Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

OP ED: The Failure of Reconciliation with Dovani or Dovani’s seeming inability to move on from colonial-era politics.
By Dr. Robert E. Morton, Originially Published by the Northminster University Publications - April 5720

The Luthorian government recently announced the end to the Luthorian-Dovani Reconciliation Fund, an initiative which was praised as a landmark imitative by many in both Luthori and in numerous former colonies such as Bianjie, New Englia and others – as it presented an never-seen opportunity, a Western nation apologising for its colonial crimes and offering economic cooperation and development as “reparations.”

As many of us now knows, it wasn’t to be. Prime Minister Schnee, who many claim was the “mastermind” behind the fund’s foundation and was the one who convinced an uneasy Prime Minister Holian-Keaty to pursue the plan.

Now, with the “Mr. Dovani” himself seemingly backing off from his previous idealist ideals in terms of relations between Luthori and Dovani, it seems that a new reality has set in Luthori. As said earlier, the Luthori-Dovani Reconciliation Fund, while hailed as a landmark initiative by many, was also harshly criticised in Luthorian circles specifically. The Tories attacked it as a sign of Labour “kowtowing to foreign leaders”, the election of Jay Parkford in 5616, following the failure of then-Tory leader, Jake Sullivan (now Shadow Home Secretary) to secure an electoral victory against Schnee’s National Labour Party, allowing what would become another 5 years of Labour government, radicalised the anti-fund movement, with the newly-elected leader decrining it as a “living example of our government’s weakness and weak nature”, he pushed around a new idea, where Luthori shouldn’t do anything in terms of colonial apology and reparations.

If you ask a government official, he will tell you that Mr. Parkford’s message is wrong. That Luthori isn’t “weak” by apologising but merely atoning its past actions. For the opposition, it’s merely a Labour pet project, which projects not strength, but weakness on the world stage and is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Now – with the failure of the program, we can say ourselves, why didn’t it work? And I think I might have the answer.

Dovani in general, has still to move from their resentment towards former colonial empires, notably the Luthorian Empire. Of course, having some form of lingering resentment is normal – granted, Luthori colonised and exploited these nations, but it’s been 2.000 years since the collapse of the Luthorian colonial empire – these suspicions still remain in an alarming degree within Dovanian statesmen, with many using anti-Western sentiment to justify failures that have nothing to do with colonial legacy.

Honestly, I’m fearful that Dovani is merely using colonialism and its legacy as an excuse to cover up their own failures as a continent and unite the continent behind a dull and meaningless anti-Western sentiment, stroke artificially by both politicians and states in order to forget about Dovani’s own crimes among itself. 

For 2.000 years, Dovani, Temania and Vascania have seen massacres, wars, even some form of genocides, but do we see these events being brought up in Dovani media or even lingering resentment towards other Dovanian states for the long stories of struggle that has shaped the continent ever since. Instead, Western colonialism is seemingly still a source of notable complaint, with some states such as Yerrawa using anti-Western sentiment and the legacy of Western colonialism as a primary element in their state-sponsored propaganda efforts.

Unfortunately – it seems that one element has been thoroughly ignored by many and doesn’t really draw much of the ire that Western colonialism does and that is...Eastern colonialism. Depending on who you ask, Eastern nations also engaged in the colonisation of Dovani, notably, Hulstria and Gao-Soto (while the former can be considered “Western” in some regard, the latter is undoubtely recognised as an “Eastern nation”), which owned the second-largest colonial possession in Dovani, second only to the Luthorian colonial empire, Yingdala, after swiftly occupying Luthorian possessions following the collapse of authority in the Luthorian territories and their subsuquent collapse into anarchy, treated these regions as colonies of the Son of Heaven. But do you see some lingering anti-Yingdalan sentiment within these nations? No, not really, rather the opposite, Yingdala was recognised as the de facto “paramount power” in both Dovani and, the entire Eastern World – at least until that position of predominance was usurped by the Xsampans due to their rise and Yingdala’s decline from their dominant position.

If both Hulstria and Yingdala seemingly get a free pass for their past colonial deeds, why are the Western nations still vilified for their role? Is it due to the length of the colonial period, Luthorian colonisation and Hulstrian rule both happened in relatively similar timeframes. Why are Western nations still subject to a weird anti-Western sentiment in Dovani, a sentiment that also translate into government offices and shaped foreign policies.

The pan-Dovanianism ideals are wrote in a way that explicitely argues against foreign involvement in Dovani, specifically from Westerners. While this might seem a little hypocritical considering New Verham and Xsampa’s ascension into the (de facto) Western-led Altéa Accords (led de facto by former colonial power – Egelion), nevertheless it’s still a representation of the lingering anti-Western sentiment reigning in Dovani to this very day.

It’s simple – Dovani still uses colonialism as an excuse for their blatant failures throughout the last two millennia, blaming the Luthorians is still an easier excuse than admitting that Dovanians themselves, made the mess – blaming colonial fabrications remains a more potent excuse rather than admitting guilt. So-called “anti-imperialist” or “anti-colonialist” policies are proned by numerous Dovanian states as a way to reinforce their opposition to the Western World, who they see as the “responsible” for Dovani’s continued difficulties into the modern day. Unfortunately, this behaviour is seemingly quite backfiring on everyone, as the Luthorians are losing patience with this lingering sentiment which sees its interactions with Dovani states being filled with doubt, suspicions at its goals – ultimately leading to the Luthorian Prime Minister’s controversial decision to “pull the plug”, as the Telegraph stated on the Luthori-Dovani Reconciliation Fund.

I have a question for my Dovani readers, whoever that might be.

Is the Western World responsible for Dovani’s issues that it has encountered during the last 2.000 years?

In my view, no, and it’s quite unfortunate that this view continues to poison bilateral relations (specifically with Luthori) - this old and inadequate view of the Western world will continue to be a barrier between Dovani and respect in the world stage. Can we recognise that the West (notably Luthori) made crimes? Yes. Are we responsible for what happens now? No. Should colonialism still be at the forefront of relations between Luthori and Dovani? No.

Hopefully – this paper will encourage the creation of a debate within Luthori and Dovani itself about the place of anti-Western sentiment in their national consciousness and hopefully, lead into way to fix these issues – unfortunately, such changes can only come from within Dovani – which needs to finally let go of 2.000 years and stop its hypocrisy on colonial history against the Empire and Western nations in general.

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