Who dunnit? Just a few weeks ago, the tumbling international price of oil burst upon the news scene. Prices per barrel dropped from $107 during the summer to $81. Analysts, commentators and others wondered why, by whom and what the impacts would be on various enemies and allies. And the finger-pointing began. Tom Friedman of […]
ISIS: The Boogeymen of Our Times, Justifying Empire & Imperialism
When faced with the prospect of analyzing the current rise of ISIS, or the misinformed albeit widely accepted threat of Russia, or that of Iran, it is imperative that we keep in mind a few key points.
One of these is the US foreign policy strategy of containment, or more aptly, the strategy of limiting the power of anyone who challenges the United States’ hegemony on the global chessboard. The memo depicting this strategy was penned under the supervision of influential neo-conservative statesmen Paul Wolfowitz in 1992, thus dubbed the “Wolfowitz doctrine,” and was not intended for public release. I would argue strongly that the evidence of the past decades suggests that this is still the dominant foreign policy doctrine that has been followed under both the Bush and Obama administrations.
The preeminent strategy outlined therein is to “establish and protect a new order,” that accounts for “the interests of the advanced industrial nations to discourage them from challenging our leadership or seeking to overturn the established political and economic order.” The goal is to protect a world order in which the United States is the supreme power, and to stop any nation who seeks to challenge this dominance and overturn America’s preeminent position.
Now, That’s Chutzpah!
There are times, when reading about current world affairs, that I wish my Yiddish speaking grandmother was still alive, if only so I only hear her say again, “that takes real chutzpah,” when listening to some outlandish claim by some vainglorious twit. Case in point was a recent eyebrow raising assertion by Erik Prince, former […]