Archive for the ‘U.S. Policy’ Category

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The Ukraine war and Europe’s deepening march of folly

Monday, March 24th, 2025

In her book The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, the historian Barbara Tuchman explores the perplexing question of why countries sometimes pursue policies that are fundamentally contrary to their own interests. That question has acquired renewed relevance as Europe has now enlisted in a deepening march of folly over Ukraine.

Failure to reject the march of folly will have grave consequences for Europe, but doing so is a huge political challenge. It requires explaining how Europe has been harmed by its Ukraine policy; how Europe stands to be further harmed by doubling-down on that policy; how the march of folly has been sold politically; and why the political establishment persists therewith.

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Posted in Europe, Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Germany’s election & why it is important to understand the Ukraine War

Sunday, February 2nd, 2025

I urge you to watch this YouTube mini documentary (30 minutes). If that is too long, watch just the segment from 10:30 -12:00 (1.30 minutes).

Jeffrey D. Sachs – Understanding the Ukraine conflict – Brave New Europe

Every German should watch this before voting in the February election (and every European should watch in advance of future elections).

The establishment has lied to all of us. Perhaps worst of all are the German Greens, led by Annalena Baerbock. Today’s German Greens are neither Green nor for peace (the explanation of that transformation is a standalone story).

We must act now, or the far-right will exploit the crack caused by the establishment’s lies about Russia & Ukraine.

Fortunately, in Germany the BSW (Bundis Sarah Wagenknecht) Party provides an alternative. In most other countries (like the UK) the situation is more difficult because no party is challenging the lie.

The Ukraine – Russia war is the foremost issue facing Germany. The Social Democrats have fundamentally misunderstood the geopolitical causes of the war, and they show no sign of change. They are captured by the US/NATO Neoconservatives, and Germany and Europe suffer therefrom. The economic and social damage is huge, both now and in terms of lost future prosperity from a Europe that included Russia as an economic partner.

The political situation is akin to a Gordian knot, and the cleanest cut of that knot is with the BSW sword, even if it is not perfect. Failure to cut the knot will allow the AfD to make further gains, and that is the worst outcome.

N.B. For those wanting additional argument & evidence, I have written a research paper titled “The Ukraine – Russia war explained”.

Posted in Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

The Ukraine – Russia war explained: how the US exploited internal fractures in the post-Soviet order (plus lessons for Georgia)

Sunday, November 10th, 2024

This paper explores the deep causes of the Ukraine – Russia war. It argues that the war has both internal and external causes. The internal causes are rooted in the way the Soviet Union disintegrated. The external causes relate to how the US exploited the fractures in the post-Soviet order to advance its geopolitical agenda aimed at establishing US global hegemony. The war has devastated Ukraine. The capture of Ukrainian politics by extremist nationalists prevented a compromise that addressed the political and demographic reality of post-Soviet Ukraine. In doing so, the nationalists made Ukraine a sacrificial pawn in the US project seeking global hegemony, with fateful consequences that may yet worsen further. Georgia’s frozen conflict with Russia has some structural similarities. That said, Georgia can avoid Ukraine’s fate by choosing a path of non-alignment. That will not be easy as the US is likely to try and sabotage that path, as non-alignment tacitly challenges US hegemony.

READ THE PAPER

Posted in Europe, Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Causes of the Ukraine War & the case for Georgian non-alignment — An interview I gave in Tbilisi, Georgia

Thursday, October 31st, 2024

Watch the interview here

Posted in China, Globalization, Political Economy, U.S. Policy | Comments Closed

We still ask if 80 years ago they (ordinary Germans) knew?

Tuesday, October 29th, 2024

Watch this and ask yourself if you know:

“Gaza”: an Al Jazeera Investigative Unit documentary

Posted in Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Neoliberalism and the Drift to Proto-Fascism: Political and Economic Causes of the Crisis of Liberal Democracy

Saturday, September 7th, 2024

Neoliberalism is a political economic philosophy consisting of two claims, one economic and the other political. The economic claim is laissez-faire is the best way to organize economic activity as it generates efficient outcomes that maximize well-being. The political claim is free markets promote individual liberty. This article argues both claims are problematic. The evidence from the Neoliberal era shows Neoliberalism has undercut shared prosperity and unleashed illiberal forces that threaten liberty. The article distinguishes between the first political turn which established Neoliberal political hegemony, and the second political turn toward proto-fascism now underway. The second turn is being driven by a collection of factors which have created a demand for proto-fascism and weakened the defenses against alt-right ideas. Those factors include socio-economic disembedding, institutional destruction and political disembedding, increased economic inequality that tilts political power, transformation of attitudes to government and governance, transformation of economic identity, and behavioral transformation that celebrates sociopathic egotism. The Third Way’s capture of center-left politics means liberal elites occupy the political place that should be held by true opponents of Neoliberalism. Those elites obstruct the politics needed to reverse the deep causes of the drift to proto-fascism. Ironically, that makes them a real danger.

Keywords: Neoliberalism, proto-fascism, disembedding, inequality, identity, behavior

READ PUBLISHED PAPER (Paywall)

READ ORIGINAL WORKING PAPER (Free)

Posted in Economics, Europe, Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Ukraine’s Hiroshima moment is drawing closer (the consequences of Neocon madness)

Wednesday, August 21st, 2024

In August 1945, the US atom bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then, nuclear weapons have never been used in conflict. That may soon change as Ukraine faces the increasing likelihood of a Hiroshima moment.

Conditions in Ukraine increasingly give Russia military and geopolitical cause to use tactical nuclear weapons. Though Russia will use them, the US and NATO are deeply implicated in the process. They are in the grip of Neocon madness which casually dismisses potentially catastrophic consequences and blocks all off-ramps.

Lessons from Hiroshima and Nagasaki

One way to understand the current moment is via the history of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Those attacks also had military and geopolitical motivations. The former is widely recognized: the latter is not.

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Posted in Europe, Political Economy, U.S. Policy | Comments Closed

The military-industrial complex as a variety of capitalism and threat to democracy: rethinking the political economy of guns versus butter

Wednesday, June 12th, 2024

This paper examines the military-industrial complex (MIC), which is a prototype widely imitated by other business sectors. Collectively, they constitute a variety of capitalism which can be termed the poly-industrial complex (PIC). Understanding the MIC is critical to understanding contemporary US capitalism, US international policy, and the drift toward Cold War II. The MIC exerts a massive societal impact. It twists economic activity toward military spending; twists the character of technical progress; is socially corrosive via its capture of politics and government; twists societal understanding of geopolitics to increase demand for war services; promotes militarism and increases the likelihood of war; and promotes proto-fascist drift because militarism drips back into national politics. Given those features, the MIC is of first-order significance and the consequences of failure to understand it are likely to be grim. Politics is at the center of possibilities for change. That raises questions whether the demand for change can be mustered, and whether the political system will permit it.

READ THE PAPER

Posted in Economics, Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Gaza in context: past, present, & future

Saturday, May 18th, 2024

Ilan Pappé is a brilliant Israeli historian & his scholarship exemplifies the meaning and importance of intellectual integrity. Below is a link to his talk titled “Gaza in context: past, present, & future”. I urge you to watch it & share it (the talk runs from minute 28 to minute 76). We all abhor Holocaust denialism. In that spirit, we have an obligation to confront denialism in other historical contexts.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TALK ON YOUTUBE

Posted in Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Europe’s foreign policy has been hacked and the consequences are dire

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

Europe’s foreign policy has been hacked and captured by US Neocon interests. That capture poses a dire threat to both European democracy and global security. The threat to global security is because Europe is now captive in the US Neocon war on China and Russia. The threat to democracy comes from European voters gradually intuiting they have been sold out, which helps explain their turn against the political establishment.

The consequences of hacking are simple and dire, but exposing it is difficult. The status quo is privileged and there is resistance to acknowledging unpleasant facts. This essay presents those facts.

What is Neoconservatism and who are the Neocons?

The starting point is understanding Neoconservatism and the Neocons. The former is a US political doctrine which rose to ascendancy in the 1990s. It holds that never again shall there be a foreign power, like the former Soviet Union, which can challenge US global hegemony. The doctrine gives the US the right to impose its will anywhere in the world, which explains why the US has over 750 bases in 80 countries, ringing both Russia and China.

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Posted in China, Europe, Political Economy, U.S. Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

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