ABSTRACT
Imperialism is a complex phenomenon. Few modern historians would be satisfied with a definition that related only to the acquisition of overseas territory, which has been likened to ‘judging the size and character of icebergs solely from the parts above the water line’. Yet it is not clear that the economic relationship between European states and the rest of the world was necessarily an imperialistic one. While ‘economic imperialism’ seems an appropriate enough term in the case of China, it seems less adequate as a description of the complex situation in Latin America. Most modern writers therefore use the word ‘imperialism’ in the broad sense of the assertion of European political influence or control over other territories, especially in Africa and Asia, involving some measure of economic exploitation. In other words, imperialism is a somewhat elastic term unless you opt for the rather dated Leninist definition of it as a specific phase in the development of capitalism.
