That British Intelligence was allegedly involved in the assassination of Congolese leader Lumumba in the second half of the twentieth century goes to show that the Empire never really ended for the British. Sixteen years after the formation of the United Nations, the British government was still involved in influencing and meddling in foreign countries which suggests that the era of colonialism never actually ended. Of course the Western governments want the world to believe that they have buried their brutal colonial intentions, but a close scrutiny of the post Second World War global order suggests that colonialism has merely changed its shape and continues to this day. This is evident in the institutionalized influence granted to these colonial states in the new multi-lateral institutions like the United Nations, IMF and the World Bank. The veto wielding Security Council, and an unwritten understanding that the IMF would be headed by a European while the World Bank by an American are examples of guaranteed influence to these colonial states.
It can be argued that western states are rational actors which are working to secure their interests and it is not expected from them to care about other nations and their people. It is however the attitude of the colonized nations, those at the receiving end of western colonial interests, which is irrational. One of the tactics employed by colonialists in the new global order, built after the Second World War was to ensure that every country in the world agrees to work according to the rules designed that they dictated.
So the idea of “international commitment” was conceived which actually meant that countries subscribing to the new global order under the auspices of the United Nations, IMF, World Bank and later on WTO would be bound to follow the collective will of the international community (set actually by the veto wielding security council) irrespective of their own national interests. Moreover, this new global order presented a vision and path for development to the “third world” which encouraged dependence and help from colonial powers in terms of aids and loans.
Pakistan has been a victim of the ‘international community’ which has put it at the forefront of securing Western Colonial interests at the cost of her own people by fighting America’s war on terror. Till the time Pakistan shuns this model of ‘western dependence’ and ‘international commitments’ it’s potential and resources would continue to be used by western colonialists. Fifty years after the assassination of the Congolese leader, the arrest of Raymond Davis in Lahore was a stark reminder that even in the 21st century, the empire continues.
MOEZ MOBEEN,
Islamabad, April 6.