Dominating States and Developments in Occupied Countries.

• Author: Ali, Abbas J.

INTRODUCTION

The subject of colonialization has been debated for decades, with no clear conclusion about the benefits and costs to the colonialized countries. The colonial states have been accused of reaping most of the benefits, while many of the colonies have been subjected to harsh treatment and have suffered politically, socially, and economically. Only in a few instances have colonial powers built sound and functional national institutions that have enabled their colonies to enhance their political and economic progress. In Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, for example, the colonial powers attempted to change the culture and language of the subjected people, along with exploiting the countries' resources. This left many colonies in a disastrous state. Indeed, many of these countries today face devastating conditions, even though they have officially got their independence. In reference to Africa, Pfaff (1995, pp. 3-4) has argued that it is fair to state that when "the Europeans first came to Africa there were coherent, functioning societies of varying degrees of sophistication, some of great political subtlety and artistic accomplishment, other simple hunting and gathering communities, some extremely cruel in their practices, but all possessing their own integrity and integrated into the natural environment of the continent. This was destroyed by colonialism." Pfaff has further commented that "[c]olonialism, even in its most missionary moments, never succeeded in seeing the "natives" as equals." In 1900, in justifying the control of the Philippines, Senator Albert J. Beveridge stated,

The Philippines are ours forever, "territory belonging to the United States," as the Constitution calls them. And just beyond the Philippines are China's illimitable markets. We will not retreat from either. We will not repudiate our duty in the archipelago. We will not abandon our opportunity in the Orient. We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee, under God, of the civilization of the world. And we will move forward to our work, not howling out regrets like slaves whipped to their burdens but with gratitude for a task worthy of our strength and Thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has marked us as His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world..... [I]t will be hard for Americans who have not studied them to understand the people. They are a barbarous race, modified by three centuries of contact with a decadent race. The Filipino is the South Sea Malay, put through a process of three hundred years of superstition in religion, dishonesty in dealing, disorder in habits of industry, and cruelty, caprice, and corruption in government. Senator Beveridge made it clear that the job of a dominate power is to civilize people under its domain, since these people are "dishonest" and "cruel." More importantly, Beveridge underscored the importance of domination to secure markets. He articulated in the March of the Flag that, "Most future wars will be conflicts for commerce. The power that rules the Pacific, therefore, is the power that rules the world. And, with the Philippines, that power is and will forever be the...