Newsinger, J (2002) 'Elgin in China.' New Left Review, 15. pp. 119-140.
Abstract
Imperialism today is emerging, freshly refurbished, as the progressive answer to problems of planetary disorder. Discarding conventional euphemisms, official ideologues and establishment media—from Blair’s former factotum for international security in Prospect, to opinion-makers in the Financial Times and Foreign Affairs—now openly celebrate the return of Western empire across the world. Devoted in the service of human rights and free markets, military operations proceed without compunction for their consequences. As bombs rain down on the civilian populations of Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, or Palestinians are buried in their homes, the drawl is at best of ‘collateral damage’—which, indeed, one enthusiast has complained was ‘almost pedantically avoided’ in Operation Enduring Freedom. By comparison with such contemporary sensibility, the frankly colonial warfare of the nineteenth century could at times hold a more honourable record. If its agents were equally certain in the moral superiority of their mission, a few, at least, were troubled by the misery they caused.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | School of Writing, Publishing and the Humanities |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Jan 2017 15:26 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Aug 2021 09:44 |
| ISSN: | 0028-6060 |
| URI / Page ID: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/8788 |
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