The Theory of Imperialism Overpopulation or Political Instability - Research Paper Example

History Table of Contents Introduction 3 British Imperialism 4 US Imperialism 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 Introduction Imperialism hasbeen a greatly debated concept since centuries. In simple words, the term means association of one state with the other and includes the elements of unequal cultural, territorial, social, legal and economical relationship. It is said to be a case of imperialism when a strong and powerful nation controls outside states and territories. The other important feature of imperialism is the domination and subordination. The wealthy nations took every opportunity to conquer and drain the wealth of the subordinated territories by virtue of the governmental and decision making power. Imperialism is also always associated with the autocratic rule of the empires (Johnston, “The Dictionary of Human Geography”). The term ‘empire’ basically denotes those nations, which have or had many of the countries or territories under its control. Few of the leading imperialist nations include Great Britain, United States of America, Russia and France. It is commonly perceived by the experts of the discipline that imperialism has greatly affected the development and the normal standard of living in the subordinate countries for ages. Even after the dominating countries moved back from the conquered nations, the after affects of imperialism continued in lieu of the plights of the citizens of those nations. British Imperialism Among the global imperial powers, Britain deserves special mention. It is often a food for thought for the research scholars that how could such a small nation of Europe successfully rule almost all of the world for years. The history of British Empire builds up as it establishes relationship with Ireland, the America, the Caribbean Islands and India. Great Britain also had deep past of rivalry with the other imperial nations like that of the Netherlands, Portugal, France and Spain. The ‘credit’ of setting up of slave trade also goes to the British Empire of West Indies (the Caribbean) and Africa. Apart from slavery, which is considered as the height of all oppressions, the ill effects of imperialism can also be understood through in-depth study of British Raj in India. One of the fast emerging economies and most promising democracies of the present world, India had been under British rule from 1757 till 1947. Great Britain built relationship with India through trade and formed British East India Company. Soon from the company, the powers were transferred to the government of UK. A country with huge stock of natural resources, India was virtually robbed of its resources. The scholars of the arena remarked that all the virtues (like ‘punctual’ and ‘just’) of the Englishmen were observed only in Britain. In India, they were sheer greedy and vicious. A noted scholar of the discipline, Burke thought that Indian people would never forget the oppressions of the British people (Bakar, “The Detriments of the British Raj: A Closer Look at British Imperialism”). Great Britain almost ruined the spectacular systems present in its subordinate countries for their own purpose. The highly civilized Indian culture with its artistic ability was destroyed as the imperial power tried to rope in European culture and tried to implement those. The British power often tried to take the credit of the various ‘developmental’ works that occurred in the subcontinent around that time like installation of railways, irrigation projects, etc. But the fact is that most of the things were done in order to extract more wealth out of the nation. In fact, many of the bad qualities with which the nation suffered soon after independence like the bribing tendency or the political confusions were result of the British effect. The ruin that the British rule contributed to India can be well understood from the economic figures. In 1600, Great Britain was contributing 1.8% of the global GDP where as India’s contribution was around 22.5%. With more than 100 years of British rule, in 1870 India was reduced to a land of deprivation and famine, while Britain generated 9.1% of GDP (Dalrymple, “Plain Tales from British India”). US Imperialism The United States has been another major imperialistic nation of the world. The imperial show-off of the United States has affected the countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, American Samao, Virgin Islands and Panama Central Zone were the most affected. The feature of American imperialism was much different from its other imperialistic counterparts. United States of America mainly targeted the economic and political power of the nation through military control and did not vouch for geographical control. Argentina was the first nation where US troops were sent, in the year of 1890 and it continues till recent day. To understand the real effects of imperialism, the relationship of imperialism should be studied along with the capitalism. Though many of the scholars believes that capitalism is not dependent upon imperialism but the prime objective of imperialism had been to acquire more wealth. Another distinct attribute of the US imperialism has been the underlying relationship between the government of the nation and the private organization. The aggression of Iraq by the super power has often been related to the rich oil fields of the country. It has been studied observed that Citibank earns 75% of its profits from overseas operations. The cheap labor, low taxes, no compliance to regulations of work environments and benefits and weak labor unions have contributed towards the growth of US dominance, year after year (Parente, “Against Empire”). Conclusion Few of the scholars and supporters of the theory of imperialism tried to depict that civilizing natives has been the burden for the white population. But the reality says a complete different story. According to the reputed learner Parente, the western world has robbed the treasures and assets of the subordinate nations (the Asian, the African and the Latin American) and now they try their best to make things appear different as if it was the fault of the nations for their under-development like that of over population or political instability. References Bakar, Dara. “The Detriments of the British Raj: A Closer Look at British Imperialism”. 03 December, 2009. Gilman School. 22 May, 2008. < http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:_etJb1Ko-yMJ:faculty.gilman.edu/US/Humanities/Humanities_Project_2005-06/Past_Winners/Dara_Bakar.doc+Detriments+of+the+British+Raj:+A+Closer+Look+at+British+Imperialism&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in&client=firefox-a> Dalrymple, William. “Plain Tales from British India”. 03 December, 2009. The New York Review of Books. 26 April, 2007. Johnston, Ronald John. The Dictionary of Human Geography. Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. Parente, Michael. Against Empire. City Book Lights, 1995. Bibliography Campbell, Greg. Blood diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the Worlds Most Precious Stones. Westview Press, 2002. Johnson, Chalmers. Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. Henry Holt, 2004. Johansson, Lars. Producer. Poison Fire. 2008. Margonelli, Lisa. Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline. Doubleday, 2007. Read More