Imperialism, in the words of Hans Joachim Morgenthau, the author of the famous book Politics Among Nations is ‘the expansion of state power beyond its borders’. It has gone through many changes and tactics since its conception from military imperialism to colonialism, neo-colonialism, economic imperialism, structural imperialism, cultural imperialism, technological imperialism and terrorism. It has been a threat all through the 15th. to 18th. centuries, when Britain, France, Holland, Portugal and Spain created their colonies in the Virgin lands, South Asia and the East Indies. Russia, Italy, Germany and the USA joined this race during the 19th. century. WWII, which bestowed independence to many trapped countries, also gave new impetus to imperialism. Thus, novel ways were applied to subjugate the former colonies. The Cold War ended into virtual unipolarity. However, the world has become multi-polar again.
After the fall of the long-established European Empires in the wake of WWI and WW2, America and Russia emerged as major imperialists. Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security advisor to Jimmy Carter, truly expressed that ‘the three grand imperatives of the US imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together’. What ailed the US to invade Korea and Vietnam? Who will be made responsible if North Korea becomes nuclear? How many WMDs have been found in Iraq? Who are preparators and actors of the protracted war on terror, ISIS and the hitmen? Indubitably, the US has worked as a rogue state, and is still sniffing all around like greyhound to fulfill its interests.
Westerns’ calling themselves as Herrenvolk on the basis of their civilization and white complexion is misguided, wrong and illogical. What did the Europeans call themselves when they were living in Dark Ages when they were barbarians and hunters? From where and how have they learnt the sciences, skills and arts of living?
The developed civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Sindh came into being more than 2,000 years before Christ. What a mess that now the imperialists are civilizing those who once taught them. They were Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan who introduced the Asiatic and African lands to the Europeans and paved ways for the imperialists to come, crush and control.
The imperial America so gradually exterminated the Native Americans that they are nearly wiped out now. Same goes for the aborigines of Australia. Spain destroyed the Etezek, Inca and Maya civilizations. The Cribs and Arawaks of Caribbean were viciously massacred. Same happened with the Sioux, Lakota and Cherokee tribes. The Maori tribe faced this issue in New Zealand. The British king George III announced that head money for a male, woman, and child Native American below 12 years will be paid forty and twenty pounds respectively. Trail of Tears is one of the shameful parts of American history. History is witness that the original inhabitants of all these areas were more developed, civilized and expert in the methods of cultivation. They were more well-nurtured than the present day wealth seeking Imperialists.
Slaves were abducted from the shores of Africa. They were forced to work and traded. The imperial and then colonial powers multiplied their incomes on the labor of these slaves. They sucked resources of the occupied countries so that self-sufficient countries turned barren and the aborigines died due to famines and contagious diseases spread by the settlers.
Hindustan has also observed many such droughts and famines. Why are antiques and other valuable items of the Sub-Continent placed in British museums and libraries? Imperial powers have so swallowed the wealth of African and Asian countries that these countries are continuously in the whirl of destitution.
Albert Einstein once said that ‘the economic anarchy of capitalist societies as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evil’. And truly, it is the fruit of imperialism. Spinning Jenney by Hargreaves in 1764, Steam Engine by Watts in 1779, Water Frame by Art Wright in 1769, Mule by Mattan in 1779 and Power Loom by Cort Wright in 1785 made the imperialist ambitions easier.
The capitalists started to wring the poor countries and labourers through these inventions. Local industries were halted, banned and exceedingly taxed. Colonies were used for raw material. Self-sufficient China was injected with opium. Railway tracks were built up to import grabbed raw material and export finished goods. The countries which are today called the “third world” are the direct creations of imperialists’ brutalities. Ernest Mondale accounts that Europeans looted goods worth more than one thousand million pounds.
Imperialism always searches for moral grounds to destroy and rule. It has somehow found this in religion, manifest destiny, white man burden, Darwinism, Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism and the war against terrorism.
Israel engaging in violence in the name of making its borders safe. Propaganda is the best art of imperialism. Old imperialism was vivid but its present shapes are eyewash, attacking from the behind. Countries were directly attacked for subjugation and suppression and people were almost aware of the cruelties, exploitation and hardships. Consequently, resistance movements were started but now its molestation is so complicated that it takes oodles of time to understand it. As a result, movements against imperialism and its new forms are tapering. Meanwhile, the masses revolt against their own governments which further results in social anarchy, political chaos, economic devastation and dictatorships. It is easy for the imperial powers to deal countries through dictators and monarchs, thus, they dictate, promote, protect and replace them as per interests. Globalization is such a phenomenon that it floats and transports both good and bad things. It has internationalized the bane of imperialism as well.
Unfortunately, as was said by Leon Trotsky, a Marxist and founding leader of the Red Army, ‘our planet is being turned into a filthy and evil-smelling imperialist barrack’. America has always benefitted from the wars except the one with Vietnam, thus it always imposes war on the weaker states, as through wars it gets new markets, amplifies weapons sales, flourishes its economy, creates deterrence and havoc and keeps control over the world and its resources. The contemporary conflicted world is its best illustration. The creation and usage of the terrorists and non-state actors is another tool of the capitalists. Imperialists in this day and age design to have independent states with weaker governments to rule indirectly. The Arab Spring was actually the saturation from the old dictators and their replacement with new buddies. The present war in the Middle East is also a chapter of the imperial legacy. NASA is making headways in space exploration, but is militarizing it as well. Space and cyber supremacy and abuse are the other tools of imperial objectives.
The practice of disdaining of the other nations by the imperialists must have an end. Peace throughout the world is impossible as long as there is imperialism in any form, contour or facet. Liberation from imperialism lies in political consciousness among the deprived nations, their sovereign and competent governments and emancipation from the new-fangled paraphernalia of imperialism. The dilapidated, tattered and ramshackle nations have to come forward to unshackle themselves from the oppressions of imperialism. All the organizations like NAM, OIC, SAARC, AU, etc. need to unite under a new flag as the UN is merely the imperialists’ voice. The UN has also miserably failed in maintaining peace and protecting the rights of the weaker states in the world, especially Muslim countries.
