More INFORMATION.

So now that you’ve met the cast of characters I’m studying, a good question would be: why? Why these people? Why these people together?

Basically, I am interested in one key concept: “anticolonial internationalism,” or the combination of anticolonialism (trying to gain independence) and internationalism (trying to build some kind of world order). Usually historians have seen anticolonialism as inherently nationalistic—purely interested in building a nation-state out of a formerly colonized territory. However, I think that the careers of the men I am studying show that anticolonialism could be both nationalistic (trying to build an independent nation) and internationalist (trying to build a world order out of those independent nations). 

To make an analogy with U.S. history, many of the Founders were interested in building up their own states or commonwealths and the federalized United States, not to mention how these United States should relate to the former ruler and other countries (remember the War of 1812?). They didn’t see the two purposes as contradictory. Likewise, African or Arab leaders trying to build independent Nigeria or Syria both wanted to build an independent state and bring greater unity among African and Arab nations. I’m interested in the tension between those idealistic purposes and the difficulty of achieving those goals amid the hurly burly of real-life politics. To take the case of Nigeria: how do you try to integrate Nigeria with other African nations when you have a big enough task trying to hold Nigeria together?

That still leaves the question of why these people, and why together. Essentially, I chose to look at anticolonial internationalism in multiple regions, and in order to keep the project manageable, I decided to study one person from each region. Within that selection, I tried to choose less famous figures, and to get a variety of political ideologies and a variety of empires. To further narrow it down, I wanted to study people who were roughly contemporary to each other; as I looked at the people I ended up studying, I discovered they had peaks and valleys in their careers at similar times (the mid-1930s; 1943; 1945; 1955; the mid-1960s). Here’s a little breakdown of the diversity I hope to manage:

Figure	Region	Imperial Power	Cold War Alignment	Religion	Ideology (generally)
Shukri al-Quwwatli	Arab Middle East (Syria)	France (Ottoman Empire pre-1918)	Non-aligned/leaned pro-Soviet	Islam	Center-left (left, at times)
V.K. Krishna Menon	South Asia (India)	United Kingdom	Non-aligned/leaned anti-USA	Atheist (Hindu background)	Socialist
Carlos Romulo	Southeast Asia (Philippines)	United States	Pro-USA	Catholic (Christian)	Conservative
Nnamdi Azikiwe	West Africa (Nigeria)	United Kingdom	Non-aligned/leaned pro-USA	Protestant (Christian)	Center-left

Now, you will correctly notice that in one area my figures are not diverse: gender. They’re all men. While there are a couple of women contemporary to this period who could fit the bill (notably Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, a prominent representative of India at the United Nations), male leadership was the norm for anticolonial leadership in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Rather than accept this as a given, though, I’m going to try to understand why that was the case. (After all, most political leaders in the Great Powers from the 1930s-1960s were men too. What can that tell us about world politics?) Moreover, the men I’m studying had quite different relationships with women, with Krishna Menon never marrying while the others married, with their wives and their marriages playing different roles in their personal and political lives.

So these are some of the problems I’m investigating. As for where it’s going to end up, what I’m going to find, I have to admit I feel like I’m throwing a bunch of darts and seeing where they all land. In other words, I have no idea what the conclusions are going to be yet! Through these disparate stories, I hope to uncover, at least partly, answers to some of the following questions:

• Why did the hopes of these anticolonialists all around the world not come to pass? Which goals did they achieve, and how?
• How did the onset of the Cold War alter the political trends toward decolonization unleashed by the Second World War?
• How did the experience of this particular generation (you might call them the anticolonial “Greatest Generation,” leading from the 1930s-1960s), experiencing anticolonial struggle, independence, and post-independence difficulties all in a single career, offer a unique perspective on world politics?
• How could that “Greatest Generation” perspective be useful to their successors across Asia and Africa today, and to current leaders in the former colonial powers like the United States and Great Britain?

I believe that by combining the study of multiple regions through the men I’m studying, I will be able to answer these questions in a more holistic manner than I could if I studied just the leadership of Nigeria, or just Arab countries. Although my scope is limited to four people, the depth of their individual experiences gives combining them all a useful depth.

I hope you’ll come along the journey with me, and feel free to ask questions (also feel free to see the prospectus attached to the last post for a longer explanation). I find I think through things better when I have to answer questions!

*For another stimulating combination, try Hot Water and Ham—you can call it “Hot Ham Water”:

INFORMATION. (Part 1)

So why am I going to all these seemingly random places? I’m glad you asked.

My Ph.D. dissertation is the story of four men (yes, they are all men) from four different countries:

·         Shukri al-Quwwatli (شكري القوتلي), from Syria (1892-1967): the first president of independent Syria, Shukri al-Quwwatli was born a subject of the Ottoman Empire, and trained for civil service in Istanbul, but after the Ottoman collapse in the Middle East during the close of the First World War, he became a leader in the Syrian-Palestinian Congress and then the National Bloc, both anticolonial organizations which opposed the French, who took over Syria after the war. Repeatedly exiled from Syria for his activities, Quwwatli returned in 1942 after the British invaded Syria to prevent Germany using Syrian airfields. He then became president of the new Syrian republic created in 1943, and subsequently helped play the British, French, Americans, and Soviets against one another until the British and French evacuated forces from Syria in early 1946. Quwwatli was ousted as president in a military coup in early 1949, but returned to the presidency in 1955 after Syria returned to a democratic system in the mid-1950s. He was again shunted aside once Syria joined Egypt to become the United Arab Republic in 1958, though once the UAR collapsed in 1961 Quwwatli did not return to the presidency of Syria. Exiled again after the Baathists came to power in 1963, Quwwatli died shortly after the Israeli victory in the Six Day War in May 1967. For more information and photos of Syria in the 20^th century, visit http://www.syrianhistory.com/en.

·         V.K. Krishna Menon, from India (1896-1973): Krishna Menon, a native of Kerala in southern India, spent much of his career in Britain, arriving in London as a law student and a follower of the Theosophist Annie Besant’s Indian Home Rule movement in the 1920s. While in London, he entered the orbit of British socialists and communists, and led the India League, a group lobbying for Indian independence, through which he attracted the attention of the Indian National Congress’ Jawaharlal Nehru, who would remain a close colleague and confidant throughout both men’s lives. At India’s independence in 1947, Krishna Menon became India’s first ambassador (“High Commissioner” within the British Commonwealth) to Britain, before becoming a roving ambassador for Nehru’s foreign policy, serving as Nehru’s surrogate at the United Nations through the 1950s and a vocal supporter of “non-alignment” for newly independent countries, in opposition to joining US-led alliances or the Soviet bloc. With Nehru’s support he eventually became India’s Defense Minister in 1957, supervising the liberation of Goa in 1961 as well as India’s disastrous performance in the border war with China in 1962. The war cost Krishna Menon his prominent position in government, but he remained in the Indian parliament until his death in 1974. To see Krishna Menon in action in US media at the height of his powers in the mid-1950s, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ylzRZA5-zs.

·         Carlos P. Romulo (or, “CPR”) from the Philippines (1898-1985): Carlos Romulo was a newspaper publisher in the Philippines during the 1930s and early 1940s, and won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Asian attitudes toward colonial powers in 1941. During World War II he served as General Douglas MacArthur’s press man during the Philippine campaign of 1941-1942, and then served as a press agent for the Philippine government in exile. After the war, he served as Resident Commissioner of the Philippines in the US prior to Philippine independence in 1946, and then as Ambassador to the US, as well as Philippine Ambassador to the UN. He served as President of the UN General Assembly in 1949, and President of the Security Council on multiple occasions. He left diplomatic service in 1962 to become president of the University of the Philippines, and returned as Philippine Foreign Minister in 1969, in a role in which he served until shortly before his death in 1985. For more details on his career, see his Foundation’s website: http://carlospromulo.org/bio/.

·         Nnamdi Azikiwe (or “Zik”) from Nigeria (1904-1996): Nnamdi Azikiwe was a newspaper editor in Nigeria in the 1930s and 1940s, having returned to West Africa after studying and teaching in the United States, especially at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, from the late 1920s until 1935. After pioneering an American style newspaper, the West African Pilot, and launching challenges for the British Empire to live up to its promises during the Second World War, “Zik” (as he was known ever since his U.S. days) launched a political party, which he led to electoral success in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, until he and other regional leaders in Nigeria helped negotiate Nigeria’s independence in October 1960. On independence, Zik became Governor-General (executive) and then President of Nigeria, a post he held until a coup ousted him in January 1966. Remaining in Britain during the bloody Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970, Zik returned to Nigeria after the war and twice ran again for the presidency, in 1979 and 1983, before retiring from politics in the 1990s. To see footage of Zik’s inauguration as President of Nigeria, once it became a republic in 1963, as well as footage from after the 1966 coup, see this archival footage from the AP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYsHVeCCNr4.

OK, so why all these people? Why all together? For the long answer, feel free to peruse the attached document (my “prospectus,” or the proposal for what my dissertation would cover): Prospectus.

For a more concise explanation, you’ll have to stay tuned—because this post is already pretty long.

And, for whenever you want more “INFORMATION”:

Who am I? Why am I here?

Welcome to “Where in the World is Mark?,” a blog asking that age-old question: where is Mark doing research now?

Answer: I will be in four countries over the next 12 months. I will post at least once a month as I make my way around the world, trying to avoid Magellan’s fate as I circumnavigate the globe.

The itinerary:

• January-February: The Philippines
• March-May: Nigeria
• June-September: India
• October-December: France*

*I am actually studying Syria, but for a couple different reasons I won’t be traveling to Syria this year. Since France was the colonial ruler of Syria from 1918 to 1946, I will do my research in France. Stay tuned in the next post for an explanation of the project I will research during this junket.

I will try to add a “relevant” video to these posts for your entertainment, and to let you know what the kids are hip to these days. Today, it’s another question asked throughout the ages: can the frog tap dance?