Development of Liberia - Research Paper Example

Week 2 A scholarly source in my field of study or interest are books and journals that gives full, factual and reliable discussions on issues ad concerns related to my chosen field. Since my field of interest is in economics and politics, I would choose the Economist as one of the scholarly journals. For my essay, I will use as one of my references the article of the Economist, March 3, 2005 Edition entitled “Rebuilding failed states.” Under this article in the Economist, the topic of the economic and political status of Liberia which is my chosen topic is thoroughly discussed and insights can be gathered from this article. Week 3 As part of my research preparations and readings, I learned the following important points to remember in using the Modern Language Association (MLA) format specially in the areas of work cited and quoting authors: In formatting the works cited list, we should begin our list on a separate page from the text of the essay or paper we wrote. The list should be labeled as works cites with no underlines or quotation marks on the words work cited. Furthermore, this heading work cited must be put at the center of the page. All entries should be made in double space with no lines skipped in between. In making parenthesis citations, we follow the author-page method which would give us the Author’s last name and the page number from which the quotation is taken. A complete reference of this quotation shall be put in the work cited page. Question 4: What I intend to do in my research. Extreme Poverty Hinders Development in Liberia I. Introduction Extreme poverty is one of the issues ranging throughout the world. Majority of developing countries all over the world suffers from lack of basic necessities like food, shelter, medicine, protection and education. We see in the news all the time how sufferings of these people are often exacerbated by civil war where the ultimate victims are women, children and the elderly. Who is to blame for poverty? Is it correct to brand people who are poor as indolent and dumb who cannot even think of ways to save themselves from hunger? Or do we blame bad decisions and miscalculations of leaders which make a country poor? Do we blame anti-poor policies of governments for the sufferings of their own constituents? Often times poverty is less discussed deeper which lead to misunderstanding of the very essence thereof. Some governments in developing countries believe that it is politically incorrect to discuss poverty issues and how much these issues affected the lives of thousands of people. My research is aimed at elucidating people on issues affecting undeveloped nations such as Liberia in South Africa and how the experiences of these people are so often reflected in other undeveloped nations all over the world. I want to show in this research how the enormous external influence on poor governments often leaves its people powerless. On the other hand, this essay would like to outline the relationships between poverty and hunger and how one could not be solved without addressing the other. Structural roots of poverty. II. Why Liberia? I have chosen the case of Liberia in my research since this is a topic close to my heart. Liberia is a small country located in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote dIvoire and Sierra Leone. It has a rather very extreme history of poverty and oppression. It people are descendants indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves)1. When we talk of natural resources, Liberia is rich. It has good water supply, forest cover and climate which is favorable to agriculture. In fact, Liberia is one of the top producers of raw timber and rubber. Furthermore, Liberia is very rich in natural resources such as iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold and hydropower, the area remains poor and development is very limited. How can this be? The paradox between extreme poverty and rich natural resources is so patent. Therefore, a careful study on the utilization of these resources should be conducted in order to provide a clear understanding as to why poverty in present amidst such richness in natural resources. III. Analysis on the causes of poverty in Liberia Part of my research will be an analysis on the causes on poverty in Liberia. Issues which will be tackled in this part of my paper will be the history of political struggles in Liberia. It must be noted that the country has suffered a 14-year civil war which debased its economy at its people. Infrastructures around its capital Monrovia was complete devastated by the war. Part of the discussions in my paper will be how the government of former Charles Taylor and how the transitional government that followed after he departed for Nigeria in August 2003, affected the economic stability of the country. Furthermore, a thorough discussion will also be made on the different agenda of warring factions in the country like the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), an insurgency group that seeks to build and sustain a stable democracy in the Republic of Liberia through the removal of the Taylor government. On this part of the paper, a careful study will be conducted on the issues and concerns presented by different factions in the government and why civil unrest continues after the declaration of peace in 2003. IV. On the Road to Recovery In this part of the paper, I will look into programs and sustainability measures which Liberia should look into on its road-map towards recovery. In its reconstruction efforts, Liberia crafted the Governance and Economic Management Plan (GEMAP) last October 2005. This is requirement set by international donors before they will assist in the reconstruction efforts in Liberia. Issues and concerns will again be discussed on this portion where there are those who claims that the sanction against diamond trading and the fact that foreign governments are dictating Liberia on how to run its government are but another form of domination. V. Conclusion After the thorough discussions in the previous parts of the paper, a summation of issues and concerns will be made and a conclusion will be drawn. Note to the customer: Hi! Your instructions did not ask for bibliography but rather just an outline of what you intend to do in your full research paper. I listed the following websites below for your own use. I took the materials I used in your essay from these websites. You can use this in your future researches on Liberian issues. If you need anything, just let me know. Thanks. Bibliography http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_VTQJNGR http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/li.html http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html allafrica.com/stories/200603030544.html www.who.int/hac/crises/lbr/en Read More