Phony 2012: Empire, Power and People - Episode 11

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

What are the broader motivations and implications behind the Kony 2012 video? Taking a look at the geopolitics of the region, its recent history, and Western subsidies for dictatorships (“dictatorship by franchise”) as well as profiting off of genocide (such as in the Congo), the Kony 2012 video is designed as an emotional appeal for military intervention in Uganda to purportedly stop a conflict which had stopped several years ago. Taken with the context of major oil reserves having been discovered in Uganda, along with the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) program to militarize foreign policy for the continent, the video is a propaganda ploy designed to expand U.S. imperial hegemony in the region. This is no less evident from the fact that the most interviewed person in the video, John Prendergast, was a former State Department and National Security Council official during the Clinton administration, responsible for overseeing U.S. imperial policy in the region, and has since mobilized campaigns of celebrity personalities to promote foreign intervention. Coincidence or consistency?

Empire, Power and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 10

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

Road to Tehran

The Western imperial powers seem intent on regime change in Iran. It has been said that, “the road to Tehran is through Damascus,” and such sentiments have been expressed by the King of Saudi Arabia, a ruthless tyrant who represses his own and neighboring populations (such as in Bahrain), and who calls for Syria to show “restraint” against its ‘repression.’ The hypocrisy of the West and its regional allies knows no bounds. The Western puppets, as we know from Wikileaks releases, favor a U.S. military strike against Iran, yet the Arab world as a whole does not. In fact, the wider world – and the vast majority of the global population – supports Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment, but we are told that Iran “defies” the so-called “international community.” From official report, documents, and statements, we know that Iran has no nuclear weapon or any nuclear weapons program, but still, Iran is presented as a “threat.” What is the basis for this threat? What are the intentions and actions of the imperial powers against Iran? How do the sanctions affect Iran and its people? Are we, indeed… on the road to Tehran?

Empire, Power and People - Episode 9

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

American Imperial Adventures in Asia

 

 

The American Empire had an early start in East and Southeast Asia, beginning with a U.S. Marine invasion of an Indonesian town in 1832, another Indonesian town in 1839, and a brief occupation of Danang (Vietnam) in 1846. From there, the United States sought to expand its commercial hegemony and establish trade relations in East and Southeast Asia. When a U.S. mission to Japan arrived in 1853, to establish a coaling station for American ships on their way to the lucrative market of China, this marked the “opening” of Japan, which had been isolated for over 200 years. From then on, the Japanese Empire and nation state formed, expanding with the colonization of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1895 and Korea in 1910. In the late 1890s, America established its first colony during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), and thereafter, the American and Japanese empires expanded their commercial hegemony and military strength over the region, until an inevitable clash of empires took place in World War II, and thereafter established the United States as the reigning imperial hegemony of all East and Southeast Asia. 

Empire, Power and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 8

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

“Black History in the United States: Slavery, Segregation, and Social Control”

 

In a highly critical black history of the United States, this episode examines the social construction of race (and racism) starting in the late 1600s as a means of social control, devised through the colonial legal system to separate white and black labour, prison labour, black education system, the developments of ghettos as a means of segregating the black population, the civil rights organizations in an attempt to steer the movement away from its natural and potentially revolutionary course to confront the entire social- economic- political system of racism, and the “war on drugs” and laws disproportionately targeting the black community. 

Understanding the history of those who have been most oppressed within it is vital to understanding the true nature of the society we live in; thus, the black history of the United States is indivisible from the total history of the United States, and the subject bears relevance to the future of poverty and class struggle in a world of enormous inequality.

Empire, Power and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 7

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

Empire in the Arab World

 

Taking a look at the historical realities of Western imperialism in the Middle East and North Africa following World War II allows us to place current conflicts in a wider context and understanding. Briefly looking at the coup in Iran in 1953, the Egyptian Suez Crisis in 1956, the Syrian Crisis in 1957, and the independence struggles in North Africa against the French during the same period, we are able to see a recurring focus on the same major states as to this very day being strategically important for Western interests in a region of vast import for the United States. As one key U.S. adviser in the State Department acknowledged in 1945, Middle Eastern oil is “a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history.” 

With research drawing from declassified State Department, Pentagon, CIA, National Security Council and White House documents from the era, the American Empire following World War II sought to define for itself a more pragmatic strategy aimed at domination, which simultaneously sought to separate itself from the formal colonial empires of France and Britain, while still serving their interests, and in supporting “moderate” and pro-Western Arab nationalists in the region in order to undermine the “extremist nationalists” like Nasser in Egypt, acknowledging that national liberation was a force of history through which the United States would have to navigate if it had any hope of maintaining itself as an imperial power.

Empire Power and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 6

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

“Understanding the Arab Spring”

Seeking to place the Arab Spring within a wider geopolitical and social context, this episode draws a thread through the middle of many critical interpretations of the events in the Arab world, those which view the uprisings as authentic and organic democratic revolts, and those which view them as a Western covert strategy of regime change. Instead, the truth can better be found somewhere in the middle. The aspirations and circumstances in which people of the Arab – and indeed wider – world seek and struggle for democracy are the conditions which they live and have lived under naturally breed. Thus, the conditions for democratic uprisings were present simply due to the living conditions of the population, and to the realities of the ‘global political awakening’, which reflects the fact that the majority of the world’s population is now awakened to the social depravity, economic exploitation, political repression, and general domination to which they have been subjected. 

On the other hand, American imperial strategists are aware of these changes and seek to pre-empt and co-opt these aspirations to serve their own imperial interests. In this context, a 2005 Council on Foreign Relations report indicated that it was in the U.S. interest to promote democracy in the Arab world, however, the strategy would best be pursued through “evolution, not revolution,” because revolution is inherently problematic and unstable. While U.S. aid agencies and democracy promotion organizations have established contacts with Arab organizations, comparisons to the colour revolutions in Eastern Europe are lacking a critical detail: the difference between popular/public opinion in Eastern Europe (which was more Western oriented in ideology and aspirations) and that of the Arab world (which is virulently anti-American), and thus, authentic democracy in the Arab world is not in the interests of the U.S. The issues are complex, the circumstances are global, regional, national and local, but for any attempt to impose a more comprehensive understanding of the Arab Spring, these issues must be remedied.

Empire, Power and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 5

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

Fiscal Austerity or Social Genocide?

 

In light of the current global economic crisis, there is a question that should be asked and discussed in regards to what our leaders are telling us is required to solve the crisis: what is fiscal austerity? We are told that “fiscal austerity” measures are required to create economic growth and prosperity, that there will be pain for a while, but it’s all for the ‘greater good’ of the economy. This episode breaks down these measures into what the specific policies of “austerity” are, what justifications are given for each one, and what the actual effect upon the population each measure has. Through this analysis, it becomes clear that when we are told, “fiscal austerity”, we should hear, “social genocide.”

Empire, Power and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 4

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

What is the Nature of Power?

How does power function? What are the effects of power? Is it necessary? This episode seeks to introduce the listener to some thoughts on the concept of power, in both the concentration of it on one hand, and the lack of it on the other. Power can be concentrated in both institutions and individuals, but if we seek to solve the big problems of our time, we cannot focus simply on changing those individuals, or abolishing specific institutions. We must, instead, come to ask questions about the nature of power, itself, and thus, how such institutions and individuals are able to exist in the first place.

Empire, Power, and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 3

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

Punishing the Population: The United States in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

This podcast episode examines the early 20th century United States military occupations of Haiti (1915-1934) and the Dominican Republic (1916-1924), undertaken as an imposition of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) declaring Latin America as the “backyard” of the United States. The ruthless military occupations, inflamed by racism, supported by the media, and undertaken by the ruthlessly imperialistic and racist politicians who are today celebrated as champions of ‘democracy,’ resulted in the strengthening of state structures, establishment of brutal militaries, and exploitation by American corporations and banks, leading to the establishment of military dictatorships which dominated these countries for much of their recent history, while American economic interests reigned supreme. These incidents provide a brief, yet illuminating look at the nature of American imperialism as it progressed throughout the 20th century.

Empire, Power, and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - Episode 2

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

Power, Propaganda, and Purpose in American Democracy

This podcast examines a concept of power that emerged in the early 20th century United States, born of social unrest and elite fears of revolution, this new conception sought to redefine democracy for the 20th century. That new definition was based upon using propaganda in order to “engineer consent” of the masses – “the bewildered herd” – as they were referred to, with the purpose of allowing the modern industrial democratic society to be run by an intellectual elite in service to the financial wealth of the nation. Democracy, then, came to be: of the few, by the few, for the few, and with the ‘consent’ of the many.

Empire, Power, and People with Andrew Gavin Marshall - The American Empire, In Their Own Words

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Andrew Gavin Marshall

The American Empire, In Their Own Words

This episode takes a critical look at the development of the American Empire during and after World War II, using official State Department documents, formerly top secret documents from the Council on Foreign Relations, and other official sources.

Comparing the statements and ideas of those who formed the American Empire during this period with the intellectual elites of recent years who claim that America is a “benevolent empire”, we can see that America was shaped into an empire by design, with the overt and directly stated intent to control the world and its resources. In the words of a ‘Top Secret’ U.S. State Department document in 1948, the aim of the United States was to “maintain this position of disparity” between American wealth and the rest of the world. Thus, we may critically examine the American Empire by looking at it in the words of those who shaped it, compared to the myths that prevail today.