Online at: http://politicalaffairs.net/article/view/5044/
Things Fall Apart: China and the Decline of US Imperialism
By Gerald Horne
Archives - Dates and Topics 2007 April click here for related stories:
Imperialism/Globalization
3-27-07, 1:00 pm
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When historians of the future look back, they may very well conclude that
2007 marked the time when the crisis of US imperialism became so obvious
that even the dimmest bulb could detect it. For it is evident that
imperialism is about to suffer a staggering and transformative defeat in
Iraq as this illegal and criminal invasion has stretched the military to the
breaking point, alienated allies and emboldened the lengthening list of foes
of US imperialism.
At the same time, China, still ruled by a Communist Party, has accumulated
an eye-popping $1 trillion in foreign currencies, a figure never before
attained by any nation. This sum is so formidable, so huge, that there is a
palpable fear in Washington that Beijing may develop a version of the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank, rendering both of these
imperialist dominated vehicles irrelevant. In the so-called backyard of
Washington, socialist Cuba has not been slowed down by the hospitalization
of President Fidel Castro and continues to move from strength to strength.
Cuba and China in turn serve as anchors for Africa, Asia and Latin America
in their ongoing attempt to break the chains of imperialist bondage. All
this suggests that the crisis of US imperialism continues unabated.
The declining prestige of Washington was no better revealed than when the
human rights watchdog of the United Nations rebuked the US for violations of
international law at home and abroad, especially in connection with its
so-called war on terror. Adding to a growing cascade of criticism, singled
out were the secret detention facilities where torture is the norm and the
failure to provide prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba with due process of
law. But what really captured attention were the sharp criticisms of US
domestic policy. Washingtons draconian asylum and immigration policies, the
promiscuous deployment of the death penalty and life imprisonment and police
brutality, were all condemned in no uncertain terms.
This international body of experts seconded by the UN oversees
implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and chose 2006 to examine US compliance with this document for the first
time since 1995. Predictably Washington reacted angrily to this rebuke.
Ironically, the nation that has taken it upon itself to evaluate nations
near and far and the extent to which they have complied with Washingtons
version of democracy and freedom, now cries foul when the script is
flipped.
US imperialism finds it hard to ignore this complaint from the UN for George
W. Bush recognizes that it is precisely his malfeasance in the global arena
that may very well jeopardize not only his legacy but his freedom of
movement as well. For as the noted University of Virginia law professor,
Rosa Brooks, put it recently, the US Supreme Court ruling in the case of
Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld, concerning a so-called enemy combatant, suggests that
Common Article Three of the Geneva Convention applies to the conflict with
al Qaeda. But more than this, the high court holding makes high-ranking Bush
administration officials including the president - potentially subject to
prosecution under the federal War Crimes Act.
What this suggests is that US imperialism cannot escape the grasp of global
forces, no matter how well it is able to bludgeon domestic opposition. More
than this, even sectors of the US ruling elite have come to recognize that
conservatism, which has served this class so well to this point, may be very
well incapable of protecting its interests as the 21st century unfolds. For
example, how can one expect the US right wing to subdue the rudimentarily
conservative force that is so-called Islamic fundamentalism when
historically they have been in the same trench, e.g. during the war in the
1980s in Afghanistan that turbo-charged religiosity?
The bold posture of the UN is emblematic of how the international community
has come to recognize that US imperialism is a primary threat to
international peace and security. Similarly, this is suggestive of how the
erosion of the strength of US imperialism has made Washington more
susceptible to being influenced by global trends. In the first place, the
tax cutting mania of the Republican right without the concomitant muscle
to slash social programs proportionately has made this nation more
dependent on capital flows from Asia in particular to curb escalating
deficits. As foreign nations have grabbed a larger stake in the US
government and economy, understandably they have
