[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]

Radio Paradise Comments - Steely_D - Dec 2, 2023 - 11:27pm
 
The World IS Hunted - Steely_D - Dec 2, 2023 - 11:20pm
 
Photos you haven't taken of yourself - KurtfromLaQuinta - Dec 2, 2023 - 9:11pm
 
Wordle - daily game - geoff_morphini - Dec 2, 2023 - 7:29pm
 
As California Goes, So Goes The Rest Of The Country - KurtfromLaQuinta - Dec 2, 2023 - 7:27pm
 
Upcoming concerts or shows you can't wait to see - Bill_J - Dec 2, 2023 - 6:39pm
 
NYTimes Connections - ptooey - Dec 2, 2023 - 5:00pm
 
December 2023 Photo Theme - Reflection - Antigone - Dec 2, 2023 - 3:12pm
 
USA! USA! USA! - westslope - Dec 2, 2023 - 12:17pm
 
Israel - R_P - Dec 2, 2023 - 11:28am
 
November 2023 Photo Theme - Perspective - MrDill - Dec 2, 2023 - 10:11am
 
2024 Elections! - Red_Dragon - Dec 2, 2023 - 9:16am
 
Musky Mythology - Red_Dragon - Dec 2, 2023 - 9:11am
 
Today in History - Red_Dragon - Dec 2, 2023 - 7:47am
 
Update playlist please - hansotten - Dec 2, 2023 - 2:55am
 
What the hell OV? - Manbird - Dec 1, 2023 - 11:10pm
 
Vinyl Only Spin List - kurtster - Dec 1, 2023 - 7:42pm
 
Gotta Get Your Drink On - black321 - Dec 1, 2023 - 2:58pm
 
Fear of Flying - Beaker - Dec 1, 2023 - 1:53pm
 
Things You Thought Today - black321 - Dec 1, 2023 - 12:00pm
 
Name My Band - DaveInSaoMiguel - Dec 1, 2023 - 9:35am
 
Talk Behind Their Backs Forum - GeneP59 - Dec 1, 2023 - 8:43am
 
Radio Paradise NFL Pick'em Group - GeneP59 - Dec 1, 2023 - 8:39am
 
The Obituary Page - DaveInSaoMiguel - Dec 1, 2023 - 8:34am
 
Eclectic Sound-Drops - thisbody - Dec 1, 2023 - 8:13am
 
What Puts You In the Christmas Mood? - thisbody - Dec 1, 2023 - 7:18am
 
songs that ROCK! - thisbody - Dec 1, 2023 - 6:53am
 
Live Music - thisbody - Dec 1, 2023 - 6:04am
 
Buddy's Haven - miamizsun - Dec 1, 2023 - 4:47am
 
Other Medical Stuff - kurtster - Dec 1, 2023 - 3:04am
 
OUR CATS!! - Red_Dragon - Nov 30, 2023 - 6:11pm
 
RightWingNutZ - kcar - Nov 30, 2023 - 4:50pm
 
Baseball, anyone? - ScottFromWyoming - Nov 30, 2023 - 4:44pm
 
Bug Reports & Feature Requests - DrLex - Nov 30, 2023 - 2:00pm
 
JFK Assassination - kurtster - Nov 30, 2023 - 12:46pm
 
Pogues! - ScottFromWyoming - Nov 30, 2023 - 11:45am
 
FLAC stream crashes Sonos - fbloemhof - Nov 30, 2023 - 10:32am
 
If not RP, what are you listening to right now? - kurtster - Nov 30, 2023 - 10:28am
 
Download Manager IPhone problems - RPnate1 - Nov 29, 2023 - 11:31am
 
RP On Windows Media Player? - William - Nov 29, 2023 - 10:00am
 
RP Daily Trivia Challenge - lily34 - Nov 29, 2023 - 8:44am
 
Animal Resistance - lily34 - Nov 28, 2023 - 9:59am
 
Trump - kcar - Nov 28, 2023 - 9:09am
 
The Dragons' Roost - GeneP59 - Nov 28, 2023 - 8:59am
 
Economix - black321 - Nov 28, 2023 - 7:38am
 
NY Times Spelling Bee - lily34 - Nov 28, 2023 - 6:48am
 
New mix, what would you like to see ? - KurtfromLaQuinta - Nov 28, 2023 - 6:27am
 
Tech - what makes RP sound so good? - William - Nov 27, 2023 - 5:37pm
 
Dialing 1-800-Manbird - oldviolin - Nov 27, 2023 - 1:32pm
 
New Music - oldviolin - Nov 27, 2023 - 11:52am
 
Questions. - miamizsun - Nov 27, 2023 - 10:37am
 
♥ ♥ ♥ Vote For Pie ♥ ♥ ♥ - miamizsun - Nov 27, 2023 - 10:36am
 
iPad wake screen - michaelmuller - Nov 27, 2023 - 10:11am
 
the Todd Rundgren topic - Coaxial - Nov 27, 2023 - 9:36am
 
Mixtape Culture Club - ColdMiser - Nov 27, 2023 - 7:46am
 
Lyrics That Remind You of Someone - oldviolin - Nov 26, 2023 - 8:25pm
 
Happy Thanksgiving! - Bill_J - Nov 26, 2023 - 5:58pm
 
Audio Problems - uaerez - Nov 26, 2023 - 12:30pm
 
Shameless Band Promotion - West Coast Division - sunybuny - Nov 26, 2023 - 11:56am
 
Guns - Red_Dragon - Nov 26, 2023 - 10:45am
 
HALF A WORLD - oldviolin - Nov 26, 2023 - 9:54am
 
AI Bill - timothy_john - Nov 26, 2023 - 3:52am
 
Would you drive this car for dating with ur girl? - KurtfromLaQuinta - Nov 25, 2023 - 8:07pm
 
Discussion Thread for the Meetup Meetup Topic - Red_Dragon - Nov 25, 2023 - 2:02pm
 
Europe - thisbody - Nov 25, 2023 - 1:08pm
 
Climate Change - R_P - Nov 25, 2023 - 12:00pm
 
Germany - thisbody - Nov 24, 2023 - 12:29pm
 
Ukraine - Steely_D - Nov 23, 2023 - 1:20pm
 
Artificial Intelligence - thisbody - Nov 23, 2023 - 9:28am
 
It's the economy stupid. - thisbody - Nov 23, 2023 - 9:17am
 
Tech & Science - thisbody - Nov 23, 2023 - 9:08am
 
Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant Massacree - islander - Nov 23, 2023 - 7:51am
 
Coffee - haresfur - Nov 22, 2023 - 7:53pm
 
Counting with Pictures - ScottN - Nov 22, 2023 - 2:08pm
 
Climate Change - thisbody - Nov 22, 2023 - 1:53pm
 
Index » Entertainment » Books » How Empires Fall
Post to this Topic
R_P

R_P Avatar

Gender: Male


Posted: Oct 8, 2017 - 12:46pm

Hedges: The End of Empire
(...) Empires need more than force to dominate other nations. They need a mystique. This mystique—a mask for imperial plunder, repression and exploitation—seduces some native elites, who become willing to do the bidding of the imperial power or at least remain passive. And it provides a patina of civility and even nobility to justify to those at home the costs in blood and money needed to maintain empire. The parliamentary system of government that Britain replicated in appearance in the colonies, and the introduction of British sports such as polo, cricket and horse racing, along with elaborately uniformed viceroys and the pageantry of royalty, were buttressed by what the colonialists said was the invincibility of their navy and army. England was able to hold its empire together from 1815 to 1914 before being forced into a steady retreat. America’s high-blown rhetoric about democracy, liberty and equality, along with basketball, baseball and Hollywood, as well as our own deification of the military, entranced and cowed much of the globe in the wake of World War II. Behind the scenes, of course, the CIA used its bag of dirty tricks to orchestrate coups, fix elections and carry out assassinations, black propaganda campaigns, bribery, blackmail, intimidation and torture. But none of this works anymore. (...)

R_P

R_P Avatar

Gender: Male


Posted: Sep 30, 2013 - 7:16pm

A World in Which No One Is Listening to the Planet’s Sole Superpower - Dilip Hiro
The Greater Middle East’s Greatest Rebuff to Uncle Sam

What if the sole superpower on the planet makes its will known — repeatedly — and finds that no one is listening?  Barely a decade ago, that would have seemed like a conundrum from some fantasy Earth in an alternate dimension.  Now, it is increasingly a plain description of political life on our globe, especially in the Greater Middle East.

In the future, the indecent haste with which Barack Obama sought cover under the umbrella unfurled by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Syrian chemical weapons crisis will be viewed as a watershed moment when it comes to America’s waning power in that region.  In the aptly named “arc of instability,” the lands from the Chinese border to northern Africa that President George W. Bush and his neocon acolytes dreamed of thoroughly pacifying, turmoil is on the rise. Ever fewer countries, allies, or enemies, are paying attention, much less kowtowing, to the once-formidable power of the world’s last superpower.  The list of defiant figures — from Egyptian generals to Saudi princes, Iraqi Shiite leaders to Israeli politicians — is lengthening.


Servo

Servo Avatar

Location: Down on the Farm
Gender: Male


Posted: Aug 23, 2012 - 11:41pm

 RichardPrins wrote: 
I gotta hand it to you, you're on a roll putting out some excellent articles recently!  And I'm not saying that just because one mentions Madison. {#Lol}  Keep 'em coming!


R_P

R_P Avatar

Gender: Male


Posted: Aug 23, 2012 - 9:01pm


miamizsun

miamizsun Avatar

Location: (3283.1 Miles SE of RP)
Gender: Male


Posted: May 10, 2012 - 5:31am

 RichardPrins wrote:

How Empires Fall (Including the American One)
A TomDispatch Interview With Jonathan Schell
By Andy Kroll

When Jonathan Schell’s The Unconquerable World, a meditation on the history and power of nonviolent action, was published in 2003, the timing could not have been worse. Americans were at war — and success was in the air. U.S. troops had invaded Iraq and taken Baghdad ("mission accomplished") only months earlier, and had already spent more than a year fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Schell’s book earned a handful of glowing reviews, and then vanished from the public debate as the bombs scorched Iraq and the body count began to mount.

Now, The Unconquerable World‘s animating message — that, in the age of nuclear weaponry, nonviolent action is the mightiest of forces, one capable of toppling even the greatest of empires — has undergone a renaissance of sorts. In December 2010, the self-immolation of a young Tunisian street vendor triggered a wave of popular and, in many cases, nonviolent uprisings across the Middle East, felling such autocrats as Tunisia’s Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak in mere weeks. Occupations, marches, and protests of all sorts spread like brushfire across Europe, from England to Spain to Greece, and later Moscow, and even as far as Madison, Wisconsin. And then, of course, there were the artists, students, and activists who, last September, heard the call to "occupy Wall Street" and ignited a national movement with little more than tents, signs, and voices on a strip of stone and earth in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park. (...)


 
americans have been exposed to rewritten history (or a deeply flawed and heavily edited version of how stuff went down - zero context)

nationalism = pimped out bigotry
R_P

R_P Avatar

Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 2, 2012 - 11:42pm

How Empires Fall (Including the American One)
A TomDispatch Interview With Jonathan Schell
By Andy Kroll

When Jonathan Schell’s The Unconquerable World, a meditation on the history and power of nonviolent action, was published in 2003, the timing could not have been worse. Americans were at war — and success was in the air. U.S. troops had invaded Iraq and taken Baghdad ("mission accomplished") only months earlier, and had already spent more than a year fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Schell’s book earned a handful of glowing reviews, and then vanished from the public debate as the bombs scorched Iraq and the body count began to mount.

Now, The Unconquerable World‘s animating message — that, in the age of nuclear weaponry, nonviolent action is the mightiest of forces, one capable of toppling even the greatest of empires — has undergone a renaissance of sorts. In December 2010, the self-immolation of a young Tunisian street vendor triggered a wave of popular and, in many cases, nonviolent uprisings across the Middle East, felling such autocrats as Tunisia’s Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak in mere weeks. Occupations, marches, and protests of all sorts spread like brushfire across Europe, from England to Spain to Greece, and later Moscow, and even as far as Madison, Wisconsin. And then, of course, there were the artists, students, and activists who, last September, heard the call to "occupy Wall Street" and ignited a national movement with little more than tents, signs, and voices on a strip of stone and earth in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park. (...)