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The new cultural imperialism

By Luc Loranhe (2005)

In rich countries that more and more people (those who feel that they have enough money anyway) concern themselves not so much with making money, but with shaping the world in accordance with their ideas of the world.

This is why imperialism today is no longer just about exploiting the economic resources of other countries, but also about shaping the societies of other countries. This is the new cultural imperialism that doesn’t have economic domination as its aim, but ideological domination itself and for its own end.

The imperialists on location are now not just foreign diplomat missions and foreign businesses, but also foreign NGOs, in which crusading Christian fundamentalists and feminist activists often have the say.

However, that those in rich countries who feel that they have enough money are no longer chasing material gains, is not unique to Western countries. Saudi Arabians are not members of Al Qaida to fight for economic benefits, neither in the way Capitalistic imperialists fight for their individual economic gains, nor in the way Communist revolutionaries fought for economic rights of the masses. Just like today's Christian crusaders and feminists, they fight to shape the world in accordance to their dogma.