Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
Since the beginning of this century, triggered by the US’s illegal invasion of Iraq, its occupation of Afghanistan, and aided by the arrival of the turbo-charged digital age, there has been a significant growth in interest within those in the non-Western world around issues related to their colonial past.
This quest has been shaped by seeking answers to fundamental questions linked to events in their past and how these events shaped the world today – a world that for the first time is mired in more conflicts than since the Great Wars, seemingly rooted in age-old animosities also linked to our shared colonial history.
The two headline-grabbing events—the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the terrifying sequence of events they spawned for over a decade including current events in Syria — were merely the tip of the iceberg of resentments around the world about the abuse of unsustainable power structures by major Western nations. These invasions delivered a rude awakening to many outside the Western world, who had believed that the woes of the past were behind them and that humanity was moving toward a system of peaceful coexistence, with the West ready to share power and move away from its 500-year history of domination.
This was premised on the belief that international laws would be strengthened so that might is not seen as right. The assumption was that these laws would be adhered to by major powers so that progress could be made toward creating a world united by common goals. This was shattered by the brazen breach of international laws that marked both invasions.
It proved to be a naïve assumption as the West had from centuries of dominance, become accustomed to seeing the world as its oyster. Thus, the first seeds of widespread doubt were sown about the sincerity of those nations that claimed to have moved away from the old ways and positioned themselves as the architects and guardians of a more peaceful and equitable world.
As a result, more non-Western communities now have a better understanding of their past and how their countries had been ruled and abused by colonial powers, including how their borders were re-created, which added to the challenges of becoming independent nations while striving to grow a viable economy for their impoverished people. Many of these countries failed initially and many continue to struggle; this is no simple exercise, especially in a world faced with existential threats.
Across the world there has been a widespread desire to dig into the past and tell “our-story” about what happened during centuries of oppression and plunder as opposed to accepting the carefully crafted brain-washing version of the past, ingrained in the white-washed version of “his-story” as told by Western experts.
In the years following the US-led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, numerous books on re-telling of his-story were written by subjects of former colonies, and even by some Western historians. A few became bestsellers in the Western-controlled media sphere but largely never received the attention they deserved. This sophisticated form of censorship has itself sparked global debate, focusing on the role of Western media in shaping narratives and influencing the formerly colonised. However, the process of producing our-stories continues to accelerate, even if it remains largely ignored by Western-controlled media.
This process of discovery and disclosure helped signal the dawn of a new era of global reckoning for the former imperial powers and their successors like the USA. It was also an awakening for those who had been formerly colonised or losers in the wars of conquest but who had been lulled into believing his-story.
Despite brutal truths being uncovered and exposed, this phenomenon of confronting the past has largely been polite, even scholarly, and rarely radical or confrontational – except when triggered by specific events that mobilise communities, as with the Black Lives Matter movement. Yet generally, the lack of global publicity has made it difficult to mobilise an international movement even of public intellectuals. Universities, even those in former colonies, were still teaching his-story according to curriculums designed during the period of global colonialism, for which many history books continue to serve as propaganda tools. Though significant progress has now been made all around the world, revising curriculums to incorporate comprehensive reflections of colonisation in no small feat.
Nonetheless, the global awakening has produced important results, helping to shift attitudes in former colonies and nurture a growing sense of confidence, retelling his-story and discussing our-story was no longer the pre-occupation of lefties or strong nationalists from poor countries. There began a stream of consciousness and with it demands for equity.
This spawned calls for reparations for centuries of wealth extraction, loss and damage agreements with regards to climate change, recognition of the role of colonialism in destroying indigenous communities and their cultures thus affecting their key role as stewards of biodiversity loss, and increasing calls for the return of treasures stolen, even human skeletons of “exotic natives”. The current efforts of a growing number of nations seeking redress at the International Court of Justice for the impacts of climate change is an indicator of this trend.
However, much of the growing resentment and calls for justice for harm inflicted on societies worldwide by a handful of countries fell on deaf ears in Western capitals. They were confident that “might is right” and that if the natives got restless, there were always ways to pacify them—military force being a key option—to maintain the rules-based order. Past successes in suppressing demands for freedom, even in modern times, and a firm grip on global institutions has bred deep arrogance rooted in a belief in racial supremacy. This, in turn, has fostered a culture of self-defeating exceptionalism, now corroding the fabric of societies like the US. A symptom of this socio-political decay is the sharp decline in the quality of leaders in major western powers and the fragility of political structures.
But the genocide in Gaza has now put this nascent global movement on steroids for peace-loving people around the world – not terrorists – outraged as they come to terms with the ugly truth of racism, white supremacy, and settler violence on an oppressed people. It has changed everything and opened the floodgates of this search for answers to explain the actions of those who have so brazenly betrayed the promise of international progress to date and are shamelessly willing to go to extremes of violence to maintain global dominance. Resentment and suspicion against the West is unfortunately at an all-time high and this is dangerous as it can be exploited by bad actors across the spectrum.
Key questions that are being asked to understand and explain the past to make sense of the present, are: what were the mindsets of the colonisers, and have these mindsets persisted in the West till this day? What drove them to such extreme acts of violence including committing large-scale massacres and genocide, despite claims of a belief in God and the Church?
These questions are crucial in deciding future tensions and collaborations because, to quote Samuel P. Huntington, author of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”
It is a worldview-shaking realisation when one considers how many of the interventions over the last 70 years have been unnecessary and unilateral actions triggered and conducted in the same imperial spirit of colonisation. Is seeking and needing to maintain a dominance over others who are viewed as inferior still part of modern Western political psyche?
And is it the same penchant for dominance and a belief in racial superiority that explains the current genocide in Gaza – a white settler colonial community supported by other Western tribes led by the US, acting as if coded to do so? What is the driving spirit able to justify such carnage and mass murder? Is it no coincidence that the USA, a white settler nation birthed out of genocide and the enslavement of Africans, is the most violent and war-like nation in modern history? These are the uncomfortable questions being asked. And there are only ugly, unpleasant answers.
Thus, millions in the non-Western world are looking beyond the books written by Western historians. They do not rely on the current headlines in Western media, which typically tries to justify, downplay or even lie about genocide when committed by the West. This is their only way to gain insights and answers to troubling questions about what is happening in Western societies given their tolerance for the action of their governments. They seek to understand whether attitudes of superiority over other cultures still prevail and how widespread they are. How are these attitudes ingrained and reinforced in cultures that simultaneously espouse liberal values, framed as democracy, freedom, and liberty? Is there something more sinister than simplistic explanations like “great power rivalries” or claims that these governments merely serve corporate interests, to account for the evidence of sustained violence against others?
What is becoming clear is that the response of people around the world is no longer going to be polite and reticent or even temporary. Gaza has been the tipping point. As the horrors of the war continue to be live-streamed, we can see the West even now seeking to downplay the charge of genocide levelled by the ICC against its good ally Israel. We can see the West also brushing aside the charge that it is complicit in the crime because it has supplied arms to Isreal. No African, Asian, or Muslim country would be allowed to be in denial and get away with it. Even Amnesty International has concluded that genocide is the only word to describe what is taking place and the US, Britain and Germany are likely to be charges with being complicit .
What the world is witnessing in Gaza is the most telling moment in capturing the state of humanity today. It is a key marker in providing a clue to understanding the nature of Western civilisation and its thirst for dominance even in the 21st century.
From the tea stalls in Calcutta to the road-side eateries in Jakarta to the markets in Nairobi or Cape Town or the bazaars in Cairo and the favelas of Rio, the refrain is the same:How can such large-scale murder be happening in this day and age, and be permitted? How is it that the US will not even permit a ceasefire? How do these perpetrators of massacre get away with it whilst at the same time preaching to others whose crimes pale in comparison? There is anger aplenty.
Yet this growing outrage is not understood in Western capitals as the average citizen is easily persuaded by politicians and media that the West knows best. Even if it is, the calculation is a simple one: Why care about the sentiments of people who have no power to harm us? Hidden in this sort of sordid worldview is the rationale that if they tried to oppose us, we have the military and economic power to hurt them badly.
This is the recognition for people the world over, who now see that the mean spirited and racially driven attitude of supremacy has never been extinguished in the West.
Here is one rationale as to why. The post-colonial order which was created after the Second World War – also known as the rules-based-order to provide legitimacy – was carefully managed and promoted, aided by its media partners, to project an image of benevolence and liberalism in order to mask the hard-wired desire to continue to dominate and rule the world.
The growing understanding in the non-Western world is that the collective West is in fact a tribe, united by a shared history, culture, and religion, of brutal conquest, occupation, colonialism marked by genocide and plundering – from Asia and Africa to the Americas to Australia. The tribe is united in appreciating its need to protect itself. Its members have a bond around the simple need to survive in a world where if the majority, who were until recently oppressed by them, were awoken by the anger of the great injustices they continue to endure, they may seek revenge and turn the tables.
This paranoia in the West that its past is catching up with it -that the majority will awaken and seek justice as all is revealed – is what drives it to this day. It is this tribal commitment which anchors its willingness to protect Isreal as a member of the tribe – the last standing white settler colonial community – even by committing genocide, which has laid bare its true nature for all to see. It is the same paranoia that allows it to have the largest military capability in the world but use every means at its disposal to suppress the actions of others to build their own capabilities to defend themselves. The recurring fear is that this global call for justice could spread as calls for reparations turn into real demands and other actions. An example is the recent actions of the Maori in New Zealand who have united to oppose changes in laws that would weaken their status in the nation. Will the First Nation People of Australia be the next to call for reparations and take their case to the ICJ?
This global awakening in response to the shameless violence has rekindled horror stories that had remained dormant for decades about white settlers grabbing land and committing genocide. It has emboldened people and that is not necessarily a good thing for a world that desperately needs to come together rather than splinter.
Imagine the 21st century in which the West had come to terms with the notion of living in harmony with the global majority, rather than allowing its paranoia about retaining power at all costs, to shape its relationship with others, driven by its sense of superiority. The cost of this entrenched desire to dominate the world has been incalculable. This is the tragedy of our times and an unspoken cost that the world has had to bear. It could so easily have been a world in which the West, with its great achievements and power, could have chosen to support rising powers, irrespective of ideological difference – rather than choosing to exploit them to serve the need for hegemony – working for a shared humanity. Imagine such a world, brimming with the prospect of dealing collectively with the biggest challenges we face, leveraging the strengths of all nations within a multi-polar world.
Sadly, the West refused to change its DNA of dominance, one that mutated even further by the enrichment which came with centuries of colonial exploits. The current global awakening and accompanying resentment have sadly set back the relationship between the West and the global majority by decades. Many in the non-Western world had been seduced for decades since liberation into believing that a page has been turned and that West was determined to redress the crimes of the past by being benevolent. They thus even agreed to allow them to write the rules and be the so-called leaders of the world. They tolerated Western dominated institutions making global rules like the G7. This accommodating approach was no doubt aided by the subservience instilled in these countries after centuries of dominance and deep sense of inferiority too.
That has now all changed, and the building of a new order will be met with fierce resistance from the West as we are currently witnessing. With our-story emerging around the world, the re-telling of his-story is simply the first step in non-Western populations seeking more agency in what their nations, organisations, and communities are capable of achieving in the international arena. This is the repurposing and reclaiming of Francis Fukuyama’s self-admitted blunder, because we are in many ways at the End of His-story.
Western nations, both big and small, would do well to recognise that to navigate this new global reality, there is a need to reject exceptionalism and the desire to dominate others, rescind political doctrines about their special place in the world, reconfigure existing norms of diplomacy, international financial architecture, media, and cultural imagery. Very importantly embark on a generational long educational project to shift attitudes by coming to terms with the lies of his-story and understanding “our-story”.
The current decoupling from the Western world view and its preferred operating system is not de-globalisation as so many pundits fear. It is simply de-Westernisation – not an anti-Western movement – which is long overdue in a multipolar word, once which desires an End to His-story.
Chandran Nair is the CEO of Asia’s leading independent think tank The Global Institute for Tomorrow based in Hong Kong. He is the author of several books including the acclaimed, Dismantling Global White Privilege: Equity for a Post- Western World.
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