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James Petras. US Enemy List: Prospects and Perspectives

US Enemy List: Prospects and Perspectives

By James Petras

11.24.2017

 

For almost 2 decades, the US pursued a list of ‘enemy countries’ to confront, attack, weaken and overthrow. This imperial quest to overthrow ‘enemy countries’ operated at various levels of intensity, depending o­n two considerations: the level of priority and the degree of vulnerability for a ‘regime change’ operation.

The criteria for determining an ‘enemy country’ and its place o­n the list of priority targets in the US quest for greater global dominance, as well as its vulnerability to a ‘successfully’ regime change will be the focus of this essay. We will conclude by discussing the realistic perspectives of future imperial options.

 

Read essay [PDF]

 

 

Prioritizing US Adversaries

 

Imperial strategists consider military, economic and political criteria in identifying high priority adversaries.

 

The following are high o­n the US ‘enemy list’:

 

1)Russia,

because of its military power, is a nuclear counterweight to US global

domination. It has a huge, well-equipped armed force with a European, Asian and Middle East presence. Its global oil and gas resources shield it from US economic blackmail and its growing geo-political alliances limit US expansion.

 

2)China,

because of its global economic power and the growing scope of its trade, investment and technological networks. China’s growing defensive military capability, particularly with regard to protecting its interests in the South China Sea serve to counter US domination in Asia.

 

3)North Korea,

because of its nuclear and ballistic missile capability, its fierce

independent foreign policies and its strategic geo-political location, is seen as a threat to the US military bases in Asia and Washington’s regional allies and proxies.

 

4)Venezuela,

because of its oil resources and socio-political policies, challenge the US centered neo-liberal model in Latin America.

 

5)Iran,

because of its oil resources, political independence and geo-political alliances in the Middle East, challenge US, Israeli and Saudi Arabia domination of the region and present an independent alternative.

 

6)Syria,

because of its strategic position in the Middle East, its secular nationalist ruling party and its alliances with Iran, Palestine, Iraq and Russia, is a counterweight to US-Israeli plans to balkanize the Middle East into warring ethno-tribal states.

 

US Middle-level Adversaries:

 

1)Cuba, because of its independent foreign policies and its alternative socio-economic system stands in contrast to the US-centered neo-liberal regimes in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

 

2)Lebanon, because of its strategic location o­n the Mediterranean and the coalition government’s power sharing arrangement with the political party, Hezbollah, which is increasingly influential in Lebanese civil society in part because of its militia’s proven capacity to protect Lebanese national sovereignty by expelling the invading Israeli army

and helping to defeat the ISIS/al Queda mercenaries in neighboring Syria.

 

3)Yemen, because of its independent, nationalist Houthi-led movement opposed to the Saudi-imposed puppet government as well as its relations with Iran.

 

Low Level Adversaries

 

1)Bolivia, because of its independent foreign policy, support for the Chavista government in Venezuela and advocacy of a mixed economy; mining wealth and defense of indigenous people’s territorial claims.

 

2)Nicaragua, because of its independent foreign policy and criticism of US aggression toward Cuba and Venezuela.

 

US hostility to high priority adversaries is expressed through economic sanctions military encirclement, provocations and intense propaganda wars toward North Korea, Russia, Venezuela, Iran and Syria. Because of China’s powerful global market linkages, the US has applied few sanctions. Instead, the US relies o­n military encirclement, separatist provocations and intense hostile propaganda when dealing with China.

 

Continuation here: https://petras.lahaine.org/b2-img/PetrasUSEnemyList.pdf

 

James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York. He is the author of more than 62 books published in 29 languages, and over 600 articles in professional journals. He has a long history of commitment to social justice, working in particular with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement for 11 years. In 1973-76 he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal o­n Repression in Latin America. He writes a monthly column for the Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, and previously, for the Spanish daily, El Mundo. He received his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

https://petras.lahaine.org/us-enemy-list-prospects-and-perspectives/



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