The viability of conquest and/or colonialism in the modern world

[LazyLizard]

if you want to conquer a nation you first need military force to take initial control and then you start replacing the population to your own native population. only problem is keeping outside forces like NATO from fucking it up

 

[Kaiser Wilhelm's Ghost]

if you want to conquer a nation you first need military force to take initial control and then you start replacing the population to your own native population. only problem is keeping outside forces like NATO from fucking it up

You don't even need that, again historically the majority of colonialism was fueled by excess let off of European populations into the developing world. So effectively all you need is a young population, that is defensively well armed to move into a territory and annex it for themselves. Boom nationhood, or better yet it just joins it's bigger host/father nation.

Texas is a fantastic example of this in work, as the American settlers managed to not only annex it for themselves, but also essentially put themselves at the front and centre of the states power structure, overshadowing the native Tejas in the process.

 

[Grotesque Bushes]

China is the only one that really gets it. The Belt and Road system is literally a form of colonialism and they are rapidly expanding into Africa. The meme here is that the Belt and Road program is about to collapse on itself because what the Chinese project the member nation to pay and what they actually pay are completely different. Some members of the program have nearly crashed their economy trying to pay for these new roads. Not only that, but the roads themselves leave a lot to be desired. The roads are, well, Chinese and that means behind schedule and prone to failure.

You've missed the point here. This is the carrot - they'll build you some roads for below market rate so that your mud huts are interconnected. The crux of the matter here is Chinese involvement in African mines. Or as of now, African involvement in Chinese mines in Africa. The one thing you might want from Africa are the effectively untapped raw materials they have. Chinks have skipped the colonialism and conquest stages, and went on to outright owning the only useful bits of multiple African countries.

 

[OB 946]

You've missed the point here. This is the carrot - they'll build you some roads for below market rate so that your mud huts are interconnected. The crux of the matter here is Chinese involvement in African mines. Or as of now, African involvement in Chinese mines in Africa. The one thing you might want from Africa are the effectively untapped raw materials they have. Chinks have skipped the colonialism and conquest stages, and went on to outright owning the only useful bits of multiple African countries.

Yes the issue they will deal with is the same shit the US dealt with in South America when we did literally the exact same thing: nationalization.

Are you familiar with Banana Republics? How about literally all the oil infrastructure in Venezuela? It was all US companies for a long time, and then the economy crashed and the populist governments just nationalized the property. Africa will do the same shit. When it is more popular to literally steal the chinese built infrastructure than it is to keep taking chinabux it will happen.

 

[Slap47]

People misunderstand colonialism.

Europeans usually didn't conquer places. They took the existing leadership and placed themselves ontop of them with gifts and assistance in oppressing their people.

Indian Muslim Princes gripped onto power well into the 1950s amassing insane fortunes and African princes still have their kingdoms today.

The new system throws aside the needless bureaucracy and pomp.

 

[ICametoLurk]

People misunderstand colonialism.

Europeans usually didn't conquer places. They took the existing leadership and placed themselves ontop of them with gifts and assistance in oppressing their people.

Indian Muslim Princes gripped onto power well into the 1950s amassing insane fortunes and African princes still have their kingdoms today.

The new system throws aside the needless bureaucracy and pomp.

Decolonization is Fascism for Indigenous people, prove me wrong.

 

[ZeCommissar]

If you use colonization by brute force like some empires of old used to do, then you run the very real risk of just having your ass eventually kicked out from the locals regardless of "technological advances."

Modern war is far different than previous warfare. Everyone has guns now for one. Gone are the days when martini-henry armed men shot at zulu spears. A fanatic insurgency with guerrilla tactics can make even a vastly superior opponent have a reallllllly bad time. (vietnam) You don't need fancy jets and tanks to protect your home even if they do help a lot.

It would also not be worth the trouble having to deal with constant local insurgency. If you also go "lol fuck international law" then your international rivals will support the locals against you using weapons and other material effort. Your own people aren't going to support you if you send their countrymen over to die over some shit they aren't personally getting benefited by.

There are multiple reasons why modern colonization just isn't viable, and if it still was then major parts of Africa would still be colonized, and Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia would still be called French Indochina. You will eventually be driven out of the locals don't support you being there unless you plan on occupying a foreign nation for eternity.

This is why "soft" colonialism like the type China is doing to Africa is far more modern and effective.....for now.