The end of empire and the problem of neocolonialism - Assessing the colonial legacy

8 important questions on The end of empire and the problem of neocolonialism - Assessing the colonial legacy

What factors contributed to the fairly rapid dismantling of territorial empire after World War II?

  • The spread of Western-style nationalist ideology;
  • the emergence of a Western-educated elite who were denied full access to political power;
  • the postwar economic weakness of Western colonial powers;
  • and the opposition of the superpower states to old-style overseas empire

What did the European empire stand for?

  • European empire had stood for decades as the preeminent symbol of national greatness, racial superiority, and economic might.
  • Clothed in the rhetoric of lifting benighted peoples out of their uncivilized habits, the spread of empire was in fact an extension of European power politics, militarism, and economic opportunism. 
  • Empire was largely about perceptions of power, about the formation of cultural values and habits of economic practice that complemented the worldview of the developed states.

What humanitarian result does the end of old-style territorial colonialism have?

  • The end of old-style territorial colonialism and the emergence of hundreds of new sovereign states since the 1950s have strengthened belief in the essential equality of peoples irrespective of skin color or level of scientific, technical, and industrial accomplishment.
  • From 51 original members of the UN in 1945 to 193 at the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century, the principle of equality is embodied in the organization's General Assembly, where voting power has clearly shifted to non-Western developing countries. 
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What struggles did some new nations have?

As new nations have adopted the territorial boundaries established by their former colonial masters, a host of multiethnic states, many too small and too underdeveloped to meet the needs of expanding populations, have struggled against daunting odds to achieve political stability, economic prosperity, and national self-consciousness.

What political system did many postcolonial states adopt?

  • Many postcolonial states began as Western-style parliamentary democracies. Indeed, the Western-educated Asians and Africans who led the independence struggles utilized Western ideas to claim the moral high ground in their quest for autonomy.
  • Lacking any substantive experience in political pluralism and constitutional procedure, many of these governments quickly succumbed, under the strain of economic hardship, to the more familiar paradigm of authoritarian and military rule.

What are venality and authoritarianism compounded with?

Venality and authoritarianism have been compounded by low levels of education, literacy, and technical competence, all essential prerequisities, along with investment capital, to balanced economic development.

What motivated involvement in and influence over the internal affairs of newly independent states during the Cold War? Name examples.

  • During the Cold War, Western and Soviet involvement in and influence over the internal affairs of newly independent states were motivated by the desire to access strategic natural resources while advancing their respective views of a new world order.
  • Most of the Western powers sought to retain economic, military, and cultural links with their former colonies, building unequal relationships whereby developing nations would seek Western financial, military, and technological assistance.
  • The sale of sophisticated military hardware to Cold War client states, for example, became a significant source of revenue for both the US and the USSR.

How do skeptics view the new postcolonial economy?

Skeptics claimed that what appeared to be a marketplace of equal opportunity was actually an unbalanced playing field where fully mature economies exploited developing countries while ascribing economic inequalities to poor decision making on the part of Third World political leaders.

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