Long-term consequences

The imperial era ended in the mid-twentieth century, but its consequences persist:

• Most current African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian national borders were drawn by European officials, often ignoring local realities
• Economic relationships between former colonies and former imperial powers continue to shape global trade
• Many of the conflicts of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (in Israel/Palestine, Kashmir, Rwanda, Sudan) have roots in colonial-era decisions
• Diaspora populations created by imperial movement (Indians in Africa and the Caribbean, Caribbean people in Britain, Algerians in France) reshaped both former colonies and former metropoles
• Racial categories elaborated under imperialism continue to influence global politics and culture