Surrogate Colonialism is a term used most notably by anthropologistScott Atran in his essay "The Surrogate Colonization of Palestine 1917–1939"[1] to describe a type ofcolonization project whereby a foreign power encourages and provides support for a settlement project of a non-native group over land occupied by an indigenous people. For Atran, the mission ofAshkenaziZionism inPalestine is a form of "surrogate colonialism" because it was forged based on a strategic consensus with the rulingBritish Empire. The surrogate colonialism, Atran further notes, is one of the major contributing factors to theBalfour Declaration, which encouraged and legitimized Zionist settlement inMandatory Palestine. Sociologist Ran Greenstein claims both Zionist settlement in Palestine and White settlement inSouth Africa are examples of surrogate colonization since in both, most of settlers did not come from the ranks of the principal colonizing power of the time: theBritish Empire in the case of Palestine and theDutch Empire, later the British Empire, in the case ofSouth Africa.[2]
In other academic and non-academic settings, the term has been more loosely adopted and used figuratively to describe different forms of indirect domination, especially in post-colonial context. For example, it has been used to refer to the compliance of native rulers with the dominance of foreign power. For example, Geoff Kiangi uses it to describe African wars fought by African leaders but instigated from former colonial masters.[3] In his analysis of Arab regimes in the Middle East, Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam claims that even so-called "rejectionist" rulers, who openly declared hostility to Western dominance, were in fact exemplifying "surrogate" or "internal" colonialism since they were silently compliant with Western rule.[4] Similarly, Editor of the Indian Defence Review, Bharat Verma, blamed the Chinese government for treating Pakistan “as an extension of its war machine and a surrogate colony”.[5]
"Surrogate Colonism" has also been used to describeneocolonialism. In a 1983 speech at theUnited Nations Conference on Trade and Development inBelgrade,Indian Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi stated: