It is all too common to hear the woes of the Middle East (not to mention Africa and elsewhere) described as resulting from “colonialism” or “Western imperialism,” terms that have come to signify an evil in itself. Bruce Thornton questions this way of thinking:
Rather than describing a historical phenomenon—with all the complexity, mixture of good and evil, and conflicting motives found on every page of history—“colonialism” is now an ideological artifact that functions as a crude epithet. As a result, our foreign-policy decisions are deformed by self-loathing and guilt, eagerly exploited by our adversaries. . . .
This leftist interpretation of words like colonialism and imperialism transforms them into ideologically loaded terms that ultimately distort the tragic truths of history. They imply that Europe’s explorations and conquests constituted a new order of evil. In reality, the movements of peoples in search of resources, as well as the destruction of those already in possession of them, is the perennial dynamic of history. . . .
Both Islamists and Arab nationalists, with sympathy from the Western left, have blamed the European “colonialists” for the lack of development, political thuggery, and endemic violence whose roots lie mainly in tribal culture, illiberal legal traditions, and sectarian conflicts.
Moreover, it is blatant hypocrisy for Arab Muslims to complain about imperialism and colonialism. As the Middle East historian Efraim Karsh documents in Islamic Imperialism, “The Arab conquerors acted in a typically imperialist fashion from the start, subjugating indigenous populations, colonizing their lands, and expropriating their wealth, resources, and labor.”
More about: History & Ideas, Imperialism, Middle East, Postcolonialism
