"From Africa to the Indian subcontinent, imperialism has left a trail of damage"

MICHAEL WOOD ON...THE BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR

- Michael Wood

OVER THE PAST FOUR MONTHS I HAVE WATCHED the Israel-Gaza war with horror. And I have been struck by the growing international reaction to it all: the stark division between the Western world and the rising ‘Global South’, which increasingly no longer accepts the ‘rules-based order’ that it sees as being imposed by the West to support its hegemony. It feels like a big moment in history. Is a new world order emerging?

It has left me reflecting on the legacy of the age of colonialism. Some influential modern historians have argued that colonial powers were, on balance, a force for good, improving the lot of humanity. I disagree – and that is even before we mention the climate catastrophe, largely caused by the ravages of international capitalism.

In my job, I have travelled the world and seen for myself the aftermath of empire. From apartheid South Africa and the Congo through to Afghanistan, the Americas and the Indian subcontinent, colonialism and imperialism have left a trail of damage. And that damage is both psychological and material. The development of traditional societies has been disrupted and arrested, ancient cultural identities have been erased in a few generations. And, as current events show, we are still living with the divisions we bequeathed.