neocolonialism

Disguised form of imperialism, by which a country may grant independence to another country but continue to dominate it by control of markets for goods or raw materials. Examples of countries that have used economic pressure to secure and protect their interests internationally are the USA and Japan.

Many developing countries, heavily dependent on leading industrial nations, are subject to this new form of imperialism, with significant proportions of their national product being allocated to payment of interest on accumulated foreign debts.

This system was analysed in the Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah's book Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism 1965.