Graduate Program
Political Science
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
2012
Thesis Director
David Carwell
Thesis Committee Member
Ryan Hendrickson
Thesis Committee Member
Andrew McNitt
Abstract
Africa has long been seen as a foreign world to the West. Early pioneers to the continent called it "the dark continent" and during the Scramble for Africa in the late 1890s, European countries divided largely unexplored regions of the continent between themselves. Many European colonists are today reviled for their colonial practices of racial segregation, exclusion of locals from the political process and the imprisonment of black leaders. Through conquest and regulation, majority black populations were taken advantage of by European powers which divided the continent and drew up their own boundaries, ultimately splitting or forcibly combining ethnic groups. Africans were largely left in horrific poverty as colonizers took the arable lands, stripped the land of minerals and instituted laws in order to prevent Africans from gaining wealth. Following the handover of power from Europe and the return to majority rule, elections were held in the newly independent African nations. Much hope was placed in newly elected leaders and the economic outlook for Africa was bright. However, the removal of European colonization and the implementation of majority rule have not been accompanied by the delivery of the continent from poverty.
Recommended Citation
Foster, Peter, "Foreign aid: Addiction, weaning, recovery?" (2012). Masters Theses. 862.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/862
