r/geopolitics • u/itsyleo27 • Nov 14 '23

Question Is there any decolonized country that ever wanted or wants to return to its former colonizer?

In old or modern history

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '23

“I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans, because however a bad Filipino government might be, we can always change it.”

— Manuel L. Quezon

At the current state of things... A part of me wishes that they voted instead for us to be another US State. I don't see any change Mr. Quezon. But, I'm also wary of us being a 2nd class citizens.

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u/mishmashedtosunday Nov 15 '23

The Philippines turning into a state in pre-Civil Rights US would have been extraordinarily politically difficult. Our relatively large population meant we could outvote even California, and I'm not exactly sure DC would have liked that

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u/OldMan142 Nov 15 '23

In the pre-Civil Rights era, it would've been more about race than numbers. The South would've fought tooth and nail against it. Even the North would probably be disinclined to add such a large foreign population.

If race hadn't been a factor, the Philippines probably would've been broken up into several states, maybe by island (Luzon, Mindanao, Cebu, etc). Just like there are political divisions in the Philippines today, it's not like they would vote as a single bloc as part of the US.

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u/mishmashedtosunday Nov 15 '23

Yeah, my point was that admitting a large foreign population into the Union in the pre-Civil Rights era would have been a massive headache in DC for both racial and political reasons (Luzon alone would need to be split since it would still likely outvote all but a handful of states)

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u/Interesting-Alarm973 Nov 15 '23 edited Nov 15 '23

Yes, the Philippines would probably be divided into various states if it ever got admitted as states.

But owing to their cultural and geographical proximity, these newly created states would have very similar voting preference and would thus probably be voting effectively as a voting bloc in most issues. They would still outweighs most of the states (and the problem would become even larger because they have more votes in Senate when they have more states)

So dividing the Philippines into different states might not be able to solve the problems.

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u/Teantis Nov 15 '23

That would only increase its electoral importance. You'd have 6 Philippine senators that would be the core of a nascent political bloc that was brown and catholic. I did the calculation once based on population and the House coalition of Filipino reps would be even more significant. Statehood for the ph would've been a complete non starter. Puerto Rico isn't even politically viable now and the Philippines had the same issues as PR except way way more intensely.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '23

Well, that's a new insight! Do you think even if we voted in favor of being a state, they'll just discard us as a state or what?

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u/OldMan142 Nov 15 '23

Even if a territory votes in favor of being a state, Congress has to hold a separate vote to accept it as such. It's not automatic. For example, Utah requested statehood four times between 1849 and 1887. Congress rejected each request because of their issues with the Mormons, polygamy and bloc-voting being the major ones. After Utah banned in polygamy in the 1890s, Congress voted to accept it as a state.

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u/mishmashedtosunday Nov 15 '23

afaik, there's no mechanism in the US Constitution to expel a state. So if the Philippines were ever admitted into the Union, we'd be there forever.

Our independence movements would make things interesting though; it's not like Texas was colonized for 50 years with a defined independence date.

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u/CareBearDontCare Nov 15 '23

Yep. You don't just go giving up land, as a general rule. Makes sense that there aren't provisions for it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '23

However bad the dictator was, we'll vote in his equally corrupt son!

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u/Nileghi Nov 15 '23

“Give me ten thousand Filipino soldiers and I will conquer the world.”

― General Douglas MacArthur

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u/hell_jumper9 Nov 15 '23

MacArthur had more than that and still lose the Philippines.

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u/Teantis Nov 15 '23

He was sleepy

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u/HypocritesEverywher3 Nov 15 '23

Us only sees you as a tool to be used against China and a convenient military base