Analysis of the rapid withdrawal of European influence from Indonesia shows that a decline in immediate political and economic dominance bred civil and political instability. Additionally it shows that while the withdrawal was destructive in nature, imperialism planted the seeds of nationalism and democracy. The swift withdrawal of both Dutch and Portuguese colonial power in the late twentieth century left a political power vacuum, incited a regional economic crisis, and caused civil unrest in the region. International intervention, and political compromise allowed for a relatively quick turn-around and reigning stability.
The Netherlands East Indies gained independence in 1949, and became the country of Indonesia. Political in-fighting and separatist movements plagued the fledgling island nation almost instantly. Authoritarian rule and constant military coups were the norm for years. Indonesia is a very ethnically and culturally diverse country. There are six major ethnic groups, with four languages commonly spoken on the more than thirteen thousand islands it makes up (CIA World Fact Book). In 1965, stability was finally achieved by General Suharto. He began to revamp the country’s economy by exploiting their enormous oil resources. While political stability had been won in the majority, pockets of instability would remain. The island of Timor, most of it occupied by the Portuguese, would be the stage for a major scene of political contention some years later.
The Portuguese military coup of 1974 left the European nation in political shambles. Almost immediately, the new government began withdrawing from their overseas empire. A political power struggle began instantly on the former colony of East Timor due to the power vacuu...
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... organized the withdrawal of Indonesian forces. The coaxed a political compromise between the Indonesians and the East Timorese, allowing East Timor to formally declare their independence in the year 2000.
In conclusion, underdeveloped countries to western standards that were colonies are extremely vulnerable to economic and political collapse pending the withdrawal of imperial support. As colonies, they are essentially spoon fed as to what industry to partake in, and almost never have free elections of their own. Once the spoon is taken away, chaos ensues. When unchecked, international interference into matters of other nations or colonies almost always ends in disaster. As a remedy to this formula, international intermediation as a proxy of the United Nations can curb conflict and prevent economic collapse.
Works Cited
Essentials of International Relations
Due to the fact that this area was constructed in colonial form, decolonization was attempted so that they could gain independent status. Once this started, these are when the challenges presented themselves. A sense of insurgency erupted and rebellion against the government occurred. The Muslim separatists and the communist rebels went against the government and challenged it. The problem was that Southeast Asia attempted to decolonize, but since the Americans won the Philippines from Spain in war they had their own rules. This caused problems between the both and mad an even bigger challenge for the regions of Southeast Asia to gain their independence. Once independence was gained, dictatorship with the region became a major challenge. For example, a man named Ferdinand Marcos inhibited many bad influences and was known for rigging the
The scene is set; America is the great power in the western hemisphere. Post Spanish-American War, America is faced with a dilemma of annexing the Philippines. In the winter of 1899 following the annexation of the Philippines, America had a problem. Filipinos had been fighting for independence from Spain and did not want to be seceded (83). Despite the Filipino objection, the United States displayed their assertion on the land. In conflict, both the Filipinos and American had many meetings with death. There were consequences and repercussions from invoking the American power on this foreign land. The American victory in the Spanish-American War helped propel the nation. Thesis: Although met with conflict from the natives, the
The United Nations General Assembly 36-103 focused on topics of hostile relations between states and justification for international interventions. Specifically mentioned at the UNGA was the right of a state to perform an intervention on the basis of “solving outstanding international issues” and contributing to the removal of global “conflicts and interference". (Resolution 36/103, e). My paper will examine the merits of these rights, what the GA was arguing for and against, and explore relevant global events that can suggest the importance of this discussion and what it has achieved or materialized.
Introduction: The epoch of imperialism cannot be defined simply as a proliferation of inflated egos tied to the hardened opinions of nationalists, but also a multi-faceted global rivalry with roots of philosophies tainted with racism and social Darwinism. The technique of each imperialist was specific to the motivations and desires of each combative, predominantly Western power and subsequently impacted the success of each imperialist and its colonies. Driven by industrialization, Europeans are aware of the urgent need for raw materials and new markets to maintain a constant rate of expansion and wealth. Imperialism became a competition; in general, the European countries led with fervor while the non-Western regions deemed likely to be stepped on.
Many wars have been fought in our society. But from these wars, countries usually learn from their mistakes, which makes a better world for society. However, there have been many times when countries do not learn from these mistakes, which can cause a conflict. In the late 1800s the British started to explore Africa and Asia. In doing so, they colonized many nations. However, many people living in these colonies did not agree with the British and revolted. This led to the British granting independence to these countries. However, there were many times when the British government did not help these countries become independent. This has caused many countries to fail, because they were not ready for the challenges of independence. One country that became independent from the British was Burma. However, since there independence, they have been fighting one of the longest civil wars in the history of the world. In this paper, I will investigate, if the reason that the conflict in Burma is still happening, is because the British allowed them to become independence pre maturely, and the British did not help Burma get though the challenges of becoming a nations.
The League of Nations was an Intergovernmental Organisation which persisted from 1919 up until 1946 where it was formally replaced with the United Nations towards the end of the Second World War. Many consider the League as one of the International Systems greatest failures due to it being widely regarded as an ‘ineffective instrument to tackle aggressors’ (Catterall, 1999, p. 52) and its inherent failure to prevent international conflict. However,
East Timor was ruled by Portugal for about 17 centuries. During World War I, hundreds of East Timorese lost their lives helping Australia forces fight against the Japanese. East Timor was then invaded by Indonesia shortly after Portugal suddenly left in 1975, this was the day after U.S. President Ford’s visit to Indonesia, with what people have suspected as being a green light to invade. At that time, Indonesia had military, economic and political support from countries such as UK, USA and Australia, for various reasons including the oil and gas reserves, a strategic location, various trade and cheap labour related interests. 100,000,000,000 people are said to have been killed since 1975, on third of the entire East Timorese population.
Wilson, Constance, Dr. "Colonialism and Nationalism in Southeast Asia." Colonialism and Nationalism in Southeast Asia. Himself, July 2005. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
In a period leading up to the eventual Independence from Belgium in 1960, several political parties were formed. The populous argued for independence from Belgium due to many decades of brutality and corruption under Belgian colonization. There were many protests and riots fighti...
...of Brunei Darussalam. In P.W. Martin, C. Ozog & G. Poedjosoedarmo (Eds.) Language use & language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 156-172). Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
Since the initiation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, securing democratic freedoms in developing countries has become a major global-political concern. As a result, various donor nations have implemented good governance conditionalities in their financial aid policies, emphasising the establishment of fair democratic elections in recipient countries. However, efforts to reinforce legitimate democratic governments in developing states have been largely unsuccessful. In the book Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, economist Paul Collier examines how the international community’s obsession with democracy and elections has hindered the developmental process in what he has termed as the bottom billion countries. By employing economic methods of analysis, Collier demonstrates how current international development polices have exacerbated rather than diminished existing issues impeding reconstruction efforts in low-income states. In order to help remedy the harmful effects of these policies, Collier proposes several innovative solutions he believes would better support political and economic development in bottom billion countries. However, Wars, Guns, and Votes is not without its limitations. Although Collier offers a new economic perspective to topics previously dominated by other social sciences, he fails to define key concepts relevant to his argument. Furthermore, Collier’s writing style is extremely convoluted. Therefore, one can see that although Wars, Guns, and Votes provides a new economic based approach to development, the book is limited in terms of comprehensiveness and accessibility.
Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. Consists of more than 18,000 islands, Indonesia provides a beautiful views, cultures, and tourist resort. The capital of Indonesia and the largest city is Jakarta, located in Java Island. The Indonesian’s currency is rupiah. Indonesia is a republic country, and the government system is democracy Absolutely, Indonesia also have a lot of tribes with different languages and religion. Indonesia got the freedom from the Netherlands in 1942, and Japan in 1945.
Today's world is full of problems present on an international scale. Yet, differences amongst states compel them to eschew cooperation. The division between the global North and South is the greatest challenge to global governance. The contrast in economic welfare, political stability, and culture among states creates many dilemmas for the international community. The economic differences between highly developed economies and the rest of the world deters cooperation. In addition, social differences between North and South create cultural clashes that breed violence, and adds difficulty to forming international norms. Moreover, the political weakness of some states in the global South create security dilemmas and keep global governance initiatives away from success. The international order is skewed in favour of the global North and serves to empower them. However, international leaders can solve these issues by promoting global equity. In order for global governance to achieve its fullest potential, the world must first address the inequality of states.
Why Nations Fail takes an in depth look into why some countries flourish and become rich powerful nations while other countries are left in or reduced to poverty. Throughout this book review I will discuss major arguments and theories used by the authors and how they directly impact international development, keeping in mind that nations are only as strong as their political and economical systems.
Philippines pre-colonial political system is not far distinct from it neighboring countries. The Philippines underwent the “datu” system like its neighboring countries. The Philippines