Thinking Class #032 - Doug Stokes - Why We Must Understand What It Means To 'Decolonise' Something
Doug Stokes is the Professor of International Relations at Exeter University and acts as the Director for its Strategy and Security Institute. Doug was a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for over a decade and is currently the Thomas Telford Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy and the senior advisor to the Legatum Institute's Sovereignty Unit.
Doug is the author of Against Decolonisation: Campus Culture Wars and the Decline of the West and writes regularly for major news outlets, including the Times, the Telegraph, the Spectator, and the Daily Mail, and enjoys doing the odd podcast with interesting people. (They are definitely his words from his bio and not mine, but I'm going to take that as an endorsement for Thinking Class).
In this episode, Doug and I talk about what decolonisation theory is, what its implications are, and how it may be used against its proponents in future; why a healthy process of academic exchange matters and what it gives to society; the underlying motivations of those who act in the name of liberation; the changing face of international relations and what kind of an era we're moving into; why hard power matters if we are to continue living comfortable lives in the West; the 'youthquake' in Africa and its implications; how much of Britain's wealth was really derived from slavery; who the African protagonists were in the slave trade; why the culture war is really a class war at root; the horrors Doug saw in Bosnia during its civil war in the 90s' the implications of globalisation and multiculturalism for Britain, the geopolitics of net zero, and much more.
It was a real delight to talk to Doug, who's someone that I have come to admire since I learned of him last year. Doug grew up in the east end of London, and is from a long line of Cockneys, and has personally seen the (good and bad) impact of globalisation and high immigration with his own eyes.
There were some really touching moments in the conversation, and it's one that I will remember. Doug has carved out a stellar career and has seen more than most of us would ever wish to in the course of his life. And I really appreciate his courage and clarity and analysing fashionable ideas and their impact on the rest of us.
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