Western Imperialism?

Question

I'm writing a paper for a class and are having problems coming up with reasons why Western Imperialism was good. Yes I have to agrue that it was good.

The question reads: "Did Western Imperialism destroy non-western prospects to achieve prosperity and freedom."

Any help would be great. Oh and wikipedia isn't any help, teacher has banned us from using it.

Answer 1

Sadly as it is, there were very few non-western prospects to achieve prosperity and freedom (North America being the most likely exception). The West itself learned the value of individual liberty, limited government, separation of powers and all that very slowly and relatively recently. Until then, the choice was pretty much between a brutal tyranny and a more brutal one...

This said, take a look at this:

The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation
Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson and Simon Johnson
December 2001, American Economic Review, volume 91, pp. 1369-1401.

http://econ-www.mit.edu/faculty/download_pdf.php?id=144

Also, consider the unintended consequences of European imperialism, such as introduciton of maize in Africa...

Answer 2

Compared to the past, there is little western imperialism remaining. More and more countries who either prospered or suffered under western imperialism (and I would say most of them did suffer) have now found their freedom. India would be a good example of a country that has broken away from British imperialism to become a great nation.
So, as a simple answer to the question, western imperialism did often destroy non-western prosperity and freedom, but did not necessarily destroy the prospects for these.

Answer 3

First, you have to establish what time period she's placing Western imperialism in, and what societies she is considering Western.

If she's talking about European imperialism in the 19th century, then you can argue that the Europeans brought an infrastructure to lands that didn't have an infrastructure before. And that without that infrastructure, it wouldn't have been possible for those countries to acheive prosperity and freedom because the rest of the world would have been so far ahead of it that it would have taken over.

Use imperialism as an unavoidable conclusion, and you can argue that it would have been so much worse had, say, a Hitler had the chance to take over those nations in another hundred years. He could have murdered the population and plundered the resources ten times more effectively and ruthlessly than all but the most heartless of imperialists rulers (read Leopold) would have done.

It's a virtually unwinnable argument, by the way. Sorry. I was in an African history class when we had to have this exact debate. I was on the affirmative, and I remember how frustrated the negatve was. "How can we defend imperialism?" "All we have is railroads and corn!"

Answer 4

First you need to redefine western imperialism. What time frame are they talking? Late 20th century? Early dark ages? Crusades? Until they narrow it down or you pick a period you can not even begin to answer this question. If you pick the crusades then you can claim that they led directly to the rise of the Ottoman Empire since the Western Crusaders from France destroyed the Orthodox military and religious base in Turkey. Check that out!

Answer 5

Western Imperialism has flushed out isolated societies and nations and lead to an idea of a global community. This idea is good (even if the means are violent and terrible), because all of the nations of the world can come together to discuss their problems, generally without resorting to war. Our idiot president has more or less ruined our reputation, but that's another issue.

Western Imperialism has also lead to international human rights, spread of democracy, and it has started to redistribute the world's wealth (very slow process).

Answer 6

No, the major player The British Empire brought order in place of chaos all over the world. We traded raw materials for factory produced goods and brought infrastructure like railways and sewers to many countries that later became independent and kept the same structures of law and order and some that didn't like Africa and India (and didn't fare so well). We started the campaign to abolish slavery and abolished it first all over the Empire, we brought plumbing on a much greater scale than the Romans previously. At the end of the day we also saved the world from fascism (w. the help of previous colonies even if some were slow to help).

Answer 7

I read an interesting article by an Indian guy, who defended Western Imperialism as a positive force in many countries around the world, by establishing social order and government. He also pointed out things such as education, art and technology. One of his examples was establishment of galleries and museums, heritage and culture protection... something that in his opinion would never happen without western imperialists.

Answer 8

I can only one to tell you western imperialism is reality more than 100 years and it is better way to live.
Look what happened with Russia and communist countries.
Yes western imperialism destroyed eastern communists and they are now real imperialists in the world.

Answer 9

Well - you could look a Hong Kong for an example of a prosperous former Western colony. I could be wrong but I would say that it is China's most prosperous provence in terms of highest standard of living.

Answer 10

nicely, western imperialism helped 0.33 international countries learn what sewers, electrical energy, plumbing and mass-media are.. in addition they have been given get admission to to kick back issues like Coca Cola, Levi denims, Justin Timberlake and HGTV.