Editorial

The New American Empire

In a bombastic speech to the United Nations last week, U.S. President George W. Bush once again expressed complete contempt for the international community. While claiming he was withdrawing from his previous unilateralist stance in favour of a new cooperative approach, Bush actually threatened the United Nations with extinction if it refuses to endorse his "war without end" against Iraq or any other country he chooses to target.

With the release of a document entitled "The National Security Strategy of the United States", Bush has further clarified the new American doctrine, threatening to use pre-emptive military strikes against any "potential adversary" which dares to challenge American military dominance. Slowly but surely, the veneer of "freedom and democracy" is being shed in favour of open imperial dictate.

Despite the growing evidence that the U.S. "war on terror" is a straightforward war of imperial conquest, there are still those who suggest that it is simply a struggle for access to secure supplies of oil. If this were the case, then why the sudden change in policy? Prior to September 11, 2001 the United States already had secure access to oil all over the world. Its corporations had already seized control of the production or distribution (or both) of most sources of oil in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and regions of the former Soviet Union. Why abandon such a successful policy in favour of one so fraught with dangers as a "war without end"? Why risk the destruction of the Middle East oil fields when peace in the region is much more conducive to secure access to oil?

The answer is that the United States is far less concerned with access to oil than with control of the sources of oil. What does control of sources of oil provide the United States which mere access does not? It provides it with the power to cut off access to oil by any country - friend or foe - which refuses to accept U.S. dictate.

George Bush's new national security strategy makes it clear that U.S. imperialism thinks that it has no further need for allies. If the international community is unwilling to ally itself with American ambitions, then America will go it alone. Its overwhelming military superiority will be used to whip every other country into line. And any country which tries to compete militarily with the United States will be pre-emptively attacked. Such threats are clearly not aimed at Iraq, which has no possibility of competing with the U.S. militarily or in any other way. Rather, they are aimed at the European Union, Japan, Russia, China or any other of America's current "allies" which may be dreaming of challenging the new American empire.

The interesting dilemma facing the United States is that its military might is not matched by economic power. Therefore, the more it is challenged economically, the more it will be forced to resort to military means to preserve its empire. But the more it is forced to resort to war, invasion or occupation of other countries, the weaker it will become both economically and militarily. In other words, it is not an empire in ascendency, but an empire in decline. It is an empire which is facing increasing opposition from other imperialist powers, as well as from the peoples of the world who aspire to peace, independence and democracy. So, no matter what doctrine it adopts, the U.S. pursuit of world domination is doomed to failure. It is just a matter of time.