Martyr Imam Khamenei’s selected statements on colonialism

From the viewpoint of colonizers, colonization stimulates innovation. The English, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the French went to different parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America to murdered the natives, to occupy different countries, to steal many things and to betray many peoples. They led many nations to disaster and they did so in the name of innovation and progress. When neocolonialism emerged, the situation was still the same. America, England and other colonizers raised the flag of innovation, progress and development in order to justify their violence, warmongering and all the coups d’état that were organized by their intelligence services. (May 15, 2007) Ever since colonialism emerged in the world — dating back to the nineteenth century, and gradually taking shape some two hundred years ago — as powerful nations capable of such encroachment began to exert it, a system of domination came into being. This meant the world was divided into two camps: one camp of the powerful, bullying dominators, and another of the weak, subjugated, and dominated. (June 25, 2008) After the defeat of the method of direct colonialism - which was common in the past and through which they colonized countries in a direct way - it became obsolete and it was replaced with neocolonialism. In neocolonialism, interfering powers did not directly involve themselves in controlling colonized countries. Rather, their agents and those who listened to these powers and who were dependent on them were brought to power. Because governments which rely on the outside cannot rule without dictatorship, they ruled in a dictatorial way and they safeguarded the interests of foreign powers. This was neocolonialism. Fighting against dictatorship will get nowhere without fighting against those foreign powers which are behind domestic dictators. (February 8, 2014) The arrogant powers of the world - namely, western powers, America and the Zionists - would never stop. They want to spread their hegemony over the entire world and the entire financial resources of the world. They want to dominate all human resources. What have nations done wrong to deserve this? Why should nations of the world tolerate their hegemony? Unfortunately, these things have become realities. They select people who are like them and put them in charge of nations of the world in order to protect their interests and work against the interests of nations and pressure them as much as they can. This has happened throughout the world in different forms during the past 200 years - since the beginning of colonialism. The problem that nations of the world have been suffering from during this period is not the existence of dictators. Their problem is that dictators receive support from global powers. It is global powers that have been trampling on the rights of nations. This is the problem with the era of colonialism. (April 23, 2011) Imperialism is the practice of dividing the world into two categories — the dominating and the dominated. A few must rule over the entire world with power, while other countries should obey them under different guises. That’s what imperialism is. Europe’s scientific advancements created imperialism. Therefore, the term elites, does not fit into this category as a description of values. (Oct. 19, 2022) At the core of the system of liberal democracy and the governments that were created based on that rationale and principle, there is an inherent istikbar [arrogance], aggression, and transgression. Arrogance here has the same meaning that we use in the Islamic Revolution. That is, it encompasses oppression, aggression, and the violation of other nations’ rights. This meaning exists in its [liberal democracy’s] essence. These governments felt and saw that their wealth, power, and absolute domination depended on attacking and invading weak nations and countries. This is evidenced by the fact that at the height of that faction's popular slogans — that is, the slogans of democracy, freedom, and human rights that peaked in the 19th century — parallel to these slogans, the largest colonization movement of that faction also took place in the same period. Therefore, the peak of colonization of Asian countries, numerous African countries, and Latin America was during the 19th century. (Mar. 7, 2024) If certain countries and peoples manage to liberate the human and global community from the malevolence of colonialism and arrogance, the problem will be solved. This is the main part of humanity's problem. Today, arrogant regimes - headed by America - have possessed humanity's body and mind like an evil spirit. They are haunting it and making life difficult for it. If humanity manages to liberate itself from this evil spirit and this nightmare, then it will breathe easily. (May 24, 1983) The majority of western societies have gained their wealth through colonialism. The wealth that the English obtained in the 18th and 19th centuries had been gained through colonizing eastern countries, especially the Indian Subcontinent. England used this wealth to make its policies dominant in the entire Europe as well as other places. You should read the history of English colonialism. It is not really possible to summarize what they did to India. The English accumulated their wealth by squeezing India - which was a very rich country - of its wealth. They did not ask where the wealth came from. This wealth is to be respected! (May 17, 2009) What the US government is pursuing today is, in spirit and substance, the same thing that colonial powers pursued in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Back then, European governments would say, "We need the vital resources of these countries, so we are going to move in and colonize them." They humiliated small and weak nations. Today, America is doing the exact same thing to serve its own interests. Clearly, any interest that must be secured at the expense of another nation is an illegitimate one. (June 4, 1995) Colonialism, the humiliation of peoples, the looting of nations’ financial resources and the corruption of their human resources originate from the rule of that jahiliyyah. When jahiliyyah becomes dominant, you will see that many nations of the world will be trampled under the boots of colonialism, that their resources will be looted, that they will be humiliated and that they will remain backwards for many years. Some of the nations that were colonized fell behind for tens of years and some of them fell behind for centuries. (May 5, 2016) I, by no means, recommend that you be overawed by the West's progress —absolutely not. That progress was achieved by entering a new phase of development earlier and it is built upon oppression, arrogance, and colonialism. If the British had not colonized India, Burma, and that wealthy region of Asia, if they had not usurped their territories and drained their wealth — and the Indians themselves, in a certain historical period, have depicted this situation very well — they certainly could not have reached where they are today. (October 3, 2012)