King Leopold's role in Africa, where, why, and what was his influence/legacy there. (Need details)

The story of the Scramble for territory in Africa is full of powerful European countries making game changing moves to outplay and outlast their rivals. An unremarkable monarch of an insignificant little kingdom, however, outwitted them all. Like a tiny yapping watchdog that wakes up the bigger dogs at the slightest sound of a disturbance, Leopold II, king of Belgium, made the first bold imperial move into new territory in the interior of Africa. His bark quickly awoke the bigger dogs in the imperial neighborhood.For decades, most Europeans mistakenly believed that King Leopold spent his considerable fortune funding public works in the Congo and stopping slavery in East Africa. He was the unintimidating King of Belgium, cousin of Queen Victoria of England—a wealthy, noble and philanthropic modern king. But it was all a sham. Underneath the veneer of generosity and graciousness laid a cunning and self-engrossed scoundrel, a duplicitous fraud to rival the evil charm of Iago or Richard III. Under the guise of an international charitable foundation, he personally owned the colony of the Congo, and he ran it as a brutal business investment. His “charity” resulted in the death of ten million people, approximately 50% of the population in the Congo. Leopold hired the famous Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley to serve as the head of the spear in the Congo. Back in 1871, Stanley had made a name for himself by setting out to find the long lost explorer David Livingstone. After many months wandering East Africa, Stanley did finally catch up to Livingstone, and supposedly asked the famous explorer the famous question, “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?” (Wikipedia). Livingstone died in Africa soon after the meeting so we never learned his side of the story, but Stanley saw himself as the heir to the great explorer and his crusade to open up Africa to Europe. Stanley said that his goal was to “flash a torch of light across the western half of the Dark Continent” (Hochschild 57). The brazen self-promoter returned to London in 1878 as a hero after he mapped most of the Congo River.Unlike Livingstone, who travelled for decades through Africa with few assistants, Stanley explored with a veritable army of porters and soldiers. Also unlike Livingstone, Stanley was quick to resort to violence at the slightest provocation, including when he felt disrespected. “The beach was crowded with infuriates and mockers,” he wrote. “We perceived we were followed by several canoes in some of which we saw spears shaken at us . . . I opened on them with the Winchester Repeating Rifle. Six shots and four deaths were sufficient to quiet the mocking” (Hochschild 49). Stanley seemed uninterested in a peaceful “exploration”. He wrote in his journal: “We have attacked and destroyed 28 large towns and three or four score villages” (Hochschild 49).

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one of the strengths of the united nations is their worldwide peacekeeping. they prevent conflict from escalating into war, try to reach agreements between the opposing sides, and bring war to an end as soon as possible. they also have a world food programme which is among the most effective food aid programmes worldwide. the united nations provides food and clean water to people in need, they also send money to strengthen the country's economy. the united nations also provides unaids, which is healthcare to hiv patients. they also raise funds to prevents aids/hivs and the spreads of others diseases. they also have campaigns that show how to protect from certain diseases. the united nations also has the unhcr, the united nations high commissioner for refugees, which is an aid to refugees. it them by raising funds to build up refugee camps or to improve housing and sanitary facilities. it also has many programmes to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and the needs of the refugees. the united nations high commissioner for refugees also builds schools in crisi regions and refugee camps. a major strength of the united nations is its efforts in elucidating the crisis from which it emerged. as such many of the issues which the world was confronted with in 1945 have been addressed. this can be seen with the organization’s mediatory efforts in resolving conflict in territories. intrinsically, particular reference can be observed in the cold war era 1947-1953 where the world was in a state of political and military tension between the powers of the western world led by the united states and the communist world led by the soviet union. as the world was divided east and west, capitalist and communist, us and ussr, the united nations had its first opportunities to establish its role as a mediator in the international system. moreover, the united nations was involved in the establishment of an israeli state on the eastern mediterranean coast. violence erupted between israeli forces and palestinians and their arab allies in response to the foundation of the state of israel. there has also been the promotion of democracy where the united nations has enabled people in many countries to participate in free and fair elections including those held in cambodia, namibia, el salvador and south africa. additionally, there has been the promotion of women’s rights, particularly in middle eastern countries, to have greater control over their lives. the united nations fund for women (unifem) have supported projects in improving the quality of life for women in over 100 countries including marketing opportunities, access to food production and so on.

however, despite these strengths there exist deep seated shortcomings of the organization in the contemporary world. notable of these is the fact that the world today is a different world than the epoch in which the united nations was born. at that time the issues facing the organization was the achievement of peace and security in a world of great powers, the insistence of the united states that the european powers should grant independence and self-government to their colonies and so on. nonetheless, some of these remain but many have changed. the world and its political atmosphere have undergone a massive transformation however the structures of the united nations have remain unchanged. these structures have failed to keep pace with the new demands which must be presently addressed. consequently, given these circumstances the united nations now faces increasing demand for change both in its institutions and in the subject matters of its concern. lastly, another weakness involves that of corruption and mismanagement. there have been reports of a cascade of scandals at the hands of the united nations. most notable of these is the wholesale corruption of the oil-for-food relief program in iraq, disappearance of united nations funds and the exposure of a transnational network of sexual misconduct by united nations peacekeepers in africa. to add, there have been political pressure, favoritism and cronyism plaguing appointments to united nations peace operations. as such it can be examined there exist a culture of impunity where the united nations operates with secrecy and is shielded by diplomatic immunity. consequently, it is no doubt that this result in institutional weakness and a staff that is less than ideally equipped to complete the required tasks. in essence, the united nations as an organization contains both pros and cons in its performance and functions. its strengths emphasizes its utmost importance in the international arena in terms of it neutral stance and mediator efforts however this is questionable when and examination of its weaknesses is undertaken.

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