Prior to the expansion of the colonial powers into Southeast Asia, the region was the economic equal of Europe. One of the effects of Imperialism, however, was a new economic dependence on the nations of the West until the mid-1900s. Colonial rule also helped fuel nationalistic movements and struggles for self-determination in the region.
The development of export economies, which survived past the end of Imperialism, was a factor in the area's post-World War II growth. After independence, the ideas and concepts of the nation-state, courts of law and a centralized bureaucracy that were learned from the Imperial powers contributed to the rapid economic development of Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
