www.earthfiles.de

[Solve_et_Coagula]

In Order to Survive, Mankind has to Abolish the Politics of Domination over the Peoples”
The ascent and fall of American Supremacy

by Prof Dr Wjatscheslaw Daschitschew

“The Fall of American Supremacy” – this is the title of the new and fundamental oeuvre of Prof Dr Karen Brutenz*. The author is famous because of his numerous publications dealing with the problems of home and foreign politics. Understandably enough, his new book has met with great interest in Russian scientific, political and social circles, because the hegemonic course of the governing US elite – which adopted extreme forms after the decay of the Soviet Union – represents the main threat to Russia’s national security and independent existence to date. Ever more, the instability of this course is becoming obvious as is its disproportion regarding the political and economic possibilities even of a super power like the USA. This process, which is only just beginning, cannot remain without effects on the internal and external political situation of Russia and will also have its effects on Europe and the entire global situation.

The Cold War – rivalry of the super powers

Including an astonishingly great quantity of sources, publications, facts and documents, Brutenz examines the development of US politics starting from the ambitious plans for the establishment of an unipolar world up to the crisis that dominated this policy at the end of Bush’s presidency. The book consists of four substantial chapters (“The World after [without] the Soviet Union”, “Bush’s Revolution”, “The Shagreen of the Empire”, “Russia: Struggle for Return”) and is structured in such a way that the ascent and fall of the hegemonic course of the United States is being convincingly revealed. Also the aspirations of the governing American elite to maintain US supremacy in the world by a change of tactics and methods becomes manifest. The book analyses the historical roots of American messianic tendencies and the policy of hegemony, dating back to the 19th century. But the main attention is focussed on the period after the “Cold War”. The author relates its development to the Soviet control over Middle and Eastern Europe. Not only does he consider essential the clash of two social systems in this process, but also the geo-political rivalry between the USA and the Soviet Union. He defines both their policies as “policies of super power”.

That means: orientation on armament beyond measure, excessive importance of the military and military dominance in international relations; striving for absolute security without considering the interests of other countries and their concerns; the ideological sense of mission and the desire to propagate one’s own ideology and “way of life” everywhere; enforcement of global hegemony; readiness and even inclination to use force connected with the pretension to implement the own interests world-wide as well as the right to military interference, etc.

Europe’s wars – profit for the USA

The policy of supremacy has always been the main source of wars and conflicts, of international tensions as well as dangerous interferences for the peace on earth. It has led to backlashes and ”protective reactions” by the nations whose national security was threatened by these power politics. In the result, the resisting countries always united their forces, and the hegemonic power suffered defeat. The well illustrated experiences of 19th and 20th century are given clear evidence in the book of Brutenz.
In order to secure its supremacy, the US power elite cleverly used the weaknesses and faults of the other powers. During the 20th century, the Europeans were continuously busy with their feuds among themselves, bereaving them off their vigour and undermining the geopolitical role of Europe in the world. They had to endure devastating world wars. It were the USA who drew great profit from these wars. De facto, the Europeans delivered Europe to the overseas power during the 20th century.

After 1945, the USA succeeded in establishing themselves on the European continent for a long time and in bringing the policy of the Western European countries under its control for the time being. With the decay of the Soviet Union the countries of Central, East and South-East Europe suffered the same fate. They had hardly escaped from Soviet patronizing, writes the author, when they were taken on the American “leash”.

The USA drew large political, economic and strategic advantages from the “Cold War”. For the Soviet Union it turned out to be a great mischief. According to the author’s opinion “it was not so much ideological messianism that forced or drew the Soviet Union into the Arab world, to the Middle East, to Africa, to Central, Southeast and South Asia, to the end of the world – into the Caribbean region – but the efforts to become a super-power in the context of the geopolitical competition with the USA”.

Imperial overstretching

Upon the Soviet Union was imposed the unsolvable and unnecessary task to the fight not only the USA, but also the front of Western powers, both in Europe and in the Third World. The efforts of the Soviet leadership to become a super-power were closely intertwined with their ideological messianism. The leaders of the People’s Republic of China arranged their politics in a different way. They concentrated all forces on the internal development of the country and did not thoughtlessly waste enormous resources for outward expansions. This way proved, as we see now, as completely correct.

As it now shows, the striving for hegemony also overstrained the forces of the American superpower. And as in other regions of the world, also in Europe discontent and protest against the Yankee rule, against the inclusion of European resources of material and people into American war adventures spread. Many publications appeared in the West which like that of Brutenz deal with the approaching fall of the American hegemony as a consequence of “imperial overstretching”.

As a counterweight to the plan of a “pax americana” – the creation of an American empire, which was developed with cynical sincerity by neo-conservatives as “project for a new American century” (PNAC) – even a “project for a new European century” (PNEC)** appeared. It reflects the efforts of the still weak movement to free itself from the American guardianship and its “Atlantic” fosterlings in the government circles of the European countries.

Continue to read (download the pdf):
http://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/CC_2010_11.pdf

[Google]