ABSTRACT
European expansion and colonization has had a deep and lasting impact on the economic, political, and social development of every population it touched. When Europe’s great powers descended on Africa, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere, they established powerful institutions and structures that would frame the nature of social interactions in those communities for generations to come. These colonial institutions constituted the primary context for shaping the identities, interests, and modes of political organization for those living in the region. This colonial structure largely disregarded local customs and traditions. The colony essentially became an economic appendage intended to feed the growing needs of the European market. Equally problematic was the relative indifference shown by colonial powers toward the territorial distribution of indigenous groups. This was particularly the case in Africa, where European leaders imposed boundaries that paid little or no attention to existing cultural or political organization. The decision had grave consequences, as the political communities that emerged following colonialism rested upon dense and highly charged ethnic and racial cleavages. Many assumed that, with time and economic modernization, this sense of racial and ethnic identification would temper and ultimately disappear. This has not proven to be the case, and these identities continue to be a source of conflict, as well as economic and political underdevelopment, around the world.
