Postmodern imperialism is a term which refers to ideas surrounding beneficial imperialism in the post-colonial age. Postmodern imperialism is an idea based on providing developing nations with order and organization, voluntarism and stability.
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Overview
Postmodern imperialism negates the widespread belief that imperialism holds negative consequences for the populations of the globe.
European Union
The European Union has often been viewed by critics as a form of imperialism. A postmodern imperialistic view of the European Union states that it can be a force for positive change:
The postmodern EU offers a vision of cooperative empire, a common liberty and a common security without the ethnic domination and centralized absolutism to which past empires have been subject, but also without the ethnic exclusiveness that is the hallmark of the nation state . . . A cooperative empire might be . . . a framework in which each has a share in the government, in which no single country dominates and in which the governing principles are not ethnic but legal.
The foreign policy of the European Union has been considered as a vestige of postmodern imperialism.
United Nations
The formation of the United Nations in 1945 coined the phrase global village, which has been viewed as a form of postmodern imperialism.
United States
The United States of America has been labelled a post-colonial empire. Critics of American foreign policy in the 21st century have stated that America's actions in the Middle East and around the world in a form of postmodern imperialism.
Iraq War
The Iraq War has been seen as a form of postmodern imperialism. Rather than the official explanation for the war being Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction, it is believed that the American Army fought in Iraq in order to attain vital oil reserves. This caused major distress with emotional and physical damage on the people of Iraq. Many people lost their homes due to the U.S. bombings and abuse of power over their land. Their major motivation was to gain oil resources because this domination over Iraq occurred during the industrial revolution. The U.S.'s only focus was their own success and for their selves to prosper during this time period. If the people of Iraq got in their way they used force and violence (guns, bombs, etc...) to achieve those goals. This war, invasion, and rule over Iraq was a major misuse of power and this went against all of the Iraqi's rights as a group of people. The invasion of Iraq came under major scrutiny, however, when it was believed that the invasion was caused by 'Peteroimperialism' - or the desire to take territory for the oil revenues it possessed.
Culture
Cultural impacts of western countries have been viewed as postmodern imperialism, such as McDonaldization and Cocacolonization. The spread of capitalism has been seen as a form of imperialism. Additionally, Benjamin Barber's book Jihad vs. McWorld illustrates the conflict caused between Western consumerism and tribal fundamentalism in the new age of imperialism.