anti-imperialism

thumb|350px|Anti-imperialist Bolivarian propaganda mural in [[Caracas, Venezuela, specifically targeting American imperialism. Spray painted in Spanish "Out with imperialism, only the people save the people"]]Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influence from a global superpower, as well as in opposition to colonial rule. Anti-imperialism can also arise from a specific economic theory, such as in the Leninist interpretation of imperialism (Vladimir Lenin's theory of surplus value being exported to less developed nations in search of higher profits, eventually leading to imperialism), which is derived from Lenin's 1917 work Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. People who categorize themselves as anti-imperialists often state that they are opposed to colonialism, colonial empires, hegemony, imperialism and the territorial expansion of a country beyond its established borders.

The phrase gained a wide currency after the Second World War and at the onset of the Cold War as political movements in colonies of European powers promoted national sovereignty. Some anti-imperialist groups who opposed the United States supported the power of the Soviet Union, while in some Marxist schools, such as Maoism, this was criticized as social imperialism. Islamist movements traditionally view United States, Israel, Russia and China as imperial and neo-colonial forces engaged in persecution and oppression of Muslim communities domestically and abroad.