Anti-Imperialism, War and Peace, Part 8a
Neo-Colonialism,
Last Stage of Imperialism
The second linked document is
included in this part because of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s correct and
insistent concern with the continuing threat to Africa (now materialising again
militarily as “US Africom”) posed by Imperialism in its last stage of
neo-colonialism.
Nkrumah believed that Africa
must unite, for the sole reason that if it did not unite, then it would not
have sufficient strength to resist the Imperialists - and so it has turned out.
Nkrumah defined
neo-colonialism as follows:
“The essence
of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory,
independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In
reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from
outside.”
He goes on to add:
“Neo-colonialism
is also the worst form of imperialism. For those who practise it, it means
power without responsibility and for those who suffer from it, it means
exploitation without redress. In the days of old-fashioned colonialism, the
imperial power had at least to explain and justify at home the actions it was
taking abroad.”
And in his Conclusion Nkrumah
says:
“In the
earlier chapters of this book I have set out the argument for African unity and
have explained how this unity would destroy neo-colonialism in Africa. In later
chapters I have explained how strong is the world position of those who profit
from neo-colonialism.
“Nevertheless,
African unity is something which is within the grasp of the African people. The
foreign firms who exploit our resources long ago saw the strength to be gained
from acting on a Pan-African scale. By means of interlocking directorships,
cross-shareholdings and other devices, groups of apparently different companies
have formed, in fact, one enormous capitalist monopoly. The only effective way
to challenge this economic empire and to recover possession of our heritage, is
for us also to act on a Pan-African basis, through a Union Government.”
·
The above is to
introduce the original reading-text: Neo-Colonialism,
Last Stage of Imperialism, 1965, Nkrumah.
