Greed and Guns: Imperial Origins of the Developing World

Atul Kohli

doi:10.1017/9781009199759

Series: Elements in the Politics of Development

Greed and Guns

Imperial Origins of the Developing World

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2022

Atul Kohli

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Atul Kohli: Affiliation:
Princeton University, New Jersey

Summary

This Element studies the causes and the consequences of modern imperialism. The focus is on British and US imperialism in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries respectively. The dynamics of both formal and informal empires are analyzed. The argument is that imperialism is moved mainly by the desire of major powers to enhance their national economic prosperity. They do so by undermining sovereignty in peripheral countries and establishing open economic access. The impact on the countries of the periphery tends to be negative. In a world of states, then, national sovereignty is an economic asset. Since imperialism seeks to limit the exercise of sovereign power by subject people, there tends to be an inverse relationship between imperialism and development: the less control a state has over its own affairs, the less likely it is that the people of that state will experience economic progress.

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Keywords

imperialism developing countries colonialism informal empire underdevelopment

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Type: Element
Information: Series: Elements in the Politics of Development

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009199759 [Opens in a new window]

Online ISBN: 9781009199759

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication: 17 November 2022

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