Prompt: What comparisons can be drawn between the colonisation of Africa and the Nixon shock?

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From Chains to Currencies

History rarely destroys its systems of power.
It simply changes their clothing.

Empires fall.
Flags are lowered.
Borders are redrawn.

But the logic of control the geometry of who extracts from whom often survives the ceremony.

The colonisation of Africa and the Nixon Shock sit on opposite ends of a historical spectrum.
One was carved with rifles and treaties.
The other was announced through a televised speech.

Yet both reshaped the global flow of wealth.

And in the language of power, they rhyme.

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The Colonial Logic

Colonialism was not just about land.
It was about direction.

Resources moved in one direction.
Authority moved in the opposite direction.

Rubber, gold, cocoa, cotton, diamonds:

• Extracted from the periphery.
• Shipped to the imperial core.

Manufactured goods:

• Produced in the core.
• Sold back to the periphery.

This was not accidental.
It was designed.

Colonial economies were engineered like pipelines:

• Raw materials flowed outward.
• Finished goods flowed inward.
• Profits accumulated at the centre.

The colony was not meant to become strong.
It was meant to become useful.

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The Chessboard of Empire

If colonialism were a chessboard:

• Europe was the king.
• Its industrial cities were the queens.
• Its armies were the rooks and knights.
• The colonies were the pawns.

Pawns do not control the game.
They control space.

They absorb pressure.
They create pathways.
They are sacrificed to open files for the powerful pieces.

And yet, the paradox of the pawn is this:

The pawn that survives the board becomes a queen.

Decolonisation was, in many ways, the moment when the pawns reached the other side.

But something unexpected happened.

The board itself had changed.

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The Illusion of Independence

By the mid-20th century, most African nations achieved political independence.

Flags changed.
Anthems changed.
Leaders changed.

But many economic structures did not.

Currencies were still:

• Pegged to former colonial powers.
• Dependent on foreign reserves.
• Tied to external debt systems.

The pipelines remained.
Only the uniforms disappeared.

This was the birth of what many thinkers call neocolonialism:

• No direct rule.
• No colonial governors.
• But the same structural flows of wealth.

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1971: The Invisible Turning Point

Then came a decision that would reshape the entire financial order.

In 1971, the United States closed the gold window.

The dollar was no longer convertible into gold.
The world moved fully into the era of fiat money.

At first, this seemed like a technical monetary adjustment.

But it was something far deeper.

Before 1971:

• The dollar was anchored to gold.
• Gold imposed a natural limit on money creation.

After 1971:

• The dollar became backed by trust and global demand.
• And that demand was enforced by trade, oil, and geopolitics.

The centre of gravity shifted:

• From mines and plantations
• To central banks and bond markets

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Timeline: From Colonial Extraction to Financial Dominance

Phase 1: The Age of Territorial Empires (1500s–1800s)

• European powers establish colonies across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
• Wealth extracted through:
  • Slavery
  • Raw materials
  • Forced labour systems
• Gold and silver underpin monetary systems.

Power source: Land, labour, and physical resources.

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Phase 2: The Industrial Colonial System (1800s–1945)

• Scramble for Africa formalises colonial boundaries.
• Colonies restructured into export economies.
• Industrial Europe becomes the global manufacturing core.

Flow of wealth:
Periphery → Raw materials → Core → Manufactured goods → Periphery.

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Phase 3: Decolonisation Without Economic Freedom (1945–1971)

• African and Asian nations gain political independence.
• Many remain:
  • Commodity exporters.
  • Dependent on foreign capital.
  • Tied to external currencies.

The old system weakens, but does not vanish.

Power source: Industrial capital and international trade systems.

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Phase 4: The Nixon Shock and the Fiat Era (1971–1990s)

• Gold convertibility ends.
• Dollar becomes the dominant global reserve currency.
• Oil trade denominated in dollars.
• Global debt markets expand.

Countries must:

• Earn dollars.
• Borrow dollars.
• Hold dollar reserves.

Power source: Monetary systems and reserve currency status.

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Phase 5: Financial Globalisation (1990s–Present)

• Capital flows move faster than goods.
• Debt, interest rates, and currency markets shape national economies.
• Financial centres become the new imperial capitals.

Extraction now occurs through:

• Interest payments.
• Currency crises.
• Capital flight.
• Trade imbalances.

Power source: Financial infrastructure and currency control.

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From Whips to Interest Rates

Colonial systems used:

• Soldiers
• Governors
• Plantations
• Forced labour

Modern financial systems use:

• Interest rates
• Credit ratings
• Currency pegs
• Debt obligations

The tools changed.

But the direction of the flows often did not.

Wealth still tends to move:

• From the periphery
• Toward the financial centres

Not through chains,
but through contracts.

Not through conquest,
but through currency systems.

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The New Form of Empire

The colonial empire controlled:

• Land
• Labour
• Borders

The financial empire controls:

• Liquidity
• Credit
• Exchange rates

The old empire extracted gold.
The new empire issues paper.

One took resources by force.
The other attracts them through necessity.

But both rely on the same principle:

Control the system, and the wealth will follow.

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The Pawn’s New Dilemma

In the colonial era, the pawn’s goal was simple:

• Survive.
• Advance.
• Reach the other side.

In the financial era, the pawn faces a subtler challenge:

• How do you promote
• When the board itself is owned by another player?

Independence is not just about flags.
It is about systems.

And systems of power rarely disappear.
They evolve.

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The Quiet Continuity of Power

Colonialism was visible.

It had:

• Uniforms
• Flags
• Gunboats
• Governors

Financial power is quieter.

It lives in:

• Interest rate decisions
• Reserve requirements
• Currency pegs
• Bond markets

But both shape the same outcome:

Who eats,
who builds,
and who decides.

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Final Reflection

The colonisation of Africa and the Nixon Shock are not the same event.

One was territorial.
The other was monetary.

But both represent moments when the rules of the global system were rewritten by dominant powers.

First, the world was organised around empires and colonies.
Then it was reorganised around currencies and debt.

The chains became contracts.
The ships became capital flows.
The mines became monetary policy.

History did not end colonial logic.

It simply denominated it in dollars.