This chapter explores the economic recovery of Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire, often referred to as the Dark Ages. It highlights the role of technological innovation and the division of labour in revitalizing European economies from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, building on insights from the work of Adam Smith. The re-establishment of long-distance trade routes and the revival of urban centres were critical factors in this recovery. The chapter also explores the restoration of monetary systems and the development of a more complex economy characterized by the growth of cities and increased production. By focusing on how Europe transitioned from a period of obscurity to one of gradual economic resurgence, the chapter underscores the importance of trade, technology and labour specialization in driving recovery and growth.

While perhaps not obvious initially, the formative period for the Colombo Plan was also the dawn of a new arena for the conduct of foreign relations. The Colombo conference at the start of 1950, while focused on development needs, also provided a stage for experiments in representation, hospitality and diplomacy.

The Conclusion reflects on the long-term trajectory of welfare in Europe, highlighting the substantial increases in living standards that have occurred over the past centuries. It considers how technological and institutional developments have enabled sustained economic growth, while also acknowledging the environmental and social challenges that have emerged, particularly in the context of climate change. The Epilogue discusses the potential for future crises, including economic and environmental shocks, and whether Europe’s economic system is resilient enough to manage these challenges. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the importance of learning from historical experiences to address contemporary and future issues related to sustainability, inequality and economic development. By framing modern problems within the context of long-term economic history, the authors offer an optimistic yet cautious outlook on Europe’s ability to continue improving welfare in a sustainable manner.

This chapter traces the early economic history of Europe, focusing on the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural civilizations. It examines the emergence of cities, the development of trade and the influence of geography on European economic integration. The chapter explores how early agricultural innovations, such as the domestication of crops and animals, laid the foundation for the rise of European civilizations, particularly in Greece and Rome. It also discusses the geo-economic continuity of Europe, showing how trade fostered cultural and political integration despite frequent conflicts. Through an analysis of early European economies, the chapter highlights the role of agriculture and trade as key forces in shaping the region’s development.

This chapter focuses on the role of governments in managing economic growth and development, particularly through macroeconomic policy. It traces the evolution of government intervention in the economy, from the minimal state of the nineteenth century to the more active role governments played in the twentieth century, especially in response to crises such as the Great Depression. The chapter also examines the development of the welfare state and the use of fiscal and monetary policies to stabilize economies. By discussing the successes and failures of government interventions, the chapter highlights the ongoing debate over the appropriate role of the state in managing economic outcomes and ensuring long-term growth.

The information experts helped enable a broad-based appreciation of the Colombo Plan’s unusual qualities. Through their efforts, the Colombo Plan gestured towards ideals of regional co-operation within a broader internationalism in ways that continued to attract its regional members even as they were clear-eyed about its practical limitations. State-making was such a high priority for regional members that region-making often came second, even as it retained its appeal. One of the reasons for the Colombo Plan’s embrace during the long 1950s and its persistence in popular remembering in more recent decades was, and still is, this shape-shifting quality. Greater than the sum of its component parts when needed for publicity and promotional reasons, it could also dissemble easily into discrete bilateral relationships or forms of aid such as iconic projects or the flows of sponsored students. As critiques of foreign aid programs accumulated from the mid-1960s onwards, its benign character and fading significance spared it from becoming the subject of the sharpest attacks.

Chapter 1 analyzes the recordkeeping practices established in Kenya during the Emergency through the reorganization of colonial intelligence services. This chapter explores the connection between the British paranoia against Mau Mau fighters in particular and Kikuyu-speaking peoples in general and the administration’s anxious obsession with recordkeeping and the maintenance of Emergency secrets. Following a discussion of key terms and contexts, such as the colonial concept of information management and the Emergency period, this chapter situates the “migrated archives” in the colonial politics of concealment.

This chapter analyzes the infrastructure of medical services and situates Arab doctors within this grid. The British Department of Health, on the one hand, was a significant employer, employing 25 to 35 percent of all Palestinian physicians at any given time. On the other hand, these doctors had minimal impact on decision-making: British medical officers occupied the top administrative echelons, restricting local medical professionals’ autonomy and career prospects and preventing the formation of a proto-state medical infrastructure. The chapter examines the tension between pressure from the Colonial Office to limit expenditure and pressure from Palestinian civil society to expand services. It then looks at Palestinian physicians’ working conditions at the department and Palestinian demands to improve medical services. The chapter concludes with attempts made by the department’s last director to remedy its ills during the final two years of the British Mandate.

Those interested in questions of new diplomacy, foreign aid and regionalism in decolonizing Asia gain much from analysis of the Colombo Plan’s laboratory of development internationalism. In addition to the three components of development internationalism outlined, namely, state-making harnessed to growth, internationalism and experimental regionalism, each of the chapters in this book features common threads underpinning the ‘laboratory’ nature of the Colombo Plan.