Inter-Imperialist Rivalry

The Loss Of Life, From World War I To World War III. What Would Happen If A Third World War Were To Break Out?

November 24, 2018 By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Globalresearch.ca Educate! History, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, WWI

The largest loss of life was incurred by Russia (1.7 million killed), France (1.4 million killed), Germany (1.7 million) Austro-Hungarian empire (1.2 million) (see table below). What the leaders meeting in Paris failed to address is that the imperial project prevails. It’s ongoing. The US-NATO “killing machine” is considerably more advanced. The overall loss of life during World War II and its aftermath (the so-called post war era) is significantly larger...

Global War To Infinity And Beyond

November 22, 2018 By Danny Sjursen, Tomdispatch.com Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Middle East, US military

American militarism has gone off the rails -- and this middling career officer should have seen it coming. Earlier in this century, the U.S. military not surprisingly focused on counterinsurgency as it faced various indecisive and seemingly unending wars across the Greater Middle East and parts of Africa. Back in 2008, when I was still a captain newly returned from Iraq and studying at Fort Knox, Kentucky, our training scenarios generally focused on urban combat and what were called security and stabilization missions. We’d plan to assault some notional city center, destroy the enemy fighters there, and then transition to pacification and “humanitarian” operations. Of course, no one then asked about the dubious efficacy of “regime change” and “nation building,” the two activities in which our country had been so regularly engaged.

US Threatens Sanctions On 13 Nations Considering Buying Half-Priced, More Effective Russian Weapons

November 22, 2018 By Tyler Durden, Zerohedge.com Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Russia, Sanctions, US Imperialism

Russia has been pitching a rival missile platform that costs half of those made by US companies, reports CNBC, which has resulted in several countries dealing with the Kremlin "despite the potential for blowback." The Russian S-400 mobile long-range surface-to-air missile system costs around $500 million, vs. the $1 billion price tag for a US-made Raytheon Patriot Pac-2 battery, while a THAAD battery made by Lockheed Martin costs just about $3 billion, according to people with first-hand knowledge of a US intelligence assessment. Nearly 13 countries have expressed interest in buying Russia's S-400, a move that could trigger potential U.S. sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which President Donald Trump signed in August 2017.

Syria – Back In The Arab Fold

November 21, 2018 Staff, Moonofalabama.org Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Middle East, Syria, US Imperialism

First signs that this was going to happen appeared a few month ago when a Kuwaiti TV personality spoke about the pleasure of visiting an again peaceful Damascus. In June the Foreign Affairs Minister of UAE called the expulsion of Syria from the Arab league a "mistake". In an interview with a Kuwaiti paper Assad said that he had reached "major understanding" with Arab states. The Saudis though are not yet welcome back in Damascus. They were one of the largest financiers of the Jihadis and will have to pay an equally large price to come back into good standing. Negotiations are ongoing. A formal reentry of Syria into the Arab League can not be far away.

China: A New Philosophy Of Economics

November 21, 2018 Peter Koenig, Informationclearinghouse.info Educate! Capitalism, China, Economics, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry

The west consistently seeks to undermine the interests of their partners, be it for trade or political agreements; be it partners from the west, their smaller and weaker brothers; or from the east; or from the south – there is always an element of exploitation, of “one-upmanship”, of outdoing a partner, of domination. Equality and fairness are unknown by the west. Or, when the concept was once known, at least by some countries and some people, it has been erased by indoctrinated neoliberal thinking – egocentricity, “me first”, and the sheer, all-permeating doctrine of “maximizing profits”; short-term thinking, instant gratification – or more extreme, making a killing today for a gamble or deal that takes place tomorrow.

US Sanctions On China May Escalate To ‘Commercial Cold War,’ French Minister Warns

November 19, 2018 Staff, Rt.com Educate! China, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Sanctions, United States, WTO

The ongoing trade conflict between Washington and Beijing may escalate into a full-fledged commercial cold war, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned during a World Trade Organization (WTO) conference. Speaking in Paris during an opening ceremony of a meeting on the future of the WTO, Le Maire branded the decision of US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Chinese goods as “stupid” and said European nations will not be collateral victims of the conflict. The French official called on the international trade arbiter to overcome a “consensus paralysis” that pesters its decision-making process and suggested the WTO should make fighting global climate change part of its agenda.

The US Military Is All Over Africa Despite Not Being At War In Africa

November 17, 2018 By Strategic Culture Foundation, Mintpressnews.com Educate! Africa, AFRICOM, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, US Imperialism

Around 200,000 US troops are stationed in 177 countries throughout the world. Those forces utilize several hundred military installations. Africa is no exemption. On August 2, Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier took command of US Army Africa, promising to “hit the ground running.” The US is not waging any wars in Africa but it has a significant presence on the continent. Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and other special ops are currently conducting nearly 100 missions across 20 African countries at any given time, waging secret, limited-scale operations. According to the magazine Vice, US troops are now conducting 3,500 exercises and military engagements throughout Africa per year, an average of 10 per day — an astounding 1,900% increase since the command rolled out 10 years ago.

A Flawed American Sanctions Policy On Iran

November 17, 2018 By Daniel Brumberg, Arabcenterdc.org Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Iran, Sanctions, US Imperialism

The Trump Administration’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran is animated by a deeply flawed grasp of Iranian politics and an incoherent strategy, one that will not be realized by dreams of regime change in the country. Rather than force Iran’s capitulation in the coming months, the administration will confront a tumultuous regional and global map whose contours will be shaped by three intersecting waiting games: one played by the United States, another by the Islamic Republic, and a third by a group of countries seeking to sustain the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). While these competing moves play out, Iran will continue to try to shape the region’s geostrategic map in ways that will protect its basic interests.

EU Responds To US Midterm Elections With Calls For Military Build-Up

November 16, 2018 Alex Lantier, Wsws.org Educate! Electoral Politics, Europe, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Ruling Class, United States

Europe’s political and media establishment is responding to the 2018 US midterm elections with calls for a military build-up to confront Washington and for legitimizing far-right politics. It is ever clearer that the breakdown in trans-Atlantic relations following Donald Trump’s election and his trade war measures against Germany and China was not a coincidence or a passing blip. European ruling circles are widely interpreting Trump’s ability to extend Republican control of the Senate, though he lost control of the House of Representatives to the Democratic Party, as a sign that growing US-European conflicts reflect a deeper crisis than they originally believed. They are calling for their own aggressive military policy in response.

Trump Surpasses Record For Most Bombs Dropped In One Year In Afghanistan, Over 5,200

November 16, 2018 Niall McCarthy, Forbes.com Educate! Afghanistan, Bombing, Donald Trump, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, US Imperialism

17 years after U.S. forces and the Northern Alliance captured Kabul, half of Afghanistan has been retaken by the Taliban and the war is dragging on. ISIS have also become increasingly active in the country and approximately 14,000 U.S. troops are still serving there in an attempt to contain a growing wave of extremism. Even though the conflict has been making fewer headlines in recent years, the U.S. has never dropped as many bombs on Afghanistan as it did this year. According to U.S. Air Forces Central Command data, manned and unmanned aircraft released 5,213 weapons between January and the end of September 2018.

Cost Of War On Terror Soon To Be Over $6 Trillion

November 16, 2018 Staff, Watson.brown.edu Educate! Budgets, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Wars and Militarism

The United States has appropriated and is obligated to spend an estimated $5.9 trillion (in current dollars) on the war on terror through Fiscal Year 2019, including direct war and war-related spending and obligations for future spending on post-9/11 war veterans (see Table 1). This number differs substantially from the Pentagon’s estimates of the costs of the post-9/11warsbecause it includes not only war appropriations made to the Department of Defense –spending in the war zones of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and in other places the government designates as sites of “overseas contingency operations,” –but also includes spending across the federal government that is a consequence of these wars.

Midterm Results: The War Party Rules

November 15, 2018 Danny Haiphong, Blackagendareport.com Educate! Electoral Politics, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

Forget the midterms. The “blue wave” was a low tide. The Democrats took the House but lost the Senate, and badly. The good news is that another excessively hyped election is over. Let’s talk instead about how under US imperialism, war is a constant. Republican and Democratic Party officials are members of the War Party. US imperial wars rage on regardless of whether a Democrat is elected for President or Congress. The War Party follows of the dictates of Wall Street and the war machine. Party membership not only includes Democratic and Republican officials but also the corporate media. Democratic Party officials described last week’s midterm elections as the most important electoral moment in U.S. history.

Moreno’s Neoliberal Restoration Proceeds In Ecuador

November 14, 2018 Joe Emersberger, Counterpunch.org Educate! Ecuador, Electoral Politics, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, US Imperialism

Lenin Moreno won Ecuador’s presidency in 2017 by campaigning to continue the economic policies of Rafael Correa (a leftist who was in office from 2007 until 2017) but upon taking office immediately shifted dramatically to the right. Andres Arauz, a former member of Correa’s economic team whom I interviewed for Counterpunch in May, provides an update on Moreno’s remarkably cynical Neoliberal Restoration. In addition to the troubling state of Ecuador’s economy under Moreno despite increased oil prices that help Ecuador, Aruaz discusses major assaults on the rule of law, looming corporate capture of Ecuador’s highest courts (including the role played by some environmentalists in helping it happen) and the fact that candidates in upcoming elections are forced keep alliances with Correa secret to avoid disqualification.

SWIFT’s Iran Ban Will ‘Expedite Global De-Dollarization’

November 13, 2018 By Max Keiser, Rt.com Educate! Currency, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Iran, New Economy, Sanctions

The blacklisting of Iran from international financial messaging system SWIFT serves as a warning to Washington’s enemies, but will hasten the demise of the dollar, stockbroker-turned broadcaster Max Keiser told RT. SWIFT, a system that facilitates cross-border payments between 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries worldwide cut several Iranian banks, including the country’s central bank, off from its services on Monday. The move came as a result of US pressure and was described by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as “the right decision to protect the integrity of the international financial system.”

Iran Sanctions: How Deep Will They Bite?

November 13, 2018 Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Lobelog.com Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Iran, Sanctions, US Imperialism

For anyone watching the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League final, hosted in Tehran’s Azadi stadium on Saturday, the only disappointment was the nil-nil score that denied Iran’s team first place in Asia. The stadium scene was energized by a musical performance similar to the half-time show of the U.S. Super Bowl as well as the cheers of 100,000 fans, including hundreds of women. This ebullience was in sharp contrast to the gloom elsewhere in Iran that has descended since the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear accord (the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action or JCPOA) and re-imposed sanctions. In Iran, officials blame the sanctions for the economic crisis, while in the United States, officials blame the Iranian government.

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