Time Running Out on the American Empire
Published in Al-Wasat
(Kuwait) on 20 June 2006
by Walid Noehd (link to original)
To what extent will the United States be able to continue the policy of global tyranny which it has single-handedly pursued since the 1990s? All analyses indicate that America's strategy of global expansion has reached its limits, which means that if it continues along its present path, it will encounter the type of internal divisions that has befallen many of the great powers and empires throughout history.
Practiced on a global stage, the policy of despotism practiced by the United States against others for nearly two decades strongly resembles the dictatorial policies often practiced by closed, repressive systems against their own people or against surrounding regions. But wherever it is practiced, despotism has its limits and is confined by the need to feed the military machine. These limitations are governed by the geographic, political and human extent of the Empire's ambitions. Ultimately, the question is not only about the power to make war, but about manpower, geographical area and the balance of power.
For example, the United States is now capable of defeating any nation in the world militarily. But military victory does not necessarily mean that America has achieved a political victory, because there is a vast difference between the two. The former is related to military capabilities; while the latter is related to a set of conditions that transcend the realm of military force.
This is exactly what happened when the current American administration decided to wage wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. The result was that America had won militarily, but failed to register a political victory. Even now, The United States faces resistance from native elements in the two countries, and can neither manage the crisis nor create the conditions to contain the fallout from the two wars.
Afghanistan and Iraq are just two examples of the dangerous consequences that arise from America's global strategic deployment in its totalitarian attempt to impose by force its own needs and perceptions over other peoples, are distinguished by their own civilized characteristics. This has given birth to a new type or resistance which the greatest army in the world hasn't the strength to break or tame. Which brings us back to the question: How long can the United States continue its policy of international despotism by means of global expansion?
All analyses have come to roughly the same conclusion: that America can no longer continue its policies unless, through arrogance and intrigue, its leaders wish to commit political suicide.
Arrogance, intrigue and the failure to recognize mistakes are built into despotic policies based on military power. But in the end, America will not be able to continue this course of ever-expanding control in a world governed by demographics and regional blocs. America can destroy the infrastructure of any nation in the world, but is unable to destroy the will of the people to resist. This is what distinguishes infrastructure and human resources, and explains Washington's failure to convert military success into political victory.
The latest reports on military expenditures indicate that the United States accounts for between 47 and 48 percent of all global spending on weapons and defense. Reading into these figures, this mean is that America, which constitutes 5 percent of the world's population, accounts for about 50 percent of all that is spent on war, defense and armaments. Such enormous levels of spending in a single sector create an imbalance between demographics and productive capacity.
For example, America accounts for 20 percent of annual global production of all goods. This additional point emphasizes the seriousness of this structural imbalance, with a State that constitutes 5 percent of the world's population, producing 20 percent of the world's overall production and accounting for almost half of the world's defense and armaments spending. This relative difference between production on the one hand and defense spending on the other, suggests that Washington's policies of proliferation and international despotism have reached its limits. In the event of continued military adventurism, the situation will become even more unstable, as has occurred with previous empires.
As we have said, the issue goes beyond military force, because the conditions of maintaining military power are governed by other elements related to demographics, geographical area and the balance of power between civilizations, peoples and cultures of the world. Such a system naturally resists a single unopposed administration, regardless of its level of military power or capacity to destroy infrastructure. In the final analysis, the dominant structures of humankind will inflict consequences that the American economy will eventually be unable to bear.
The international despot now confronts a world of historic change. Today's global spread of imperialism will lead to greater chaos and the eventual breakup of the United States … in the same fashion as those empires that came before it.
Practiced on a global stage, the policy of despotism practiced by the United States against others for nearly two decades strongly resembles the dictatorial policies often practiced by closed, repressive systems against their own people or against surrounding regions. But wherever it is practiced, despotism has its limits and is confined by the need to feed the military machine. These limitations are governed by the geographic, political and human extent of the Empire's ambitions. Ultimately, the question is not only about the power to make war, but about manpower, geographical area and the balance of power.
For example, the United States is now capable of defeating any nation in the world militarily. But military victory does not necessarily mean that America has achieved a political victory, because there is a vast difference between the two. The former is related to military capabilities; while the latter is related to a set of conditions that transcend the realm of military force.
This is exactly what happened when the current American administration decided to wage wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. The result was that America had won militarily, but failed to register a political victory. Even now, The United States faces resistance from native elements in the two countries, and can neither manage the crisis nor create the conditions to contain the fallout from the two wars.
Afghanistan and Iraq are just two examples of the dangerous consequences that arise from America's global strategic deployment in its totalitarian attempt to impose by force its own needs and perceptions over other peoples, are distinguished by their own civilized characteristics. This has given birth to a new type or resistance which the greatest army in the world hasn't the strength to break or tame. Which brings us back to the question: How long can the United States continue its policy of international despotism by means of global expansion?
All analyses have come to roughly the same conclusion: that America can no longer continue its policies unless, through arrogance and intrigue, its leaders wish to commit political suicide.
Arrogance, intrigue and the failure to recognize mistakes are built into despotic policies based on military power. But in the end, America will not be able to continue this course of ever-expanding control in a world governed by demographics and regional blocs. America can destroy the infrastructure of any nation in the world, but is unable to destroy the will of the people to resist. This is what distinguishes infrastructure and human resources, and explains Washington's failure to convert military success into political victory.
The latest reports on military expenditures indicate that the United States accounts for between 47 and 48 percent of all global spending on weapons and defense. Reading into these figures, this mean is that America, which constitutes 5 percent of the world's population, accounts for about 50 percent of all that is spent on war, defense and armaments. Such enormous levels of spending in a single sector create an imbalance between demographics and productive capacity.
For example, America accounts for 20 percent of annual global production of all goods. This additional point emphasizes the seriousness of this structural imbalance, with a State that constitutes 5 percent of the world's population, producing 20 percent of the world's overall production and accounting for almost half of the world's defense and armaments spending. This relative difference between production on the one hand and defense spending on the other, suggests that Washington's policies of proliferation and international despotism have reached its limits. In the event of continued military adventurism, the situation will become even more unstable, as has occurred with previous empires.
As we have said, the issue goes beyond military force, because the conditions of maintaining military power are governed by other elements related to demographics, geographical area and the balance of power between civilizations, peoples and cultures of the world. Such a system naturally resists a single unopposed administration, regardless of its level of military power or capacity to destroy infrastructure. In the final analysis, the dominant structures of humankind will inflict consequences that the American economy will eventually be unable to bear.
The international despot now confronts a world of historic change. Today's global spread of imperialism will lead to greater chaos and the eventual breakup of the United States … in the same fashion as those empires that came before it.