A half-century of post-colonial studies has enshrined the idea that empires have essentially undermined societies around the world and left psychological scars that may never heal. Contemporary anti-imperialists construe colonial empires as historical singularities that mankind has a moral duty not to replicate. Yet, aren’t we witnessing a rebirth of imperialist temptations whose raison d’être seems more acceptable only because they are the product of new regional powers?

 
With

  • Pierre Singaravélou, Historian & Professor of contemporary history, Sorbonne University
  • Samir Puri, Senior Fellow, Singapore’s International Institute for Strategic Studies
  • Olivette Otele, Professor of history of slavery and memory of enslavement, University of Bristol

Chaired by Natalya Vince, Historian & Reader in North African and French Studies, University of Portsmouth