Introduction
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a positive shock for most as it seemed to happen quickly and unexpectedly, USA stood as the sole superpower and hegemonic power. There were talks of a ‘peace dividend’ because USA could save a great deal of money by standing down it’s forces.
That ‘peace dividend’ never happened. Instead, USA began a quest for global domination as later declared via doctrines of “full-spectrum dominance” and “New World Order”.
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
Ron Suskind, NYTimes Magazine, Oct. 17, 2004 (subsequently attributed to Karl Rove).
CRISIS! Again and again
A series of crises have occurred since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Each of which has strengthened the US/Western establishment. The ‘peace dividend’ to the establishment has been this: in return for going along with foreign adventurism, the EMPIRE has abandoned any desire to showcase the quality of life of its people and allows the wealthy to gain at their expense. A ‘pay-off’ that keeps the wealthy quite as the Deep State pursues foreign adventures.
What follows is a list of Disaster/CRISIS that US Americans have been exposed to and most have knowledge of. But there’s one, unmanageable, crisis that most are not aware of: the crisis of the new Cold War between the Empire and the upstarts (Russia and China). We see this particular crisis via Russiagate (neo-McCarthyism) and China-bashing over Covid-19. Each of these “trumped-up” crises are meant to generate ill will toward the targeted country.
1993
CRISIS! : Saddam Defies USA
Response: Iraq War
Cost to Americans: tens of billions of dollars
No warning
Preceded by: USA support for Saddam in the Iran-Iraq War. Saddam believed that USA considered him to be a valuable ally and fearsome opponent. He miscalculated. USA could not defeat the USSR and then immediately cave to Saddam’s bullying.
2001
CRISIS! : 9-11
Response: Global War on Terror (GWOT); Iraq War
Cost to Americans: $2 Trillion, thousands of US soldiers dead and injured
Warnings ignored – Anti-terror ‘Czar’ Richard Clark and others were warning of an impending attack months before
Preceded by: NATO intervention in Serbia/Kosovo; stationing US troops in Saudi Arabia; failure of Israel-Palestinian Peace Initiatives creating the perception (if not actual fact) of the West as anti-Arab.
2008-9
CRISIS! : Sub-prime Credit / Global Financial Crisis
Response: Bank & Corporate Bailouts, Long-term support of markets
Cost to Americans: Tens of billions, social unrest
Warnings ignored – Fed Chair Benanke ignored evidence of over-heated markets saying the risks were ‘contained’
Preceded by: Real Estate and Stock Market Bubble and lax regulatory system
2012
CRISIS! : Bengahazi Consulate Attack – Death of Ambassador Stevens
Response: Propaganda
Cost to Americans: Unclear
No warning
Preceded by: Covert ops in Syria and Libya that most Americans are unaware of
CRISIS! : The Fiscal Cliff
Response: Bush Tax Cuts made permanent, Govt “Sequester”
Cost to Americans: Social programs for the poor
Warnings ignored – Progressives attacked Obama in the run-up to a ‘deal’ that would hurt the working poor and exacerbate inequality
Preceded by: End of War in Iraq. Wind-down of the war meant reducing government war spending and thus the question of how to allocate this “windfall” arose.
2015
CRISIS! : ISIS beheadings and attacks
Response: Pretended anti-ISIS bombings plus propaganda
Cost to Americans: renewal of Patriot Act; cost of military operations, fear
No warning but the rise of ISIS came after USA was prevented from bombing Syria – later, Gen. Mike Flynn revealed that the Obama Administration had made a “wilful decision” to allow ISIS to grow
Preceded by: Failure to overthrow Assad via support for “moderate rebels” and Russia’s diplomatic ‘win’ (Assad giving up Chemical Weapons) that prevented a massive bombing of Syria (Sec. State Kerry: “US doesn’t do pinpricks”)
2017
CRISIS! : Russiagate
Response: Mueller Investigation, propaganda
Cost: about $20 million for investigation; rising tensions with Russia
No warning
Preceded by: Failure of ‘Russian Reset’; Ukranian revolution; election of “populist outsider” Donald Trump.
2020
CRISIS! : Covid-19
Response: Failure to prepare, confusion followed by ‘National Emergency’
Cost to Americans: thousands of lives lost; tens of billions of dollars
Warnings ignored – China warned the WHO of a possible pandemic in early January; Community Spread was detected in USA in last February but little was done until mid-March
Preceded by: Covid-19 in China, overextended Stock Market (Bubble); Boeing in trouble; Successful IPO of Aramaco.
Each of the above was driven by foreign policy or had a strong foreign policy element. Each increased USA militarism and/or benefited USA oligarchs. Each prompted propaganda narratives that strengthened USA control of its populace.
Conclusion
One doesn’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to ask if Karl Rove’s statement in 2004 (see above) wasn’t an acknowledgement of Empire as protagonist. As such we can ask: Are some (or all) of these crises created by, exacerbated by, or allowed to happen by a USA Deep State that sees any crisis as a means to test its mettle and extend its power? Will Americans tire of these incessant crises? Will Americans wake up to the danger inherit in Imperial control imperatives?
Addendum
1) Hundreds of thousands of non-Americans have been killed, injured, and displaced by the Empire Games. I focus on the cost to Americans because the Vietnam War proved that the American public could put an end to war when lost faith in it’s leadership.
2) There are many foreign crises that Americans are not generally aware of:
– 1991-1995 Russian Economic Disaster – Shock Therapy
– 1998 US/NATO intervention in Serbia/Kosovo
– 2011-2015 Covert ops in Syria/Iraq
– Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
– etc. (I’ll add more as I have time to do so).