American Imperialism Research Paper

529 Words3 Pages

Furthermore, imperialism is also just as important within the formation of international institutions in the modern world. The British Empire relied on economic imperialism for its great superpower status. But the British government were facing internal domestic issues and running an empire was becoming difficult. Eventually, the reign of empires came to an end and the rise of American imperialism arose, but this still helped in remaining to keep the colonialist powers as economic powers too. For example, The Bretton Woods system was formed to promote imperialist values of the western world after the collapse of Europe during WW2, it most notably promoted American influence economically. After this system collapsed, the Washington Consensus had replaced it to …show more content…

Sometimes they prove to be disastrous for countries and sometimes they help stabilizing countries’ economies. The IMF and WB in particular have failed many times to carry out their aims when lending loans to countries through programs referred to as structural adjustment programs (SAPS). To even get a loan from the IMF, ‘first the country has to submit a letter of intent, specifying its economic plan to recover and repay the IMF loan. The executive board then agree with the country the terms and conditions.’ (Guardian, 2011) These loans are given on the base of ensuring the money is spent for economic purposes rather than for the benefit of the citizens of a country. In many cases, like in Angola the debts difficult to pay back as the IMF’s supposedly long term economic plans do not work. These failures as a result provoke the enhancement of making sure imperialism dominates the modern international system. It does this by ensuring the gap between the richer north and the poorer south remains. This does not mean all loans given to countries by the IMF and WB are all geographically located in the South, but it means that the South suffer the most from