December 14, 1960 marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption on the initiative of the USSR of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples by the XV Session of the UN General Assembly (GA). The author analyzes the significance of this act for the subsequent process of liberation of peoples from colonial rule from the perspective of the historical developments of the next six decades. The author comes up with a new interpretation of the diplomatic tactics chosen by the Soviet Union at the UN as well as in the confronting imperialist countries elsewhere on the timing of granting independence, ensuring the territorial integrity of the emerging young states, the presence of foreign bases and zones of extraterritorial jurisdiction on their land. The article provides a comparative analysis of the texts of the declaration proposed for consideration by the GA by the Soviet Union and the adopted version of the Declaration of the UN GA Resolution 1415 (XV). The author analyzes the situation in the world after the dismemberment of the USSR, from the perspective of the degree of completion of the decolonization process. He comes to the conclusion that in place of traditional colonialism, a project of a new global coloniality is being introduced, which preserves the fundamental and essential characteristics of actual colonial rule: external dependence and economic exploitation.
Our 60th anniversary
