That said, there still remains the issue of Neo-colonialism.  I don't want to get into a whole discussion about that here (perhaps on another occasion).

Actually, to address the issue as to whether there may exist cases of benign or even beneficial colonialism (or perhaps "neocolonialism" is the better term), my "country" - Puerto Rico is arguably such an example.  Puerto Rico's colonization by the United States, following the "Spanish American War", evolved into something that can only be categorized as sui generis because of certain historical actors and leaders that seized the historical moment afforded by US President Roosevelt's New Deal policies to (eventually) launch Operation Bootstrap.  In short, it was an experiment with "socialist" overtones that succeeded to some degree in lifting the island out of dire poverty.  However, such a case can almost certainly not be reproduced today [under current (US) circumstances, anyway].

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne