Download General Assembly 2: economic and financial

 Haganum Model United Nations
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Research Reports
General
Assembly 2: economic and financial
Finding
the solution for the gap in wealth
between
population groups caused by
neocolonialism
in developing countries
4th, 5th and 6th of March 2016
Haganum Model United Nations 2016| 4th of March – 6th of March 2016
Forum:
General Assembly 2: economic and financial
Issue:
Finding the solution for the gap in wealth between
population groups caused by neo-colonialism in developing
countries
Student Officer: Tiki Blom
Position:
Chair
Introduction
Whenever there is an attempt at finding the solution for the gap in wealth between
population groups in developing countries, the consequences of neo-colonialism are highly
underestimated. A lot of MEDC’s (More Economically Developed Country) are trying to help
developing countries by giving financial aid. However, it is a fact that the gap in wealth still
remains. Although it would be drastic to say that neo-colonialism is the sole cause of all the
poverty in these countries, it sure is an issue that has to be solved. It has to be kept in mind
that countries in advantageous positions are not likely to give up on the benefits they
experience from the neo-colonialism.
Definition of Key Terms
Neo-colonialism
The Oxford Dictionary defines neo-colonialism as: The use of economic, political,
cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former
dependencies.
Colonialism
The Oxford Dictionary defines colonialism as: The policy or practice of acquiring full
or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it
economically.
Dependency theory
The dependency theory states that the reason of the gap in wealth between
population groups in developing countries is the exploitation of human and natural resources
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done by developed countries. This way, it is not possible for a country to become
economically independent. The Marxist interpretation blames capitalism and the free market
for seeing the poverty of developing countries as a stage in their development and
integration in the global market, rather than the fault of colonialism and neo-colonialism.
Multinational Corporation
The business dictionary defines multinational corporation as: An enterprise operating
in several countries but managed from one (home) country. Generally, any company or
group that derives a quarter of its revenue from operations outside of its home country is
considered a multinational corporation.
Background Information
The history of colonialism
Colonialism started in the 15th century when Spanish and Portuguese explorers sailed
across the oceans and “discovered” America, Africa and Asia. Countries were divided by
Portugal and Spain and the colonization officially had begun. 100 years later other European
countries such as France, England and the Dutch Republic joined Spain and Portugal. The
citizens of the colonialized countries were treated as slaves and were exploited to the
maximum. Since the end of World War II and the creation of the United Nations in 1945 the
amount of people living in non-self-governing territories has decreased from 750 million
people to 2 million people. Nowadays, there are still 17 Non-Self-Governing territories.
The blame
Developed countries
Neo-colonialism is a term coined by Kwame Nkrumah, a Ghanaian politician. When
the United Nations rose, there were almost none colonies left around the world.
Unfortunately, the situation in the former colonies has not changed that much. Developing
countries are still controlled by developed countries through past international economic
agreements, such as the General Agreement on Traffics and Trade (GATT). These
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developed countries are often accused of pretending to help the former colonies, while
actually just making things worse through unfair trade agreements by neo-colonialism critics.
Multinational corporations (MNC’s)
Although it seems likely that a country can only be colonized by another country,
multinational corporations are often blamed for neo-colonialism as well. They often move
their factories to developing countries because of the low productions costs. This had
positive effects, e.g. jobs are created in these new factories and investments. Unfortunately,
the MNC’s have a strong influence over governments, whereas these governments rely on
the aid given by other nations and the MCN’s. This leads to a situation where governments
act on the interests of the multinational corporations rather than on the interests of their own
people.
The economical effect of neo-colonialism
Neo-colonialism has a great influence on the global economy. For a neo-colonialized
country it often has a negative effect on the majority of the population. On one hand a part of
the already educated and wealthy population can experience economical benefits, but on the
other hand a lot of people will be exploited. On average, whilst taking into account population
size income inequality has increased by 11 percent in developing countries between 1990
and 2010.
Major Countries and Organizations Involved
African Countries
It is often possible to make a clear distinction between a country more or less
involved, but it is clear that every African country has suffered from colonialism – as a matter
of fact Ethiopia is the only African country that has never been colonialized throughout
history. All these countries have been exploited for decades at least. Therefore, they are now
dependent on aid given by other, more developed, countries, organisations and multinational
corporations, such as Adidas, Siemens A.G. and Microsoft. While this aid is often given, it
always has its strings attached. In order to get the necessary aid, the governments have to
conclude agreements that won’t help them on the long term and through which they lose
their sovereignty.
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Latin America
Latin American countries have been colonies from Spain and Portugal for a very long time,
but they have been independent well before the process decolonization took place in Africa
and Asia after World War II. With the Industrial Revolution of the late 1870s Latin American
countries started exchanging their natural resources and raw materials in exchange for
manufactured goods from Europe and North America. Latin America did not consider it
necessary to develop their own industries, since they could rely on the manufactured goods
of other countries. This neo-colonial relation kept on functioning: the neo-colonial powers, in
this case Europe and North America, have the productive capacity to export enough goods to
the neo-colonies to satisfy their market and the neo-colonies keep exporting their raw
materials. The commercial and financial power is totally in the hands of North America and
Europe.
IMF ( International Monetary Fund ) and World Bank
The IMF and World Bank were created in 1944 with the purpose of preventing
another Great Depression and stabilizing the economy after World War II. However
nowadays they mainly focus on developing countries. They work through a quota-system:
every country has to contribute a charge based on its wealth and this quota determines
voting power. They are criticized, because developing countries have a lack of influence.
Furthermore according to critics they only provide loans with conditionality, often forcing a
developing country to open their markets to foreign investors and the country has to privatize
nationalized industries, only increasing neo-colonialism.
France
France has been a trading partner of the African countries ever since the
decolonization. The relationship France has with African countries has even been given a
name: “Françafrique”. The term used to be positive, but is now used by neo-colonialism
critics for describing the unbalanced relation between France and Africa.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom had a leading role in the colonization of Africa. It has given formal
independence to over 60 countries, but still maintains its economical control over its former
colonies, for example Britain determines the prices and quantities of import and export in
Ghana.
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United States of America
The United States have been a colony themselves from the United Kingdom.
However, as of now they are one of the biggest Colonial powers in the world, especially in
Latin America. Through the huge amount of voting power they have in the IMF and World
Bank they can easily exert considerable influence over third world countries. They have 17%
of the votes in these organisations and because 85% of the votes have to be in favour in
every decision made, they indirectly have a right to veto.
Timeline of Events
1945
Start global decolonization
1955
Bandung Conference held in Indonesia
1961
Foundation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
1963
Introduction term Neo-colonialism by Kwama Nkrumah
1964
Jean-Paul Sartre publishes Colonialism and Neo-colonialism
Relevant UN Treaties and Events
•
UN Charter
•
Letter dated 12 September 2013 from the Permanent Representative of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United Nations addressed to the SecretaryGeneral, 13 september 2013 (A/760/990)
•
Strengthening United Nations action in the field of human rights through the
promotion of international cooperation based on the principles of non-selectivity,
impartiality and objectivity, 25 september 2000 (A/55)
•
Certain elements for the report on the right to development as a human right, 4
december 1981 (E/CN.4/AC.34/WP.19)
•
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Security council official records, 12 august 1983, (S/PV.2466)
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Previous Attempts to solve the Issue
Establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): the NAM is a movement
representing the interests and priorities of developing countries. It has 120 member states
making efforts to stop neo-colonialism. Their member states have conferences as often as
necessary, this way they strive to have an united opinion when attending UN meetings or
meetings held by other Intergovernmental Organisations.
Possible Solutions
Creating an organisation, controlled by the United Nations, that officially decides if a
country is neo-colonized. On of the main issues regarding neo-colonization is that there is no
official status for a country that is neo-colonized, if it is not officially determined, solving the
problems caused by it, becomes unnecessary more difficult.
Making clear agreements on the conditions countries and organisations can impose
on developing countries when making investments or giving aid. One of the biggest problems
is the fact that the governments of these countries totally rely on this aid and these
investments, so they cannot decide to refuse these conditions.
Making the home countries of multinational corporations responsible for preventing
that their investments result in neo-colonialism. This way a developing country is less
dependent on its own government to solve the problems regarding these corporations. A
more economical developed country is less dependent on these corporations and can
impose a bigger influence on these corporations.
Bibliography
The United Nations and Decolonization, “History”, web. 10 February 2016
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<http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/history.shtml>
The United Nations and Decolonization, “Documents”, web. 12 February 2016
<http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/sgreports.shtml>
Kwame Nkrumah, “Neo-colonialism, the last stage of imperialism”, web. 10 February 2016
<http://cult320sp15.cwillse.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Nkrumah-1965.pdf> IMF, “About the IMF à The IMF at a glance”, web. 14 February 2016
<http://www.imf.org/external/about.htm>
BBC, 2015 Feb. 5, “Profile, IMF and World Bank”, web. 12 February 2016
<http://www.bbc.com/news/business-17493655>
Edinburgh University Press, Gayarti Shakravorti Spivak,1991, “Neocolonialism and the
secret agent of knowledge”,
<http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/olr.1991.010?journalCode=olr>
CGIS, “The Non-Aligned Movement: background information”. web. 14. february 2016
<http://www.nam.gov.za/background/background.htm>
John Hopkins University Press, (2000), “Journal of colonialism and colonial history”. web. 12
February 2016
<http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_colonialism_and_colonial_history/>
“A neo-colonial world Latin America” web. 14 February 2016
<http://www.hechohistorico.com.ar/trabajos/valores_socioculturales/lecvmx302.html>
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