Articles by: Alfred W McCoy

The True Meaning of the Afghan “Withdrawal”

The True Meaning of the Afghan “Withdrawal”

Many of us have had a recurring nightmare. You know the one. In a fog between sleeping and waking, you’re trying desperately to escape from something awful, some looming threat, but you feel paralyzed. Then, with great relief, you suddenly wake up, covered in sweat. The next night, or the next week, though, that same dream returns. For politicians of[Read More…]

by — 06/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Imperialism
Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion

Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion

Empires live and die by their illusions. Visions of empowerment can inspire nations to scale the heights of global hegemony. Similarly, however, illusions of omnipotence can send fading empires crashing into oblivion. So it was with Great Britain in the 1950s and so it may be with the United States today. By 1956, Britain had exploited its global empire shamelessly[Read More…]

by — 22/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Imperialism
Thomas Cole, “The Course of Empire: Destruction.”

While America Was Sleeping- Waking from a Four-Year Fever Dream to Find Global Power Gone

After four years of Donald Trump’s fitful tenure, America is awakening from a long, troubled sleep to discover, like the fictional character Rip Van Winkle, that the world it once knew has changed beyond all recognition. In that classic American tale by Washington Irving published in 1819, an amiable but shiftless farmer strolls out of his colonial village to go[Read More…]

by — 27/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Imperialism
Decriminalizing the Drug War?

Decriminalizing the Drug War?

Calculating the Damage from a Century of Drug Prohibition   We live in a time of change, when people are questioning old assumptions and seeking new directions. In the ongoing debate over health care, social justice, and border security, there is, however, one overlooked issue that should be at the top of everyone’s agenda, from Democratic Socialists to libertarian Republicans: America’s[Read More…]

by — 10/04/2019 — Comments are Disabled — World
How Climate Change Could End Washington’s Global Dominion

How Climate Change Could End Washington’s Global Dominion

Once upon a time in America, we could all argue about whether or not U.S. global power was declining. Now, most observers have little doubt that the end is just a matter of timing and circumstance. Ten years ago, I predictedthat, by 2025, it would be all over for American power, a then-controversial comment that’s commonplace today. Under President Donald Trump,[Read More…]

by — 01/03/2019 — Comments are Disabled — Climate Change