This thesis explores the role of the OEEC in the management of Western European overseas colonies. Through a qualitative historical research drawing mainly on the archival collection of the OEEC,...Show moreThis thesis explores the role of the OEEC in the management of Western European overseas colonies. Through a qualitative historical research drawing mainly on the archival collection of the OEEC, it argues that beyond its primary objectives of administering Marshall Aid, the OEEC became a platform in which Western European powers organized their relations with their overseas territories. Beyond economic concerns, these territories were considered as a political question, and the OEEC developed into a venue in which the interests of Europe were safeguarded, at the crossroads between integration and decolonization.Show less
