UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

MARVIN NJAU MUNGAI R67/38943/2016

QB) HOW DOES THE STUDY OF HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS AFFECT OUR DAILY LIVES TODAY?

John Jay, former chief justice of the United States of America and a diplomat, defined History as

“a narration of the events which have happened among mankind. Including an account of the rise

and fall of nations as well as other great changes which have affected political and social

conditions of the human race.” History without a doubt affects our everyday lives. Below is an

argument meriting how the study of History of International Relations affect our daily lives.

Scholars all over the world studying the History of International Relations all agree on one thing,

it is crucial in avoiding repeating the same mistakes committed by our ancestors. For example

the infamous wars, World War 1 (1914) and World War 2 (1939-1945). The causes of these wars

were political, territorial and economic disputes that had bottled up for years until they could not

take it any longer. The European countries had poor relations with each other and were hell bent

on promoting own power and prestige without the regard for human suffering. Looking back at

our ancestor’s poor approach on International Relations, we are now more conscious on how we

handle relationships with other nations. Because of our History we now understand that no single

country can survive on its own. This is why the United Nations has been able to operate for so

long since the year 1945 to this day. We have become more mindful of the idea of International

Peace.

Unfortunately, terrorism is rapidly growing and forming International Organizations.it is said

that the rise of the Al-Qaeda organization began after the United States of America moved in on

their country without authorization from the Iraq government to extract their vast deposits of oil.

A plentiful natural resource that was once found in Iraq. This is an example of how International

Relations has failed. The United States was not sanctioned for their actions which forced a

portion of the natives of the land to form a group intended to fight for their rights. This is

possibly one of the worst failures of the United Nations since they were supposed to protect the

people of Iraq from the United States who were destroying their lands in such of oil breaching

the United Nations’ charter. The idea by the Muslims living in Iraq was noble at first but it

quickly turned into senseless killing and use of sanguinary means to achieve an audience with

the international community. I believe that this could have all been avoided if the United Nations

had stepped in early enough many lives would have been spared .From Al-Qaeda, ISIS (Islamic

State of Iraq and Syria) now known as ISIL (Islamic State of Syria and Levant) and the Al-

Shabaab based in Somalia broke off and are now terrorizing the World on multiple fronts. The

most recent attack was in Paris (13th November 2015) where 129 people were killed and as many

were injured. Also in Kenya, Westgate mall (21st September 2013) where 67 people lost their

lives and 174 were injured. The rise and growth of terrorism is a result of poor International

Relations and because of this, human beings now live in fear because of poor handling of the

terrorism threat by the then management of the United Nations.

By studying the History of International Relations, the world has evolved from their egomaniacal

ways to a more benevolent community. The world through the United Nations is now more

accommodating to non-nationals who seek help to better their lives. The UN offers aid in form of

food or relief funds to countries that cannot tend to their citizens due to National poverty.

Examples of the UN Programs are, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP),

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Program (WFP),

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP),

World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World

Bank just to name but a few. This programs are operational to assist poor and disaster stricken

countries. In September 9, 2015 Germany took in refugees from Syria and surprised the entire

world by promising to take in 500,000 refugees seeking asylum every year for a number of years.

In the past History has not been too kind on Germany seeing as how they persecuted persons

from different races. This proves how history has influenced our lives today.

In the 18th and 19th century the international system was terrible to Africans. The black

community was treated as savages and primitive beings. It is for these reasons that the

international system treated the Africans as slaves were our ancestors used to be coerced into

performing hard tasks like picking coffee for little to no pay not forgetting how they were treated

physically by whips on the bare back and torture methods like starving them for days. The black

community basically did not have a voice and therefore had no rights. The Africans who

remained in Africa were evicted from their homes and placed in less productive land while the

Foreigners exploited them and took advantage of their inability to defend themselves as they had

inferior weapons. Those who were shipped off to the “new world” were taken to war to fight for

their masters and tend to their crops and their every needs. Today we find that the black

community is free to pursue own interest as much as the white man. Today we see the black

community are also vocal on important matters. Examples are Nelson Mandela former president

of South Africa and freedom fighter Kofi Anan, former secretary general to the United Nations,

James Mwangi CEO Equity Bank, Oprah Winfrey media personality and former TV talk host

and a pioneer of black lives matter campaign, Ellen Johnson president of Liberia and Barrack

Obama president of the United States of America.

The strides we have taken to achieving better lives are truly great. History has affected us all for

better and for worse. But we still have a lot of work to do if we are to learn from our previous

mistakes and move forward, together as one toward a better tomorrow.