Andrey L. Emelyanov

Studying colonial ideology, it is important to understand how, when and why Europeans accepted the idea that remote territories can and should be conquered, and the local population needs protection, guardianship and civilizing influence of the West. The mission of the white man, according to their unanimous conviction, was to establish and maintain civilization, just peace and order in the entire ecumene. The general desire for colonial acquisitions was closely connected with the changing economic views of most European countries. Thus, an ideology was formed that allowed the population of the Euro-Christian world to justify the crimes of colonialism. On the far outskirts of the Euro–Christian world, a state appeared that was the first to be freed from colonial dependence — the United States. The Americans abandoned the idea of a “civilizing mission” and replaced it with “democracy”. Initially, the United States did not combine exploitation with democratic principles. After the Second World War, the United States has no competitors left in the capitalist world. They abandoned the “Monroe doctrine” and put the entire non-capitalist world under their financial and economic control, and a significant part of it under political, military and ideological control. However, for such an extensive foreign policy agenda, another ideological motivation was needed. In its most generalized form, it can be described as the doctrine of “American world leadership”. It formulates the main super–task — the establishment and preservation of American hegemony in the world. Gradually, the term “liberal democracy” was introduced into practice. Regardless of the implementation of the standards of “liberal democracy”, the United States supports those regimes whose foreign and domestic political course meets American interests.