Unprecedented Level of Human Displacement in the 21st century - Case Study Example

The Twentieth-Century Saw An Unprecedented Level Of Human Displacement. What Political Forces and Factors Will Determine Human Displacement in the Twenty-First Century? Introduction The twentieth century was characterized by unprecedented displacement of persons in the world over. The various world and interstate wars contributed to a great extent to these displacements. This is attributed to the mass movement of people from one region to the other in the course of these wars. The instability in countries and regions was a main factor in these displacements. However, the 21st Century has come in with different environment all together. With the increased nationalization and sovereignty of states, it remains to be a different scenario as far as displacements are concerned. The formation of the United Nations in the year 1948 and the subsequent formation of the sub-organ of United Nations High Commission for Refugees have not seen the situation contained even as the number of refugees keeps on rising. The most common phenomena are the close relations between world and national politics and the levels of displacements. This puts the 21st Century at a risky position even as the world seeks to reduce on the number of displacements. War on Terror does not show possibilities of reduced levels of displacements in the 21st Century. War on Terror and Displacement The war on terrorism has affected the issue that is displacement. Since the 2001 attacks on the United States, the war on terrorism has been stepped up by the United States and its allies. This has not gone well with the displacements levels. The war being fought in various fronts from Iraq to Afghanistan has seemed masses leaving these countries for safety. The loss of lives in these countries has in one way or the other discouraged safe living of citizens as they are forced to live in fear (Pupavac 2008, p. 278). The United States and its allies have been waging various wars in the form of fighting terrorism and bad governance. While this was or may not have positive denotative motives, the impacts of the wars have left the world crying out increased numbers of displaced persons. This trend is likely to continue as terrorism that is a thing that the world has to contend with. War on terror has also seen countries in the world accepting refugees with a lot of caution. This is because of the fear that refugees crossing over the border could be a loophole through which terrorists would use to launch their attacks. This has resulted in so many people being denied asylum in other countries (Khosravi 2008, p. 333). The rivalry between the United States and the Arab world is always on the rise. The 21st Century is likely to have this rivalry being on the higher end. This is mainly due to the connection that the Arab world has been made with Terrorism The attack on Afghanistan and Iraq by the United States and allies has kept the wound to be fresh. As such it would be difficult to do away with this problem even as the western world continues with the Islam phobia it had since the formation of the United Nations (Horstmann 2007, p. 114). The cold war resulted in massive designing and manufacturing of weapons. As much as the war came to the end, research on weapons is still going on and is resulting in deadly weapons and ammunitions being made. These weapons have always resulted in deadly attacks whenever a conflict came by. As a result large numbers of people are displaced. This means that the world is not going to rest and see its number of refugees reduce as long as production of these weapons is ongoing (Khosravi 2008, p. 331). Population pressure The 21st Century is posed with a threat of population pressure and the need to have resources. While this was the case with the 20th Century, the difference comes in form of the need to industrialize and the need to have natural resources such as land for settlement. Colonization in the 20th Century was necessitated by the need to have more resources for the industrialized European continent. This has prompted (Pupavac 2008, p. 282). There is a very close relationship between crime and pressure that comes out of population pressure. With population pressure, the number of the employed is likely to be on the upper end even as the citizens scramble for the limited resources. Given that the population of the world is always on the increase, the twenty fist century is like3ly to experience higher levels of crime. This brings a clear indication that displacements are not going to go down any time soon in the world (Fiske 2006, p. 222). The fight for natural resources is a main push factor for the international attacks by the great powers. Even as one may say that there is some justification in launching certain attacks like the ones in Libya, the main motive behind the attacks by the great powers is the need to secure natural resources such as petroleum and petroleum products to their countries. This is a result of population increase and the rise in the demand of these products. Given that these products keep on getting depleted, the world is likely not to have such conflicts going down. They at the end of the day will result in the increase in the number of refugees in this century (Kłoskowska 2001, pp 118). Poor leadership / internal conflict There is close relationship between political leadership and stability. Even as one looks at the areas or regions that are prone to political instability, the levels of displacement in these areas are high. Africa, being the continent with the highest number of displaced persons is characterized by widespread political instability. The situations in countries such Zimbabwe and Somalia has seen many citizens fleeing for better social facilities provided in other countries (Horstmann 2007, p. 115). Ammunition as a form of political completion has greatly contributed to mass displacements. The existence of militia groups is always in the increase as time passes by. This poses a great challenge top fighting evictions and displacements. Increased craving for political power has seen many politicians funding militias which commit atrocities that force civilians to flee from their land. While these militias at first may seem to are simple groupings, constant ammunition by political players has seen them getting to uncontrollable levels? States such as Somalia have seen many militia groups coming up that have resulted in uncontrolled governance system (Fiske 2006, p. 227). Ammunition has remained to be a great threat to humanity. Even as the United Nations warns that this trend is dangerous, the rise in the possession of small weapons in the world is always on the increase each other year. The campaign in reducing possession of small arms has not borne much fruit as the politicians that are to facilitate this process are the same that facilitate their availability for political gain. This has led to mass displacements whenever violence erupts in countries leading to citizens fleeing to other countries (Johnson 2007, p. 651). Unfulfilled promises have been a major contributor to internal conflicts in states all over the world. This trend is likely not to change even as the living standards in the world over keep on rising. Politicians keep on promising citizens that they will deliver on various issuers which in most cases when they fail, violence will result. The economic crunch of 2008/2009 and the unrest in several countries such as Libya and Egypt left many living their country as unrest becomes widespread. The frustration of having difficult economic times will drive humans into conflict with the ruling class. From the look of things, the twenty first century is likely to have more refugees due to increased levels of such conflicts (Szczepanikova 2010, p. 463). Corruption is an important aspect that cannot just be wished away when it comes to the development of work plans. Corruption levels in Japan are far much lower than those in India. This is mostly credited on the use of high level technology in Japan that rules out room for corruption and embezzlement of funds. India is still a developing country that has not taken up the new technologies to a level that corruption can be well fought. The fact that most Indians think from an individualistic perspective makes fighting corruption a difficult task to deal with. This has forced organizations to employ more personnel that undertake supervision so as to avert or reduce the corrupt activities in the work places (Ya-Ru Chen 2006, pp. 84). This is not so with the Japanese who have developed a culture of sincerity and have reduced levels of corruption. Most Japanese believe in getting wealth the right way which is not the case with most Indians. Nationalization and Effects of Decolonization Nationalization after the Second World War contributed to mass displacement and resulted in large numbers of refugees. The first and the second world wars had so many people moving from one region to the other. As such there was some form of people with different backgrounds settling in different parts of the globe. This was boosted by the fact that the countries at that time were not that very stable with others operating as colonies. However, after the World War II, the world experienced an unprecedented change that characterized the new wave of nationalism. Countries became keen in having more organized units of governance that would help them develop socially, politically and economically (Szczepanikova 2010, p. 467). National culture refers to the general behaviors that characterize the citizens of a given country. For instance, it is the national behavior that will make to conclude that Nigerians are thieves. This comes from the general behaviors and traits shared by the citizens of that particular country. Such behaviors and traits that constitute National culture usually arise from given the situations that face a country and the passage from one generation to the other (Kłoskowska 2001, pp 121). Immediately after the Second World War, the United Nations was formed and a resolution to settle Israelites back in their land was passed. This was just to show how the world was widely dispersed that the nation of Israel was in the brink of extinction. However, there was the need to have other nationals come back to their land. These efforts were not easy to implement even as countries move ahead in asserting their authorities over their borders (Steimel 2010, P. 232). Decolonization has also its share to carry in the state of displacements and increase in refugees in the world over. Africa being one of the continents that was most affected by colonization by the European powers still feels the effects of colonization as far as refugees and displacements are concerned. Communities were divided over boundaries living many to be separated by these national boundaries. This has led to constant movement of citizens along these boundaries. In situations where one country gets violent, the chances of having people crossing the borders are high as there are closely related to their border neighbors (Ya-Ru Chen 2006, pp. 67-94). Decolonization has in one way or the other been a major contribution in the internal conflicts brought about in most African states. After gaining independence, most African leaders were not prepared to take leadership positions. As such many that took over got into poor governance through manifestation of selfish interest than that of the states they are to serve. This has resulted in widespread suffering of citizens in such countries. God examples are Uganda and Zimbabwe. This has resulted in disgruntled groups rising up in arms and fights the government. Such conditions have resulted in widespread displacements making the number of internally displaced persons to rise. With the look of things, this phenomenon is not likely to change any time soon. This means that the number of refugees will just keep on rising (Johnson 2007, p. 641). The Just In Time (JIT) philosophy and work concept taken by the Japanese is a culture that most countries in the world wish to emulate. Just after the First World War, Japan discovered the need to fast track on the building of the economy and the rehabilitation of the destroyed property. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima made many Japanese to find the need to fight with time and get the economy back on track. They came up with the Just in Time (JIT) policy in bid to achieve this. The Japanese are very time conscious and cannot be compared to the Indians. The Indians work for fewer hours than the Japanese. While the Japanese work for an average of fourteen hours a day as the Indians work on an average of 12 hours. This has made the Japanese to always have fixed time schedules on assignments as opposed to the Indians who are more flexible with time. It is likely to find an appointment with Japanese being done in the rigfht5 time than it is with the Indians. Because of this, The Japanese concentrate more on work schedules and plans than are Indians (Bohmer & Shuman 2007, p. 78-84). The environment surrounding a country can be a great contributor to the national culture of the same country. Japan has a culture of swift action due to the many earthquakes and disasters they face. This disasters dictate that they be always be prepared for anything that can happen. This has led to innovation and developing of houses that can be swung by the quakes but will remain standing. This is not so with the populous India which is not prone to natural disasters (Horstmann 2007, p. 118). The International Law on Refugees and Citizenship The international law is very categorical that countries have an obligation to host displaced persons from neighboring countries if there life is endangered. This means that countries have a duty to go by this law. This makes chances of people fleeing their countries to other countries for safety to be high as they are assured of accommodation. This has either not made the situation better as thugs and terrorists use such loopholes to get into the countries causing destruction. As such, the issue about refugees is widely integrated and affected by such provision (Steimel 2010, P. 226). The provision on double citizenship has made issues to do with refugees to be complicated. This has made many refugees to be reluctant in leaving ‘safe’ countries in the hope that they can end up being citizens. This complicates issues as it in one way or the other supports violence back in their country with the hope that resources will be left behind by those fleeing the country. With other countries of the world taking up the provision that is double citizenship and more accommodative immigration laws, the twenty first century is likely to experience an increased level of refugees (Ya-Ru Chen 2006, pp. 91). Conclusion The twentieth century saw unprecedented increase in the number of refugees. The impact of the wars on this issue was so great that the world had to set up the United Nations as a mechanism of dealing with conflict in an amicable way. However, with increase in populations and change in political, social and economic environmental, the twenty first century still has the capabilities of seeing the number of refugees increasing further. This shows that human displacements are a challenge that the world has to live with. The world has therefore to keep on changing its conflict resolution mechanisms if this trend has to be contained. References Carol, Bohmer & Amy, Shuman 2007, “Producing Epistemologies of Ignorance in the Political Asylum Application Process”, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 14, 5, p. 78-84. Hayter, T 2004, Open Borders: The Case against Immigration Controls. Pluto Press, London. Chapter 4. P. 98-109. 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Ya-Ru, Chen 2006, National culture and groups, Emerald Group Publishing, Chicago, pp. 67- 94. Read More