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COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Objectives of Imperialism

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InternationalRelations-PSC 201
VU
LESSON 14
COLONIALISM,NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM
What is Imperialism?
Imperialism is the process of extending the rule of government beyond the boundaries of its originalstate.
Imperialismestablishes a relationship, formal or informal, in which one stateuses direct military or
economicmeans, to control the politicalsovereignty of another politicalentity.
Imperialism therefore implies the policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a
means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct control of territories or through
indirectmethods of exerting control on the politics or economies of othercountries. The term is used by
some to describe the policy of a country in maintaining colonies and dominanceover distant lands,
regardless of whether the country calls itself an empire.
Imperialists normally hold the beliefthat the acquisition and maintenance of empires is a positive good,
combined with an assumption of cultural or othersuch superiority inherent to imperial power. However,
imperialismhas often been considered to be an exploitive evil.
Marxisitsuse the term imperialismas Lenin defined it: "thehighest stage of capitalism",specifically the era in
whichmonopoly finance capitalbecomes dominant, forcing the empires to compete amongstthemselves
increasinglyfor control over resourcesand markets all over the world. This control maytake the form of
geopolitical machinations, military adventures, or financial maneuvers.
It is worth noting that Marx himself did not propound a theory of imperialism, and in contrast with later
Marxist thinkers generally saw the colonialism of European powers as having a progressive aspect, rather
than seeing it as the pillage of thosecountries in favor of the European centrecountries.
DistinguishingColonialism fromImperialism
Many writers have used the terms colonialism and imperialism interchangeably, as if there is little difference
betweenthese two phenomena. Yet an important difference between the twophenomena is the presence of
a significant number of settlers from the colonizing power in the colonized state.
Whereassettlement may be the mostimportant feature of colonialism, it is generally acknowledgedthat
colonialism involves much more than the immigration of people from one region to another one.
According to Michael Doyle, colonialism is one of the possible outcomes of imperialism,achieved either by
force, by political collaboration, by economic,social or cultural dependence.
Objectives of Imperialism
·
EconomicGain: to secure raw materials, or gain access to trade routes or to the sea
·
NationalPrestige: imperialism is often portrayed as `manifest destiny' or intrinsic superiority
·
Military or Defense Needs: to gain control over strategicareas
·
SurplusPopulation: over-populatedstates can find reliefthrough migration to colonies
·
`WhileMan's Burden': obligation to civilize savages
·
Marxist-Leninist View: imperialism compelled by control marketsfor surplus productionand
investment, Communists were imperialist too
Examples of Imperialism
US Imperialism: under the guise of the MonroeDoctrine (1823) the US exertedcontrol over Latin America
under the guise of protecting interference of the European powers in the affairs of independent states of
the New World.
Russian Imperialism: initially the imperialistic urgewas confined to contiguous territories but with advent of
the Cold War, Russianimperialism spread to the Asian, Africanand South American continents, filling in
the vacuum left by the decreasing influence of colonial European powers.
Japanese Imperialism: as Japan industrialized andbecame increasingly militarizedprior to WWII, it annexed
parts of Korea and China. Thereafter Japanese imperialistic influence hasprimarily beeneconomic.
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InternationalRelations-PSC 201
VU
SuggestedReadings
Studentsare advised to read the following chapters to develop a better understanding of the various
principals highlighted in this hand-out:
Chapter 14 in `"A Study of International Relations" by Dr. SultanKhan.
Internet Resources
In addition to reading from the textbook, please visit the following web-pages for this lecture, which
provideuseful and interesting information:
Imperialism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism
Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
  2. APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THEORIES IN IR
  3. APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:Traditional Approach
  4. THE NATION-STATE SYSTEM:Further Evolution of Nation-State
  5. THE NATION STATE SYSTEM: BASIC FEATURES OF A NATION-STATE
  6. NATIONAL INTEREST:Criteria for Defining National Interest
  7. NATIONAL INTEREST:Variations in National Interest, Relevant Vocabulary
  8. BALANCE OF POWER (BOP):BoP from a historical perspective
  9. BALANCE OF POWER (CONTINUED):Degree of Polarization, Functions of BoP
  10. DIPLOMACY:How Diplomacy Functions, Traditional Versus Modern Diplomacy
  11. DIPLOMACY (CONTINUED):Diplomatic Procedures & Practices, Functions of Diplomacy
  12. COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Judging Colonization
  13. COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Types of Neo-Colonialism
  14. COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Objectives of Imperialism
  15. NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER:Criticism of IEO, NIEO Activities
  16. NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER:Prerequisites for the NIEO
  17. NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT:Origin of NAM, NAM’s Institutional Structure
  18. NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT (CONTINUED):Cairo Summit, Egypt - 1964
  19. NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT:Criticism of NAM, NAM and Pakistan
  20. THE COLD WAR AND ITS IMPACTS - INTRODUCING THE COLD WAR PHENOMENON
  21. THE COLD WAR AND ITS IMPACTS (CONTINUED):Truman Doctrine, Marshal Plan
  22. THE COLD WAR AND ITS IMPACTS (CONTINUED):End of the Cold War
  23. DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL:History of Disarmament
  24. DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL (CONTINUED):Other Disarmament Efforts
  25. THE RELEVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  26. THE RELEVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (CONTINUED)
  27. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:Need for IGOs, Categorizing IGOs
  28. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (CONTINUED):United Nations, Criticism of the UN
  29. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (CONTINUED):European Union, World Bank
  30. THE ROLE OF DECISION MAKING IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  31. DECISION MAKING (CONTINUED):Rational Actor Model, Group Politics Model
  32. SYSTEMS APPROACH TO IR:Underlying Assumptions, Elements of the System
  33. SYSTEMS BASED APPROACH (CONTINUED) – DISTINCT SYSTEMS IN IR
  34. LIBERALISM AND SOCIAL DEMOCRACY:Neoliberalism
  35. LIBERALISM AND SOCIAL DEMOCRACY (CONTINUED):Liberalism vs. Social Democracy
  36. INTEGRATION IN IR:Preconditions for Integration, Assessing Integration
  37. GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS:Advocates of Globalization
  38. THE GLOBAL DIVIDE:World Social Forum, Can the Global Divide Be Bridged?
  39. FOCUS ON FOREIGN INVESTMENTS:Pro-poor Foreign Investments
  40. CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION:Components of a Conflict
  41. CONFLICT RESOLUTION:Creative response, Appropriate assertiveness
  42. THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT:Global Concern for the Environment
  43. THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT:Environmental Concerns and IR, Some Other Issues
  44. HOW IR DIFFER FROM DOMESTIC POLITICS?:Strategies for altering state behavior
  45. CHANGE AND IR:Continuity in IR, Causality and counterfactuals, IR in a nutshell