The United States and Neocolonialism

Globalization as Neo-Colonialism: American’s Modern Corporation Economic Expansion and Exploits Kinkade Barreiro HIST 307 Colonialism had a major impact on the global landscape. Subjugated populations across the world found themselves in worse conditions than before their capitalist invaders had reached them. On the condition of these countries, Che Guevara, a 20th century revolutionary remarks, We, politely referred to as "underdeveloped", in truth, are colonial, semi-colonial or dependent countries. We are countries whose economies have been distorted by imperialism, which has abnormally developed those branches of industry or agriculture needed to complement its complex economy. "Underdevelopment", or distorted development, brings a dangerous specialization in raw materials, inherent in which is the threat of hunger for all our peoples. We, the "underdeveloped", are also those with the single crop, the single product, the single market. A single product whose uncertain sale depends on a single market imposing and fixing conditions. That is the great formula for imperialist economic domination.1 Colonialism would graduate into neocolonialism, but not much would change in the exploitation of native populations. The United States has taken a central role in the practice of neocolonialism. The U.S. has continued to live out the spirit and sins of colonialism through neocolonialism and has seen the practices of colonialism be replicated through the exploitation of native populations, the U.S. and its neocolonial tendencies, and the negative outcomes of the United States’ neocolonialist practices. Neocolonialism, like colonialism, is a problematic practice for all of the societies involved. Dependence theory, the central theory in neocolonialist economics, points out the two countries which are involved in the practice of neocolonialism. In the center, there are the wealthy countries, and the poor countries make up the periphery. Neocolonialism defiles and violate the resources of the poor countries to invigorate the economies of the wealthy countries. Guevara, Che, “Cuba: Historical exception or vanguard in the anticolonial struggle?”, Marxists.Org, The Che Reader Ocean Press, April 9th, 1961, https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1961/04/09.htm 1 The theory also blames the poverty in these poor countries on their involvement with the global economy. There is also a two-way relationship between the wealthy and poor countries where the underdevelopment of the periphery is the result of development in the center. 2 The United States has been, indirectly, one of the largest proponents of neocolonialist policy in the last century and a half. The overt racism on display in the United States at the end of the 19th century can be seen in a poem by poet Rudyard Kipling titled, “The White Man’s Burden”. The poem promotes American imperialism in the Pacific and beyond in a similar way that Britain once had. The U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt, commented on the poem, “rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view.” 3 In World War One, the U.S. would begin with an attitude of neutrality, but would enter the war after the Zimmerman Telegram. The war though, while popularly thought to have been in response to a threat on the United States, would be called “a war for empire” by W. E. B. DuBois, a civil rights activist and historian from the early 20th century.4 The war would end, and the re-allotment of fallen empires would be seen as one of the main issues in the drafting of a treaty in which would be the distribution of colonized land. 5 Woodrow Wilson, the president at the time, would be heralded for his work during World War One. Looking at his time under Wilson, the most decorated Marine during his presidency, Smedley Darling Butler, would characterize his work as racketeering and gangster. He would say, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it...I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American 2 Mandel, Earnest, "Semicolonial Countries and Semi-Industrialised Dependent Countries", (New International, New York), p.149-175. 3 Kipling, Rudyard, “The White Man’s Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899.”, History Matters, Doubleday, 1929, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478/ 4 Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States, (New York, HarperCollins, 2003), p. 363. 5 Zinn, p. 359 oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street ... Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents. 6 The work of America at the beginning of the 20th century in foreign policy would be characterized as colonial if not neocolonial. The neocolonial spirit, though, is not only characteristic of the U.S. in the past. Modern U.S. foreign policy is still riddled with neocolonial practice. The U.S. and its interest in oil in the Middle East has led to one of the most atrocious examples of neocolonialism in the last two decades. A letter written in 1998 from Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, former Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Defense Policy Board, respectively, to President Bill Clinton reads, It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam (Hussein) does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction … a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard … The only acceptable strategy is … to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy. 7 The U.S.’ interest in occupation of the Middle East has and always will be for the economic gain that comes through control of oil. This not only shows that the U.S. is engaging in neocolonial activity, but also that the U.S. is disregarding the safety and livelihood of the peripheral people there for their economic interest in the oil that the countries it has occupied supply. In the U.S.’ occupation of Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, there have been an estimated 244,124 - 266,427 Darlington Butler, Smedley, “Smedley Butler on Interventionism”, Federation of American Scientists, 1933, https://fas.org/man/smedley.htm 6 Jhaveri, Nayna, “Petroimperialism: US Oil Interests and the Iraq War”, Department of Geography, University of Washington, March 3rd, 2004 https://dk-media.s3.amazonaws.com/AA/AT/gambillingonjusticecom/downloads/275821/Petroimperialism-_US_oil_interests_and_the_Iraq_War.pdf 7 civilian casualties. These people have all died, without any interest or involvement in the war, solely for the security of, “a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil...”. 8 The economic theory of capitalism, through the practice of neocolonialism, is put before the lives of people around the world on a daily basis. Through the exploitation of the peripheral populations, the U.S.’ actions in conjunction with its neocolonial tendencies, and the negative outcomes of the United States’ neocolonialist practices, the trends of colonialism and its sins can be seen. The United States has taken a central role in the practice of neocolonialism over that last century and a half. Like with colonialism, subjugated populations across the world have found themselves in worse conditions than before their capitalist invaders had reached them. Crawford, Neta C., “Human Cost of the Post-9/11 Wars: Lethality and the Need for Transparency”, Watson Institute International and Public Affairs, Brown University, 2018, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2018/Human%20Costs%2C%20Nov%208%202018% 20CoW.pdf 8 Bibliography Crawford, Neta C. “Human Cost of the Post-9/11 Wars: Lethality and the Need for Transparency”. Watson Institute International and Public Affairs, Brown University, 2018. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2018/Human%20Costs%2C %20Nov%208%202018%20CoW.pdf Darlington Butler, Smedley. “Smedley Butler on Interventionism”. Federation of American Scientists, 1933, https://fas.org/man/smedley.htm Guevara, Che. “Cuba: Historical exception or vanguard in the anticolonial struggle?”. Marxists.Org, The Che Reader Ocean Press, April 9th, 1961. https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1961/04/09.htm Jhaveri, Nayna. “Petroimperialism: US Oil Interests and the Iraq War”. Department of Geography, University of Washington, March 3rd, 2004. https://dkmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/AA/AT/gambillingonjusticecom/downloads/275821/Petroimperialism-_US_oil_interests_and_the_Iraq_War.pdf Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899.”. History Matters, Doubleday, 1929. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478/ Mandel, Earnest. "Semicolonial Countries and Semi-Industrialised Dependent Countries". (New International, New York), p.149-175. Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States, (New York, HarperCollins, 2003), p. 363.