What Went Wrong?

We can perhaps even go as far as dividing all of recent history into two periods. For one, there is the Cold War period. Second, there is the post-Cold War period. The former was defined and shaped by discord and division. The latter is defined and shaped by growing interconnection and integration. And when the West chooses to connect and integrate with others, it really and truly does so. 

Based on my own personal experiences, I can attest to the argument or proposal that Anglo-Americans have a deep and profound and sincere interest and inclination towards foreign cultures and peoples. For instance, on a trip to Chicago almost two years ago, I happened to sit next to an old British man during the flight to Chicago. He was either in his seventies or early eighties. He struck up a conversation with me, and my initial impression of him was that his intellect and wit and sense of humor were extraordinary and exceptional. He then told me that he has travelled to at least fifty different countries, but his favorite one of all was India. He urged me to travel to India if I could. Then, at the hotel in Chicago, while I was heading to my room one afternoon, in the hallway, I ran into an old American man who was also either in his seventies or early eighties. We had a very long conversation, given that he was extraordinarily friendly, and during the course of the conversation, he told me he travelled to ninety different countries, and his favorite one of them all was Iran. I met another elderly American couple at my hotel in Istanbul two years ago who came from Missouri, and they also told me they had travelled to ninety different countries.

Hence, there is no doubt to me that the average American and perhaps even the American ruling class have a deep and profound and sincere interest and respect for other cultures and peoples. The question is, what went wrong? Part of the American approach or goal towards the Third World was to liberate or unlock what the Americans saw as a “repressed consciousness” on the part of Third World peoples. To an extent, the approach is correct and justified. No one doubts the intentions behind the approach and strategy. The question pertains to the methods and strategies of achieving such a goal. As a matter of fact, part of this entire blog project was to achieve what the American approach towards the Third World seeks to achieve, and in large part we have achieved the goal without dropping bombs or killing anyone. 

We can understand what went wrong when we view American foreign policy through the prism or framework of neocolonialism. To explain or sum up this particular prism or framework, we can borrow from one scholar, who wrote:

“The quality and effect of the colonial experience remains controversial. The purpose of having colonies was generally twofold: physical exploitation to benefit the ‘mother country’ and the prestige of being a colonial power. In some cases and for limited purposes, the ‘white man’s burden’ of ‘civilizing’ the natives through education and religious conversion was also part of the experience; from this, the idea was extended that part of colonial intent was to prepare peoples for self-governance and independence. The bottom line, however, was that the purpose of having colonies was to make money from them, and the real intent of the colonial rulers was to perpetuate the relationship for as long as was profitable. Arguments to the effect that the colonizing experience was high-minded and the motives beneficent should be taken with a considerable grain of salt.”

Business and money will always be intertwined with American foreign policy. But of course, the business and money motives of the ruling class have to be concealed from the American public through jingoistic and moralistic expressions and terms. The American ruling class has a problem with being honest and sincere about their true motives when it comes to their involvement in foreign countries. Moreover, the expressions of jingoism and moralism employed by the American ruling class does not hinder the inclination and trek towards cultural diversity and integration which has long been on course amidst the American populace as a whole. Hence, we have come across our answer to the question of what went wrong.