Foreign Policy & War

Murder or Ouster for Chavez?

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 7, 2005

According to CNN, unnamed U.S. officials have branded the charge of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, that the U.S. government plans to oust him from office through assassination as “ridiculous.” Ridiculous? Maybe those particular unnamed U.S. officials aren’t familiar with a government organization known as the Central Intelligence ...

An Anti-Democracy Foreign Policy: Guatemala

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 11, 2005

Unfortunately, the CIA “success” in Iran, which produced the CIA’s ouster of Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, bred a CIA “success” in another part of the world, Latin America. One year after the 1953 coup in Iran, the CIA did it again, this time in Guatemala, where U.S. officials feared the communist threat even more than they ...

A More Powerful President Is the Last Thing We Need

by Anthony Gregory February 9, 2005

Vice President Richard Cheney recently credited George W. Bush with restoring the presidency to its proper station of authority and power. According to Cheney, the American presidency declined in its prestige and status in recent years, especially during the Nixon, Ford, ...

An Anti-Democracy Foreign Policy: Iran

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 31, 2005

When Iranians took U.S. officials hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, Americans were mystified and angry, not being able to comprehend how Iranians could be so hateful toward U.S. officials, especially since the U.S. government had been so supportive of the shah of Iran for some ...

A Whopper of an Inaugural Address

by Sheldon Richman January 31, 2005

2005 We have come to understand that when the typical politician speaks, he ought not to be believed. Nevertheless, in his inaugural address last week President Bush achieved depths of incredibility deserving of a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Leave aside that his speech was preceded by his ...

Tsunami Aid: Not Theirs to Give

by Sheldon Richman January 7, 2005

The devastating earthquake-induced tidal waves in Asia are the latest reminders that Mother Nature can be a mass killer. It’s worth contemplating that the societies that interfere most with nature — the rich, market-oriented industrial societies — are the least vulnerable to her ravages. That’s not what the environmentalists ...

“Our” Collective Goodness in the Tsunami Disaster

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 29, 2004

Stung by the suggestion that “we” (please note the quotation marks) are stingy because “we” (quotation marks again) were sending only $15 million to the tsunami victims, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell immediately upped the ante with another $20 million in U.S. government assistance. Powell also made it clear that ...

Do We Need a New G.I. Bill — Or Even the Original One?

by George Leef December 1, 2004

The G.I. Bill turns 60 this year. That legislation, of ficially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, guaranteed, among other things, that returning soldiers could attend college at the expense of the federal government, or to be more accurate, the expense of federal taxpayers. It was the first of Washington’s many forays into higher education. Before the G.I. Bill ...

West Africa and Colonialism, Part 3

by Wendy McElroy December 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In Europe, the tensions that would become World War II were already apparent. In fascist Italy, Benito Mussolini dreamed of reviving the glory of Rome and he looked to Africa for colonies to conquer. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, a proud nation that symbolized the best of Africa. For more ...

What Did We Do to Deserve Condoleezza Rice?

by Sheldon Richman November 22, 2004

Is this a great country or what? Thanks to President George W. Bush, we will now have the first secretary of state who once had an oil tanker named after her. No kidding. Chevron put Condoleezza Rice’s name on a tanker when she served on its board of directors, ...

West Africa and Colonialism, Part 2

by Wendy McElroy November 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Nineteeth-century Europe revolutionized trade through the development of steam power that sent trains across continents and large cargo ships across the sea. Construction projects, such as the Suez Canal, were proposed to link Africa and Asia to a trade-hungry Europe. With the advent of quinine, which effectively removed the worst ...

West Africa and Colonialism, Part 1

by Wendy McElroy October 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Until recently, Western scholarship ignored West Africa. The blind spot reflects Europes historical view of Africa as a continent to be exploited, not examined. To Europe, Africa was a market for products and a source of raw goods. In short, it was an object of mercantilism the economic system ...