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By Stephen Gowans, gowans.blogspot.com
June 17, 2006
When US President George W. Bush identified an "axis of evil" whose existence Washington pledged to topple through a program of regime change, Iraq was not the only country the United States threatened with a virtual declaration of war. North Korea and Iran were also singled out. According to former Bush speechwriter, David Frum, who boasts he had a major hand in coining the "axis of evil" phrase, the common characteristic that bound the trio was "resentment of US power," another way of saying they resented US efforts to encroach upon their sovereignty. (National Post, January 8, 2003.)
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By A Corey Gilkes
Will Hutton of the British Guardian wrote on Jan 22nd an article entitled Why the US exports its ideals of "freedom and democracy" – the new mantra. He implored readers that in spite of the cynicism and the blustering arrogance of the Bush administration, to have faith in the sincerity of the increasing call for democracy coming from the US on both sides of the political fence.
There is, of course, the possibility that the US is indeed sincere about its desire to spread the ideal of democracy across the globe. In fact, many US politicians and humanitarian groups truly believe in what they say. Some others honestly believe that the world is separated into one group of fluid, liberal democracies the pinnacle of which is the US and the rest of the world gripped by rigid, totalitarian regimes. This is why I am so wary of these liberal types of North America and Europe. Many – like their conservative counterparts – are so blinded by their own hubris and belief of being the crusading country that they fail to see that that outlook, no matter how well-intentioned it may be, when detached from certain historical and contemporary contexts, only brings more suffering, displacement and hardship for developing countries. Even with the best of intentions many of them just don't get it; they don't understand that their own views of the rest of the world are often shaped by reasoning and ideologies that were racist and paternalistic in their origin.
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By Stephen Gowans, gowans.blogspot.com
May 10, 2005
In late April, 2005 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with members of the Belarus opposition on a trip through Lithuania, to talk about how to elevate "mass pressure for change" (New York Times, April 22, 2005) with a view to ousting the government of Belarus' president Alexander Lukashenko. Washington says Belarus is an outpost of tyranny, along with such other notable US bugbears as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Burma. Denounced as "the last dictator in Europe," Lukashenko is dubbed a tyrant, who, it's implied, has earned himself a place in Hades for his innumerable sins against the holy trinity of democracy, liberty and human rights. His tyranny, US officials say, must end. And the US, self-appointed crusader for democracy in the world, will see that it happens.
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By Thom Hartmann, thomhartmann.com
December 07, 2004
What if there really was no need for much - or even most - of the Cold War? What if, in fact, the Cold War had been kept alive for two decades based on phony WMD threats?
What if, similarly, the War On Terror was largely a scam, and the administration was hyping it to seem larger-than-life? What if our "enemy" represented a real but relatively small threat posed by rogue and criminal groups well outside the mainstream of Islam? What if that hype was done largely to enhance the power, electability, and stature of George W. Bush and Tony Blair?
And what if the world was to discover the most shocking dimensions of these twin deceits - that the same men promulgated them in the 1970s and today?
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By Angie
November 04, 2004
EXTRACT: An interview with Stephen Gowans.
The full interview can be found here.
Angie: In today's world, however, the egalitarianism ideology is in danger of being taken over by neo-liberals whilst abject poverty, not economic security, has found plenty of room to prevail and grow. How can we change this?
Stephen: I guess that's like asking how to lose weight. The answer's obvious, but no one likes it, and people are always on the lookout for a quick fix, something that doesn't take much effort and involves no pain and no disruption. Quick fixes invariably turn out to be sold by hucksters.
I'll start with an axiom: You can't make any change without a fair degree of popular support.
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