foreignpolicy

"From 1945 to the end of the century, the United States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist movements fighting against insufferable regimes. In the process, the US bombed about 25 countries, caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair". -- William Blum, American Empire for Dummies

"Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere ... we must maintain the mechanisms for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role." -- Pentagon report (from Am. Emp. for Dummies)

Note: the freespeech.org sites are extremely radical, I put them on this site because they provide hard to find facts and data that I would otherwise never have found. I don't support the extreme views of that site, I'm only interested in the data.

North America:

CFR - The Americas

U.S. Internal Security

The Inter-American System: Agreements, Conventions, and other Docs.

U.S. Statutes Concerning Slavery

FL - Drug Wars

Relations between the U.S. and Native Americans

U.S. Statutes Concerning Native Americans

Mexico:

Canada:

Mexican-American Diplomacy (1848-1861)

Znet - Mexico

Just the Facts

Carribbean/Central America:

Virgin Islands:

Political map of central america

TWT - Chomsky

polit info VI

"The base for US operations in Central America was Honduras, where the US Ambassador during the worst years of terror was John Negroponte..." Chomsky, Wars of Terror from iviews

FP under Wilson

North American Congress on Latin America

Belize:

USA in Latin America - Chavezthefilm.com

border dispute

Costa Rica:

CS2 - Relations w/ US

Guatemala:

El Salvador:

freespeech - 1950's, 1970-1971

freespeech - 1980-present

For. Rel. of Belize

Znet - Guatemala

US foriegn aid in CR and Honduras

Nicaragua:

freespeech - 1953-present

Honduras:

Znet - Nicaragua

Rel. with US

British Guyana:

Panama:

freespeech - 1981-1990

freespeech - 1989

US Embassy

freespeech - 1953-1964

Haiti:

Excess Defense Articles

Nicaragua:

Puerto Rico:

Noam Chomsky - Haiti

chomsky - lesson

peurto rico is a colony

Bahamas:

Reeves - Haiti and US Game

Jamaica:

canadian embassy - PR

Clara James - Roof is Leaking

Saul Landau - Behind the Violence in Jamaica

CFR - decolonizing PR

freespeech - 1987-1994

Islands SE of Peurto Rico:

Cuba:

torn between comnwealth and stathd

freespeech - 1959

Znet - Cuba

domestic fp connection

Dominican Republic:

The Afro-Columbians

PR Herald

freespeech - 1963-1966

freespeech - 1959-present

South America:

Andean Community

Znet - Latin America Watch

Political map of South America

Central America and the Carribean Watch

Coffee Country

Venezuela:

Znet - Carribean

Znet - Venezuela Watch

USA in Latin America - Chavezthefilm.com

Chronicle of a Coup - chavezthefilm.com

Guyana:

Politics of Oil - chavez film

Brazil:

Suriname:

Bolivia:

Brazil and the CIA

French Guiana:

Znet - Bolivia

Brazilian-American Deplomacy

Chile:

Bolivia:

Ecuador:

Overthrowing Democracy in Chile

Znet - Ecuador

Paraguay:

The Gaurdian - Special Report - Chile

Peru:

Chilean-American Diplomacy

Znet - Peru

Uruguay:

Znet - Chile

Columbia:

Argentina:

FL - the pipeline war

Argentine-American Diplomacy

Znet - Columbia Watch

Znet - Argentina

freespeech - 1960's-present

Falkland Islands:

Europe:

Political map of Europe

CFR - Europe

Yugoslavia:

Italy:

freespeech.org - 1999

Austria:

United Kingdom:

freespeech - 1992-present

British-American Diplomacy (1782-1863)

Austrian-American Diplomacy

Spain:

Belgium:

Greece:

Spanish-American Diplomacy (1795-1898)

Belgian-American Diplomacy

Preventing Democracy in Greece

Bolivia:

Portugal:

Bosnia/Herzegovina:

Russia:

Bolivian-American Diplomacy

Serbia:

Poland:

FL - Yeltsin Era

Germany:

Albania:

German-American Diplomacy (1785-1847)

Belarus:

Soviet-American Diplomacy

FYROM:

Greenland:

Ukraine:

Bulgaria:

France:

Czech Republic:

Iceland:

Franco-American Diplomacy (1778-1843)

Slovakia:

Ireland:

Netherlands:

Switzerland:

Estonia:

Denmark:

Hungary:

Latvia:

Slovenia:

Norway:

Lithuania:

Croatia:

Sweden:

Moldova:

Finland:

Middle East:

Political map of the Middle East

U.N. Security Council Resolutions Relating to ME

Znet Middle East Watch

CFR - Middle East

Iraq:

freespeech.org - 1991-2003

Tukey:

Egypt:

Morocco:

CP - Crisis w/ Iraq - Policy Options

U.S. - Turkish Relations

Algeria:

Jordan:

CP - Iraq after the war

Iran:

Tunisia:

BBC - After Saddam

Syria:

Overthrowing Democracy in Iran

Chomsky (10/31/03) - Iraq War and Contempt for Democracy

FL - Inside Iran

Lybia:

Kuwait:

freespeech - 1981-1999

freespeech - 1988

Armenia:

freespeech - 2003

Saudi Arabia:

Azerbaijan:

CFR - Iraq Resource Center

Foreign Relations of Saudi Arabia

Qatar:

Israel-Palestine:

Observations by Chomsky

Bahrain:

Avalon Project - The Middle East 1916-2001

United Arab Emirates:

Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry (1946)

Oman:

freespeech.org - Jewish Nazi's

Yemen:

freespeech - 1948-present

Africa:

Political map of Africa

Znet - Africa Watch

Congo:

The New U.S. Strategy in Africa

Znet - Congo

CFR - Africa

freespeech - Congo/Zaire - 1960-present

Western Sahara:

Liberia:

Chad:

Znet - Western Sahara

U.N. Report on Liberia

Sudan:

Central African Republic:

Mali:

Znet - Liberia

The U.S. Vision of Sudan after the Iraq War

Gabon:

Namibia:

Burkina Faso:

Republic of the Congo:

South Africa:

Sierra Leone:

Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast):

A Diamond is Forever - American Involvement in South Africa

Angola:

Frontline: Sierra Leone

Eritrea:

Togo:

Zambia:

Le Monde Diplomatique - Sierra Leone's Diamond Wars

Ethiopia:

Znet - Southern Africa

Tanzania:

Benin:

Djibouti:

Lesotho:

Malawi:

Mauritania:

Nigeria:

Somalia:

Madagascar:

Mozambique:

Senagal:

Niger:

Znet - Somalia

Zimbabwe:

Islands around Africa:

Gambia:

Cameroon:

freespeech - 1993

Znet - Zimbabwe

Guinea:

Equatorial Guinea:

Kenya:

Batswana:

Uganda:

Asia:

Political map of Asia

Znet - Asia Watch

The U.S., Southeast Asia and the Pacific Area (1950-1999)

CFR - Asia

Znet - South Asia Watch

Korea:

freespeech.org - 1945-1953

Turkmenistan:

Mongolia:

CP - N. Korea and Nucl. Weapons

Uzbekistan:

FL - US/N. Korea Conflict

Kazakhstan:

Truman Library: Korean War and Legacy

China:

Znet - Korea Watch

Kyrgystan:

Hong Kong:

Tajikistan:

Japan:

Taiwan:

Znet - Japan Focus

Afghansitan:

Znet - War against Afghanistan

Philippines:

freespeech - 2001-present

Burma:

Indonesia:

freespeech - 1979-1992

East Timor:

Thailand:

Pakistan:

Noam Chomsky - Why Americans should Care about East Timor

Znet - Pakistan

Malaysia:

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor - East Timor

India:

Laos:

Sri Lanka:

Cambodia:

CP - Crisis in East Timor

Znet - Sri Lanka

freespeech.org - 1969-1973

Znet - East Timor's Struggle for Independence

Nepal:

Vietnam:

freespeech - 1975-1999

Znet - Nepal

freespeech.org - 1945-1974

New Guinea:

Bangladesh:

FL - Lessons of Vietnam

Australia:

FL - Teaching V. War in Vietnam

Bhutan:

Islands in Asian area:

"We are going to have to take the war against (the terrorists) often to other people's territory, and all the norms of international order make it difficult to do that. So the president has to reshape fundamental attitudes toward those norms, or we are going to have our hands tied by an antiquated institution (the traditional international system) that is not capable of defending us" -- Richard Perle, former chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board (2003) and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (1981-1987)

War on Terrorism:

Choices Program Interviews:

CP - Blight Interview

More Useful Links:

The National Security Archive

The Largest Covert Operatin in CIA History

National Securiy Archive - Cold War interviews

Saudi-us-relations.org

National Security Archive - Projects

Europe, America, and Imperialism

The Digital National Security Archive

Book: The End of the American Era

Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions since WWII

Book: After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order

F.B.I. and C.I.A. Documents

U.S. Department of State

Cold War International History Project

Third World Traveler - U.S. Foreign Policy and the Pentagon

The Conceited Empire - Holy Sh*t! We're Going Down!

"It has, above all, become a weak one. (Superpower) The US no longer has the might to control the large strategic players, primarily Germany and Japan. Their industrial capacity is clearly smaller than that of Europe and approximately equal to that of Japan. With twice the population, this is no great accomplishment. Their trade deficit meanwhile, is in the order of $500 billion per year. Their military potential is nevertheless still the largest by far, but is declining and consistently over estimated. The use of military bases is dependant on the good will of their allies, many of which are not as willing as before. The theatrical military activism against inconsequential rogue states that we are currently witnessing plays out against this backdrop. It is a sign of weakness, not of strength. But weakness makes for unpredictability. The US is about to become a problem for the world, where we have previously been accustomed to seeing a solution in them."

Assuming you are right: how did this budding empire slide so quickly into decline?

"A rift has been developing, slowly at first and then more quickly, between the US and their various geo-political areas of interest. During the early 1970's a deficit in the balance of trade began to open. The US assumed the role of consumer and the rest of the world took on the role of producer, in this increasingly unbalanced global process. The balance of trade went from a deficit of $100 billion in 1990 to $500 billion annually at present. This deficit has been financed through capital flowing into the US. Eventually the same effect experienced by the Spanish in 16th and 17th centuries will come to bear. As gold from the New World flooded in, the Spanish succumbed to decreasing productivity. They consumed and dissipated, lived high and beyond their means and fell into economic and technological arrears."

But America is still the leading example of economic and technological competence.

"When I speak of the economy, then I mean the industrial core and the associated technological cutting edge, not the anemic New Economy. It is in the core industrial sphere that the US is falling dramatically behind. European investors lost billions in the US during the nineties, but the US economy lost an entire decade. As recently as 1990 the US was still exporting $35 billion more in advanced technology than it was importing. Now the balance of trade is negative even in this field. The US is far behind in mobile communications technology. The Finnish Nokia is four times the size of Motorola. More than half the communications satellites are being launched with European Ariane rockets. Airbus is about to surpass Boeing -- the most important transportation medium for personnel traffic in the modern global economy is about to be manufactured primarily in Europe. These are the things that are ultimately important. These are by far more vital and decisive factors than a war against Iraq."

Are you saying they are waging the wrong war in the wrong place?
"The US leadership doesn't know anymore where to turn. They know that they are monetarily dependant on the rest of the world, and they are afraid of becoming inconsequential. There are no more Nazis and Communists. While a demographic, democratic, and politically stabilizing world recognizes that it is increasingly less dependant on the US, America is discovering that it is increasingly dependant on the rest of the world. That is the reason for the rush into military action and adventures. It is classic."

-- Emmanuelle Todd, Historian and Political Scientist at the National Istitute for Demographics in Paris. His research examines the rise and fall of peoples and cultures over the course of thousands of years.

My Opinion:
The U.S. is being outsmarted by other countries, mostly by France and Germany. Islamic extremism is a threat to both these countries, yet the U.S. is fighting their battles for them, thus absorbing the cost as well. The European economies are growing while the U.S. economy must pay the expensive price for the war on Islamic extremism. Also, the U.S. economy is losing increasing numbers of jobs overseas while European and Asian jobs are increasing. The U.S. dominance on the international brain drain is dissipating as European countries increase the quality of brain power in their immigrants while the U.S. discriminates against anyone that resembles someone from the middle east. As the Chinese and Indian economies grow, less of thier best qualified scientists will want to move overseas.
I beleive that the U.S. should pull out of all international politics, make it illegal to move any more jobs overseas, set a limit on its imports, and invest in research for new technologies. In other words, the U.S. needs to fall back and regroup. Being in the lead in world affairs is advantageous when there are new resources to be discovered, but disadvantageous when there are new dangers to be discovered. Currently, the dangers outweigh the new resources by far. What resources can the U.S. possibly gain right now while it is the strongest nation is the world? Oil? America should use its power to develop new technologies which will rejuvenate the economy and create new jobs. The ultimate new technology for the short to mid term would be an alternative energy to oil. I'm sure Americas universities and businesses could have done that with a $100 Billion investment into research and development.

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