ABSTRACT
The paradox of imperialism after empire raises questions for the historian that are not usually asked, because they are too difficult to answer. For instance, did imperialism end with the disappearance of Europe's colonial empires? Or has it continued under new management? Is what is called imperialism today more or less the same thing as the imperialism of the colonial era? Or, has a world of superpowers and new states, cold war and the World Bank produced a beast of an altogether different species in a revolutionized habitat? And if this is so, has the imperialistic element in international relations increased or diminished? In the light of the continuities and discontinuities it may be that some parts of imperial theory, for example, those of capitalist imperialism, informal empire, or neo-colonialism apply a fortiori, or it may be that foreign intervention in the affairs of weak states has changed character to the extent that imperial descriptions are now anachronistic. At its simplest, this is the issue raised for discussion in this article.
