When Intervention Fails | [Essay Part 3- Final]

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Part Three [Final]

Both political parties provide more war and continued presence in Iraq, Syria, forces building up along the Ukraine-Russia border(and further Balkans), continued sabre-rattling vis-a-vis warship patrols in the South China sea; and a lack of resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

This occurs while having complete support for Israel and its 'right to defend itself' although the state has a not so covertly nuclear weapons arsenal while escalating tensions with Iran who has stopped their nuclear program since the 2000’s.

They have also contributed to starvation of over 2 million Yemenis [118] and indiscriminate bombing of Houthi-controlled cities in Yemen by the Saudis [119][120][121], not to mention arming and funding the rebel Hadi insurgents before the conflict began in 2009. [122]

Power Plays

Those in positions of power have repeatedly used the excuse of democracy as ''an expedient tool for the eventual imposition of force'' [123], as force is legitimized later when supposed 'democracy' fails. One exposition of force that may have occurred included in regard to the North Korean DPRK pursuing its nuclear weapons programme 'At one point in 1996, the Clinton administration toyed with the idea of a pre-emptive strike at North Korean nuclear facilities, but decided to impose economic sanctions instead'. [124]

It must be noted that the lack of legitimacy in U.S. foreign policy, encircling of China with military bases, conducting military drills in the South China Sea in 2015 by N.A.T.O around China [125], positioning advanced missile defense system’s in South Korea (ROK) [126], and the intense rivalry between U.S. client state Japan and China has allowed for Chinese and Russian mutual cooperation to strengthen considerably.

The strong relations between China and Russia began in 2004, when newly elected president Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao had a meeting to strengthen cooperation.

The major result was a signing of an addendum to the Agreement on the Russian-Chinese state border. [127] Infrastructure in the Far East of Russia of billions constantly increases, with trading uses the Chinese Yuan instead of the Dollar, which the former was added into the basket of 'international' currencies (SDR’s) in 2016 at approximately 14 percent of the total. [128]

South China Sea

A major obstacle in this regards is the claim to the Spratly Islands by China, which is also disputed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The relevance of China’s claim was described by Professor Eduardo C. Tadem, “China controlled the Spratly Islands before we even knew anything about them. The only claim we [Philippines] have is their proximity, and frankly, that is not a particularly strong claim.” [129]

Hence the reason that when the decision on the matter (although not resolved) in July 2016 from the Hague was made, “China has refused to recognise the ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague that invalidated its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.'' [130]

Although the dispute should be resolved diplomatically it is clear that the U.S. has been provoking reaction from China in the politically motivated ruling, and that escalation from both sides is not helping in a region which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.

A remedial action to the failure of such policies may include to heed the following from Bryan Caplan, who theorised correctly that 'the immediate costs of war are clearly awful', and 'the long-run benefits of war are highly uncertain'.

He posits that 'for a war to be morally justified, its long-run benefits have to be substantially larger than its short-run costs' [131], which would not have been applied to most (if not all) interventions since WW2. This is especially so as bombing casualties are approximately 90% civilians which only creates further recruits for designated 'terrorist' operations.

Israel-Palestine

A further important example of the lack of any positive actions resulting from expansionist policy is clearly found in the Israeli- Palestine situation.

Notable scholars agree (such as Norman Finkelstein) [132] with Brzezinski's analysis that 'Arabs increasingly saw America's role in the region not as an innovative influence but as a replay of the colonial past'. [133]

Legislation in the U.S. congress relating to Middle Eastern affairs is mostly drafted due to political lobbying, to advance the interests of the Israeli-American community. The influence of the Israeli's is typically channeled through AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). Every U.S. president in the 21st century has maintained unwavering support for Israel. [134]

US-Israel Collusion

Therefore, past presidents before Trump never were sincere about negotiating the conflict due to their pro-Israeli volition: '[Bill Clinton's] Key officials charged with negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian settlement were increasingly recruited from pro-Israeli research institutes and the Israeli lobbies'. [135]

Netanyahu has personally overseen the bombing campaigns of Gaza in Operation Cast Lead, Operation Iron Dome, and Operation Protective Edge, causing thousands of deaths. [138][139]

Netanyahu believes that to have a viable state Palestine must hand over security control to Israel (which it has currently) although without control over its security Palestine cannot be a state, hence why the two-state solution is a misnomer for continued Israeli domination.

These issues allow continued expansion of Israeli settlements by annexing Palestinian land in the West Bank, leading an apartheid system -checkpoints filter out Palestinians from Israelis who can pass through, where comparisons can be made to apartheid South Africa in the 20th century- and expanding the Israeli ‘defense’ border wall beyond 1967 lines into Palestinian territory. High scale imprisonment of Palestinian boys and teenagers remains. [140]

This situation for Palestinians is a ‘’military occupation’’, an occupation that isn’t merely measured in terms of children killed by guns and bullets and drones, but also by that of a lack of liberty and private property, free from Israeli expansion and demolition; whom has a monopoly of control economically and by force over borders, land, air, water and sea.

There are officially two judicial systems in operation in the West bank, one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life, one that denounces rightly Palestinian suicide bombing attacks such as in 2002 [141] while turning a blind eye to the killing of over two thousand Palestinians by drone operations in 2014 alone. [142]

Bribes, Extortion

At this point I must also state that the problem of the further encroachment upon Palestinians is that the militant wing of Hamas (with president Mahmoud Abbas) has committed provocation by rocket firing into the Israeli territories, albeit there have been 16 firings in 2016 killing nobody [143], of which have nothing to do with Palestinian people living there, and has evidence of having Israeli intelligence service support (Mossad). [144] More vocal Palestinian leadership in combination with international negotiations resolving to at least 1967 borders could be a lasting solution.

Albeit there doesn’t appear to be a strong requisite for a genuine solution, with an important role of the U.S., while $30 billion aid packages for arms munitions are sent to Israel for the next ten years [145] and while Hamas are given small change ($201 million) for being pliant and not helping the Palestinian people -most of this goes to pay Israel for oil and to U.S. AID, a highly corrupt and inefficient organisation. [146]

This is hence the problem with the two-state solution as where one hand has ultimate control legally, militarily and politically, there cannot exist an international solution to establish at least a minimal Palestinian state and right to return for Palestinians like Israelis have the ability to while only condemnation of Israel exists in one noteworthy yet ultimately insignificant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote against Israeli aggression for the past twenty years. [147]

And so we come to the formulation that the destructive policies enacted by the U.S. to prevent military domination by another world power has only acted in the opposite direction by causing major damage to U.S. respectability, but also has furthered China's need for responsive growth and military build-up.

US Influence Waning?

This poses the risk to why a Chinese-Russian-Iranian-Turkish coalition is so intimidating to the U.S., as it negates its military hegemony vis-a-vis control, which is no doubt scaring some of the global planners in Washington.

I agree with Brzezinski's overall conclusions when he articulates that ''Nothing could be worse for America, and eventually the world, than if American policy were universally viewed as arrogantly imperial in a post imperial age, mured in a colonial relapse in a post colonial time, selfishly indifferent in the face of unprecedented global interdependence, and culturally self righteous in a religiously diverse world. The crisis of American superpower would then be terminal''.

The Future

I believe that since Brzezinski’s work was written, the 2008 financial crisis that was created by an overleveredged populus globally (this hasn’t changed) and a collateralised debt obligation (CDO) frenzy used by homebuyers that usually did not have the capital to repay the interest on mortgages; has continued the unstable global financial conditions while there is U.S. continued military operations in 137 countries around the globe. [148]

Global organisations such as the IMF (the only central bank with a clean asset balance to bail out countries globally) and the BIS (Bank International Settlements) which underpin economic power, in combination with the political (G7 & G20, UN) may create a newly oriented international financial power sharing negotiation, for a monetary solution.

This may mirror the Bretton Woods system of 1944 after the outcome of WW2 was largely decided [149], In this new system, partly due to their growing gold reserves [150], China and Russia have an increased role at the table.

The results of this however allow either for a great change globally by reduction in military operations and increased prosperity for the world; or a military tumultuous, financially desperate and increasingly uncertain one.