2008 Woodie Awards
African scholar criticizes American global policy, calls for resistance
By: Lindsey Pilcher
Issue date: 4/7/05 Section: News
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Mazrui, the creator of the acclaimed TV series and book, "The Africans: A Triple Heritage," spoke about the effects of globalization on Africa and the political situation in the United States. In some ways, American imperialism is worse than the European variety because there is no accountability. Americans do not have to answer to African society since they don't have a physical presence, he said.
"American imperialism is an empire not of territory, but of control," Mazrui said, adding that more than 100 countries in the world have some sort of American military presence. "European empires were competitive. American imperialism is monopolistic."
The United States is so far ahead of its rivals - economically, militarily and technologically - that's it's frightening, he said. The world should learn to reduce dependency on the United States and make Americans pay when they do something wrong. The insurgency in Iraq is a good example of how effective resistance can be.
"If [Operation] Shock and Awe had succeeded without insurgency, the U.S. would have gone into Iran and Syria," Mazrui said.
The audience had mixed reactions to Mazrui's analogy between European and American imperialism. Chris Parr, associate professor of religious studies, agreed.
"America's way of exerting influence on the world is partly designed to avoid learning about the cultures it's exerting influence on," Parr said after the lecture.
Parr, who was wearing a "Who would Jesus bomb?" pin, said that Webster as a global university breaks away from this tradition by promoting understanding about other cultures.
Others thought the lecture was unfair in some respects.
"I didn't agree with the comparison between old European structures and the American imperialism today," said Phil Tomio, a senior international relations major.
Mazrui also spoke on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which tends to be much more controversial than any aspect of American politics. He said professors can criticize the U.S. government without retribution, but if they criticize Israel they risk having their tenure denied.