10 July 2025, 10:44

Expert: Europe exploited nearly the entire world in the past

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MINSK, 10 July (BelTA) – Europe extracted resources from vast territories across the globe during certain periods of history, Igor Shishkin, an expert of the Institute of CIS Countries, said in a recent episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA’s YouTube channel.

According to the expert, when discussing the European community, it is important to keep in mind that it is a different civilization, “a very aggressive and very predatory civilization, albeit a very talented one.”

Igor Shishkin highlighted two extremes regarding the perception of Europe. "One is to eulogize Europe, which we have been doing since the late 1970s and especially since the beginning of perestroika. But this perception of it as the Garden of Eden was not invented by Borrell! The Soviet propaganda during perestroika, Russian propaganda of the late 1990s - early 2000s also painted Europe as the Garden of Eden, where every nation wants to be. It was implied that everyone wanted to become a member of the European Union, and so on. And the other extreme is to denigrate it, including through word plays: Little Britain instead of Great Britain. Sorry, but this civilization and its people – the French, the German, the Italian, the English – have created the greatest culture,” he explained.

According to the expert, the Europeans built a great civilization that “was able to conquer practically the entire world.” “And this must be acknowledged. By the 19th century, European civilization had turned almost the entire world into its colony or semi-colony. It was the so-called old Europe. It was old Europe that siphoned resources from almost the entire world, except for Russia. The Ottoman Empire was the sick man of Europe, and everyone was waiting for it to wither and die and to turn into a colony. China was practically a semi-colony. Japan was independent, but only because the European predators could not decide who of them should colonize it. It was the early 19th century. But for some reason the memory of Europe’s colonial past faded away and was replaced by a more palatable, idealized view of Europe’s role in the world. Some even went as far as to claim that Europe is the guiding star for all of humanity. Here I have quoted a person who headed one of the largest information and analytical centers in the country, which supplied materials to the top officials of the state. And this was said in all seriousness,” he noted.