Imperialism and Colonization Essay

colony and imperialism argon inherently associated with an economic shape that is meant to gain the miserliness of the colonizing power (herein referred to as benefactor state) by providing target trade for manufactured goods and source of warm materials. During the twentieth century almost colonies gained freedom or autonomy resulting in a disruption of the economic model associated with small town and imperialism. A current trend is worldwideisation which necessitates a get by reversal of the economic role of states.The role has changed from serving as a foodstuff for the benefactor state to manufacturing products using inexpensive labor that ar and wherefore change back to the benefactor state. Many states (particularly in Africa) befool not been able to adjust to this change and guard, thus, been caught between closure and globalization without pissed economic ties to new(prenominal) nations. To minimize conflict within a state and between states, the respec tive nations must lay down ties that are strong tolerable to transcend national boundaries.This is plain when examining global trends such(prenominal) as colonization and globalization which tend to focus nations that would normally be at odds on a common goal. In the case of colonization, natives of tenanted territories are inclined to unite against the occupying power. A current trend towards globalization has promoted nations to unite because of an increased economic dependence between states. The hold (albeit untrue) that thither has never been a war between two countries having McDonalds underscores the immensity of economic ties that can transcend national boundaries.A History of Imperialism and Colonization During the height of colonialism, Britain state direct over a quarter of the land and virtuoso three of the existence. Combined, Britain and eight some separate(a) European countries control direct approximately 84% of the earths surface. (Conklin 1) What fact ors allowed Europeans to exert such a strong influence on other parts of the world? More crucially, what were the motivations for subjugating the lay of the world that endure make such a profound impact even in the moderne world? J. A. Hobson gets the driving force behind olonization as the investor who cannot find at home the lucrative use he seeks for his capital, and insists that his Government should help him to profitable and secure investments abroad. (Hobson 15) On the practical side of colonization, armies are needed and colonization cant occur until an industrial revolution begins. Industrialization requires cheesy labor, a navy, a target market to buy surplus products and raw materials. Without a bad enough target audience for selling goods, the industrial revolution would have been stymied and Britains economy and industry could not have advanced as rapidly.Essentially, raw materials are shipped out of colonies to the colonizing country, manufactured into a sin less product using cheap labor and then sold back to the colonies at profit. (Kollenbroich) Undoubtedly, there are other factors that motivated European powers to colonize Christianity, national pride and civilizing those perceived as savages to name some. However, there is no denying that most colonies became economically dependent on the colonizing country. This implies that economic reasons, irrespective of other motivating factors for colonization, were a driving force in colonization.In fact, the factors such as Christianity, national pride and the mission to civilize would precise much go legislate in hand with the economic motivation and reply to conceal the economic reasons from the general public. (Kollenbroich) M. K. Ghandi agrees with that statement, England is a nation of shopkeepers, (attributed to Napoleon) and goes on to describe how the British, hold whatever dominions they have for the sake of their commerce. (Ghandi 25) Continuing on the resembling note, Ghan di explains that the British view the world as a vast market for their goods.According to Ghandi, the British didnt conquer India per se rather the sufferance of British commerce, lifestyle and law allowed the British to govern India. For this very reason, Ghandi promotes a lifestyle lacking in machinery. What did India do before these articles were introduced? Precisely the said(prenominal) should be done today. (Ghandi 28-29) In Ghandis opinion, removing economic ties to Britain and rest of Europe, India would last attain sovereignty. Clearly, the economy plays a vital role in colonization and is a strong motivation by providing raw materials and markets to sell finished goods.The question that begs to be asked is How were Europeans able to convince or force other parts of the world to accept colonization? The answer has everything to do with image. If natives didnt believe that the Europeans were superior, revolts would have been much more widespread. In turn, European milita ries would have been spread excessively thin and outnumbered. The key to preventing this lies in creating the illusion for natives that the Europeans are superior in every way and resistance is futile. The style of notice is as important as the fact the Europeans are in control of the colony.Typically the French would use a divide and conquer strategy. They would exploit in French administrators and subject the natives to French culture. This was effective because the French a great deal grouped tribes or groups of natives that didnt get along. Instead of encountering the French, the natives would fight amongst themselves. On the other hand, the British would preserve parts of the local placement and choose natives leaders. This was effective for the British because it gave the natives the illusion of a certain squeeze aim of autonomy while the British remained in control. Kollenbroich) The socio-economic model in most colonies was noticeably lacking a middle class. On one h and there are the natives who are often dirt lamentable by European standards and on the other hand there are the business concern and elite classes that are continually sucking profit out of the colonies. This is approximately true of even Europe because of industrialization which left hand a large lower class working in the factories for minimal wages. The Trend of globalization The push towards a more global economy has several important consequences.Many states that were once colonizing powers have seen their role shift to that of economic powerhouses with global cities that serve as command and control centers for the economy. (Sassen, 4) In the wake of globalization, an increase number of firms have centralized their business presence in the business district areas of global cities and placed numerous factories in unconnected states to take favor of lower labor prices. The placement or acquisition of factories in other states is known as foreign direct investment (FDI). The five study exporters of capital (joined States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Ger many a(prenominal)) account for 70 percent of FDI (Sassen 11). According to Sassen, the festering in FDI has been embedded in the internationalization of production of goods and services. (Sassen 10) This is readily evident when considering the number of factories world built in Latin American and southeastward Asian. The semiconductor explosion couplight-emitting diode with other industries choosing to locate in Asia has led to an emergence of Southeast Asia as a crucial transnational aloofness for production. (Sassen 11) Prominent American companies have increasingly moved the manufacturing of products offshore to take advantage of more lax labor laws and significantly lower wages. The musical passage from colonization to globalization has seen the role of foreign countries move from buying products to creating products cheaply. The political economy of intervention has played a more d ominant role in foreign policy and will continue to do so in the future. For decades the United States and Soviet Union managed to see capitalism and communism spread, respectively.The struggle played out both economically and militarily in many countries throughout the world and is important because more often than not decolonized countries would be in need of economic and sometimes military intervention. More recently, the United States and other countries have faced decisions about whether to intervene in situations such as Somalia and other African states. Interventions such as these are often viewed by the much of the public as too gnomish too late and this can be attributed, at least in part, to a lack of economic interest in the conflict.In fact, intervention be millions and sometimes billions of dollars which, in many politicians eyes, is not justified. To make matters worse, politicians are very careful about labeling conflicts as massacres or genocide because as short as a conflict is labeled as such, it ethically requires intervention. What happens then to a state caught between colonization and globalization that has little or no economical tie to the global economy? If the conflict receives enough attention on the world stage and there is enough bloodshed, then there is a good chance that a peacekeeping force will intervene.However, the chance of intervention in a conflict with little or no bloodshed is much slimmer and may never materialize. upshot Study Zimbabwe According to the International Crisis Group, Zimbabwes economy is hemorrhaging. (Zimbabwe 5) Zimbabwes economy has shrunk approximately 25 percent since 1998, inflation is more than 228% percent (Zimbabwe CIA) and unemployment is high than 60 percent. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has decreased from 436 million USD in 1998 to 4. 5 million USD. The FDI alone is indicative of an ever increasing to-do between todays global economy and the economy of Zimbabwe. whatever economic tie s that Zimbabwe has with the rest of the world are slowly wasting aside with a decrease in gold production and decreased foreign aid. In fact, reducing hours and production volume is now the norm and has led to a scarcity of basic commodities within the country. To make a poor situation even worse, the government of Zimbabwe has been directing farm seizures that have led to 95 percent of large scale farmers either stopping trading operations or being severely disrupted. The food production has declined by 40 percent and prompted a United Nations (UN) report that warns of the potential of famine.If predictions hold true, Zimbabwes harvests will not be enough to feed the entire population Zimbabwe will be forced to import food. The government has gone as far as deploying army and police units to deal with riots, should they break out. (Zimbabwe) The govern ZANU-PF party has been systematically eliminating opposition from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The ZANU-PF has bee n impeach of distributing food to party members rather than equally which means that even children of MDC supporters have food withheld.ZANU-PF supporters, civil servants and traditional leaders are blocking MDC supporters from getting maize It is clear that some schemes have been discriminatory for months without the donor being aware. (Zimbabwe 7) Thus far, the rest of the world has been passive about the happenings in Zimbabwe. In part, this can be attributed to the need to intervene if a country or countries declare a humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. As noted earliest the FDI has dramatically declined resulting in essentially no economic ties between Zimbabwe and the rest of the world.More than likely, aid or intervention will not take place without a crisis that places Zimbabwe in the center of the world stage. Zimbabwe is just one former colony of many (in Africa and other parts of the world) that gained independence and left behind the imperialistic economy. Unfortunately , Zimbabwe has gaitped out of one economic model and failed to step into the global economy. This is evident in the dramatically decreased FDI and production as well as the lack of intervention from other states. Focus on Former African Colonies World War II left the European powers (with the exception of Portugal) scrambling to leave Africa.As alluded to earlier, colonizing is an expensive business that takes enormous resources and at last is profitable for a relatively small number people. Most European colonies in Africa were never as profitable as had been hoped for couldnt be justified like India and some other colonies. The bad name attached to imperialism by Hitler helped accelerate the process in Africa as well as other parts of the world. Due to a lack of economic motivation capable of transcending national boundaries, many former colonies have descended into civil wars and other disputes between nations within the state.As demonstrated with Zimbabwe, this conflict is no t of necessity militarily (although this is often the case) carried out and may be something as august as withholding food or other basic commodities from a portion of the population. Countless other African states such as Somali, Uganda, Liberia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda and the congo have had or continue to have conflicts between nations. Many countries in Africa are lacking a solid economy that isnt dominate by a single sector such as agriculture.