Decolonization

Along with the Cold War, a process of old empires breaking up into many independent nation-states was unleashed. That is the subject of this chapter. Tripathi recalls that India was the first major colony to disengage itself from the British Empire following the Second World War, and India’s decision to become a republic set a trend among emerging nation-states. This chapter looks at decolonization, the expansion of the community of independent countries, and complexities it created. However, while the dissolution of old empires brought immediate elation and hope for the future, most countries released from empires found themselves in serious economic and political difficulties. Tripathi highlights that such countries ranged from those with plenty of natural resources in need of markets to those with few resources, needing the rich world to help them rebuild themselves. This type of dependency is known as neocolonialism.