Today�s international economic architecture ensures that the normal
operation of world market forces (the process we call �globalisation�)
tends to yield disproportionate benefits to Americans, and confers autonomy
on US economic policy makers while curbing the autonomy of all others.
It is legitimised by the widespread belief that, in the words of Alan
Greenspan, chairman of the US central bank: �Markets are an expression of
the deepest truths about human nature and�as a result, they will ultimately
be correct.� The economic benefits that accrue to the United States as the
result of the normal working of market forces within this particular
framework provide the financial basis of American military supremacy.
To appreciate how this works, imagine you are a modern-day Roman emperor,
the leader of the most powerful country in a world of sovereign states,
international markets, and capitalist relations of production. How do you
exercise statecraft to bolster the economic pre-eminence of your country,
allow your citizens and only your citizens to consume far more than they
themselves produce, and keep challengers down, without having to throw your
military weight around more than occasionally? MORE...
http://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/ViewPopUpArticle.jsp?id=6&articleId=1038
