{"id":4144,"date":"2021-10-05T05:17:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T05:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism"},"modified":"2021-10-05T06:16:39","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T06:16:39","slug":"of-colonialism-and-nationalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism","title":{"rendered":"Of colonialism and nationalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Mauritius<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own the latter for a host of sound reasons.<\/p>\n

However, the current defining stand-off shaping up between China and US-led allies tends to take away the choice of internationalism as an option. The battle here is between strident nationalism and an anachronistically robust colonialism.<\/p>\n

Chinese nationalism is bad, to put the prevailing argument on its head, because it covets culturally and linguistically the Chinese inhabited island of Taiwan as historically its own.<\/p>\n

By the same bizarre logic, British colonialism is deemed to be agreeable for laying claim to and going to war over distant islands that should have struck more cultural and political kinship with their Argentinian neighbours than with the Anglo-Saxon occupiers residing 8,000 miles across the Atlantic. Argentinians called the cluster of islands Malvinas, the British preferred the name Falkland.<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, another offshoot of colonial Britain\u2019s control of distant and varied real estate is the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which legally, historically speaking, belongs to Mauritius, but has been occupied since decades by the US military, a close UK ally, as one of its most crucial bases around the planet.<\/p>\n

Mauritius wants Diego Garcia back, and has even offered to let it be used by the current occupants on a 99-year lease. The US won\u2019t hear of it. Countries like India have traditionally supported the island\u2019s return to Mauritius.<\/p>\n

Now, given New Delhi\u2019s newly minted anti-Chinese worldview and its embrace of the US-led Quad with Japan and Australia as other partners, it remains to be seen how it balances the yawning contradiction between diplomatic morality and domestic expediency.<\/p>\n

What are the bald facts about Taiwan\u2019s China claim? Cutting through its ownership under various Chinese dynasties, it was colonised by the Japanese before it was returned to China in 1945, only to become the base for the Kuomintang after Mao\u2019s revolution.<\/p>\n

In 1979, the US switched its loyalty to the People\u2019s Republic of China as part of intensified efforts to isolate the USSR, which was not different from the way it has wooed India in the post-Cold War era to counter China. What lies ahead in the stand-off between the US-led alliance and a resurgent China is too early to tell.<\/p>\n

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been talking of China\u2019s penchant for expansionism without naming the country, rightly or wrongly, but what did Margaret Thatcher call the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands? She called it \u2018Operation Goa\u2019.<\/p>\n

What was the implication in that for India? Simply, that India\u2019s annexation of Goa under Nehru was as out of line as Argentina\u2019s invasion of the Falklands.<\/p>\n

India calls the 1961 event \u2018Liberation of Goa\u2019. The dubious factors behind the Falklands war were not dissimilar to the reasons spurring American policy towards China, currently.<\/p>\n

Both Mrs Thatcher and Argentinian military ruler Leopoldo Galtieri were running up terribly poor grades on the popularity chart. In Britain, there were serious moves within the Conservative leadership to evict Mrs Thatcher.<\/p>\n

She was simply unpopular. Galtieri was similarly desperate to improve his ratings at home. By an error of judgment, the military conflict became a competition between the two contestants to improve their domestic popularity, which had otherwise slipped for both for entirely unrelated factors.<\/p>\n

The US role in the Falklands conflict has been less discussed. It was the solidarity of the Five Eyes \u2014 the espionage club of five English-speaking countries \u2014 that prompted the US to give up on Argentina, an ally who it had helped set up a military establishment.<\/p>\n

Galtieri was a guest at the White House as one who had helped the US in Nicaragua. And then, quietly, he was abandoned. According to a report by Michael Getler in the Washington Post, the US Navy was not opposed to lending Britain an aircraft carrier during the \u201c1982 campaign to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina if the Royal Navy lost either of its two carriers\u201d.<\/p>\n

This fact should interest policymakers in India and Pakistan, particularly the fact that the US can drop allies like a hot potato. Pentagon officials decided to speak after The Economist broke the story. According to the magazine, the campaign \u201ccould not have been mounted, let alone won, without American help\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the WP story, \u201cPentagon confirmed many of the details in the report, including the fact that the United States repositioned a spy satellite, using up scarce fuel and thus shortening the satellite\u2019s life in space, from its Soviet-watching orbit in the northern hemisphere to a place over the South Atlantic where it could provide intelligence to the British fleet.<\/p>\n

\u201d
\nApparently, US intelligence, which did not rely merely on satellites, might have made \u201cthe key difference between winning and losing because the Argentine attacks on the Royal Navy would have been even more effective if the British had not had the information\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is this information-sharing club of English-speaking countries that has been revived despite the political cost. The somersault in foreign policy was not America\u2019s preserve alone.<\/p>\n

Mrs Thatcher was initially planning to hand over Falklands to Argentina as part of her plan to pare down the military budget. \u201cTo Argentina\u2019s military junta, the British government was patently eager to dispose of the Falklands,\u201d wrote The Guardian.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the plan was mauled in the Commons and talks stalled, the invitation to the Argentinian junta to imitate India\u2019s seizure of Goa in 1961 was irresistible.<\/p>\n

The invasion was named Operation Goa. \u201d
\nAs Thatcher was perceived to have failed to defend the islands from a surprise attack by Argentina, she knew disaster was imminent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe faced humiliation and possible resignation. Overnight she came into her own, changing from a Chamberlain to a Churchill.<\/p>\n

\u201d
\nWhat lies ahead in the stand-off between the US-led alliance and a resurgent China is too early to tell.<\/p>\n

What is evident is that the shaping event is full of feigned morality while it is actually rooted in a sordid past, one that refuses to pass into history anytime soon. We know that sordid past as colonialism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own the latter for a host of sound reasons. However, the current defining stand-off shaping up between China and US-led allies tends to take away the choice of internationalism as an option. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,7,8,12,16],"tags":[233,245,837,241,836],"class_list":["post-4144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-colonialism","tag-mauritius","tag-nationalism"],"yoast_head":"\nOf colonialism and nationalism - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of colonialism and nationalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-05T05:17:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-05T06:16:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Of colonialism and nationalism\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-05T05:17:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-05T06:16:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\"},\"wordCount\":1032,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"colonialism\",\"Mauritius\",\"nationalism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\",\"name\":\"Of colonialism and nationalism - Mauritius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-05T05:17:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-05T06:16:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Of colonialism and nationalism\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Of colonialism and nationalism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\",\"name\":\"Mauritius\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Of colonialism and nationalism - Mauritius","description":"WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Of colonialism and nationalism","og_description":"WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism","og_site_name":"Mauritius","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2021-10-05T05:17:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-05T06:16:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Of colonialism and nationalism","datePublished":"2021-10-05T05:17:09+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-05T06:16:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism"},"wordCount":1032,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Mauritius","colonialism","Mauritius","nationalism"],"articleSection":["all news","files","head lines","homepage-english","policy","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism","name":"Of colonialism and nationalism - Mauritius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-05T05:17:09+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-05T06:16:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"WERE the choice to be one between nationalism and internationalism many would have had no hesitation to support and own ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-615beda6a01ac.jpg","width":800,"height":480,"caption":"Of colonialism and nationalism"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/of-colonialism-and-nationalism#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Of colonialism and nationalism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/","name":"Mauritius","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}