European Bloc Imperialism

Abstract

This article extends the thesis that globalization is imperialism by arguing that the actions taken by US banana multinationals and ruling elites to force open the European Union’s (EU) banana market to bananas grown in Latin America, ‘dollar bananas’, played a significant role in the emergence of what I term ‘European bloc imperialism’ through the implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. Ten theses on EU bloc imperialism are presented and the role of US hegemony in its emergence is examined to support the idea that it is a by-product of neoliberal globalization. Developing the argument, I examine the rise of the EU and ACP blocs, the EU bloc imperialist stranglehold over the ACP states, the CARIFORUM-EU EPA, and conclude by focusing on the pushback against the EPAs.