A couple questions about imperialism ?

Question

1. What is the relationship between imperialism and a country's power?

2. How could imperialism be seen as a threat to world peace?

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Answer 1

1) Well in one sense, the country under imperialism (let's say Africa for instance) is losing quite a bit of power. They don't have any say in governing their nation, how money will be spent, etc. This is the opposite for the country imposing imperialism in the first place (let's say Europe). They feel more powerful because they can dominate another nation in terms of finance, drawing boarders, etc...

2) When a nation imposes imperialism upon another nation, there's a good chance they will abuse their power, which in turn causes a great deal of turmoil for the citizens under imperialism. Maybe you've looked at the Belgian Congo. King Leopold from Belgium used his power in a sense to form a dictatorship, causing great fear and terror. When other nations hear of this, their typical response is to send troops of some sort to come in and "fix" the problem; which, sadly, turns into a war of some sort. And don't forget, the country imposing imperialism tends to build up a strong military force to prevent opposition.

Hope that wasn't too long-winded...and I hope it helps!

Answer 2

"Imperialism is the highest and the last stage of capitalism", said Vladimir Lenin.
1. Financial capital buys government and parliament turning the country into an oligarchy, the form of fascism.
2. Rephrasing Marx: since imperialism is the last stage, the oligarchs have nothing to loose except their country ownership.
Economic competition between corporations transforms into competition between groups of countries for markets and resources. Eventually, wars become just one of the tools that oligarchies use.

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism