The Role of the US in World Crises

In a speech at the West Point military academy last May, while Barack Obama delineated the most important aspects of his foreign policy, he explained the way in which the White House sees the rest of the world and the framework in which foreign relations should be conducted, according to him. In front of military commanders, cadets and their families, Obama said, “… the United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century passed and it will be true for the century to come.” Minutes later, after the usual rhetorical fanfare, he added, “I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.”

Since this speech, various regional crises have worsened and thousands have lost their lives. At the same time, the true effect of multilateralism and the United Nations system has been called into question. The obstacles that must be overcome to build a multipolar world have become apparent.

This article seeks to briefly review the logic of exceptionalism and indispensability, as well as their significance in the development of various crises around the globe. Undoubtedly, a determining factor is American participation.

Ukraine

Some months ago, the overthrow of the democratic president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, unleashed tension between Russia and the United States, which vividly resembles the Cold War. As of this date, nearly 1,000 civilians have lost their lives in that conflict, which — in addition to the coup d’état — resulted in the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the direct action of ultra-right-wing groups in Ukraine, the formation of pro-Russian militias, the execrable downing of a passenger plane, the bombing of civilians, and the emergence of a human catastrophe with tens of thousands displaced.

As Ron Paul, a former U.S. congressman, described it, the high-level State Department official Victoria Nuland stated that the United States government “has invested over $5 billion … in the development of democratic institutions and skills in promoting civil society and a good form of government” in Ukraine. Ron Paul reminds us that the same official was recently recorded making detailed plans for the overthrow of the legitimate Ukrainian government. The work for this disaster, Paul stressed, has been carried out by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USAID and the army of nongovernmental organizations in Ukraine that were financed for years.

The escalation of violence continues: the sanctions against Russia, the bombings in the center of Donetsk, and the American economic and military support to Kiev. This conflict’s implications are yet unforeseen and are given in the framework of NATO’s expansionist aspirations as described by Obama at West Point.

Gaza

The most recent chapter of Israel’s periodic military aggression against Palestine has left a toll among the Palestinian population of 2,000 dead, with civilians numbering 85 percent of those killed, including over 400 children and 200 women; and nearly 10,000 wounded, among them close to 3,000 women and 3,000 children, according to the U.N.

The death of 11 United Nations officials and over 200,000 people displaced by the violence was also reported. U.N. schools, which served as a refuge for those escaping from Israeli attacks, hospitals, and even cemeteries were bombed. The Israeli fatalities add up to 60 soldiers and three civilians.

The war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the world’s fourth most powerful army and de facto NATO member were not the only consequences of this aggression. Up to that time, Israel was able to immobilize the U.N. system. The Security Council did not pass any resolution to detain the aggression, the General Assembly played practically no role, and the International Criminal Court did not initiate any action. Only the Human Rights Council decided to form a group of experts, which was limited to investigating the facts. The resolution had only one vote against it, that of the same state that did not allow full membership to the Palestinian state by using its veto power on the Security Council.

The United States has not only become Israel’s main ally in multilateral bodies. Rather, this alliance means over $30 billion of military aid (read: complicity). Additionally, the information provided by Edward Snowden — namely, the intelligence and espionage that the United States practices — is a “key ingredient” for Israeli aggression.

American policy is decisive for the continuation of Israeli military aggression, impunity for its crimes, construction of the wall, illegal settlements, the blockade against Gaza and, in sum, for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Apartheid in South Africa went on while America’s support was maintained. The same will happen with the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Ruin

The Middle East and part of Africa has become another arena of great instability. In recent days, the media has displayed images of atrocities committed against civilians in a borderless territory formerly controlled by Iraq and Syria.

For over two decades, the last four presidents of the United States have consecutively deployed attacks against Iraq, from bombings to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The lie about weapons of mass destruction was the excuse for the invasion and subsequent military occupation. The group now called the Islamic State was formed as a group allied with al-Qaida and an armed resistance to the American occupation of Iraq. That occupation, which lasted nearly a decade, is marked by other atrocities: the Abu Ghraib prison, Guantánamo, the killing of thousands of civilians, and the carving up of the country’s natural resources. It was one of the breeding grounds for the appearance of the so-called Islamic State.

Noam Chomsky points out that Rumsfeld and Cheney’s hammer was “later picked up by President Obama … in smashing Libya. The outcome is that Libya is now torn by warring militias, while jihadi terror has been unleashed in much of Africa along with a flood of weapons, reaching also to Syria.” In this region of the world, NATO’s rationale is known as “divide and conquer.” If that does not work, then, as Dan Glazebrook notes, then “divide and ruin” is employed.

The situation in Pakistan and other places could have similarities regarding the formation of a breeding ground, which could generate new and more extreme scenarios for violence. According to a study by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in Great Britain, cited by Radio Havana Cuba (RHC), drone attacks in that country have ended the lives of nearly 4,000 people, a third of which were civilians and 200 of which were children, over 10 years. In February 2014, the spokesperson for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “U.S. drone strikes are unacceptable, that is the only clear stance because they kill innocent people and violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.”

Multipolarity

It remains clear that the American rationale for war has objectives of, among others, geopolitical control, by weakening or destroying certain states, controlling their natural resources (essentially petroleum), and expanding its arms industry.

The historical processes are long, and the last decade has witnessed the emergence of countries with the possibility of having a great influence on the world stage: in the business sector and additionally through material efforts to construct regional integration spaces independent from Washington, such as in the case of Latin America and the Caribbean. The dominion over international institutions by the U.S. and its allies and its military, financial, technological and media power demonstrate that there is still a ways to go in order to consolidate a “multipolar” world and construct a new world order.