to base everything we stand for on.

Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

Educational Goals and Philosophy I have many reasons for choosing education. The first reason would have to be that I love being around children. I like to watch them get excited about new things that they learn and see their eyes light up when something really amazes them. The second reason is that my mother is a teacher. I have seen her in class with her students and how they have so much respect for her. I also have much respect for her because I know teaching isn’t easy and there has not been a day in her teaching career that I haven’t seen her amaze the students or me for that matter. I just hope that one day maybe I can be as good of a teacher as her. My last reason is that I hope to make learning fun and exciting for students. When I was a student in grade school I had a teacher that didn’t use any special teaching methods or manipulatives and that class was boring for me. One year I had a teacher that used many exciting activities, such as, treasure hunts to make learning fun. I learned a lot from that teacher and was very excited about what I learned. During my observation experience I noticed that the classroom environment helps to enhance student’s learning. From this experience I would like to display projects that I did at that grade level to motivate my students and encourage them with their work. I would also like to hang pictures and have sculptures that would be fun and educational for them at their level. For example, if I would teach fourth through sixth grade, I would use fossils and skeletons for their learning experience with science. I could also use pictures of famous places for learning history like The Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, The Taj Mahal, The Great Pyramids, The Sphinx, Stonehenge, etc. I believe that classroom management is as important as classroom environment when it comes toward contributing to children’s learning. From my experience, I feel that if a teacher uses only negative discipline then he/she has a repugnant affect on students, which causes the student not to reach their potential. In my classroom, I plan to use both positive and negative forms of discipline, so that good behavior will be rewarded and students will remember and be motivated toward proper behavior. Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays Educational Goals and Philosophy I have many reasons for choosing education. The first reason would have to be that I love being around children. I like to watch them get excited about new things that they learn and see their eyes light up when something really amazes them. The second reason is that my mother is a teacher. I have seen her in class with her students and how they have so much respect for her. I also have much respect for her because I know teaching isn’t easy and there has not been a day in her teaching career that I haven’t seen her amaze the students or me for that matter. I just hope that one day maybe I can be as good of a teacher as her. My last reason is that I hope to make learning fun and exciting for students. When I was a student in grade school I had a teacher that didn’t use any special teaching methods or manipulatives and that class was boring for me. One year I had a teacher that used many exciting activities, such as, treasure hunts to make learning fun. I learned a lot from that teacher and was very excited about what I learned. During my observation experience I noticed that the classroom environment helps to enhance student’s learning. From this experience I would like to display projects that I did at that grade level to motivate my students and encourage them with their work. I would also like to hang pictures and have sculptures that would be fun and educational for them at their level. For example, if I would teach fourth through sixth grade, I would use fossils and skeletons for their learning experience with science. I could also use pictures of famous places for learning history like The Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, The Taj Mahal, The Great Pyramids, The Sphinx, Stonehenge, etc. I believe that classroom management is as important as classroom environment when it comes toward contributing to children’s learning. From my experience, I feel that if a teacher uses only negative discipline then he/she has a repugnant affect on students, which causes the student not to reach their potential. In my classroom, I plan to use both positive and negative forms of discipline, so that good behavior will be rewarded and students will remember and be motivated toward proper behavior.

Role of Media and Islam in Pakistan’s Politics

With the end of the cold war, the drive towards democratization assumed center state. Out of a total 206 states in the world, 195 claims to be either democratic or republican. In spite of it, the nature and function of many self pro claimed democratic systems leave much to be desired. This has led to international efforts, led by the US, to engage in the twin task of democracy promotion and democracy protection. India joined the community of the democracies in 2000, at the turn of the millennium, and later became a member of the UN democratic funds in2005.It has sought to contribute to the efforts aimed at promotion and strengthening of democracy in its own way. The author of the book under review, Professor Muni, calls it â€Å"significant shift† in India’s foreign policy. As a close followers of India’s foreign policy he has tries to isolated the â€Å"democracy dimension† in India’s foreign policy towards its immediate neighbors on an individual country basis over three distinct phases, which makes interesting readings. Professor Muni has enough experience as an academic and a diplomat to comment on such an important issue with great care and diligence.After a brief review of theories of democracies and its interface with foreign policy, the author situates the Indian experience over three different phases. He argues during the first phase (1947-1960s) soon after freedom from colonial rule, India emphasis â€Å"independence and nationalism†. The principal architect of Indian foreign policy, Jawahar Lal Nehru, set out to build of free, cooperative and peaceful Asia. This explained Nehru’s vociferous argument in favor of inclusion of communist china in the comity of nations as an independent state.He went on to fashioned his policy of non alignment as a main benchmark of India’s foreign policy and try to stay out of the bipolar power politics. His policies towards neighboring countries demonstrated his pr edilection for democracies in spite of the compromises he made to protect the strategic and economic interests of India. The author makes a detailed analysis of Nehru’s approach towards Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar and Pakistan and concludes that Nehru’s preferences for democracies was often trumped by India’s vital security concerns.During the second phase (1960s-2000) the successors of Nehru, the author argues, adopted a pragmatic policy devoid an idealism that marked the Nehru years. The post 1962 (sino-indian war) years, as Nehru confessed shocked him out of his idealism and prepared the grounds for unapologetic realism in Indian foreign policy. Professor Muni demonstrate through his narrative of twists and turns of Nepalese politics that Indian supported democratic moments in Nepal when its suited its strategic interests unencumbered dilemma that characterized by Nehruvian years.All through, the main driver of India’s policy towards neighbors was t o keep the region free from adversarial influences. The security challenges post by china and Pakistan largely determined the parameters of India’s foreign policy since the 1970s. Even as India evolved as a democratic nation and institutions promoting democratic values took firm roots in the country, during this phase there was no enthusiasm to propagate democracy and encourage democratic forces in the neighborhood.Nevertheless, India played an important role in the liberation of East Pakistan in 1971, integrated Sikkim in 1975 and supported exiled democratic forces from Myanmar in 1970s and 1980s. Democracy mattered only when it converged with India’s strategic interests. However, india choose to diassociate it self from democratic forces in the mid 1970s. in Bhutan, india’s sided with the king and discouraged the popular movement raised by Bhutanis of Nepales region. It is quiet and other india forced the nepaled king to negotiate with the democratic forces in 1988.In the case of Myanmar, since the late 1980s, it decided to mend its relationship with the military Junta and ignore the democratic forces to balance china’s increasing proximity to Myanmar. The third phase since the start of new millennium as found India in the company of US, seeking to promote and protect democracy around the world. India has calibrated its policy towards its neighbors accordingly. Despite its aversion from the maost of Nepal, it played a critical role in the mainstreaming of this group and revived the democratic process.Despite playing a modest but critical role in Bangladesh’s return to democracy in 1990, it has maintained a study aloofness from the rough and tumble of Bangladesh politics. In recent years a fresh wave of the democracy swept the neighborhood. The author has appreciated India’s diplomatic responses to these changes. There is also a brief discussion on India’s efforts and indo-US coordination in the process of reco nstruction and democratization in Afghanistan since 9/11.The author implies that in view of India’s strategic interests in Afghanistan, it is imperative for India to continue with its developmental work despite attacks on its citizens by paksitan-sponsopred terrorists. In some author suggest that in its conduct of foreign policy, India should not blindly follow the US at the cost of its strategic interests. The book provides useful insights to India’s neighborhood policy over the last six decades. The author brings to bear his personal interaction many leading actors in both India and Nepal to present his analysis of Nepalese politics forcefully.His study of other neighbors of India somehow struggles to come that level of compliance and intensity. To be share to the author, given india’s leverage in Nepal and its ability to influence its politics, Nepal was certain to attract that much attention and care. However, one wondered if the author have accorded some sp ace to India’s reaction to the imperfect nature of Srilankan democracy with its lack of emphasis on inclusivity and pluralism. Given the threat it posed to the Srilankan polity and deep Indian involvement in the 1980s, Srilanka deserved some attention in the book.To the conclusion reader of the book finds the book and the author holds a strong grip over the material and issue it contained. The book deserve the attention of foreign policy analysts and scholars of international relations in India because in recent years India has sought to spell out its neighborhood policy tentatively with emphasis on building a web of interdependencies the neighbor and finally the book is a good depiction of India’s foreign policy specially in reference to its influences the democratic scenario in the outer world.