Skip Navigation | Sheffield IMC | UK IMC | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

UK Indymedia UK Indymedia Sheffield Indymedia Sheffield Indymedia

UG#553 - US Interventionism, Then and Now (Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali)

Robin Upton | 08.06.2011 09:34 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Sheffield

This week we hear a pair of perspectives from earlier this month on US foreign policy, both from seasoned critics of the US Imperial Strategy. Firstly, Tariq Ali reviews the historical record, from the genocidal expansionism of US colonists up this month's exploits in Libya. Secondly, Noam Chomsky speaksin Syracuse, NY on "What Drives US Foreign Policy & What We Can Do To Change It".

ug553-hour1mix.mp3 - mp3 27M

ug553-hour2mix.mp3 - mp3 27M


Our first hour this week begins with Tariq Ali challenging the establishment's view of the early US as an essentially beneficent state which extended its territorial dominion almost by accident over established societies and cultures such as the Native Americans and the Mexicans. He looks at the how ending slavery was used as a convenient cover for imperialist expansionism.

He outlines the rise and rise of USA as an imperial power, as WW1 saw the collapse of the European empires, and WW2 marked the eclipse of the European empires by USA and heralded the formal independence of the African and Asian colonies. Considering the ideological conflict of the cold war, he notes Karl Polyani's Great Transformation and reflects that the financial 'crisis' vindicates its central point that the 'free market' is so destructive to societies and cultures as to be untenable. He concludes his speech with some reflections on the hypocrisy of the recent attack by US lead forces on Libya.

At the end of our first hour, and the remainder of the show, we hear Noam Chomsky speaking on 2011-05-11 at Nottingham High School, Syracuse NY on the topic of "What Drives US Foreign Policy and what we can do to change it". Chomsky looks at what really drives US foreign policy, exposing the hypocrisy of talk about humanitarianism and the quest for 'security'. As he notes, the US and UK leaders who attacked Iraq knew that it posed no military or terrorist threat to US, but that it would after being attacked. What is referred to as 'national security' is in fact the security of the hyperrich, the financial elite who control US.

Continuing in our second hour, Chomsky continues his analysis of where power resides in US, noting how obvious evidence such as the bailouts and the economic motives behind the invasion of Iraq are omitted by commercially motivated media. He draws several threads together, paying tribute to the courage of the Arab people, who are threatening to impose democracy on nations in which US foreign policy goal has been the maintenance of dictatorships.

Chomsky deconstructs frequently used foreign policy concepts such as 'stability', by examining their use in context. China, he suggests, is the real threat to the US, because they can't be intimidated. On the subject of what we can do to prevent such aggressive US foreign policy, he considers the US domestic political situation. His conclusion is that US citizens should take courage from the success of Egyptians and Tunisians in standing up to brutal oppression and take matters into their own hands.

Thanks to Radio New Zealand from the Tariq Ali recording.

Robin Upton
- e-mail: unwelcome [at] unwelcomeGuests [D0T] net
- Homepage: http://UnwelcomeGuests.net

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Sheffield Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Sheffield [navigation.actions2016]

Sheffield [navigation.actions2015]

Sheffield [navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

Sheffield Actions 2013

G8 2013

Sheffield Actions 2012

Workfare

Sheffield Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

Sheffield Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Sheffield Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Sheffield Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Sheffield Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Sheffield Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Sheffield Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Sheffield Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Sheffield Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech