Category Archives: Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy
Oligarchic Imperialism Is The New Dominant World Religion Reply
A fantastic piece from Caitlin.
By Caitlin Johnstone
I was just watching a gaggle of blue-checkmarked narrative managers attack progressive commentators Katie Halper and Briahna Joy Gray on Twitter for platforming antiwar journalist Rania Khalek on the grounds that Khalek is an “Assadist”, which is imperialist for “someone who opposes western imperialism in Syria”.
At no point do any of these narrative managers bother to address the actual things these women were discussing together or why anything Khalek was saying in their video conference was wrong. They do not feel the need to do such a thing, because they have this label, “Assadist”, which they can pin on one of the speakers and thereby reject one hundred percent of her work and one hundred percent of the people who give her a platform from which to speak. They feel no need to address the arguments, because they have a label which they all agree means they can completely un-person someone who opposes western regime change agendas in a specific region.
There are many such labels that are used to exclude people from positions of influence and power for simply disagreeing with the official doctrine of status quo oligarchic imperialism in any way. “Assadist” is one of them; it allows someone to be completely marginalized from platforms of significant influence without anyone ever needing to admit that they’re simply depriving anyone of a platform who criticized the way the US power alliance used proxy armies and propaganda campaigns in a campaign to topple Damascus. “Kremlin asset” is another, as are “conspiracy theorist”, “tankie”, or “[insert imperialism-targeted leader] apologist”.
In reality, these labels are interchangeable with the word “heretic”. They mean “Someone who disagrees with the mainstream consensus religion of oligarchic imperialism”.
David Stockman vs. Walter Block on Libertarian Electoral Strategy Reply
I’m not convinced there needs to be a “libertarian electoral strategy.” I generally support third parties, from libertarians to greens to communists to transhumanists, as chaos agents but that’s the only real value I see in them.
Listen to Tom Woods host the debate here.
David Stockman, who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget under Ronald Reagan, strongly opposed the re-election of Donald Trump — not on NeverTrump grounds, but because Stockman favors sound money and fiscal rectitude. Walter Block, probably the most prolific academic libertarian in the world, thinks Trump needs to be compared to the likely alternative. Today they hash it out.
Iran scientist linked to military nuclear program killed Reply
By Jon Gambrell, AP News
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh bore “serious indications” of an Israeli role, but did not elaborate. Israel, long suspected of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists a decade ago, declined to immediately comment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once told the public to “remember that name” when talking about Fakhrizadeh.
The killing risks further raising tensions across the Mideast, nearly a year after Iran and the U.S. stood on the brink of war when an American drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. It comes just as President-elect Joe Biden stands poised to be inaugurated in January and will likely complicate his efforts to return America to a pact aimed at ensuring Iran does not have enough highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon.
The Great Reset abolishes the US Constitution & English Bill of Rights Reply
By Philip Ridley
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) “Great Reset” is the real reason behind the way that governments have responded to Covid-19. It is being organised on behalf of the United Nations, led by WEF Founder, Klaus Schwab. He has written the book on how Covid-19 can be taken advantage of to implement the “Great” Reset. This is why any debate about alternative approaches to solving the pandemic fall on deaf ears, whilst it continues to serve the implementation of their unpopular and unlawful agenda. This is why they are dragging out the pandemic far beyond any reasonable sell by date, presenting us a so called “New Normal”. Their slogan is “Build Back Better”, but for whom?
This article sets out the Great Reset’s origins and legal framework. It also explains why ending lockdown and restoring liberty is not inconsistent with saving lives, because we believe that nutritional deficiencies are the primary factor in pandemics. The article then concludes by explaining how the Great Reset knowingly pretends to overthrow Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the US Constitution and the fundamental principles of Common Law.
Never Forget, Trump Is A War Criminal Reply
By Peter R. Quinones
Barack Obama is currently on tour for his new book, “A Promised Land,’ and as you would expect the interviews are nothing but fluff in which they bring up “hard-hitting” questions about his “historic presidency.” Uncle Hotep mentioned on the Thanksgiving episode of “Hoteps Been Told You,” that the only reason he bought the book was to read anything about hid middle eastern wars. I’m sure there is no detail in there and phrases like “tough decisions” and “human rights” will be abundant. We should never forget the wars that Obama not only continued with vigor, but the ones he started (Yemen, Syria, Libya).
I have a strong suspicion that a lot of people, especially those who know “war is a racket,” may be tempted to make statements such as, “you know, I’m gonna miss Trump.” And most of that is going to be that he pushed the culture war against the radical, “evangelical” Left. While it was nice to see someone take them on constantly – as someone who believes they are violent psychopaths – we must never forget his record when it comes to foreign policy. The Pentagon only began keeping a record of annual bombs dropped on Afghanistan in 2006 , and according to Centcom, more bombs were dropped in 2019 than any year since records have been kept.
Why Even Under Biden Russiagate Will NEVER Die Reply
Contra MSNBC, Trump has actually been more hawkish on Russia than Obama. Initially, there were some neo-realists in the administration like Rex Tillerson that wanted some kind of rapprochement with Russia, but they were soon superseded by the neocons.
Host of ‘Pushback with Aaron Maté’ on The Grayzone and Contributor at The Nation, Aaron Maté, discusses how the media moves forward with the Russiagate narrative in the Biden era.
Understanding Trumpist Foreign Policy Reply
The statement below from a social media post illustrates a problem that many people have when it comes to understanding the Trump regime’s approach to foreign policy.
I wonder if Greenwald and the rest of the “Trump’s not as bad” galaxy brains remember his “fire and fury” nuclear dick-waving with Kim Jong-un, or what happened with Iran in January of this year.
Trump’s probably not as likely as a Democrat is to get into a calculated and premeditated war with Iran, based on what the liberal wonks and beard-strokers at Center for American Progress call “American interests.” But he’s a LOT more likely to incinerate Iran or Venezuela without warning because he woke up with a bug up his ass, or he wants to get his base worked up.
Trump’s fans regard him as a closet non-interventionist who is unfortunately being held back by the “deep state,” and his critics think he’s a fascist madman who is fortunately being held back by the deep state.
The Legion of Doom Assembles Reply
HOLISTIC DELOUSING 101
In the back row, from left: Ted Turner, Bill Gates Sr., George Soros, David Rockefeller.
At the risk of coming across as a monomaniac, I’d propose that investigating the connections between these 4 would shed a lot of light on the current, and worsening state of affairs with regards to The Great Reset (TM), Sustainable Development (TM), the Green New Deal (TM), and countless other bankster-formulated ‘solutions’ to the problems that their monopolistic systems have brought about.
And in case you were wondering, according to Wikipedia, “from 1993-1995, Klaus Schwab was a member of the UN High-Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. From 1996-1998, he was Vice-Chairman of the UN Committee for Development Planning.” Those bad apples don’t fall very far from the tree, it seems. The UN was founded with Rockefeller money, in case you weren’t aware.
And yes, aside from understanding how we got to this point, we need to be building alternative systems, fast.
James Baker Biography Shows How DC REALLY Works Reply
One of the assholes behind the original Persian Gulf War in 1991.
New York Time’s Chief White House Correspondent, Peter Baker, discusses his new book “The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III.”
The American Empire and Existential Enemies Reply
This isn’t a bad overview of the history of US imperialism, although this author obviously has a very limited, caricatured understanding of Carl Schmitt.
By Daniel Bessner, Substack
For most of US history, the majority of Americans considered it inconceivable that their nation would attempt to become militarily dominant in Europe and Asia. In his Farewell Address of 1796, for example, retiring President George Washington advised his fellow Americans to have “as little political connection as possible” with foreign nations, whose “primary interests” have “a very remote relation” to the interests of the United States. Indeed, Washington insisted that his new nation “steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” This, he avowed, was the only way the United States could “pursue a different course,” charting a new, Enlightened path for world history distinct from the vicious politics of the Old World.
Warmongers GUSH PRAISE Over Biden’s National Security Team Reply
The Democrats and Republicans are both uber-imperialists although the Democrats have a wider range of ruling class interests to accommodate.
Krystal and Saagar talk about Max Boot’s comments about President-Elect Joe Biden’s cabinet picks and whether they really are the “A-Team.”
Joe Biden Picks Normal Adult for Secretary of State Reply
David Pakman must constantly ask himself: “How milquetoast can I be?” In this segment, Pakman comes out as a full-blown stooge for liberal imperialism with the usual progressive caveats about “holding Biden accountable” blah, blah, blah.
Joe Biden will select Anthony Blinken as his Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan as National Security Adviser, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as Ambassador to the United Nations as Biden’s cabinet continues to come together despite Donald Trump insisting that he actually won the election
Biden’s Secretary of State Pick Showed Support of Iraq and Libya Invasions Reply
By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
With the upper ranks of President-elect Joe Biden’s foreign policy team beginning to take shape after new reporting indicated he plans to nominate long-time adviser Antony Blinken as secretary of state, progressives raised alarm over Blinken’s support for the disastrous 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the 2011 assault on Libya as well as his recent consulting work of behalf of corporate clients in the tech, finance, and arms industries.
The Great Divide: Sunni vs. Shi’a Reply
The Democrats and Republicans of the Middle East. Whenever I get asked why I don’t vote, I always respond “Because I don’t care who wins.” Often, the questioner will come back with “Why not?” and I will respond with something like “Well, what’s your position on the rivalry between the Shi’a and the Sunni?”
From the conflicts in Iraq and Syria to the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the struggle between Sunni and Shi‘a groups for hegemony is tearing apart the region and shows no signs of abating. But for all the religious discourse permeating the conflict, much of its roots are political, not religious. How does sectarianism fit into a larger narrative of the Middle East? How have governments manipulated sectarian differences? And finally, what is the U.S. doing about it?
The Great Reset – Covid, World Economic Forum And Klaus Schwab’s Dream of Globalization Reply
I don’t know about this Great Reset idea itself but most of what he is saying is obvious. Power is increasingly being transferred to international financial institutions, transnational federations, and multinational corporations, and away from traditional countries. Political, economic, military, cultural, technological, legal, and media power is being concentrated on a global scale on an unprecedented level. The economic policies favored by the global elites amount to neo-feudalism in practice, and they use all of these faux concern about the environment, public health, oppressed minorities, etc as their self-legitimating ideology because the god-emperor concept or divine right of kings doesn’t really sell in the 21st century.
Woke Imperialism With Rania Khalek & Briahna Joy Reply
Kudos to Katie Halper and Brianha Joy Gray for being willing to be on a program with Rania Khalek, who is hated by anarcho-MSNBCer Alexander Reid-Ross.
Rania, Brie and Katie talk about how much Biden sucks and how much his transition team sucks.
Biden’s Cabinet Is FULL Of Deficit Hawks, War Lovers and Globalists 1
Imagine that. It really is a shame that these lame ass progressives and social democrats, not too mention anti-“big government” conservatives, do not recognize that the warfare state, welfare state, therapeutic state, police state, and corporate state are interconnected with and mutually supportive of each other.
Will Biden’s Cabinet Choices Ensure Trump Re-Election Reply
The Biden administration will expand imperialism though they may be less hawkish on Iran because they will be less immediately in thrall to Israel and Saudi Arabia. But they are more directly in thrall to the arms merchants.
What Thucydides Knew About the US Today Reply
By Edward Mendelson, The New York Review of Books
On the morning after the 2016 presidential election I tried to distract myself by reading some pages of Thucydides that I had assigned for a class the next day, and found myself reading the clearest explanation I had seen of the vote that I was trying to forget. In the third book of his History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides describes the outbreak of civil war on the northern island of Corcyra in 427 BC:
There was the revenge taken in their hour of triumph by those who had in the past been arrogantly oppressed instead of wisely governed; there were the wicked resolutions taken by those who, particularly under the pressure of misfortune, wished to escape from their usual poverty and coveted the property of their neighbors; there were the savage and pitiless actions into which men were carried not so much for the sake of gain as because they were swept away into an internecine struggle by their ungovernable passions.
The closest thing to a consolation that I found in the election was the catastrophic failure of almost every attempt to predict the outcome by using numerical data, instead of interpreting the passions that provoked it, as Thucydides interpreted the conflict in Corcyra. The most confident pre-election pollsters proclaimed themselves 99 percent certain of the result that didn’t happen. Even the least confident predicted exactly what did not occur.
Joe Biden’s Silence on Ending the Drone Wars Reply
By Elise Swan, The Intercept
President-elect Joe Biden has maintained silence for years on the controversial and continued use of so-called targeted killings — lethal strikes by drones, cruise missiles, and occasionally military special operations raids. Biden has never publicly disavowed or criticized former President Barack Obama’s legacy of expanding the use of drones, nor made clear his own policy on the continuation of targeted killing conducted by the Department of Defense and, clandestinely, the CIA.
His campaign and transition websites similarly make no mention of policy addressing drone strikes, a defining feature of Obama-era foreign policy. And no questions were asked during presidential primary and general election debates about assassination policies.
While on the campaign trail, Biden pledged to end “endless wars” without detailing how his administration would differ from those of President Donald Trump and Obama, even as lethal strikes, including against American citizens, have remained an often-noted blemish on Obama’s legacy.
China’s new world order Reply
A genuine “multi-order world order” would probably look a lot like the world between 1500 and 1800 before the full consolidation of modern imperialism. Not any kind of anarchistic golden age to be sure, but one where there were distinctive civilizations and cultures with their own spheres of influence without anything approaching a uniform hegemon beyond the regional level.
![The World in 1800 [OS][1920x1090] : MapPorn](https://i.imgur.com/ULC1A8A.png)
The largest free trade area in the world came into existence over the weekend — and the U.S. was not even invited.
Why it matters: For the first time in living memory, the hegemon at the center of a major global free trade agreement is not the U.S.
- China has stepped into Uncle Sam’s shoes, and now anchors the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, an area covering 2.2 billion people and 1/3 of all the economic activity on the planet.
The big picture: President-elect Joe Biden is expected to seek a broad multilateral alliance to pressure China on everything from trade to human rights once he becomes president. But China is making broad multilateral alliances of its own.
- RCEP includes rich democracies such as South Korea, Japan, and Australia. Their position in this major free trade area will make it that much harder for Biden to unite them against China.
