'Why have some poor countries remained "underdeveloped," or even "failed," while others have become richer and stronger? In the successful group, have a few-notably China-enhanced methods long used by European imperialists to extract national resources from weaker countries? Has solidarity among poor countries ended? What does the future hold for poor countries? For compelling answers to these questions, read Colburn's Colonialism, Independence, and the Construction of Nation-States.' - Lynn T. White III, Professor, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA 'Colburn's Colonialism, Independence, and the Construction of Nation-States is both an enlightening and enjoyable read. It is wide-ranging yet enlivened by telling examples.' - Michael Doyle, Professor, Columbia University, New York, USA 'Forrest Colburn's Colonialism, Independence, and the Construction of Nation-States is in part, and most significantly, a welcome attempt to revisit the history of basic ideas from the past, that should not have been shelved. Development, Third World, colonialism, North-South, are notions that surfaced in the sixties and seventies, and faded under the influence of excessive enthusiasm for "emerging markets" in the new century. Colburn explains splendidly why the history of these notions, and their content, is more relevant than ever.' - Jorge Castañeda, Former Foreign Minister of Mexico, and Professor, New York University, New York, USA This book analyzes how the poorer countries of the world have a shared history: these many countries were assaulted, overrun, and sometimes even formed by European colonialism. The wave of accessions to legal independence in the aftermath of World War II was of extraordinary importance. There was an intoxicating confidence and determination, a sense that everything was possible. A half-century later, the world looks different. The author adroitly delineates the uneven performance of newly-constructed or reimagined nation-states, and the shifting perceptions of the poorer countries in the world. Forrest D. Colburn is a Professor at the City University of New York, New York, USA.

This book investigates studies on colonialism and anti-colonialism from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. The author begins by recounting the deleterious impact of colonialism and then focuses on the heady days of anti-colonialism nationalism. He traces how the system fell apart: leaders, especially those of the second-generation, often turned out to be inept and corrupt; structural obstacles led poor countries to continue to depend on the export of commodities; advanced countries promised to help, but did not prove useful; when growth was possible, here and there, the fruits of development were seldom distributed widely. This project will appeal to the academics, researchers, and students in the fields of comparative politics, development studies, government, and economics.

The growth of institutional capacity in the developing world has become a central theme in twenty-first-century social science. Many studies have shown that public institutions are an important determinant of long-run rates of economic growth. This book argues that to understand the difficulties and pitfalls of state building in the contemporary world, it is necessary to analyze previous efforts to create institutional capacity in conflictive contexts. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the process of state and nation building in Latin America and Spain from independence to the 1930s. The book examines how Latin American countries and Spain tried to build modern and efficient state institutions for more than a century - without much success. The Spanish and Latin American experience of the nineteenth century was arguably the first regional stage on which the organizational and political dilemmas that still haunt states were faced. This book provides an unprecedented perspective on the development and contemporary outcome of those state and nation-building projects.

The challenges facing the nation-state in contemporary Africa are increasingly attracting the attention of scholars interested to understand how the decomposition and recomposition of popular political identities on the continent are affecting the post-colonial unitary project. The studies presented in this volume show that the challenges to the post-colonial nation-state project in Africa have mainly taken ethno-regionalist, religious and separatist forms. These challenges have been shaped by the long drawn-out economic crisis, zero-sum, market-led structural adjustment, and the legacy of decades of political authoritarianism and exclusion that dates from the colonial period. The contributors to this book present different suggestions to promote national unity and a supporting civic identity in Africa.

Decolonization is the term commonly used to refer to this transition from a world of colonial empires to a world of nation-states in the years after World War II. This work demonstrates that this process involved considerable violence and instability.

Nigeria, despite being the African country of greatest strategic importance to the U.S., remains poorly understood. John Campbell explains why Nigeria is so important to understand in a world of jihadi extremism, corruption, oil conflict, and communal violence. The revised edition provides updates through the recent presidential election.