Evaluation of Asia and decolonization in the US press

Abstract

No research in the colonial system issues during the Cold War would be complete without studying the press of the participating parties. In order to give a detailed analysis of the international relationships in terms of the global transformations from the American point of view, the author draws relevant newspaper articles published after the World War II. The results have shown changes to priority schemes as viewed in American social discourse during 1945. Roosevelt’s plan for the dismantling of the colonial empires was gradually replaced with less radical plans, which presupposed using the colonial experience for foreign policy of the USA. The materials of the American press of 1945 dedicated to the search for the most efficient optimal strategy of building relations with both colonial empires and with dependent territories show, among other things, a steady interest of American mass media интерес towards negative and positive experience of colonial policy. Thus, there emerge several new approaches towards assessment of the prospects of the colonial system in the American public discourse of late 1945. First approach: retention of all colonial empires, especially in the key points of the after-war world (Middle East, Indochina, Northern Africa). Second approach: retention of the British colonial empire capable of controlling (with the aid from the USA) the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the South-Eastern Asia; in that way it will address two tasks, namely provision of valuable raw materials for the American economy, and controlling the rebel and national liberation forces. Third approach: replacement of colonial empires with American military presence in order to address the same tasks.

Keywords:

decolonization, public opinion, China, Asia, USA, World War II, press