Colonisation and the European society

The concept of colonization refers to a situation whereby a country controls another, in a direct sense.

In this case, the country that domineers over the other is referred to as a colonial state, whereas the country under the yoke of colonization is referred to as a colony. On the other hand, decolonization refers to a situation whereby a colonial state cedes away the power and the actual act of colonization so that the colony becomes independent.The independence of a state is mainly epitomized by the country (the former colony) having its own constitution and its own government. Consequently, the free state is said to be totally sovereign in the sense that it has a geographical expanse under its control. The geographical expanse or territory includes land, any water body and the space that falls under the domain of that country.

At the same time, it is based on the concept of International Law and Relations that the encroachment of any of the above elements of geographical domains is totally proscribed.Most of the countries in the European society came to cede away their colonies in the second half of the 20th century, with these countries being the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, among others. On the other hand, the ceding away of these colonial territories was not a rosy affair for the colonial countries, given the fact that the exercise became very costly to the former colonial masters, with the cost of this feat trickling right into the economic, social and political spheres of these countries. The costs are dealt on later.

Background.It has been argued that the ceding away of colonies by the colonial countries is a feat that became very costly to the colonial countries. Historians, political scientists and economists point out that the colonial masters such as Britain had already foreseen the losses that would stem from the above feat, and that this is why the colonial masters tried as much as they could, to hold on to these colonies (Chall 2005, 325).The lucidity in this sentiment is seen in the fact that over 97% of the countries that achieved the  independence did so, only after staging a spirited and protracted armed struggle.

It is still held by this same group that the losses that were incurred became too much and that this was best epitomized by the European countries taking to revert to a new form of colonialism that would help them siphon resources from their former colonies, and this being by name, neocolonialism.Research objectives.This research paper has been written with an overall intention of establishing the fact that decolonization for the European countries such as Britain and her protégés was an affair that has proved too costly to an extent that these countries resorted back to a new form of colonialism known as neocolonialism. The relevance of the paper is underscored by the fact that it seeks to point out the best way out of the problem for the neocolonial countries. This means that the paper dissects time frame because it takes to analyze the past, in order to foresee the future.Research methods.

The research method that has been used in this paper has mainly taken the form of scrutinization of secondary data. This secondary data entail largely, articles and magazines. After thorough reflection of all that has been studied and put down in the literature review section, the paper takes to tackle the concepts that have been left out in the Literature Gap. A collection of all the thoughts that have been accrued in this topic are discussed in the Findings section.

All the Findings that have been realized are then spelled out in the Recommendations section. The Recommendations Section on the other hand is a section that makes the proposals on the measures that should be carried out so as to realize a panacea out of the plague of decolonization and neocolonialism.Research Questions.In order to realize stability and to keep a clear focus on the topic of discussion, the paper is guided by a few questions. These questions are: What are the socio- economic costs of decolonization that Britain as a former colonizer and her European protégés have incurred? What prospects have been handed down to the same European countries that take to entrench neocolonialism as away of realizing their interests? What is the best way out, if at all there is a way out? The answer to these questions forms the very essence of the essay.

CHAPTER 2.This section contains the heart of the paper, given that it contains the very arguments that have been leveled out by scholars. At the same time, it holds the synthesis of the issues that have been discussed in the Findings section.Literature Review.Literature review on the consequence of decolonization.

It has been mentioned by Grilli (2000, 75) that the immolation of colonialism at the behest of freedom for the colonized is a measure that has only enhanced the reduced level of industrial activity. This is because, a country like Britain that was extracting natural resources from the colonies such as the eastern Africa region, and other parts of the world such as India, could no longer accrue these resources, given the fact that the Colonies were now independent.To the above effect, Britain became subject to lapses in the supply of coffee, tea, rubber, cotton and other resources. This portrayed losses for Britain, given that one of its sources of income was the processing of the coffee beans, and the selling of the same globally at exorbitant rates. The profitability in this venture was also bolstered by the fact that the coffee and tea that Britain was extracting from the Eastern Africa region is the best in the world.

In addition to this, there were (and still are) very few countries  industrialized enough to own the coffee, tea, cotton and rubber processing machineries (Collins 2001, 211).In a nutshell, it is a well established fact that the above situation led to the fall and decline of surplus capital for Britain and other European Societies. This was due to the reduced level of supplies of raw materials to Britain.It must be kept in mind that decolonization is a phenomenon that occurred juxtaposed with the movement of Black Nationalism under leadership of black leaders like William Du Bois (Fuchs and Stuchtey 2007, 41).

Among one of the items that were being championed for, was the rather heated and still prevalent, reparation for the Africans. This state of affairs put a lot of economic strain on the UK government and the rest of the colonies, as they were forced to make the socio- economic resources at the disposal of the Africans and the Indians who at once lived under the status of slaves in the European communities. The situation was not made any better with the rising tide of population growth as the European citizens who had once lived in the colonies were compelled to return to the motherland (Findlay and O'Rourke 2002, 233).The post decolonization phase: The neocolonial stage.It is maintained by the Atlantic Council of the United States (2002, 200) that it is because of the losses that were incurred by the European society that these countries have taken to institute another variant and perhaps the most insidious variant of colonialism and this being, neocolonialism. It is on this backdrop that the European countries and the rest of other Superpowers have come up with International economic Institutions such the two Breton Woods Institutions.

These two institutions are the International Monetary Funds and the World Bank, which shall be acronymed heretofore, as the IMF and the WB, respectively.Through the above institutions, Britain and her protégés have been able to impose conditions that are geared towards supporting her interests at the expense of the interests of the poor countries. For instance, for every cent that is lent to the Developing countries, there are conditions that are imposed on the underdogs. This situation has enabled the European countries to realize profitability.

It is on this backdrop that Britain for instance has been able to extend her military and training base to other countries (Zarka 1999, 199). This same state of affairs has been important in making the European countries more powerful as the oversee solders and military personnel form another arm of the invisible government that keeps the mother countries posted on all that is taking place in the neocolonized countries.Literature Gap.Although the above authors have produced a lot of insight on the results that were experienced by Britain and the rest of the European communities by carrying out decolonization, yet there are evident pitfalls in the work. The gaps are filled in this section.Gaps left on the consequences of decolonization for Britain and the European countries.

In the first case, there is no mention of the huge losses or expenses that were incurred by these countries as a result of adopting decolonization. To be more specific, Britain for instance was exposed to more responsibilities as the former colonial masters were prevailed upon to assume responsibility over the former colonies, so as to ensure that these countries are on the right path to development.To the above effect, Britain found herself between a rock and a hard place as she had lead in the number of colonies that were acquired by the European nations. It is on this premise that the Commonwealth still remains a sole responsibility that falls under the jurisdiction of Britain. Though the responsibility may not be purely financial, yet the cost of orchestrating these meetings and paying the employees thereof, remains a yoke on the shoulder of the British government (Eugene and Sonnenburg 2000, 100).

At the same time, all the above scholars in their dexterity to spell out the consequences of decolonization fail to point out the internal wrangles and the tension that marred all the European taskmasters as the Black Nationalism took the center stage of world affairs, under the tutelage of the aforementioned black leaders such as William Du Bois and Booker T. Washington.Although these leaders advocated for the use of non violent means as a way of agitating for the entrenchment of the rights of Africans in the constitution, yet, the increased consciousness by blacks always was coupled with spates of violence. Due to the snail paced rate at which the dominantly white government took the matters seriously, other aggravated blacks took to staging arm to arm combats as others downed their industrial tools. The above state of affairs left Brian and her fellow colonizers unstable internally- a situation that was mutually exclusive with that of economic soundness and development.

Gaps left on the consequences of post decolonization (neocolonial) phase for Britain and the European countries.The aforementioned scholars when analyzing the consequences of neocolonialism,  have failed to mention that the UK and the rest of the European countries still benefit from the international institution such as World Trade. All these countries in the international trade passed a bill that trade tariffs be negated. At the same time, the same countries in their DOHA agreements prevailed upon the WTO to proscribe the issuance of government subsidies to small scale farmers and industrialists (Etemad 2003, 98).The above situation has brought about gains for the European countries at the expense of the developing economies.

  This is not only true given that three fourths of these nations issue these government subsidies, but, this is also true, given the fact that the farmers and the industrialists in the developing economies are left shortchanged as they have very small economic and technological base. This leaves the products from the European countries flooding the international market, and thus killing the industrial and agricultural sectors of the developing economies. In turn this leads to the over reliance on European goods and services.Findings.

It is binding that it be taken to stock, the glaring contrast that stands between the Decolonization stage and the post decolonization (neocolonial) stage. Whereas the decolonization stage is marked with the remarkable incurring of losses by Britain and other colonial masters, the neocolonial stage is marked with the rapid realization of gains as capital flows from the periphery (the former colonies that are still developing) to the European countries.This means that at the moment, all ghe losses that were incurred as a result of decolonization have already been annulled to an extent that the European communities are at the moment realizing profit. The underpinnings that enable this situation are: the technological and economic advancement of the European countries; and the present policies of international relations and trade.