Expotera: Demise of The American Empire

Friday, October 27, 2017

Demise of The American Empire

Demise of The American Empire
Pinpointing The Timeline

By Stuart Jeanne Bramhall
Dissident Voice
October 27, 2017

Prior to 2001 and the launch of the War on Terror, the US political
elite adamantly denied (despite massive evidence to the contrary),
that the United States was an empire rather than a republic.

Because their sudden about face (i.e., acknowledgement and
promotion of US imperialism) was so recent, there has been little
opportunity for scholarly analysis of America’s effectiveness as an
empire.

It’s this void Alfred McCoy seeks to fill with In the Shadows of
the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power.

Competition For Control of The Eurasian Landmass

McCoy traces America’s serious global empire building to their
defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898, which
won them Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Panama Canal Zone and the
Philippines.

He maintains that US strategies for empire-building, like those
of the former British empire, have mainly relied on seeking and
maintaining control of the “World-Island.”

The is a term coined by London School of Economics director
Halford Mackinder’s World Island in 1904.

Under this concept, the World Island consists of the vast European-
Asian landmass that is home to 70% of the world’s population, 75%
of its global energy resources and 60% of its current productivity.

How The US Maintains Military Control

After the US became the world’s preeminent superpower after
World War II, they have used nine basic strategies to maintain
military control of the Eurasian landmass: mass surveillance (based
on a system of extensive personal data collection that began during
their “pacification” 2 of the Philippines (1898-1907); CIA covert
operations (involving electoral interference, military coups,
installation of compliant puppet dictators, targeted assassinations,
torture, advanced technological weaponry (electronic sensors,
satellite imagery, drones, etc) and, increasingly, cyperwarfare
and space-based weaponry (most information about the latter
two is classified).

Falling Behind China Economically and Militarily

For me the most interesting section of the book examines ways in
which the US is rapidly falling behind China — not only economically
but militarily.

McCoy identifies Bush’s rash decision to invade Iraq as the start
of the American empire’s steady decline.

While the US has spent the last 16 years mired in unwinnable
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, China is busily building alliances
and investing their trade surplus (from selling Americans cheap
consumer goods) in Russia and other countries located in the
World Island.

In Afghanistan alone, they are responsible for 79% of foreign
investment.

Meanwhile China is rapidly creating a single economic zone across
the Eurasian landmass, with a vast network of high speed trains and
pipelines following historical Silk Road and Trans-Siberian Railway
routes – and soon a high speed Southeast Asian and Moscow-Beijing
line.

Even the Pentagon-linked Rand Corporation predicts China’s will
exceed that of the US by 2030 or sooner.

In 2010, China became the world’s leading manufacturing nation.

In 2014, it took the lead in the number of new patents it awards
annually.

Even more concerning is the rapid decline of US educational
standards compared to those of China, which has ominous
implications for the development of high tech weaponry.

Chinese students consistently score first in math, science and
reading, while US students score 27th, 20th and 17th respectively.

By 2025, China is expected to have better long range cruise missiles
than the US, better air defense aircraft, better electronic sensors,
better digital communications capacity, better computer processing
power and better cyber-security.

At the same time, they have a significant strategic advantage
because the US spreads its military resources so thin by fighting
so many foreign wars simultaneously.

According to McCoy, they already have the ability to cripple critical
US infrastructure (electrical and telecommunications grid and
pipelines) via cyber warfare.

Collapse Predicted Between 2030-2040

McCoy predicts (and makes an excellent case for) the demise
of the US empire some time between 2030-2040.

It could happen gradually, as US economic and military prowess
continues its steady decline – or suddenly, if the loss of its
privileged status causes the US dollar to collapse.

The impending implosion may be aggravated by climate change,
especially if the Pentagon is drawn into wars over dwindling food
and water resources or control of massive numbers of climate
refugees.