Last time we spoke with Professor Oliver Charbonneau, we unpacked the myriad goals and context for US colonization in the official Southern Philippines. Americans had practical and racialized reasons for invading, and local Moros were experienced at resistant AND collaborating with Western/European governments.

In this second conversation, we delve into the strategies of colonization and occasional violent confrontation. We also discuss the long-term lessons that US officials took from the ‘Moro Wars’. How did this period affect Moros and the nascent Filipino nation in the 20th century? And how are modern government officials misunderstanding the legacy of America in Sulu and Mindanao?

Oliver Charbonneau researches and teaches the history of US foreign relations at the University of Glasgow. His specialist interests include colonial empire, transimperial and transnational exchanges, global histories of violence, and race in the Gilded Age / Progressive Era. Most of his writing focuses on the period between 1865 and 1939 and he is presently working on a project about the global history of industrial education. You find his book on the Southern Philippines here.