ABSTRACT
The boundaries of such colonies reflected the needs and conveniences of colonising powers rather more than reflecting a pre-existing cultural or territorial identity. The era of colonialism carved territories out of vast swathes of the non-European world. The upshot was uncontrolled, independent, contested border areas or, in some cases, rival groups being brought under single rule, for example the ‘tribal’ areas of Pakistan, the India–China frontier and so on. After World War I, several colonial governments initiated more humanitarian policies towards colonised peoples, in part to facilitate local administration and commerce, but also in response to a growing disquiet in many home countries over colonialism’s excesses. The establishment of Pakistan remains a prime example of such a state, where the dominant Punjabi ethnic group coexists with many smaller groups. The Westphalian state is, and has for the past three and a half centuries been, the standard state model to which all other types of state have been subordinated.
