Beyond empires

The 20th Century was marked by two world wars. The first Great War changed the world. The death toll was in the millions. Empires crumbled and new nations emerged. It was a war of arrogance, incompetence, and mass brutality. And it made some people very rich. 

The “peace” of that war paved the grounds for the rise of Hitler, fascism and WWII. More than 8 decades in our past, many of us were taught this was a “Good War,” where US industrial might and democratic ethos triumphed against evil. 

Of course, our history is more complicated and less heroic. But it has always included peace makers. From organizing to support the freedom of Ethiopia to the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, there is no doubt that millions of ordinary men and women rejected fascism, hatred, and brutality. They organized inside and outside of the military for a more just world. 

The dropping of two nuclear bombs on Japan in 1945 brought a new terror to the world. The ferocious capacity for the destruction of all life ushered in global movements for peace, for disarmament and for limits on warfare. They fueled mass movements against war.

Albert Einstein, whose thinking helped shape these weapons, came to believe that such destructive power could not be left in the hands of a single nation-state.

Now nearly three decades into the 21st century, the USA who holds the deadliest capabilities in history and it is enacting the worst aspects of the last century. Arrogance, ignorance, incompetence, and the drive for power and profit have combined to produce a regime inflicting unimaginable violence on the globe. All pretexts have been abandoned. This is a war for the Empire. And it is an Empire being run by a few wealthy people for their own ends.

In a thoughtful discussion of the history of US- Iran relationships, Bashir Abu-Manneh and Gilber Achcar explain in the Jacobin that the attacks on Iran are an effort to “enhance US dominance” over the Gulf and all of North Africa.  

They reflect on this latest version of “gunboat diplomacy,” as motivated by a desire to control oil, secure data centers, and enhance personal wealth.

As David Harvey said, “whoever controls the Middle East controls the global oil spigot and whoever controls the global oil spigot can control the global economy, at least for the near future.”

Controlling the Gulf “oil spigot” is essential to the USA's effort to combat China, which imports about 80% of the oil in the region. 

Also, the Gulf region is crucial to the advancement of AI. Cheap energy and state wealth combine so the region is leading the world in the construction of data centers.

And Trump, his family, and friends have extensive economic interests in the entire region. And fantasies of more.

It should come as no surprise that Trump would attack Iran. His personal wealth and the strategic interests of the US Empire are intertwined. 

Now the entire globe is suffering from his cruelty. He has felt no need to pretend this is a war for noble ideals or the protection of values. 

As is much of his administration, this is a war of domination carried out by an empire that speaks of the death of human beings with glibness. It regards people as disposable and ignores the destruction of living ecosystems.  

Trump, his billionaire friends, and his crusading white nationalist supporters are very clear about the kind of nation-state they are creating. 

There are no illusions about why they use the weapons of war. 

Those of us who dream of a future of peace, safety, and care must go far beyond the movements of the past. There is no reforming this empire. There are only the possibilities, as activist historian Vincent Harding often said, of creating “a country that does not yet exist.” Looking at the empty spiritual and moral landscape of the US Empire, he offered a gift:

“We are citizens of a country that we still have to create—a just country, a compassionate country, a forgiving country, a multiracial, multi-religious country, a joyful country that cares about its children and about its elders, that cares about itself and about the world, that cares about what the earth needs as well as what individual people need.”