Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the Era of Independence

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Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the Era of
Independence
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Getting Independence was the easy
part.....        

• Former colonies had challenges building new
  viable nations that could prosper in the global
  economy and provide opportunities for all social
  groups
• All problems come from this premise.....

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The Challenges to Independence

• Nationalist leaders had made followers believe
  that they could create a better life after the
  Europeans were gone and this leads to
  disappointment among the public
• Lack of resources, so no chance at distributing
  them evenly among the population
• Rivalries between groups slowly developed and
  would lead to political instability and in some
  extreme cases famine
• Leaders needed to address population increases,
  urban growth, rural problems, and environmental
  damage

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The Population Problem

• During the colonial era food crops and an end to
  war and famine (with new railroads) greatly
  increased the population
• South Asia already had a large population and
  this added to it
• Africa had a small population, so any adjustment
  upward was significant
• Strong resistance to birth control methods
  because of cultural or religious beliefs
• Lack of capacity (education and resources) to
  change habits and develop family planning 
• European policy of limiting industrialization in
  their colonies hurt population of colony because
  the increasing population had no where to work
  nor a place from which to draw resources for
  their growing population

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Bad Moves to the Cities

• Prospect of job opportunities in cities draws
  people from the villages but lack of industrial
  jobs means that these people have no work
• They turn to street vending, petty crime, and
  begging to survive
• They are sometimes used for political purposes to
  fight for one politician or another
• They have to get basic resources from the rural
  areas, thus depriving rural areas of their own
  necessities

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Environmental Problems    

• Explosive population growth leads to rural
  overcrowding and soil depletion, erosion,
  deforestation, overgrazing
• This is intensified by industrial pollution and
  no regulations on it
• Lack of new environmental technology means
  governments can't lesson the damage even if they
  wanted to

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Women and Feminist Struggles in the Postcolonial
Era    

• Women played large roles in fight for
  independence
• After independence was won and rights enshrined
  in the constitutions of the new countries, these
  were largely ignored
• Women who did become powerful were only powerful
  because they were connected to powerful men
• Indira Gandhi- daughter of Jawaharal Nehru (
  India's first prime minister)
• Benazir Bhutto- daughter of Pakistani prime
  minister
•  
• Some obstacles early age of marriage, many
  children, persistence of male-centric customs
  (i.e.women eating after men), spread of religious
  revivalism, lack of education and resources

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Challenge to the Economies

• These countries usually export crops and raw
  materials (cheap items, whose price fluctuates
  often but is in overall decline)
• These countries import manufactured goods
  (expensive items)
• In addition, the leaders are often corrupt and
  have enriched their own family members rather
  than help the economy
• failure to redistribute land
• failure to enact social reform
• Rely on loans from international organizations
  like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund

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A Return to Authoritarian Rule

• Ghana- Kwame Nkrumah- leader of the independence
  movement genuinely tried to initiate reform but
  when challenged by rivals and a weak economy
  he quickly began to consolidate power and he
  became a dictator
• suppressed opposition
• grew ties to Communist Party
• eventually overthrown by a military coup

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Military Response

• military is often the only group that can restore
  order BUT they are usually only trained in the
  use of force, which they dispense freely and
  without conscience
• Bad military regimes squash political and civil
  liberties
• Uganda (under Idi Amin)
• Myanmar
• Congo

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The Case of Egypt

• Egypt had gotten independence in 1930s but
  political parties did little to solve the nations
  problems
• Free Officers Movement (wanted to take power in a
  real revolution) allied itself to the Muslim
  Brotherhood (a Muslim organization committed to
  social change but who later became highly
  politicized)
• 1948 Egypt defeated in Arab-Israeli war
• Clashed with British over continued occupation of
  Suez Canal
• 1952 Gamal Abdul Nasser takes power in military
  coup
• All political parties disbanded by 1954
• Enacted broad changes intended to help the
  Egyptian masses
• public education
• land reform
• tax reform
•  5-year plans to industrialize

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contd.

• 1956 manages to finally oust the British from the
  Suez canal
• Supported other revolutions in the Arab world and
  wanted to get rid of Israel
• Other great initiatives began failing
• Anwar Sadat takes over and dismantled the state
  structure that Nasser had made and allowed more
  foreign and private investment
• Hosni Mubarak continued this
• Continuing problems
• population growth
• corrupt bureaucracy
• uneven distribution of wealth
• These problems lead to the growth of Muslim
  fundamentalist movements (one of which
  assasinated Sadat)

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Case Study India

• India different because
• it kept civilian rule (instead of military rule)
• came into independence with a larger industrial
  and scientific center as well as larger middle
  class
• good leadership (Jawaharlal Nehru and the
  Congress party) that was committed to freedom,
  democracy, and social reform
• Result India is the world's largest democracy
  with a vocal opposition and vibrant and
  independent free press
• Economic policies pushed a mix of private and
  state intervention schemes
• Green Revolution- introduction of new fertilizers
  and agricultural technology to increase crop
  yield
• Despite success, there is still a large gap
  between the rich and poor in India due to
  inadequate resources and the stubborness of the
  wealthy to keep land to themselves

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Case Study Iran

• 1979 Revolution- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini-
  movement to purify religion and rejoin religion
  and politics (similar to the Mahdi of the Sudan
  in the 1880s) and rid the Islamic world of
  Western Imperlialists and corrupt Arab leaders
• Why Iran?
• Iran never fully taken over by the west (just
  spheres of influence between Great Britain and
  Russia)
• State directed development under the Pahlavi
  shahs helped maintain economic independence and
  prosperity but offended the middle class, the
  ayatollahs, and the mullahs, the rural poor, and
  the military
•  
• So, demonstrations in 1978/79 easily ousted the
  weak shah

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Iran under Khomeini

• Drastic changes
• repression of constitutional parties
• moderates replaced by radical religious leaders
• foreign influences ousted
• Islamic legal codes put in place
• veiling for women became obligatory
• Invasion by Iraq under Saddam Hussein, who won
  some territory but angered public, who wanted to
  surrender (1988 peace deal)
• Result is an isolated Iran with a weak economy
  and weak institutions

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Case Study South Africa

• By 1970s it was the largest, most populous, and
  richest area still under colonial domination
• Afrikaners (white settlers)- had controlled the
  country through the Nationalist party since 1948
  (Nationalists had gotten independence from Great
  Britain in 1960)
• set up a system of Apartheid, a series of harsh
  racial policies, where the white minority kept
  political and economic power (segregation huge)
• police state funded by rich mineral revenues
• protest prohibited
• African National Congress illegal
• Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela in jail
• Steve Biko killed

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Change in South Africa

• 1980s weak economy due to international boycott
• black liberation movements in neighboring
  countries strong
• F.W. de Klerk- moderate Afrikaner leader pushed
  for reform
• 1990 Mandela released from jail
• 1994 free elections lead to ANC to come to power
  under the leadership of Mandela, who becomes
  president
•  
• Persisting problems
• interethnic rivalries between Zulus and Xhosas
• white supremacist organizations
• redistribution of wealth

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Reformers Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk
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Elections in South Africa