Democratic Leadership and Ethnic Groups - Essay Example

REFLECTIVE ESSAY By Reflective Essay The lessons about global peace were important because they helped us to understand about peace in the world. We were taught about how some countries have peace and others have conflicts. In the process, we also learnt about some of the major causes of conflicts in the world. Political competition was one of the common causes of conflicts within countries. For example, some groups usually begin to fight because they disagree on the ways of sharing political power (Galtung, 1969, p 168). In many cases, these conflicts are caused because of ethnic and religious reasons. Ethnic groups begin to engage in conflicts because one group supports other ideas while others do not support the same ideas. Sometimes, the support of these ideas are usually based on religious reasons. Religious conflicts are some of the most common kinds of conflicts in many parts of the world. The lessons were important because we also learnt about methods of measuring peace. We were introduced to some index that is used to know if one region has peace or not. This index showed that some countries and regions have a higher value of peace than others (Institute for Economics and Peace, 2012). The results also indicated that most of the countries that do not have peace usually engage in wars and conflicts because of historical reasons. These conflicts are also caused about disagreements about boundaries. Countries start to fight because they do not agree on how to make their boundaries. Others feel that their neighbors have eaten into some of their land and they start to fight in order to reclaim some of the lost land from the other country. This makes it difficult because historical reasons and cultural reasons are also used to show the real owners of the land. The Global Peace Index (GPI) shows that Africa has improved in terms of peace. There were some past assumptions that Africa was the most violent places on the planet. However, the results from GPI have shown that the Middle East is the most violent regions across the planets. These results show that some of the issues affecting the state of peace around the continent are determined by boundary conflicts. This is one of the reasons that causes conflicts in the Middle East. Other results from the study also indicated that Africa has been improving in terms of peace over the times (Snyder, 2003, p. 45). Places such as Nigeria and Gabon remain some of the most violent because of sectarian and religious conflicts. Around the globe, the results indicated that places such as Iceland and Denmark were the most peaceful places on earth. They were considered as some of the most politically stable places because of many reasons like good political leadership. The reasons of lack of peace in many places are the lack of stable laws and political systems. Many conflicts usually begin because of political reasons. Some studies show that stable political systems are important when it comes to stopping wars around the world. Some of the ways that have been used to study the kind of peace that exist between religions are based on issues such as religion, income groups, the types of government, and the indicator domains. We learnt that different types of governments have the capacity of reducing or contributing to conflicts within their regions. For instance, the kind of peace that exists within one region to another is usually caused by the way the leaders in the government provide resources to the people. If the leadership is good and responsible, people remain calm and they do not bring about conflicts. However, if the leadership does not bring about developments, then people begin to protest and to fight with the government. According to the lessons, we learnt that democratic leadership is more important and does not create frequent conflicts as compared to authoritarian kinds of leadership. Democratic systems usually allow people to participate in political processes. These systems also allow the common people to express their freedoms and liberties. The leaders in democratic systems do not put very harsh conditions on people. Therefore, the people do not begin to protest. This causes peace to exist within the region. On the other hand, systems that are based on dictatorship do not help people to express their freedoms and liberties. Harsh laws and bad treatment of the people that are governed usually control such systems. The leaders of such systems behave badly and they start to engage in corruption. They also begin to use public resources for their own private gains. When people notice these things, they begin to protest. Conflicts usually arise between the people that are protesting and other groups that support the corrupt governments. This is the kind of conflicts that occur in places such as Africa and other parts of the world. Sometimes, corrupt leaders use tribalism and ethnicity in order to remain in power. They make their tribes to fight with other tribes so that they continue to remain in political power and carry out corrupt practices. The lessons on peace were important because they helped us to realize that peace depends on the kind of systems and structures that exist within nations. If a country has good systems and strong political structures, then it is very likely to have peaceful existence. However, if the country is lacking in these qualities, then the results become frequent conflicts. Structures such as good courts and legal systems are important in the process of establishing and maintaining peace. Such structures are very important because they help in winning public confidence. People become satisfied and they do not see any reasons to start fighting with other people because of the conflicts. It is important for people to trust their governments and the structures. Such trust is important because it helps them to realize the importance of staying together in peace and harmony without engaging in frequent conflicts. On many occasions, countries usually begin to engage in corrupt practices because they lack the basic systems and structures that are necessary in maintaining peace. Democratic systems are important in maintaining the kind of structures and systems for peaceful existence of the people. We also learnt that some of the countries that have been peaceful have failed to maintain their peace and began engaging in wars with other countries or within themselves. On the other hand, some of the countries that have been known for conflicts have improved and acquired some peace over the times. Other countries have remained stable because their leaders obey the constitution and do not engage in corrupt practices. These are usually some of the fundamental qualities that are used to determine the level of peace between one country and another. Another important lesson from this module revolved around the concept of peace. From the lessons, it was found out that the term peace has been used in different contexts to imply various issues. Similarly, the term has been used to give meaning to various issues and processes that happen in the society on day to day basis. Generally, some of these issues are united by many different causes and effects, which take place within the society. For instance, peace is considered to be one of the fundamental processes that involve the appropriation of various issues and other aspects of life. Some of these issues are generally considered to be a manifestation of the different effects of processes that take place within the society. It is important to consider the fact that the major causes of conflicts are related to a range of concerns that take place within the society. Peace is usually regarded as the lack of conflicts and tension. In the studies, it was found out that lack of violence is also associated with peace. As a result, the process of peace is usually regarded as a complicated reality, which involves a combination of many issues that concern the meaning to the society. Some of the most common determinants of peace are regarded as a manifestation of reality in various forms. Some regions experience short-term effects of chaos and violence while others experience long-term instability (Bond & Simons, 2009). As a result, many studies have attempted to develop concepts that concern peace and stability as a framework for the understanding the kind of peace, which exists within communities. The study of global peace also involved some focus on the many issues that have emerged in the recent times to cause chaos and conflicts between nations. For instance, it was found out that many countries are affected by the rise of terrorism (Deissler, 2012). Terrorist attacks have increased in many parts of the world. Many people have died and many properties destroyed because of the issue of terrorism. Terrorism has spread from the Middle East and now affects almost every country in the world. As a result, it was discovered that some of the issues that affect the nature of terrorism were concerned with the issue in which people argue and disagree on political and religious issues. Some studies also showed that the emergence of global terrorism was basically related with various challenges that determine the various issues and concerns around the world. Some of the issues that affect peace is the way in which countries differ through ideologies. Some countries are usually affected by different kinds of ideologies. In many ways, it is important to consider the fact that the different kinds of policies around the world are generally involved in the determination of realities and caused of global peace. Another important lesson that was acquired in this class is that insecurity and violence in one part of the world usually affects other parts of the world. This is because different countries associate with each other through business processes and other relationships that affect and are also affected by matters of usual concern. At this level, it becomes important to consider the fact that global security is usually caused by different factors that control peace in countries and groups. The lessons were also important because they brought many issues that cause the lack of peace between countries. One of the issues that was discussed was about poor distribution of resources. This reality occurs because of bad policies that favor some people against others. As s result, some people become very poor while others become very rich. The people who are affected by poverty usually begin to protest against the system. They begin to look for ways of fighting with the other groups that are oppressing them. In order to end this kind of conflict, policies must be changed so that the resources are shared out in a fair manner. Bad economic laws that create classes in the society usually cause poor distribution of resources. The higher classes begin to take advantage of situations and to enrich themselves while the lower classes begin to engage in issues that do not benefit them. As a result of the imbalances, groups begin to defend their own resources, which result in conflicts (Schneider, 2003). Other causes of conflicts have emerged because of processes such as globalization. Globalization has made poor countries to suffer because the rich countries usually take up all the resources belonging to the poor countries. The result of this kind of competition usually occurs in ways that create conflicts between the rich countries and the poor countries. We also learnt the important of creating fair trading practices that can be used to defend poor countries from the rich ones. Systems and processes that exist between one nation and another control some of these processes. The process of achieving global peace usually begins with removing the many causes that create tension between one group and another or between one country and another. These processes are very complicated and sometimes they fail to achieve the goal of creating global peace. Global peace is an important course because it helps in enabling students to understand the major causes of conflicts and wars in many parts of the world. The process is also important because it offers important lessons about places that are usually affected by wars and conflicts nd the major reasons why such places do not gain peace. In this lesson, we learnt about how some countries have managed to gain peace after very many years of conflicts. We also leant about how other countries and other places have lost their peace after many years of living in peace. One of the important issues in this module is that it made it possible for students to appreciate the relationship between peace and economic development. Countries that have peace also experience very high levels of development as compared to other countries that do not experience peace within their processes. As a result, it becomes important to know that peace helps in economic and social development. We were also able to learn some of the solutions that can be used by different countries to achieve peace. Some of the solutions that we learnt about were usually concerned with the process of good governance. Good political systems usually bring about stability in many countries. Bad political systems make it difficult for countries and groups to live in peace. Global peace is important for world development. Some of the causes of past conflicts have been solved while others have emerged. Works Cited Bond, C, S & Simons, L, M 2009, The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Deissler, G 2012, A Cultural Strategy for Global Peace and Prosperity, GRIN Verlag, New York. Galtung, J 1969, Violence, Peace, and Peace Research. Journal of Peace Research, 6 (3), pp. 167-191. Institute for Economics and Peace 2012, Global Peace Index. Pdf. Schneider, G 2003, How well does the UN manage global peace and security, GRIN Verlag, New York. Snyder, A, C 2003, Setting the Agenda for Global Peace: Conflict and Consensus Building, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, New York. Read More