United Nations overview and global governance

United Nations

Colonialism and Its Effects

Brief Note to Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

From literature to government relations to culture, a colonial history affects nearly every aspect of many former colonies. Still, nations previously labeled colonies are, nevertheless, in the post-colonial phase of their development. While colonialism has left its mark, government, cultural, linguistic, and other operations are now legally free of the former ruling power's command. According to Landow, some perceive the current situations in many colonies as similar to the situation under colonialism. Thus, they conclude that colonialism still exists, if only in different form. Landow calls this attitude "historical blindness," arguing that these attitudes have the effect of forgetting the country's history before colonialism, assuming everything that has occurred in the country since colonialism is as a result of colonialism, and treating European colonialism as different from other pre-European colonialisms.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, these are important issues to consider when thinking about sending a peacekeeping force to a former French colony. First, you must realize the importance of the history of colonialism on the area, and then you must disregard it. While this sounds paradoxical, it is the best way to deal with the special circumstances and sensitivities created by colonialism. First, realizing the importance of the history of colonialism entails extensive historical research. Mr. Secretary General, this consists mostly of evaluating the type of the colony and what lingering affects of colonialism still affect the government, culture, or attitude of the people today. The researchers must ask themselves whether or not any mistreatment occurred at the hands of the colonizing nation. Were any minorities, beliefs, or groups oppressed? Were any humanitarian injustices committed? Was any culture regarded as primitive or unsophisticated? While some of these offenses may seem far more egregious than others, all can affect the current status and sensitivity of a postcolonial nation. Two historical examples prove this point. First, the United States is a postcolonial nation, having its roots in the British government's expansion. While the British certainly plagued its American colonies with rights violations such as taxation without representation and religious restrictions, these violations were not particularly violent of heinous, compared with other instances. Still, the British's treatment of its subjects and the colonies still impacts the United States today. In fact, the entire constitution is based around ideas of democracy that were inspired by English tyranny. In another example, the Australian people were victimized by the perpetrators of the Lost Generation, members of the colonizing nation who took native children in order to make them civilized. This human rights abuse was drastic, in that children were taken from their parents, doing harm to both child and family members. In addition, the native culture was ridiculed as less than civilized. These attitudes and the pain over this action still affect Australia, recently enticing the government to institute National Sorry Day.

As these examples suggest, actions during colonial periods deeply affect nations, even to this day. Peacekeeping units must be properly educated in the history of these actions in order to deal with these sensitivities.