Yes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrev is absolutely right when he states that Americans are running the show in Ukraine. Well, in Kiev anyway!
And no, this is not unusual, for American foreign policy has not wavered to any great extent since the end of World War II after Japan surrendered her place in the Pacific rising sun—Hiroshima and Nagasaki in thermonuclear ashes sealing the deal—and America saw itself as the world’s benign empire. Never mind that it became less and less benign as the years have passed.
Then, as the Soviet Union laid its ideological-military belligerence down, giving in to a capitulatory conversion to capitalism, the United States began treating Russia, not as a convert, a prodigal son to capitalism in need of help, but rather as a suspicious vagrant. If not for its ICBMs still pointed at the US, this “despised vagrant” would not have been allowed to sit at the same international table with the United States.
That’s what propaganda has done against socialism in general, and Russia in particular, bleaching the minds of Americans to an irrational and ignorant state of hate.
And if any of that hate had grown dormant in this quarter century since the end of the Cold War, we are quickly discovering that it can be quickly revived through jingoistic political eloquence which only belongs in the gutter of international relations. All these politicians, Democrats and Republicans, brandish the same Neanderthal genome when it comes to foreign policy . . . unashamedly showing the American electorate that they represent the interests of powerful-Americans, and not the interests of the demos: us. Goebbels would have been proud at how well his American pupilage is mastering, even surpassing, all of his propaganda theoretical skills.
Why is it so easy to have a nation with over 300 million people so submissive to the dictates of a powerful few? Simple answer: the powerful few are the powerful all, and elected politicians need to conform or pay the price . . . if not to every detail that deals with domestic policy, most definitely to any and all issues dealing with the empire and its foreign policy. So most decisions on critical issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian situation, encroachment of Russia, the rebirth of nationalism in Germany or Japan, and preponderance of capitalism over human rights, are all fait-accompli . . . no discussion or changes are to be allowed.
Unlike the politically-defunct, but not yet buried, issue of finding a permanent solution to peace for both Israel and Palestine, Russia is truly a horse of a different color metaphorically: a wealthy (if yet developing), historically-culturally rich magna-nation with bright people and very promising economic prospects. But, most important of all, Russia, like the United States, militarily, is co-possessor of MAD ( . . . or have we forgotten the Mutually Assured Destruction which continues to apply in this game of international chicken that only Russia and the US can play, at least for now?). America can try its best to intimidate the sleeping Russian Bear, but it will end up being a futile attempt. Any sanctions America throws at the bear, not just through Washington channels but the arsenal of capitalist symbols at US disposal, such as today’s credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s (to one notch above junk) are likely to backfire big time in the long run . . . and in economic or geopolitical affairs, the long term effects or results is what matters. Russia will survive any and all sanctions America bullies its way, its people masters of sufferance . . . survivors of what both Hitler and Stalin made them go through. They will not be intimidated and, economically, they’ll end up having the last laugh.
Those who think Obama, Kerry, Clinton (Hillary or Bill) are of a different mold from that casting warmongers such as McCain, Cheney or the Bushes, don’t have a clue as to the reality of American foreign policy, and the fact that all American politicos are but marionettes allowed to play onstage.
Oh how we, the American citizenry, are kept in the dark by an obscenely unprofessional media tirelessly pounding on the lesser news, or non-news, while feeding us either misinformation relayed by the government . . . or simply not telling us, or not putting emphasis on meaningful news of the day: such as the breakdown in the Palestinian-Israeli talks in the last day; America’s meddling in the affairs of sovereign countries in South America (yesterday resulting in Ecuador’s Correa sending Americans home); and other newsworthy items which might weight heavily, at least as a sum total, how Americans view the deeds or misdeeds of their government; and how often this hubris ends up, operationally, wrapped in embarrassing clumsiness.
Instead, America’s government and its media prefer to keep us in concerted ignorance.
Ben Tanosborn, columnist, poet and writer, resides in Vancouver, Washington (USA), where he is principal of a business consulting firm. Contact him at ben@tanosborn.com.
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US foreign policy on Ukraine: Hubris wrapped in clumsiness
Posted on April 29, 2014 by Ben Tanosborn
Yes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrev is absolutely right when he states that Americans are running the show in Ukraine. Well, in Kiev anyway!
And no, this is not unusual, for American foreign policy has not wavered to any great extent since the end of World War II after Japan surrendered her place in the Pacific rising sun—Hiroshima and Nagasaki in thermonuclear ashes sealing the deal—and America saw itself as the world’s benign empire. Never mind that it became less and less benign as the years have passed.
Then, as the Soviet Union laid its ideological-military belligerence down, giving in to a capitulatory conversion to capitalism, the United States began treating Russia, not as a convert, a prodigal son to capitalism in need of help, but rather as a suspicious vagrant. If not for its ICBMs still pointed at the US, this “despised vagrant” would not have been allowed to sit at the same international table with the United States.
That’s what propaganda has done against socialism in general, and Russia in particular, bleaching the minds of Americans to an irrational and ignorant state of hate.
And if any of that hate had grown dormant in this quarter century since the end of the Cold War, we are quickly discovering that it can be quickly revived through jingoistic political eloquence which only belongs in the gutter of international relations. All these politicians, Democrats and Republicans, brandish the same Neanderthal genome when it comes to foreign policy . . . unashamedly showing the American electorate that they represent the interests of powerful-Americans, and not the interests of the demos: us. Goebbels would have been proud at how well his American pupilage is mastering, even surpassing, all of his propaganda theoretical skills.
Why is it so easy to have a nation with over 300 million people so submissive to the dictates of a powerful few? Simple answer: the powerful few are the powerful all, and elected politicians need to conform or pay the price . . . if not to every detail that deals with domestic policy, most definitely to any and all issues dealing with the empire and its foreign policy. So most decisions on critical issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian situation, encroachment of Russia, the rebirth of nationalism in Germany or Japan, and preponderance of capitalism over human rights, are all fait-accompli . . . no discussion or changes are to be allowed.
Unlike the politically-defunct, but not yet buried, issue of finding a permanent solution to peace for both Israel and Palestine, Russia is truly a horse of a different color metaphorically: a wealthy (if yet developing), historically-culturally rich magna-nation with bright people and very promising economic prospects. But, most important of all, Russia, like the United States, militarily, is co-possessor of MAD ( . . . or have we forgotten the Mutually Assured Destruction which continues to apply in this game of international chicken that only Russia and the US can play, at least for now?). America can try its best to intimidate the sleeping Russian Bear, but it will end up being a futile attempt. Any sanctions America throws at the bear, not just through Washington channels but the arsenal of capitalist symbols at US disposal, such as today’s credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s (to one notch above junk) are likely to backfire big time in the long run . . . and in economic or geopolitical affairs, the long term effects or results is what matters. Russia will survive any and all sanctions America bullies its way, its people masters of sufferance . . . survivors of what both Hitler and Stalin made them go through. They will not be intimidated and, economically, they’ll end up having the last laugh.
Those who think Obama, Kerry, Clinton (Hillary or Bill) are of a different mold from that casting warmongers such as McCain, Cheney or the Bushes, don’t have a clue as to the reality of American foreign policy, and the fact that all American politicos are but marionettes allowed to play onstage.
Oh how we, the American citizenry, are kept in the dark by an obscenely unprofessional media tirelessly pounding on the lesser news, or non-news, while feeding us either misinformation relayed by the government . . . or simply not telling us, or not putting emphasis on meaningful news of the day: such as the breakdown in the Palestinian-Israeli talks in the last day; America’s meddling in the affairs of sovereign countries in South America (yesterday resulting in Ecuador’s Correa sending Americans home); and other newsworthy items which might weight heavily, at least as a sum total, how Americans view the deeds or misdeeds of their government; and how often this hubris ends up, operationally, wrapped in embarrassing clumsiness.
Instead, America’s government and its media prefer to keep us in concerted ignorance.
© 2014 Ben Tanosborn
Ben Tanosborn, columnist, poet and writer, resides in Vancouver, Washington (USA), where he is principal of a business consulting firm. Contact him at ben@tanosborn.com.