{"id":9600,"date":"2026-01-19T21:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T12:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=9600"},"modified":"2026-01-20T07:10:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:10:32","slug":"our-new-colonial-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/sdgs-2\/our-new-colonial-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Our New Colonial Era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Azza Karam<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTake up the White Man\u2019s burden \u2014 Send forth the best ye breed\u2026 By all ye cry or whisper, by all ye leave or do, [T]he silent, sullen peoples shall weigh your gods – and you\u2026\u201d — Rudyard Kipling, The White Man\u2019s Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands (1899)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW YORK (IPS)\u00a0<\/strong>– We\u2019re living in an age where the world is loudly proclaiming the death of empire, yet reproducing its structures. This is not nostalgia for colonial postcards \u2014 it\u2019s a reinvention of foreign policy, international governance and global economic power that resembles colonial logic far more than it does meaningful cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term \u201cNew Colonialism\u201d feels extreme until you look not at poetry, but at power in motion \u2014 from military takeovers and genocides, to diplomatic withdrawal, to institutions that still perpetuate inequality and human rights\u2019 abuses under the guise of neutrality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I \u2013 Where Are We Today<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImperialism after all is an act of geographical violence through which virtually every space in the world is explored, charted, and finally brought under control.\u201d
\u2014 Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (1993)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2026, the United States executed what amounts to the most dramatic foreign intervention in Latin America in decades: a military incursion into Venezuela resulting in the abduction of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. President Donald Trump openly declared that the U.S. would \u201crun the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.\u201d This is not coded language \u2014 it is overt control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics and allies alike see the move not as a limited counternarcotics or law enforcement operation (as the Administration frames it), but as a return to the old playbook of hemispheric domination. Latin American governments from Mexico to Brazil condemned it as a violation of sovereignty \u2014 a modern mirror to the regime-change interventions of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts at Foreign Policy<\/em> have highlighted precisely how this intervention fits into a larger pattern of U.S. foreign policy ambition. Rishi Iyengar and John Haltiwanger note that under the banner of battling \u201cnarcoterrorism,\u201d the United States has expanded the role of its military into actions that blur the distinction between security and political control \u2014 \u201cadding bombing alleged drug traffickers to its ever-growing list of duties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such actions reflect a foreign policy that is increasingly militarized and deeply unilateral in its execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This intervention was not an isolated blip. It fits into a broader dynamic which suggests Washington\u2019s moves in Venezuela are less about drug interdiction and more about strategic positioning and resource control \u2014 especially Venezuela\u2019s vast oil reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the context of a \u201cWorld-Minus-One\u201d global order where U.S. power is contested by China and Russia, interventionist impulses have resurfaced not as humanitarian projects but as geopolitical gambits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewed through the lens of colonial critique, the language of \u201crescuing\u201d Venezuelans from an accused dictator echoes Kipling\u2019s exhortation to take up the supposed moral burden. But those centuries-old justifications masked violence and labour exploitation; today\u2019s rhetoric masks geopolitical self-interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. claims to be liberating Venezuelans from authoritarianism, yet asserts control over governance and economic infrastructure \u2014 a 21st-century version of telling another nation it cannot govern itself without direction from Washington. The result is not liberation, but dependency \u2014 a hallmark of colonial relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. The U.S. Withdrawal from Multilateral Institutions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe White Man\u2019s Burden, which puts the blame of the new subjects upon themselves without acknowledging the real burden \u2014 the systematic, structural and often violent exploitation \u2014 is the oldest myth of empire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kumari Jayawardena, The White Woman\u2019s Other Burden: Western Women and South Asia During British Colonial Rule<\/em>, (1995)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the takeover of Venezuela reads like old-fashioned empire building, the withdrawal from multilateral institutions is a disengagement from the very forums meant to prevent that kind of unilateralism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2026, the United States signed a presidential memorandum seeking to withdraw support and participation from 66 international organizations \u2014 including numerous United Nations agencies and treaty frameworks seen as \u201ccontrary to U.S. interests.\u201d This list contains both U.N. bodies and other treaty mechanisms, extending a pattern of U.S. disengagement from global governance structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the organizations targeted are the U.N.\u2019s population agency and the framework treaty for international climate negotiations. Already, U.S. participation in historic climate agreements like the Paris Agreement has been rolled back, and the World Health Organization was officially exited \u2014 marking a return to a transactional, bilateral focus rather than deep multilateral cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres responded to the announcement with regret and a reminder of legal obligations: assessed contributions to the regular and peacekeeping budgets are binding under the U.N. Charter for all member states, including the United States. He also underscored that despite U.S. withdrawal, the agencies will continue their work for the communities that depend on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This move comes against a backdrop in which the U.N. and other institutions are already grappling with serious internal challenges \u2014 problems that critics argue undermine their legitimacy and point to deeper governance failures. For instance, allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and staff have repeatedly surfaced, with hundreds of cases documented and concerns raised about the trustworthiness of leadership responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024 alone, peacekeeping and political missions reported over 100 allegations, and internal surveys showed troubling attitudes among staff toward misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such abuses are not random flukes; scholars and advocates have documented persistent organizational cultures where power imbalances enable exploitation and harassment, and where transparency and accountability often lag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These structural issues do not delegitimize the idea of multilateral cooperation \u2014 but they certainly challenge claims that these institutions function as equitable and effective global governance mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are likewise under scrutiny. Critics point to cases where aid workers have perpetrated sexual abuse and exploitation or where organizational priorities have at times aligned more with donor interests than with local needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2024 study on sexual exploitation and harassment in humanitarian work highlights how power imbalances and weak enforcement mechanisms within the sector contribute to ongoing abuses that remain under-reported and inadequately addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These issues \u2014 within the U.N. and the humanitarian sector \u2014 fuel frustration that multilateralism too often protects institutional reputation at the expense of victims and local communities. That frustration helps explain why some U.S. policymakers see these organizations as outdated or corrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the response of walking away rather than strengthening accountability mechanisms plays directly into the hands of those who would hollow out global governance altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III. It Takes Two to Tango<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, is the United States the villain in this unfolding story of fractured cooperation and revived colonial impulses? Yes \u2014 but only partially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no denying that recent U.S. foreign policy has made unilateral moves that harm global norms: military intervention in sovereign states, withdrawal from key treaties and organizations, and politicized rejection of multinational cooperation reflect a retreat from shared leadership. Yet, the belief that multilateral institutions are inherently effective, just and beyond reproach is equally misplaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Structural weaknesses in international governance \u2014 from slow, opaque accountability mechanisms to insufficient representation of Global South voices \u2014 have long been recognized by scholars and practitioners. These deficiencies leave global organizations vulnerable to political capture, ineffectiveness in crisis response and the perpetuation of inequalities they are meant to dismantle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The failures inside the U.N. and the aid sector are not the sole fault of the United States, but of a global system that institutionalized power hierarchies sustained by western donors, from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Colonialism era does not show up as 19th-century conquest; it\u2019s woven into the language of \u201cinterest,\u201d \u201csecurity,\u201d and \u201cinstitutional reform.\u201d Whether it is a powerful state flexing military might under humanitarian pretences or \u201cself defence\u201d, or powerful states walking away from agreements that protect smaller nations\u2019 interests, the pattern is the same: power asserts itself where it can, and multilateral norms are treated as optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this moment teaches us anything, it\u2019s that saving multilateralism requires both accountability and renewal \u2014 not abandonment. Countries that champion global cooperation must address colonial legacies in governance, ensure institutions are transparent and accountable, and democratize decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, powerful states must recognize that withdrawing from shared systems or using them to further their own limited interests, does not reset power imbalances \u2014 it entrenches them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, meaningful global cooperation cannot be the project of a single nation or a network of powerful elites. It must be rooted in shared accountability and genuine equity \u2014 a coalition of efforts for the common good, prepared not only to compromise, but to sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azza Karam<\/strong> is President of Lead Integrity and Director of Occidental College\u2019s Kahane UN Program.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
INPS Japan\/ IPS UN Bureau<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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By Azza Karam \u201cTake up the White Man\u2019s burden \u2014 Send forth the best ye breed\u2026 By all ye cry or whisper, by all ye leave or do, [T]he silent, sullen peoples shall weigh your gods – and you\u2026\u201d — Rudyard Kipling, The White Man\u2019s Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands (1899) NEW YORK […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,16,39,93,32,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-goal16","8":"category-news","9":"category-north-america","10":"category-politics","11":"category-regions","12":"category-sdgs-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9602,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9600\/revisions\/9602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}