The Geography of Aid

Abstract

The role of imperialism, as discussed in the previous paper, in determining contemporary patterns of development and under­development, cannot be overemphasised. The primary motivation was economic, as industrialising Europe needed, firstly, supplies of raw materials, and secondly, markets for it's products. Raw materials were exploited in the colonies, processed in Europe, and often returned to the colonies as finished products at a profit. Strategic reasons, religious fervour, idealism, and racism were all secondary considerations but the primary aim and ultimate consequence was the creation of integrated world economy, dominated and controlled by the European nation states. Since the Second World War former colonies have progressively gained political independence, however tenuous, and the blatant domination of the colonial era has been replaced by more subtle but no less effective form of dependency.