Foreign Policy & War

Putting the Taxpayers at Risk, Part 3

by Doug Bandow March 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 What is driving support for the multilateral development banks (MDBs) is businesses' constant quest for government handouts. Groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers spare no expense in lobbying Congress to toss money abroad in the hopes that some of it will be used to purchase ...

The King’s False Legacy

by Sheldon Richman February 2, 1999

You have to wonder about the monarch who is so beloved by American presidents, Henry Kissinger, and the big establishment media. That's the case with King Hussein of Jordan. The encomiums got a little extreme. President Clinton somehow learned that this "magnificent man" who "lived his life on a higher plane" was already in paradise. One ...

Brazil and the Crisis of Paternalism

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 1999

After the Brazilian government devalued the Brazilian real, causing the Brazilian people to lose more than 40 percent of their savings, the Brazilian authorities issued the customary line that governments follow after a devaluation. They blamed external forces for the currency debasement, in this case "the Asian currency ...

Patriotism along the Southern Border, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In 1910, Mexico celebrated the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war for Mexican independence from Spain. The political climate in Mexico was peaceful and orderly. It would not last. In 1867, Mexican forces had defeated the French occupation army and had captured and executed Hapsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, whom ...

Putting the Taxpayers at Risk, Part 2

by Doug Bandow February 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The World Bank has also long promoted development at any cost. Bank loans underwrote Julius Nyerere's coercive "ujamaa" program and Indonesia's forced transmigration project. Millions of farmers have been forced off their land without compensation by Bank-backed dams. Bank lending long subsidized the destruction of Brazil's rain forest. To blunt such criticisms, ...

Patriotism along the Southern Border, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In February 1846, the independent nation of Texas was annexed as a state in the United States of America. The citizens of Texas were now American citizens. However, there was one major glitch. Mexico still considered the Texas territory to be part of Mexico. It threatened war over the annexation ...

Euro Is a No-Go

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 1999

Everyone is excited about the new, unified European currency, the euro, but it's a terrible mistake. To understand this, it is necessary to grasp what made freedom and prosperity possible in the West. For centuries, Europe, unlike Asia, consisted of multiple countries and legal authorities. On top of this was a ...

Putting the Taxpayers at Risk, Part 1

by Doug Bandow January 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 President Clinton has not let a little scandal stand in the way of his ongoing attempt to scam the American people. As talk of impeachment enveloped him in Washington, he flew to New York City to give what his staff termed an "important" speech. Which meant a proposal for yet more taxpayer ...

The Spanish-American War: The Leap into Overseas Empire, Part 2

by Joseph R. Stromberg January 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 In February 1899, uneasy relations between U.S. forces and the Filipino insurgents turned into actual fighting. America was now to learn the sorrows of empire along with its joys. Rallying under the slogan " No hay derecho a vender un pueblo como se vende un saco de patatas " ("There is no right to ...

Patriotism along the Southern Border, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 1998

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Not long ago, the patriotism of Mexican-Americans was called into question at an international soccer match in Los Angeles. Anglo-Americans were outraged that Mexican-Americans booed during the playing of the American national anthem and then cheered for the Mexican, rather than the American, soccer team. It wasn't so much that the ...

The Best Peace Money Can Buy?

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1998

The phrase "peace at any price" has a new meaning. These days it means the American taxpayer will be forced to pay any price to make the president of the United States look good at a peace conference. This is how our Middle East policy goes. A president has domestic problems. What to do? War is always ...

Thought Crimes and Presidential Tantrums

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1998

In an era of "hate crime" legislation, which makes it an added offense to think certain bad things when committing a real crime, we have a new forbidden thought: that President Clinton launched a savage attack on Iraq to delay, if not scuttle, the impeachment effort in the House of ...