...EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM LEGACY IN RWANDA In We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, author Philip Gourevitch writes, “Whatever Hutu and Tutsi identity may have stood for in the pre-colonial state no longer mattered; the Belgians had made “ethnicity” the defining feature of Rwandan existence”. In his book, he analyzes the background and causes of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 through interviews with survivors or descendants, and through his own trips to the country. The horrible tragedy of 1994 was a result the Hutus getting retaliation on the Tutsi tribe, but these two tribes were not always seen as two separate races. After the Belgium Empire gained control of Rwanda, it was through their regime that Hutus and Tutsis were manipulated to plot against each other, and that one was more superior to the other. By examining the pre-colonial history of Rwanda, Belgium control leading up to the country’s independence, and the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus, we can legitimately connect the legacy of European imperialism to the genocide of 1994, and see how much of an impact imperialism has had on the country. The pre-colonial era in Rwanda is important to consider when determining how much of an impact imperialism did have on the country. Before Belgium took control over Rwanda, the country was inhabited by “cave-dwelling pygmies whose descendants today are called the Twa people, a marginalized and disenfranchised group”. The Hutus and...
Words: 1775 - Pages: 8
...Bonita Robinson October 24, 2013 English 102 11:00 – 11:50 Professor: Adam Fisher Hotel Rwanda Movie Review “Hotel Rwanda” is a harsh drama based on a true story that addresses the genocide in Rwanda in the early mid to nineties. Generations of European conquest by the Belgians, resulted in the establishment of two social classes: the Hutu and Tutsi. For the majority of the movie, the minority Tutsi ruled and oppressed the Hutu, but as the level of power reversed, the Hutu, who were in the majority, became determined in their objective for eradicating the Tutsi people. The movie “Hotel Rwanda” is an adaptation of the story of Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), who is a mild mannered, well respected, and business savvy, Hutu hotel manager whose livelihood is sacrificed for a greater cause amidst widespread savagery and barbarism. Although his social status provides him with relatively safety, his Tutsi wife, family and neighbors must face life-threatening conditions. Paul’s elite Hotel des Milles Collines, becomes a safe-haven for his family, neighbors and hundreds of other Tutsis. Their lives are in constant danger, but critical thinking by Cheadle’s character keeps his family from becoming victims. Paul becomes responsible for several hundred lives as he welcomes others in the hotel, and relies on the prospect of international intervention. As the film progresses, Paul understands that the UN will no longer provide assistance, forcing him to become self-reliant...
Words: 304 - Pages: 2
...hardship for Africa. The golden age of colonial imperialism. They conquer (subjugate) China, India and other Asian countries at varying levels (degrees). The United States of America completed (broaden) its control of Latin America thus laying the foundations of the "world economy" with The Western (franchise, yielding, surrendering, compromise, concessions, recognition) conceding at Shanghai in Central China and the occupation (colonization) of Asia and Africa’...
Words: 1449 - Pages: 6
...anthropologist, archaeologist, or historian. He makes most complex and abstruse publications of historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists easily understandable for a larger public. This book mainly consists of three parts with a series of case studies. Part 1, “HUMAN RESILIENCE AND ECOLOGICAL VULNERABILITY”, tells us about past environmental challenges and adaptations in chapters on Rapa Nui, the Greenland Norse, and Nineteenth century China. Part 2, “SURVIVING COLLAPSE: STUDIES OF SOCIETAL REGENERATION”, looks at the resilience of indigenous societies undergoing processes of social and environmental change in the American Southwest, the Lowland Maya Area, and Mesopotamia. Part 3, “SOCIETIES IN THE AFTERMATH OF EMPIRE”, looks at the ways current environmental narratives have been shaped by European colonialism and Imperialism among the Inca, in Rwanda, on Hispaniola, in Australia and in New Guinea. The main issues addressed by essays in these chapters include: ecological vulnerability, resilience, geographical determinism, and the aftermath of empire in explaining rise and collapse of human societies. The collection of essays in the book exclusively focus on counter questions to Diamond’s theories. When I started reading this book, I was unclear about comments of authors on Diamond’s work. In order to be clear about their comments, I went through prologues of Diamond’s popular books ‘Collapse’, and ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’ which was very helpful throughout the reading of...
Words: 805 - Pages: 4
...The Causes of War Summer Hansborough POL 300 004016 What causes opposition? Imperialism, nationalism, Social Darwinism, and militarism are causes of war, and I narrowed it down to the following; freedom, money, ideologies, race, religion and land. Although these are causes of war, in most cases, the ultimate cause of war is an elitist mentality. One believing their ideologies, race, policies and beliefs are superior to those that do not fit in or follow that particular system. What are the causes of war? An age old question that no one has yet to give a definitive answer. What is war? One definition explains war as an aggressively armed battle between conflicting people. Another definition explains war as fighting between nations, or groups in a nation, using weapons. To sum it all up, war is a condition of active animosity or contention and it is not exclusive to people. There are many kinds of war, such as is the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, political wars, and the war on AIDS. The war on AIDS is interesting, because it’s not a war apposing people, but a virus, a disease. According to the bible, our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, wickedness and power in high places. (bible, 2005) A system, which is designed to bring order and uniformity, is an attribute to the causes of war. A system is vital to administer order to society. In the early days, before America established its own money system, America used...
Words: 3707 - Pages: 15
...Imperial America EDGE Fall Quarter 2003 Tim Chueh Ambert Ho 12/5/03 What Is Imperialism? “Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism…characterized by monopoly corporations and the compulsion to export capital abroad for higher profits. Unlike capitalism in the earlier stages, in the imperialist stage, capitalism has no more progress to bring the world…the cause of contemporary militarism” – Lenin “The policy, practice, or advocacy of seeking, or acquiescing in, the extension of the control, dominion, or empire of a nation, as by the acquirement of new, esp. distant, territory or dependencies, or by the closer union of parts more or less independent of each other for operations of war, copyright, internal commerce, etc.” – Oxford dictionary The word imperialism derives from “empire.” As such, it is useful to spend a bit of time to define the word. In working towards a minimal definition, Stanford Professor of Archaeology J. Manning in his first lecture on Ancient Empires starts with: “An empire is a territorially extensive hierarchically political organization.” Unfortunately this definition is too vague. All states encountered in human history are by definition hierarchical, and many nations today are vast compared to the...
Words: 10655 - Pages: 43
...the Jabal al-Druze Range in the south. 3. Syria is closest to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. 4. Syria is located in the Western Asia region. 5. What I know about Syria is that is holds a certain religious standing in my life. I visit Syria because of certain mausoleums that are currently over there. I also know that Syria’s government is republic under an authoritarian regime. I also do know that although Syria does consume a lot of oil, they do try to use renewable energy such as hydroelectric power. 1. Kigali, Rwanda is on the African continent. 2. The countries that border Rwanda are Uganda, which is located to the north, Tanzania, which is located to the east, Burundi, which is located to the south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is located to the west of Rwanda. 3. There are a couple of lakes that are near Rwanda but the closest major body of water is the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. 4. Rwanda is located in both east and central Africa because it runs through the equator. 5. There are a few events that come to mind when...
Words: 5744 - Pages: 23
...Essay Title: Is Global Civil Society an answer to War? Introduction War is not a modern phenomenon but as old as human existence itself. Wars are not like natural calamities or phenomenon but are very much part of human existential dynamics that seeks both peace and ability to survive acknowledging its natural competitive behaviour which unlike realist assumptions is conditioned and not natural. However, realism has dominated the field of international relations since the end of World War 11. It dominates political thinking, with exclusive emphasis on the state as the primary actor in world politics. Realists display a very overt pessimistic view of human nature, advocating with religious conviction that selfish human nature drives international relations into conflicts subjugating state to resort to organized violence and wars in order to gain upper hand and to always resort to wars to resolve international conflicts. Thus resulting in a system framed to maximize state’s military power in a predominantly anarchical environment. As a distinct school of thought, Realism emphasizes separation from domestic to international with little or no democratic structures within its sphere. Consequently, warfare has remained an institutionalized social order against the predatory behavior of others and consequently a legitimate instrument of survival. Moreover, growth in the size of armies and the development of weapons technology has led to an increase in the frequency of wars resulting...
Words: 3354 - Pages: 14
...Chupical Shollah Manuel Globalization as a theory, concept and ideology has roots from modernization theories. It has been advanced by industrialized nations and thereupon imposed on the developing nations. This concept is paradoxical where in one hand it is liberating and on the other it is constraining. In this paper, globalization is defined as a set of institutional and ideological relations which brings nations into a global village, fusion of cultures, and advancement of geopolitics, internationalization, increased borderless society and global market economy (Robertson, 1992; Ritzer, 2004; Wallerstein, 1974/2000; Zetlin, 2001). This essay chronicles a heated debate between supporters of globalization and those who are skeptical about it as suggested by the question that globalization benefits small nations while in sharp contrast these small developing nations find it as beneficial to developed nations. A plethora of case studies will be drawn across the globe in assessing these two contrasting views and in the conclusion a judgement will be passed based on the evidence substantiated throughout the entire essay. The assertion that “while promoters of globalization proclaim that this model is the tide that will lift all boats, while citizens movements find that it is instead lifting only yachts” means that globalization is viewed, conceived and interpreted differently by the rich and the poor countries are very sceptical. Globalization is not different from other theories...
Words: 2186 - Pages: 9
...The instances of genocide in the late 20th century stand as a testament to how unreliable the nation state can be when inalienable and human rights are concerned. As is shown in the case of Rwanda, non-state actors have taken steps to trample on these rights even when the victim technically has citizenship in a country. Additionally, the nation-state can reinforce the actions of the non-state actors through either sponsorship, or even inaction in the face of genocide. Civil society actors have taken steps to act where the nation-state has failed to do so out of what Ayers identifies as labeling the conflict as internal or a civil war. Ultimately, both Ayers and Power agree that labeling genocide as what it is, and taking other steps outside of raw military force can go a long way in preventing the atrocities of the 20th century. More specifically, since the nation-state alone cannot be trusted to handle these situations, civil society must take steps to better the diplomacy of the nation-state, along with creating an international community that can work together to remedy the problems of human and inalienable rights violations. In her article “Raising the Cost of Genocide,” Samantha Power examines the historical response to genocide by discussing the ways in which western powers have avoided responsibility for 20th century atrocities. She begins her article by explaining the invention of the word genocide as a word meant to “send shudders down the spines of those who heard it...
Words: 6387 - Pages: 26
...The cold war took place from 1947 to 1989. The term “Cold War” was first used by an American journalist called Walter Lippman. The reason that this term was used was because the war could not be described in the same way “conventional” war. The term was really used to describe the mistrust that existed between the two superpowers, The USA and The Soviet Union. However it is no argued that the war was just like any others but it was fought over other peoples countries and caused destruction for others rather than the two sates actually "at war” There was a huge amount of mistrust between these two major powers which is strange as they had been allies against Germany in the Second World War which had only ended a few years earlier. This alliance was one of mutual need in order to defeat the Germans and once the war was over a massive rift opened between the two countries because they had radically different views on world politics. This then raises the question of whether either country had any right to try and ‘influence other countries and world politics, which of course many argue they did not. Both countries wanted their politics and views to be adopted throughout the world, mainly simply for defensive purposes. The fact that that this was the main aim of the two major players in the war (and the world) meant almost by definition that the third world would be brought into the “Cold War”. The fact that both countries did not want to fire on each other for fear of total world...
Words: 2804 - Pages: 12
...this means is that colonial powers require African natural resources, while Africa has always needed colonial investment and other financial resources in order to develop and grow. It is through this supposed interdependence that to justify completely taking control of the African continent (Martin 1982: 223). While formal colonialism has come to an end, what has risen from it is what is known as ‘neo-colonialism.’ Kwame Nkrumah, former Ghanaian president is an instrumental figure in defining the concept of neo-colonialism. He believes neo-colonialism is where a theoretically independent and sovereign state has its political and economic affairs externally controlled to serve the interests of the controlling party. He believes that it “imperialism it’s final and perhaps it’s most dangerous stage” (Nkrumah 2012 [1965]: 158) because of the fact that the neo-colonial powers have no social responsibility to the people of the citizens of the controlled state. Chikowore (2002: 43) agrees with this notion, adding that a cultural and economic dependence is created, so as to keep the oppressed nation in that state. Both scholars agree that there is exploitation of the people without the neo-colonial power having to show any social responsibility (Nkrumah 2012 [1965]: 158 and Chikowore (2002: 43). Martin (1982:227) believes that the control is exerted subtly through “domination by political, economic, social, military or technical means.” Another aspect, that of intellectual and cultural...
Words: 3208 - Pages: 13
...AP World History Survival Guide Name ________________________________ Teacher __________________________ Block _________________ Table of Contents | Pages | AP World History Overview | 3 – 7 | The AP Exam | 3 | World Regions | 4 – 5 | Five Course Themes | 6 | Four Historical Thinking Skills | 7 | Essays Overview | 8 - 15 | Document-based Question (DBQ) | 8 – 12 | Change and Continuity over Time (CCOT) | 13 – 15 | Comparative Essay | 16 – 18 | Released Free Response Questions | 19 – 20 | AP Curriculum Framework | 21 – 38 | Period 1 (Up to 600 B.C.E.)—5% | 21 – 22 | Period 2 (600 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.)—15% | 23 – 25 | Period 3 (600 to 1450)—20% | 26 – 28 | Period 4 (1450 to 1750)—20% | 29 – 31 | Period 5 (1750 to 1900)—20% | 32 – 35 | Period 6 (1900 to the present)—20% | 36 – 38 | Help with Some Confusing Subjects | 39 – 43 | Chinese Dynasties | 39 | Political, Economic, and Social Systems | 40 | Religions | 41 | Primary Sources | 42 | “Must Know” Years | 43 | * Many of the guidelines in this study packet are adapted from the AP World History Course Description, developed by College Board. The AP Exam Purchasing and taking the AP World History exam are requirements of the course. This year, the AP World History exam will be administered on: ___________________________________________ Format I. Multiple...
Words: 16161 - Pages: 65
...AP World History Survival Guide Name ________________________________ Teacher __________________________ Block _________________ Table of Contents | Pages | AP World History Overview | 3 – 7 | The AP Exam | 3 | World Regions | 4 – 5 | Five Course Themes | 6 | Four Historical Thinking Skills | 7 | Essays Overview | 8 - 15 | Document-based Question (DBQ) | 8 – 12 | Change and Continuity over Time (CCOT) | 13 – 15 | Comparative Essay | 16 – 18 | Released Free Response Questions | 19 – 20 | AP Curriculum Framework | 21 – 38 | Period 1 (Up to 600 B.C.E.)—5% | 21 – 22 | Period 2 (600 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.)—15% | 23 – 25 | Period 3 (600 to 1450)—20% | 26 – 28 | Period 4 (1450 to 1750)—20% | 29 – 31 | Period 5 (1750 to 1900)—20% | 32 – 35 | Period 6 (1900 to the present)—20% | 36 – 38 | Help with Some Confusing Subjects | 39 – 43 | Chinese Dynasties | 39 | Political, Economic, and Social Systems | 40 | Religions | 41 | Primary Sources | 42 | “Must Know” Years | 43 | * Many of the guidelines in this study packet are adapted from the AP World History Course Description, developed by College Board. The AP Exam Purchasing and taking the AP World History exam are requirements of the course. This year, the AP World History exam will be administered on: ___________________________________________ Format I. Multiple...
Words: 16161 - Pages: 65
...Critical Theories of Globalization Chamsy el-Ojeili and Patrick Hayden Critical Theories of Globalization Also by Chamsy el-Ojeili CONFRONTING GLOBALIZATION: Humanity, Justice and the Renewal of Politics FROM LEFT COMMUNISM TO POSTMODERNISM: Reconsidering Emancipatory Discourse Also by Patrick Hayden AMERICA’S WAR ON TERROR CONFRONTING GLOBALIZATION: Humanity, Justice and the Renewal of Politics COSMOPOLITAN GLOBAL POLITICS JOHN RAWLS: Towards a Just World Order THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN RIGHTS Critical Theories of Globalization Chamsy el-Ojeili Department of Sociology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Patrick Hayden School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, UK © Patrick Hayden and Chamsy el-Ojeili 2006 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents...
Words: 100030 - Pages: 401
