Book review: Wronged by Empire: Post-Imperial Ideology and Foreign Policy in India and China
| Author | Brian Turnbull |
| DOI | 10.1177/0010836715610593 |
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Cooperation and Conflict
2016, Vol. 51(3) 401 –404
© The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0010836715610593
cac.sagepub.com
Book reviews
Manjari Chatterjee Miller, Wronged by Empire: Post-Imperial Ideology and Foreign Policy in India and
China, Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2014. $21.03, paperback. ISBN 9780804793384.
For Wronged by Empire, Miller utilizes a psychological approach to explain certain past
behaviors by China and India that remain difficult to account for when relying strictly on
neorealist, security-based approaches. Miller argues that colonialism, apart from being a
traumatic experience with continuing economic and social consequences for the colo-
nized, has imposed a “post-imperial ideology” or “PII” on former colonies that has had
a significant effect on their foreign policy behavior. Her work addresses the glaring lack
of colonialism scholarship within international relations research by incorporating it
directly as an explanatory variable. Supported by an extensive, self-designed qualitative
analysis of several case studies involving India and China since their independence,
Miller argues that the behavior of these states during these events is better explained by
PII than by the standard explanations that focus primarily on economic and military
considerations.
To expand beyond traditional methods of analysis, Miller develops the concept of PII.
Essentially, states that have historically experienced “extractive colonialism” (as opposed
to the settler colonialism the United States experienced) tend to “maintain an emphasis
on victimhood and entitlement”. This sense of victimization by the state drives a desire
to be “recognized and empathized with as a victim by others in the international system”
and to ensure victimization will not occur again in the future. Stemming from this ideol-
ogy are “two subordinate goals: maximizing territorial sovereignty and maximizing sta-
tus.” Combined with maintaining victimhood, these three goals significantly influence
the international behavior of many post-colonial states.
Miller contends that India and China, two states with drastically different regimes,
share a common experience with colonialism that pushes their foreign policy in similar
directions. PII tends to manifest itself in their foreign policies in three particular circum-
stances: when sovereignty is perceived as threatened, when traditional borders are con-
tested, or when national prestige is insulted. Under these circumstances, PII predicts that
a state will first “adopt the position of victim and cast those with which it is interacting
as victimizers.” Secondly, state actions and policy stances will be justified publicly with
statements focused on their oppression and discrimination at the hands of the victimizers.
Thirdly, “strict concepts of the inviolability of their borders” will be steadfastly held to,
borders that often encompass contentious, pre-colonial territory. Finally, these states will
be particularly sensitive to any perceived affront to their international prestige, which is
connected to the pursuit of their historical status that was erased by colonization.
610593CAC0010.1177/0010836715610593Cooperation and ConflictBook reviews
research-article2015
Book reviews
To continue reading
Request your trial