Is the American Empire on the Brink of Collapse? (Buzzflash, via AlterNet)

[marmar]

Is the American Empire on the Brink of Collapse?

By Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash. Posted March 24, 2007.



U.S. military expert Chalmers Johnson argues the catastrophe in Iraq and the staggering cost of running a military that stretches across 130 countries on 737 bases may finally cost America its empire.

I believe that we're close to a tipping point right now. What happened to the Soviet Union between 1989 and 1991 could easily be happening to us for essentially the same reasons. Imperial overreach, inability to reform, rigid economic ideology. ... The world's balance of power didn't change one iota on September 11, 2001. The only way we could lose the power and influence we had at that time was through our own actions, and that's what we did.
-- Chalmers Johnson, author of Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic

Has our "leadership" traded democracy for empire? Have their over-bloated egos convinced them that they are the world's newly crowned colonial kings? Author Chalmers Johnson is certainly not given to wearing rose-colored glasses. As he concludes in his newest book, Nemesis: "... my country is launched on a dangerous path that it must abandon or else face the consequences."

Johnson's well-argued, persuasive argument draws on the economic, military, and political lessons of the past, which may be just what's needed to wake up Americans in time to change course. In this interview, he explained his hopes and fears for contemporary America.

* * *

Mark Karlin: You've written a three-part series of books on the United States as an empire. The first was called Blowback. The second is The Sorrows of the Empire. And, now, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic. That's kind of a doomsday declension there.

Chalmers Johnson: I guess you could say that. It's inadvertent. I didn't set out to write three volumes. I don't know whether Gibbons set out to write The Decline and the Fall of the Roman Empire. But one led to the other.

The first was written well before 9/11, and it was concerned with what I perceived to be the American public's lack of understanding that most of the foreign policy problems of the 21st century were going to be things left over from the Cold War. Above all, I argue that our numerous clandestine activities, some of which are almost totally disreputable, will come back to haunt us.

The second book followed on the first, in that it was a broad analysis of what I called our military-based empire, an empire of 737 American military bases in over 130 countries around the world. That number is the official Pentagon count. They are genuine military bases. They're very extensive. They are not, as some defenders of the Pentagon like to say, just Marine guards. We haven't got 700 embassies around the world. The Sorrows of Empire was written as we were preparing for our invasion of Iraq, and it was published virtually on the day that we invaded. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/49603/

[izzie]

1. This is the next book I read. I had to buy it.

--

[Broadslidin]

2. With Malignant Narcissistic Rot at its Core, the Sooner, the Better.

[marmar]

5. Agreed.

n/t

[bemildred]

3. Yeah, and you can't fix it, it's too late, and Bush bet all the marbles on Iraq. nt

[bedpanartist]

4. to answer the question

is the American Empire on the brink of collapse?

As an Army vet of eight years, I certainly hope so.

[pat_k]

6. "if impeachment is off the table, then it may well be that Constitutional democracy. . .

. . . is off the table"

Says it all.

Bush and Cheney are usurping Unconstitutional powers in plain sight. That is their intent. They are saying "Someone said we could have this." Impeachment is the ONLY way to say "Nope, not yours."

Like squatters, the longer they have possession, the stronger their claim.

Taking Impeachment off the table is indeed a surrender of our national "house."

[vickitulsa]

7. I think military recruiting difficulties tell the tale too.

I'm chagrined to see the new low the armed services have sunk to in their advertisements on TV, trying to bolster their sagging recruitment totals.

The Army seems to be the worst, but all the branches are doing it.

What I mean by a "new low" in their advertisements is as much a matter of volume as of content, but the content is terrible too.

The Army, seeing at last that its "Army of One" tack (the last major ad campaign slogan) was a loser as well as an offense to all veterans and antithetic to the basic nature of military service, has now launched the new slogan with a huge volume of paid TV ads.

"Army Strong" clearly is trying to appeal to the sorts of individuals I would think would be bad for a military. I think it's a new version of their old Army of One project, at its core; but the text of the commercials takes pains to emphasize that teamwork and being part of a stronger whole is a key benefit.

I think they feel they can draw in a lot of young folks who are not feeling very significant or powerful at all, luring them with the prospect of very high tech skills to be learned and -- to some the strongest draw -- the chance to "blow shit up."

I watch a lot of Star Trek reruns, and they're on Spike TV now, which is a channel geared toward an all male audience. So I get to see (muted) a great many ads from the armed services for the purposes of recruiting. It's stunning, though, to see just how many of these ads are also running on other channels as well.

I point this out because I think it is a central issue in the "America as Empire" debate. Clearly the PNACkers never thought they'd have trouble getting enough recruits to maintain their wet-dream of a military America willing to deploy everywhere and actually USE its military strength to bully other nations.

I hope a great many people are reading Chalmers Johnson's books ... maybe they will wake up some of the somnolent Americans who don't even realize what's going on in our government these days.