1.

BHUTAN’S DEVELOPMENT MODEL

QUESTION: Should the world follow Bhutan’s Development Model?

Gross National Happiness has holistic implications and a strong emphasis on harmony with nature.
The philosophy is based on four "pillars," or practices that are crucial to GNH. These are socio-
economic development, ecological conservation, preservation of culture, and good governance.

The incredibly high rank for the southern Bhutanese town cuts against the country’s pristine image as
a particularly ardent environmental protector. Indeed Bhutan’s renowned Gross National Happiness
(GNH) Index — the country’s preferred economic performance metric, formalized in its constitution
— centralizes its four key pillars as good governance, sustainable socioeconomic development,
preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental conservation.
With annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP) averaging 7.5 percent between 2006 and 2015,
the country is one of the fastest growing in the world. While that should be viewed positively
elsewhere, Bhutan’s leadership is likely to be viewing it with caution. Though a boon, the related drop
in extreme poverty from 25 percent in 2003 to 2 percent in 2012 has created new demands upon the
nation’s sustainable development model.
HISTORY
The concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) was promulgated by His Majesty Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, the Fourth King of Bhutan in the early 1970s. When His Majesty spoke about GNH at
the time, he questioned the prevailing measurement system that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) alone
could deliver happiness and well-being to society. He was still a teenage monarch, and wise beyond
his years. His Majesty firmly believed that happiness is an indicator, and a sign of progressive
development for the Bhutanese people. He also believed in the legitimacy of public discussion in
defining Bhutan’s development goals.

FOUR PILLARS
In 2015, his staff members released a study that showed 91.2 percent of Bhutanese reporting that they
were narrowly, extensively or deeply happy, with a 1.8 percent increase in aggregate happiness
between 2010 and 2015.

Those who were educated and lived in urban areas reported higher levels of contentment than their
rural counterparts. Men reported feeling happier than women.

Bhutan’s Constitution, which went into effect in 2008 with the transition to democracy, directs the
kingdom’s leaders to consult the four pillars of Gross National Happiness — good governance,
sustainable socioeconomic development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental
conservation — when considering legislation.

Good Governance

Good Governance is an approach to government that is committed to creating a system founded in

justice and peace that protects individual’s human rights and civil liberties. 

Measured by the eight factors of Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency, Responsiveness,

Consensus Oriented, Equity and Inclusiveness, Effectiveness and Efficiency, and Accountability.

Socioeconomic development. Socio-economic development is the process ofsocial and economic

development in a society. Socio-economic development is measured with indicators, such as GDP,
life expectancy, literacy and levels of employment.

Preservation and promotion of culture is the act of using deliberate and well-designed methodologies
to maintain cultural heritage from the past for the benefit of the present and future generations.
Environmental conservation is basically the practice of us humans to save the environment from
collapsing, such as loss of species, ecosystems due to pollution and human activities. This helps both
trees and animals, since some of us are dependent on them to survive.

ANSWER:

2. QUESTION: How has the influence of western medias hurt underdeveloped nations?

Let us first define some terminology:

Cultural Imperialism is the idea that one culture can either influence or dominate another in
much the same way as nations have invaded and controlled other nations. It may occur less
directly through mass media and dissemination of culture internationally.

Media imperialism is a theory based upon an over-concentration of mass media from larger

nations as a significant variable in negatively affecting smaller nations, in which the national
identity of smaller nations is lessened or lost due to media homogeneity inherent in
mass media from the larger countries.

the main difference between the concepts of cultural imperialism and media

imperialism lies in the fact that the former term is much broader in its scope than is the
latter. Media imperialism was narrowly concerned with the structures and content of the
media themselves.

How does it happen?

It’s the phenomenon where a given culture overrules and becomes dominant away from the
nation/region of it’s creation. Cultural Imperialism is something of a loaded term, however.

The classic example would be the use of French as the language of court in Europe for a very long
time. If you wanted to be taken seriously, you had to be fluent in French, because all the Serious,
Important, Credible people spoke it as a common tongue. France was seen as the culture hub of
civilisation, and therefore if you wanted to appear as anything other than a savage, you’d want to
import some French stuff to appear sophisticated.

The ancient Chinese did similar things, with their culture supplanting and becoming dominant over
the nations of it’s neighbours. They did things in the Chinese way rather than the local way. They
used Chinese letters, read chinese books, read Chinese news, sort of thing.

ANSWER:

According to Tahitoa Toefuata, HRM Employee (2013-present) “I’ll never understand from where
comes this belief that Western media has been able to influence “underdeveloped nations”. It’s a
myth.”

“There really are people who believe that people in underdeveloped countries have had the time and
the means to access to Western media, so foreign media in foreign languages? Seriously?
Underdeveloped countries spend all their time and money to learn foreign languages at a certain level
of proficiency to be able to understand Western media because it’s the main goal of underdeveloped
countries and people living in those countries. “

“The assumption that Western media has been influencing “underdeveloped” countries is a delusional
theory which, in reality, has mostly been used and propagated on purpose by some non-Western
countries and non-Western leaders who have been in opposition with the Western world. It has been
done on purpose to create a kind of common enemy. The Western world being the great devil while
on another hand, them, are the ones who truly want to help you. You know…”

“Still, in Pacific Islands, ironically we have seen more Chinese officials, Chinese businessmen, and
even Chinese netizens on our online platforms (unbelievable but true), to tell us about how Western
media were influencing us in a bad way and how Western countries were negative for us, because of
bla bla bla… Guys know more about our own nations and we react than ourselves! The West is the
great devil but on another hand they aren’t, which is why we should trust and believe them, because
once again the West is the devil. The Western world may be the devil, it doesn’t automatically mean
others aren’t too. If Western media would have had any influence on us, it would have been known
for a while. Australian media have never influenced anything on any Pacific Islands. The best proof is
Nauru with the detention centre. Nobody in Nauru cares for what Australian media can say. I don’t
even need to speak about the question of homosexuality. Most Pacific Islands are more likely to be
labelled as homophobic than tolerant countries towards homosexuality, while on another hand New
Zealand, Australia, and even France have promoted tolerance towards homosexuality in this area of
the world. Go to any Pacific Islands to see if anybody has cared for the message of tolerance
promoted by those Western media. So stop believing that Western media has had one day the power
to influence anything on other countries, especially developing countries.”

“Finally, Western media doesn’t mean anything. How many countries are classified as Western
countries? Over 40? Over 50 maybe. Have all those Western countries had media having spoken with
one voice? Only delusional people can affirm it. French media are the same as American media?
That’s something new to me. New Zealand media the same with American media? Really? Because
it’s well-known that New Zealanders are pro-Americans? Of course… What’s the next joke?”

“The reality is that Western media is nothing more than a good tool waved by some countries and
some leaders who want to get something from some developing countries and their citizens.”

3. Does Colonialism still affect the nations that were colonized? Pick a nation and explain the
continuing problems in that nation due nto the history being colonized.

History of colonialism
In antiquity, colonialism was practiced by empires such as Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient
Egypt, and Phoenicia. These civilizations all extended their borders into surrounding and non-
contiguous areas from about 1550 B.C. onward, and established colonies that drew on the physical
and population resources of the people they conquered  in order to increase their own power.
Modern colonialism began during what’s also known as the Age of Discovery. Beginning in the
15th century, Portugal began looking for new trade routes and searching for civilizations  outside of
Europe. In 1415, Portuguese explorers conquered Ceuta, a coastal town in North Africa, kicking off
an empire that would last until 1999.

Soon the Portuguese had conquered and populated islands like Madeira and Cape Verde, and their
rival nation, Spain, decided to try exploration, too. In 1492, Christopher Columbus began looking
for a western route to India and China . Instead, he landed in the Bahamas, kicking off the Spanish
Empire. Spain and Portugal became locked in competition for new territories and took over
indigenous lands in the Americas, India, Africa, and Asia.

 
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England, the Netherlands, France, and Germany quickly began their own empire building overseas,
fighting Spain and Portugal for the right to lands they had already conquered. Despite the growth of
European colonies in the New World, most countries managed to gain independence during the
18th and 19th century, beginning with the American Revolution in 1776 and the Haitian Revolution
in 1781. However, the Eastern Hemisphere continued to tempt European colonial powers.

Starting in the 1880s, European nations focused on taking over African lands, racing one another to
coveted natural resources and establishing colonies they would hold until an international period of
decolonization began around 1914, challenging European colonial empires up to 1975.

Colonial rationale and resistance

Colonial powers justified their conquests by asserting that they had a legal and religious
obligation to take over the land and culture of indigenous peoples. Conquering nations cast their
role as civilizing “barbaric” or “savage” nations , and argued that they were acting in the best
interests of those whose lands and peoples they exploited.

Despite the power of colonizers who claimed lands that were already owned and populated by
indigenous peoples, resistance is an integral part of the story of colonialism. Even before
decolonization, indigenous people on all continents staged violent and nonviolent resistance to their
conquerors.

Benefits and harm

Colonial governments invested in infrastructure and trade and disseminated medical and
technological knowledge. In some cases, they encouraged literacy, the adoption of Western human
rights standards, and sowed the seeds for democratic institutions and systems of government. Some
former colonies, like Ghana, experienced a rise in nutrition and health  with colonial rule, and
colonial European settlement has been linked to some development gains .

However, coercion and forced assimilation often accompanied those gains, and scholars still debate
colonialism’s many legacies . Colonialism’s impacts include environmental degradation, the spread
of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations —issues that can long
outlast one group’s colonial rule.

You bet it does. Let’s take one example, the United States.

Slavery: slavery, degradation of a race of people because of their forced labor in its colonial past and
the color of their skin is alive and well in America.

Along with that is white supremacy and the fascist notions of the superiority of white-skinned
northern Europeans. We are seeing a whole lot of that, especially as it’s being encouraged by a racist
mysogynist narcissist bully of white Eoropean heritage who happens to be the current president of
said country.

Religion: the Puritans left England because their home country thought they were way too obnoxious
to stay and encouraged them to take leave and go to America where they could have religious
“freedom” or they ability to infect the new land with their disgusting religious principles and inflict
their intolerance upon the thinking of a large minority of settlers from Europe in such a way that it
remains a vile poison upon the political and social thought of the nation today.

4.Present ISIS Situation

Does Isis still hold territory?

The majority of the terrorist group's territory, population, revenue, and prestige
came from the territory it held in Iraq and Syria. In Afghanistan, ISIL mostly
controls territorynear the Pakistan border and has lost 87% of its territory since
spring 2015.

Why is there war in Syria?

The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with demonstrations. These demonstrations
were like demonstrations held in other Arab countries, which has been called the
Arab Spring. Protesters in Syria demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-
Assad. His family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971.

Why did the Iraqi civil war start?

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion
ofIraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam
Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency
emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government.

Is Iraq free?
On 9 December 2017, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory
over ISIL after the group lost its territory in Iraq. Iraq is a federal parliamentary
republic consisting of 19 governorates (provinces) and one autonomous region
(Iraqi Kurdistan). The country's official religion is Islam.

How many ISIS fighters were killed?

According to SOHR, U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes have killed over 14,000 people
across Syria, of which: 9,156 dead were ISIL fighters, 320 Al-Nusra
Front militants and other rebels, 169 government soldiers and 4,036 civilians.

Who is the leader of ISIS 2019?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
On 29 April 2019, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was shown in an 18-minute long video
released by an Islamic State media group, his first public appearance for almost five
years.

http://creativelearning.org/blog/2016/11/08/what-is-good-governance/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/world/asia/bhutan-gross-national-happiness-indicator-.html

https://www.google.com/search?ei=IBCgXfv0N47n-
Aa9w6_YDA&q=environmental+conservation&oq=and+environmental+conservation+&gs_l=psy-
ab.1.0.0i22i30l10.50967.50967..52431...0.1..0.128.128.0j1......0....2j1..gws-
wiz.......0i71.uXDWepUAq2I

http://www.gnhcentrebhutan.org/what-is-gnh/history-of-gnh/

https://www.quora.com/How-has-the-influence-of-western-medias-hurt-underdeveloped-nations

https://www.quora.com/What-is-cultural-imperialism-How-does-it-happen

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/colonialism/

https://www.google.com/search?q=Does+Isis+still+hold+territory
%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiv0KbyvpPlAhXl-GEKHcTTAPQQzmd6BAgKEAo

https://www.google.com/search?q=Why+is+there+war+in+Syria
%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiv0KbyvpPlAhXl-GEKHcTTAPQQzmd6BAgKEBM

https://www.google.com/search?q=Is+Iraq+free%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiv0KbyvpPlAhXl-
GEKHcTTAPQQzmd6BAgKECU