A cartoon portraying the The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. The British Empire was the worlds first global power; by 1921, it held sway over a population of 400–500 million people — roughly a quarter of the worlds population... British Empire as an octopus, reaching into foreign lands

Imperialism is a policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of For alternative meanings, see Empire (disambiguation) An empire (also known technically, abstractly or disparagingly as an imperium, and with powers known among Romans as imperium) comprises a set of regions locally ruled by governors, viceroys or client kings in the name of an emperor. By extension, one could classify as... empires, either through direct A territory is a defined area (including land and waters), usually considered to be a possession of an animal, person, organization, or institution. In biology, an organism which defends an area against intrusion (usually from members of its own species) is said to be territorial. For further details see territory... territorial or through indirect methods of exerting control on the Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. Although it is generally applied to governments, politics is also observed in all human group interactions including corporate, academic, and religious. Political science is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of... politics and/or Economics is the social science studying production and consumption through measurable variables. It involves analysing the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. Economics is said to be positive when it attempts to explain the consequences of different choices given a set of assumptions and normative when it... economy of other countries. The term is used by some to describe the policy of a country in maintaining This article refers to a colony in politics and history. For alternate meanings of colony, see colony (disambiguation). In politics and in history, a colony is an administrative unit under the control of a geographically- distinct entity, usually an autonomous state. The term informal colony is used by some historians... colonies and dominance over distant lands, regardless of whether the country calls itself an empire.

Insofar as 'imperialism' might be used to refer to an intellectual position, it would imply the belief that the acquisition and maintenance of empires is a positive good, probably combined with an assumption of cultural or other such superiority inherent to imperial power. See The White Man's Burden.

In recent years, there has been a trend to criticise imperialism not at an economic or political level, but at a simply cultural level, particularly the widespread global influence of This article very generally discusses the customs and culture of the United States; for the culture of the United States, see arts and entertainment in the United States. As the United States is an immense country, with many residents and citizens being descended from relatively recent immigrants, defining a common... American culture - see Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting the culture or language of one nation in another. It is usually the case that the former is a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter is a smaller, less affluent one. Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active... cultural imperialism.

Marxist Theory of Imperialism

Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. Marx drew on Georg Hegels philosophy, the political economy of Adam Smith, Ricardian economics, and 19th century French socialism to develop... Marxists use the term imperialism as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was... Lenin defined it: "the highest stage of capitalism", specifically the era in which monopoly finance capital becomes dominant, forcing the empires to compete amongst themselves increasingly for control over resources and markets all over the world. This control may take the form of geopolitical machinations, military adventures, or financial maneuvers.

Contemporary Critique is found from literature by Immanuel Wallerstein (born 1930) is a U.S. sociologist. Training and academic career Born in New York, Wallerstein attended Columbia University in New York, where he received a B.A. in 1951, an M.A. in 1954 and a Ph.D. degree in 1959, and subsequently worked as a lecturer... Immanuel Wallerstein, Samuel Hopkins (September 17, 1743 - December 20, 1803) was an American inventor. On July 31, 1790 he was awarded the first US patent for a process to refine potash. The Reverend Samuel Hopkins(1721-1803) was an American clergyman. He invented a religious system called Hopkinsism or Hopkinsianism. He died... Samuel Hopkins, Johan Galtung (Born 24th of October 1930 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian professor, working at the Transcend Institute. He is seen as the pioneer of peace and conflict research and founded the PRIO - International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. He is also one of the authors of an influential... Johan Galtung, Robert Cox, Noam Chomsky at Harvard in 2002. Getty Images/William B. Plowman Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an Institute Professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. His works in generative linguistics contributed significantly to the... Noam Chomsky and others. Globalization is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased trade and cultural exchange. In specifically economic contexts, it refers almost exclusively to the effects of trade, particularly trade liberalization or free trade. Between 1910 and 1950, a... Globalisation and the practices of the The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means of financing states. Its operation... World Bank, for example, frequently are said to serve imperialist interests.

The essential feature of the Marxist theories of imperialism, or related theories such as Dependency theory is the body of theories by various intellectuals, both from the Third World and the First World, that propound a worldview which suggests that the wealthy nations of the world need a peripheral group of poorer states to remain wealthy. These poor nations provide natural resources, cheap labour... dependency theory, is their exclusive focus on the Economics (in Greek Οικονομικά) derives from the Greek word Eco(οίκω=house) and nemo(νέμω=distribute) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources through measurable variables. This involves analysing the production... economic relation between countries, rather than the explicit Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. Although it is generally applied to governments, politics is also observed in all human group interactions including corporate, academic, and religious. Political science is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of... political relationship. Imperialism thus consists not in the direct control of one country by another, but in the economic In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation usually does not include simple theft, since the latter is not a persistent economic or social relationship, as when a pimp exploits his prostitute. Rather, exploitation involves some persistent aspect of the socioeconomic system, an institution. This corresponds to one ethical conception of... exploitation of one region by another, or by a group from another. This Marxist usage contrasts with many people's understanding of the connotation of the word 'imperialism', which they think of as relating to the era when countries directly controlled vast empires, rather than the economic domination that some parts of the world have over others today - this is a conflation of imperialism with Colonialism is a system in which a state claims sovereignty over territory and people outside its own boundaries, often to facilitate economic domination over their resources, labor, and often markets. The term also refers to a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system, especially the belief that... colonialism, the establishment of overseas colonies.

Although Marxists generally consider imperialist powers to be the richest Capitalism has been defined in various ways (see definitions of capitalism). In common usage it refers to an economic system in which land and capital are privately owned and operated for profit and where investments, production, distribution, income, and prices are determined largely through the operation of a free market... capitalist countries of the The terms First World, Second World, and Third World were used to divide the nations of Earth into three broad categories. The three terms did not arise simultaneously. After World War II, people began to speak of the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries as two major blocs, often using such... First World, some Marxists (primarily Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–... Maoists) and others believe that the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) .( Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик... Soviet Union eventually became Social-imperialism is imperialism with a socialist (communist) face. Marxists apply the term to countries that they see as having betrayed socialism and turned themselves into hegemons that exploit other countries. Because Marxist theory is opposed to empire, the accusation of social-imperialism implies that the country so accused has... social-imperialist—socialist in words but imperialist in deeds— using its power and influence to dominate the During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) comprised the following Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Albania (until the early 1960s, see below), the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. The Eastern Bloc is also often equated with the Warsaw Pact. Another organization encompassing... East Bloc and various other countries. The Great Wall of China, stretching over 6,700 km, was erected beginning in the 3rd century BC to guard the north from raids by men on horses. China  listen? ( Traditional: 中國; Simplified: 中国; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a nation located chiefly in continental East... China, The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. India has grown significantly, both in population and in strategic importance in the last two decades. The Indian economy is... India, and other large countries with regional influence are sometimes charged with imperialism as well.

It is worth noting that Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was an influential German philosopher, political economist, and a revolutionary. Marx was not only a social and political theorist, but was also active as an organizer of the revolutionary International Workingmens Association. Although Marx addressed a wide... Marx himself did not propound a theory of imperialism, and in contrast with later Marxist thinkers generally saw the Colonialism is a system in which a state claims sovereignty over territory and people outside its own boundaries, often to facilitate economic domination over their resources, labor, and often markets. The term also refers to a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system, especially the belief that... colonialism of European powers as being essentially about extending capitalism worldwide, rather than seeing it as the pillage of those countries in favour of the European centre countries.

Criticism and liberal opposition to imperialism

Capitalism has been defined in various ways (see definitions of capitalism). In common usage it refers to an economic system in which land and capital are privately owned and operated for profit and where investments, production, distribution, income, and prices are determined largely through the operation of a free market... Capitalism is often associated to private ownership, economic freedom, low taxes and low regulation—to people being able to make the decisions on their own property without being dictated by to something else by the rulers. In, e.g., British colonialism and imperialism, the rulers often dictated (http://lsb.scu.edu/~dklein/papers/PdfPapers/Liberalanti-imperialism.pdf), what crops to plant, to whom to sell them, what industries were allowed etc. According to professor Daniel Klein, also the taxes were oppressive. In that sense, colonialism and imperialism were close to The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. Socialism is a concept, an ideology and a collection of party-based political movements that have evolved and branched over time. Initially, it was based on the organized working class, with the purpose of building a classless... socialism or planning economy and almost the opposite of Capitalism has been defined in various ways (see definitions of capitalism). In common usage it refers to an economic system in which land and capital are privately owned and operated for profit and where investments, production, distribution, income, and prices are determined largely through the operation of a free market... capitalism or A market economy is a term used to describe an economy where economic decisions, such as pricing of goods and services, are made in a decentralized manner by the economys participants and manifested by trade. This can be seen as a bottom-up approach to organizing an economy ( self... market economy.

Classical liberals— This article is about the 18th-century economist. For other people of the same name, see Adam Smith (disambiguation). Adam Smith Adam Smith ( June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. His Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations... Adam Smith, Frédéric Bastiat, Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (June 3, 1804 - April 2, 1865) was an English manufacturer and radical politician. Early years Cobden was born at a farmhouse called Dunford, near Midhurst, in Sussex. His family had been resident in that neighbourhood for many generations, occupied partly in trade and partly in agriculture... Richard Cobden and others—strongly opposed colonialism, imperialism and empires, but capitalism is often associated to them. Critics say that Lenin just wanted to lure some opponents of imperialism to his fight against capitalism and that the capitalism he speaks of refers sometimes to capitalism or market economy, sometimes to conservative imperialism, and therefore one should always use either of the latter terms to avoid ambiguities.

Etymology

The term imperialism was a new word in the mid- Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. In the sense of the Common Era... 19th century. According to the The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a comprehensive multi-volume dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). Generally regarded as the definitive dictionary of English, it includes 500,000 headwords together with some 2.5 million illustrative quotations. The OED is the most comprehensive record of the English language... OED, it dates back to 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. Events January 14 - Felice Orsini and his accomplices fail to assassinate Napoleon III in Paris but their bombs kill 156 bystanders. Because of the involvement of French émigrés living in Britain, there is a brief anti-British feeling in France but... 1858, to describe Pax Britannica ( Latin for the British Peace, modeled after Pax Romana) refers to a period of British imperialism after the Battle of Waterloo and the War of 1812, which led to a period of overseas British expansionism. The term is derived from, during this period, Europe being relatively peaceful and... Pax Britannica. However its intellectual roots can certainly be traced as far back as Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. 1450 ( Uffizi Gallery) Dante Alighieri (May/June 1265 – September 13/14, 1321) was a Florentine poet. His greatest work, La divina commedia ( The Divine Comedy), was the greatest literary statement produced in the medieval period, and... Dante, who in his Monarchia depicted a world with a single political focus and governed by This article is not about continental rationalism. Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth should be determined by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. Rationalism has some similarities in ideology and intent to secular humanism and... rationalism. Dante was very influential on John Dee. Sixteenth century portrait, artist unknown. John Dee (July 13, 1527–1608 or 1609) was a noted British mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer and consultant to Elizabeth I. He was also devoted much of his life to alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. Dee straddled the worlds of science and... John Dee, who coined the term The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. The British Empire was the worlds first global power; by 1921, it held sway over a population of 400–500 million people — roughly a quarter of the worlds population... British Empire in the late (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. Events Beginning of the Little Ice Age a cooling period that resulted in lower crop yields across the world, and harsher... 16th century. Dee was instrumental in creating the intellectual and scientific environment whereby Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Official language None; English is de facto Capital London Capitals coordinates 51° 30 N, 0° 10 W Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK... English seafarers such as Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539 - 1583) was Sir Walter Raleighs half brother. In 1566 he presented A Discourcs of a Discoveries for a new Passage to Cataia to Queen Elizabeth I of England, to gain royal patronage for voyages of exploration to China (Cataia) by sailing in a Northwest direction... Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Martin Frobisher (~1535 - November 22, 1594) was a British seaman (from Yorkshire) who made several voyages to the New World to look for the Northwest Passage. He explored much of Russia in the process and claimed the land for England. Frobisher made several voyages to Frobisher Bay on China... Martin Frobisher and Alternatively, Professor Walter Raleigh was a scholar and author circa 1900. Sir Walter Raleigh (1554 - October 29, 1618) is famed as a writer, poet, spy, and explorer. Note: Many alternate spellings of his surname exist, including Rawley, Ralegh, and Rawleigh; although Raleigh appears most commonly today, he himself used that... Walter Raleigh could set the groundwork for a maritime empire.

According to the OED, in Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. In the sense of the Common Era... 19th century England, imperialism, was generally used only to describe English policies. However, soon after the invention of the term, imperÍalism was used in retrospect about the policies of the The Roman Empire is not the Holy Roman Empire (843-1806). Roman Empire between AD 60 and 400 with major cities. During this time only Dacia and Mesopotamia were added to the Empire but were lost before 300. The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman... Roman Empire.

In the (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... 20th century, the term has been used to describe the policies of both the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) .( Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик... Soviet Union and the The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America¹, the States, or (archaically) Columbia — is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii... United States, although these differed greatly from each other and from 19th-century imperialism. Furthermore, the term has been expanded to apply, in general, to any historical instance of the aggrandizement of a greater power at the expense of a lesser power.

Since the end of Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (60,000 ft) into the air. August 9, 1945 World War II was a global conflict that started in 7 July 1937 in Asia and 1 September 1939 in Europe and lasted until 1945, involving the majority of the... World War II and particularly following the The rise of Gorbachev Although reform stalled between 1964–1982, the generational shift gave new momentum for reform. Changing relations with the United States might also have been an impetus for reform. While it was Jimmy Carter who had officially ended the policy of Détente following Soviet intervention... collapse of the Soviet Union and its The term satellite state, by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as planets revolving around the sun, refers to a country that is formally sovereign but that is in fact dominated by a larger hegemonic power. In extreme cases, satellite countries may be virtual colonies with little... satellite states, accusations of imperialism have almost exclusively been levelled at the sole-remaining A superpower is a state with the ability to influence events or project power on a wide scale. In modern terms, this may imply an entity with a strong economy, a large population, and strong armed forces, including air power and satellite capabilities, and a huge arsenal of weapons of... superpower, the United States - see This is a list of United States interventions or alleged interventions since 1945. 1940s Occupation and rebuilding of Japan 1945-1952 after World War II, drafting Japans current democratic constitution. (see Occupied Japan) 1945, USSR occupies North Korea and US occupies South Korea. USSR denies elections in North Korea... list of US actions since 1945 that have been considered imperialistic.

See also

• Anti-imperialism is a current within the political left advocating the collapse of imperialism. Although not all self-describing anti-imperialists understand the theoretical bases, such a tendency originates in Marxist theories of imperialism, in which imperialism is understood as the economic (rather than primarily military or political, though these... Anti-imperialism
• Imperialist periods in history
  • Mercantilism is the economic theory that a nations prosperity depended upon its supply of gold and silver, that the total volume of trade is unchangeable. This theory suggests that the government should play an active role in the economy by encouraging exports and discouraging imports, especially through the use... Mercantilism
  • Pax Britannica ( Latin for the British Peace, modeled after Pax Romana) refers to a period of British imperialism after the Battle of Waterloo and the War of 1812, which led to a period of overseas British expansionism. The term is derived from, during this period, Europe being relatively peaceful and... Pax Britannica
  • The term New Imperialism to the policy and ideology of imperial colonial expansion adopted by Europes powers and later the United States and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; approximately from the Franco-Prussian War to World War I (c. 1871–1914). The period is... New Imperialism
  • The term Pax Americana ( Latin: American Peace) denotes the period of perceived peace in the Western world since the end of World War II in 1945, coinciding with the dominant military and economic position of the United States. It places the US in the role of a modern-day Roman... Pax Americana
  • At its start, the United States was a collection of small colonies on the eastern seaboard with little international import. What was to become the United States had existed for almost two centuries as part of the British Empire. The emergence of an independent nation through the American Revolutionary War... History of United States Imperialism
• Ancient Colonization North Africa in particular experienced colonization from Europe and Asia Minor in the early historical period. The city of Carthage was established in what is now Tunisia by Phoenician colonists, becoming a major power in the Mediterranean by the 4th century BC. Over time the city changed hands... Colonization of Africa, Large areas of Asia, as well as Africa and other areas of the world, were subjected to imperial control by European nations, China, and Japan. There are many reasons why this could happen with such relative ease and to the extent it did: the Industrial Revolution had not yet spread... Imperialism in Asia
• According to the notion of client states, just as a client of a corporation remains dependent on the corporation for a continued supply of products, and just as it is in the companys interest to make expendable products which need to be replaced regularly, client states of the two... Client states
• Media Imperialism is a critical theory regarding the perceived effects of globalization on the worlds media. It is closely tied to the similar theory of cultural imperialism. As multinational media conglomerates grow larger and more powerful many believe that it will become increasingly difficult for small, local media outlets... Media imperialism
• Religious imperialism

References

• Marxist Theories of Imperialism, Anthony Brewer.

External links

• Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/) - by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was... Vladimir Lenin

• Liberal opposition to colonialism, imperialism and empire (pdf) (http://lsb.scu.edu/~dklein/papers/PdfPapers/Liberalanti-imperialism.pdf) - by professor Daniel Klein