Suchergebnisse

In this preface to the companion volume to The New Imperial Challenge (2004), The Empire Reloaded rounds out the previous volume with an analysis of finance, culture & the way the new imperialism is penetrating major regions of the world - Asia Minor, Southeast Asia, India, China, Africa, Latin America, Russia, Europe. The two volumes are united by the themes of viewing globalized capitalism & US imperialism as two dimensions of a single phenomenon in which US primacy lies not in military power, but penetration of the states, economies & social orders of other capitalist countries. The contributors differ on the extent of introduction imperial rivalry in the new global order, the stability of US economic & global financial structure, & differing views on the nature of responses to neoliberalism & US dominance. The theme of culture broadly defined addresses the realization of the Orwellian nightmare, an analysis of nature, Hollywood, & US media power in the turn towards capitalism by China. The contributors & editors are briefly introduced. J. Harwell

In a conversation between authors Colin Leys & Tony Benn, the authors discuss Benn's interview with Saddam Hussein in 1990 in relationship to the situation in the world now. Saddam's sense of betrayal by the Americans, & the history of invasions in Iraq since Genghis Khan contextualizes the current state of US vulnerability that was proven by 9/11, as exemplified in the inability to guarantee of oil supply in Iraq. The weakness of Bush & Blair thinking that is bereft of a historical perspective has resulted in the discrediting of Blair in Europe, & the realization that Britain is a colony of the US. Benn's description of Blair as a "Viceroy" of the American Empire has precluded the ability for outside pressures to change the British system, resulting in a pessimism of the left. Their views on UN reform question how imperialism presents optimism by both authors that the American people will realize it's not in their interest to run the world, & an awareness that neoliberal global capitalism is unsustainable. The commonality of the entire human race is their consensus that you can't hold people down, despite disagreements over transformation of activism & the power of mainstream media as the modern church. Although Leys' argues that the public is hypnotized by the mainstream media, Benn perceives a great audience that hears positive, hopeful things, & has an anger & distrust that has displaced previous decades of political apathy. References. J. Harwell