Category: Countries

Do Imperial Countries Owe Restitution to Colonized Nations?

Introduction

Do imperial countries owe restitution to colonized nations? This is a question of great debate. I believe that imperial countries do not owe restitution to the nations they colonized. I will discuss this point in detail over the course of this paper.

To begin, “restitution” means “recompense for injury or loss” according to the Oxford Dictionary. Over the course of world history, societies have exercised domination over weaker areas of the world dating back to Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia.

Background

Let’s start with some background information. “Imperialism,” according to our textbook in the Glossary and Pronunciation Key, is defined as a “term associated with the expansion of European powers and their conquest and colonization of African and Asian societies, mainly from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century” (T & E p.G-5). Imperial countries had great authority over many nations. Generally, imperialist countries believed their cultures were superior, and that they would bring value-adding improvements to society.

Colonial imperialism is what I’ll be focusing on today. It’s complete domination in all areas, political, economic, and socio-cultural. This form of imperialism is when the conquered area basically existed to benefit the imperialist control and had little to no independence or individual identity. In this era, the majority of Southeast Asia and Africa was colonized under European power. Imperialism brought a confrontation between many cultures. By the year 1900, the Western Hemisphere had control over the majority of the world. It created political problems and a new global economy.

In Imperialism Prezi states “At first it was about jingoistic attitudes at its core is dominance, be that formal or informal.” It is the very idea behind colonialism. Several countries in the world have practiced imperialism including France, Russia, England, The Netherlands, Spain, the United States, Japan, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Belgium. The concept and term “imperialism” was introduced to the English language in the 1870s. Imperialism lasted from 1870-1914.

Imperial countries dominate the world and the economy (Spain, Britain, France, Netherlands). These countries are very important in the world, and their organizations such as “The United Nations”. There are some formerly colonized nations that do have powerful economies such as the United States, India, China, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, etc. Although the majority of formerly colonized nations are poor and are not in the position to order restitution. The only example of being forced to pay restitution was Germany during World War 2. The Germans were defeated by their allies the Russians, British, and Americans. They enforced the issue and told the Germans they have two options. Pay restitution or face destruction, they chose the first option. Cecil Rhodes the former Prime Minister of the Cape Colony says “If you want to avoid civil war, you must become imperialists.”

The French have the largest colonial empire in Africa. 14 African countries today are forced to pay colonial tax to France for the “benefits” of slavery and colonization. In addition, their natural reserves are still held by France’s Central Bank, and they receive billions of dollars every year from African countries. The African countries do not have access to this money, they are France taxpayers but not French citizens and don’t have access to what their money helps pay for (public goods and services). French people are living off of African countries for over half a century. As for imperialism in Asia, there was a lot of it. The British completely took control of India, they had a political and cultural effect on China. Imperialism took place in portions of many other countries.

Trever Noah’s “Born a Crime” is a great example of British Imperialism in South Africa. The impact of imperialism was evident. When South Africa became imperialized the ancient culture of tribes and indigenous peoples were partially lost. The British wanted the coast of South Africa as a trading port as well as a strategic naval base. Diamonds were discovered in the 1860s and gold in the 1880s. Africans and Boers lost their lives in wars and resistance to the British. They lost their land and freedom having to work in mines and farms as slaves. However, imperialism increased trade in South Africa.

Discussion

Do I believe imperial countries owe restitution to colonized nations? I don’t think they owe compensation or restoration for what has been stolen from their land. It simply is not how the world works. It does not have a part in how countries operate. Humans have built governments for a clear purpose, the main goal is not morality. I’m not saying that imperialism is ethically correct, but It’s deeply ingrained in our society. Realistically someone needs to force them to pay restitution to the countries they ravaged. Otherwise, why would they? Imperialistic countries run the world. Which explains why many former colonized nations speak English fluently or have learned it in school as a second language. In many countries in West Africa, a European language is their official language such as English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

To some extent, imperialist countries have paid restitution. The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have paid reparations and apologized to their native population. Some former colonial powers even accept many immigrants from their former colonies. These reparations aren’t perfect but it’s progress. For others, when it came to colonies breaking away they were so anxious to be independent, reparations for past injustices weren’t at the top of the list. Many formerly colonized countries at the time needed their old imperial trading partners who bought their raw materials and remained on good terms.

Nations behave in accordance with their level of self-interest and power. The previous colonial empires still are strong, and their victims aren’t in a place to seek restitution. In order for former colonies to make this happen they have a mentality of “pay up or face the consequences” and in many cases, they don’t have the strength to do this. Former colonizers are still benefiting from their former colonies today for monetary gain. It’s a never-ending cycle that imperialistic countries still take advantage of today to get what they want. Imperialist countries have created trade routes that still exist today.

Conclusion

I believe that imperial countries do not owe restitution to the nations they colonized. Restitution is something that people need and want but doesn’t receive. Even on the off chance that a country is receiving funds for restitution it often is not going to the people who suffered such as discussed in France above.

UNESCO/ Sweden’s Historical Background and Past Action

For Sweden, education is particularly important. So much so that taxation is intentionally very high to fund schooling. Through the teaching system, pupils and their happiness are the main focus, with Swedish schools focusing less on exam results and targets, and more on the child themselves. More specifically, Sweden understands the impacts of stereotyping in school and how this can be the root to inequality- and therefore aim from a very young age, preschool in fact, to teach children in a gender-neutral manner. Ranked the fourth equalist country in the globe when looking at gender, since 1998, with the presentation of many new amendments, Sweden has been making changes for the better in the hopes to eradicate gender inequality. Moreover, the government of Sweden has set several sub-targets on gender equitable education- The National Education Act states that ‘every child has the right to an equal education,’ and the country’s application of Agenda 2030 showed it had good statistics on education. Sweden is working collaboratively with several national organizations and authorities that are engaged in observing progress concerning a Sustainable Development Goal on education. These include the Ministry of Education, and the National Agency for Education. Sweden has become a country that is increasingly welcoming children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and thus the transparency of the educational system is vital to Sweden.

Country Position

If little information is provided to the attendees of a school, this leaves scope for socially privileged families to benefit from their typical information advantage. Since the Swedish educational system is well known for the free tuition at all educational levels (which has also seen an increase in graduates, with only 6.4% of females and 8.2% of males being early leavers of education in 2016) There must be structures in place to prevent the exploitation of the system. Drastic reforms undertaken in the 1990s have become relevant again, all with the effort to decrease inequality. In light of increasing inequality worldwide, Sweden are keen to ensure this does not affect a student’s learning experience.

Proposed Solution

Sweden propose working towards not only preventing perversion of the system by more privileged families by making all information about schools available to everyone, but also producing the broken-down figures of inequality indicators- such as country of birth, gender, socioeconomic experience, and race. The quality of data highlighting these issues must be up to standard, and at a thorough level so that education is impartial for all students.

Nowadays people must face the reality of globalization and its effect on their lives. It brings about phenomena such as the cross-cultural adaptation, which in other words would be the adaptation between cultures and people who are living abroad. There are many reasons why people choose to move to another country, but the one that it is going to be treated here is study. According to United Nations (2016), there were 244 million of people worldwide living in a foreign country in 2015, and this number is always growing. When the subject is international students, the number was 5.3 million people worldwide and the main destination countries are United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany and Russia with reference to UNESCO (2019). It is thought that living abroad has its advantages, but it also has some negative points such as facing pre conception by others and missing cultural habits. This essay will illustrate the results of a study of the experiences of international students during cultural exchange and how they felt when they lived in another country. General conclusions will also be made about what are the features of adaptation to life in a new country.

Method

This research was implemented as an online questionnaire sent by e-mail with 10 multiple choice questions. There were 17 participants and they were people who lived or are living in a foreign country. The survey was made in google forms and data was transformed into graphics so it was easier to measure the results and get enough information to discuss the main questions.

Results/Findings

The first chart illustrates the possible main facts which people who are living or lived in a country different than the one where they were born like less about their life there. 35,3% of them chose the option ‘Missing family’. ‘Loneliness’ and ‘Expensive life’ each had the same result (29,4%), so both are the second main facts. The third fact, ‘Hard to find a job’ has 5,9% while ‘House’ had no marks.

Both second and third charts approach the same question: preconception faced in the foreign country. In the first one, 64,7% of the interviewed said that they didn’t face preconception while 35,3% said that they faced it. In those who had a positive answer for the question, 85,7% answered that they faced cultural preconceptions in the country where they lived/are living, and 14,3% answered ‘others’ not specifying the kind of preconception faced. The options ‘Religious’, ‘Gender’ and ‘Sexual’ didn’t get any marks.

The fourth chart illustrates the four main feelings that people might felt/have felt after their experience of living abroad. 58,8% answered that it was amazing and that they would live it all again. 41,2% said it was tough but the experience is worth it. The other options ‘I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t do it again’ and ‘I couldn’t deal with it and I came back in the first opportunity’ didn’t have any marks.

Discussion

First, the results showed that the hardest thing that people face in the new country is the miss of somebody, which can be family or someone else. This was expected once most of the people who go to start a life in a new country, specially to enrich their studies and increase their skill in speaking another language, go alone, without a friend or family. According to Oei and Notowidjojo (1990), in a research made with overseas students in Australia, it was proved that those who stay more than one year in the country are more able to develop depression than those who stay less than one year. It was also indicated that this depression has probably began with the feeling of loneliness, once those who stay longer have to face the farewell of close friends who might be another overseas student going back to his or her country. The argument that living abroad is expensive is true as this fact had 29,4% of the answers. In an interview for The Guardian (2013), Thomson Ch’ng, president of the Council of International Students Australia, said that “the high cost of living was the big factor for foreign students, despite Australia’s geographical advantage in attracting students from the Asia-Pacific region”.

The results about preconception, were also expected. More than half of the participants said that they faced it and almost all chose cultural as the kind of preconception that they have faced. As known, culture is a real important aspect for societies because it puts people together, transforms places, builds identities and moves entire nations. Therefore, it is imagined how hard it is to face a different culture, in a different country, with a different language and people. Culture shock, according to Anderson (1994), is a syndrome that happens when the mind and body react to a frustrating adaptation to a new culture, called cross-cultural adaptation. One of the main aspects of cross-culture is being rejected by or rejecting members of the new culture, which is called ‘preconception’.

Finally, the results showed that independently of the hard times during the period of studying or living abroad, if they exist, the experience is worth it and it helps people to build themselves, stronger, happier, self-esteemed and brave. The two possible answers to the question that had results are different but both illustrates that the experience was positive, either with tough times or only with good moments. Tomic (2015) mentions that after this kind of experience, you change the way you look things so things you look at change, same saying of Wayne Dyer, a self-help book author. He also says that the fact of doing things we fear increases confidence and self-esteem.

Conclusion

In summary, when adapting to life in a new country, a person might face many kinds of hard situations, including homesick, loneliness, expensive life and rejection by the local people. However, this experience collaborates with the desire for social interaction, and it is an opportunity for self-expression. After this challenge, the person will be able to understand better her or his own emotions, qualities and features. About the discrimination, though it is everywhere, there are many ways to approach it. Educators should encourage multicultural education plus not ignore preconception when they witness it in schools. In addition, the schools should provide a safe and secure environment for all students. Therefore, businesses should bridge the culture gap with good communication skills, celebrate traditional holidays and festivals of their employees’ countries and observe and listen to foreign customers and colleagues. This way, the experience of living abroad would be much more profitable for both foreigner and local citizen.

Owing to the fact that deciding to study abroad is an extraordinary opportunity to acquire a knowledge of cultures which might enable foreign students to socialize with local citizen and learn about their civilization. Not only is it a learning about culture but it is also will growth employability expectation as a result of studying at high ranked universities that are not available in their countries. In contrast it might be a hard decision due to the high cost of living in developing countries This essay will argue that the pros of the studying in foreign country are outweigh the cons. It will first demonstrate that the significant advantage of it, is cultural exchange and employability anticipation is the primary advantage. Following by an analysis of how the primary disadvantage, namely it costs high sum of money, affects their financial.

To begin with the main advantage which is cultural exchange it often involves acclimate and learning about new environment. It is widely thought that culture is playing a fundamental part on societies’ life for development of knowledge from one group of people to another upon enhance their own cultures over studying abroad cultures are being shared. One of the best features of sharing culture, it is a great contingent to obtain comprehension of countries in which they have been in, which leads to respect and understand the international visitors because during summer time many of tourists from over the world are going to visit attraction cities, they ought to respect the host country’s culture because they would be banded to enter the country unless bar in mind the host country’s cultures rules, for example, smoking in enclosed work places in Saudi Arabia is illegal as a law and as a culture rule.

Nowadays, most of students who study abroad have better career expectation as a result of studying at high ranked universities. In particular, many of diplomatic jobs are polarization graduates who have qualification from global universities. Furthermore, it leads to be in a high position in their country and it is a guarantee of luxury life in the future. Therefore, studying abroad is highly beneficial for students after returning back home.

Moving to the second concept of the essay which converses about the cons of studying in another country. Although there are many advantages of studying abroad, it has same drawback. Studying abroad costs high sum of money that may affect their financial stage awkwardly. As consequence, studying abroad is often exorbitant because they have to pay not only for course fees but also for accommodation. Additionally, finance is a major issue due to disturbance that causes in their mind from studying to earning money. For instance, according to the University of Reading website the accommodation price from around 100GB to 200GB per week and standard accommodation costs approximately 9,259 per year. Therefore, studying abroad may be strenuous for students who do not have standard wages or income because they have to loan high amount of money.

In conclusion, the benefits of studying abroad outweigh the drawback. And this decision needs mare appraisal from the students to decide. It is undeniable that the desire of studying in a foreign country it has more advantages for students themselves, therefore young people should be inspirited to study in a new country. Although some of them might have difficulties with fees but many international scholarships are offered in present days.

Owing to the fact that deciding to study abroad is an extraordinary opportunity to acquire a knowledge of cultures which might enable foreign students to socialize with local citizen and learn about their civilization. Not only is it a learning about culture but it is also will growth employability expectation as a result of studying at high ranked universities that are not available in their countries. In contrast it might be a hard decision due to the high cost of living in developing countries This essay will argue that the pros of the studying in foreign country are outweigh the cons. It will first demonstrate that the significant advantage of it, is cultural exchange and employability anticipation is the primary advantage. Following by an analysis of how the primary disadvantage, namely it costs high sum of money, affects their financial.

To begin with the main advantage which is cultural exchange it often involves acclimate and learning about new environment. It is widely thought that culture is playing a fundamental part on societies’ life for development of knowledge from one group of people to another upon enhance their own cultures over studying abroad cultures are being shared. One of the best features of sharing culture, it is a great contingent to obtain comprehension of countries in which they have been in, which leads to respect and understand the international visitors because during summer time many of tourists from over the world are going to visit attraction cities, they ought to respect the host country’s culture because they would be banded to enter the country unless bar in mind the host country’s cultures rules, for example, smoking in enclosed work places in Saudi Arabia is illegal as a law and as a culture rule.

Nowadays, most of students who study abroad have better career expectation as a result of studying at high ranked universities. In particular, many of diplomatic jobs are polarization graduates who have qualification from global universities. Furthermore, it leads to be in a high position in their country and it is a guarantee of luxury life in the future. Therefore, studying abroad is highly beneficial for students after returning back home.

Moving to the second concept of the essay which converses about the cons of studying in another country. Although there are many advantages of studying abroad, it has same drawback. Studying abroad costs high sum of money that may affect their financial stage awkwardly. As consequence, studying abroad is often exorbitant because they have to pay not only for course fees but also for accommodation. Additionally, finance is a major issue due to disturbance that causes in their mind from studying to earning money. For instance, according to the University of Reading website the accommodation price from around 100GB to 200GB per week and standard accommodation costs approximately 9,259 per year. Therefore, studying abroad may be strenuous for students who do not have standard wages or income because they have to loan high amount of money.

In conclusion, the benefits of studying abroad outweigh the drawback. And this decision needs mare appraisal from the students to decide. It is undeniable that the desire of studying in a foreign country it has more advantages for students themselves, therefore young people should be inspirited to study in a new country. Although some of them might have difficulties with fees but many international scholarships are offered in present days.