Neocolonialism is best defined as: a. a strategy by which wealthy nations would spur global economic growth by alleviating poverty by investing in former colonies. b. a theory that predicts that former colonies would progress along the same lines as the industrialized nations. c. a continued pattern of unequal economic relations despite the formal end of colonial political and military control. d. a term used to suggest that poor countries should reestablish their colonial relationships with wealthy countries.