Imperialism emerged in the United States in the 1890s as a policy
designed to obtain markets for its surplus manufactured goods and
access to raw materials necessary for its system of production and
distribution.  These goals required economic and financial penetration
by the imperial power, which requires control over the political
processes of formally independent nations, making necessary diplomatic
maneuvering and direct or indirect military intervention.  Thus
imperialism is fundamentally undemocratic, because it involves the
undermining of the right of nations to sovereignty.  Imperialism has
been a constant in US policy from 1898 to the present, even though in
some historic moments, such as the presidencies of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and Jimmy Carter, it was presented with a
more democratic face.       Fuller development of these ideas can be
found in various posts from September 18 to October 10 in my blog,
"The View from the South: Commentaries on world events from the Third
World perspective."  The September and October archives can be found
at:
http://www.globallearning-cuba.com/2/archives/09-2013/1.html
http://www.globallearning-cuba.com/2/archives/10-2013/2.html

     Since 1970, the United States has been declining as an
imperialist power, experiencing an erosion of its productive capacity
and a decline in its commercial and financial power relative to other
core nations.  The relative decline of the United States has occurred
in the context of a structural crisis of the world-system, caused by
the fact that the world-system has reached the geographical and
ecological limits of the earth.

     These dynamics have led to an aggressive pursuit of imperialist
objects by the United States since 1980, which has included unilateral
military interventions in the Middle East, Latin America and the
Caribbean.  But there are limits to the strategy of military
intervention, as a consequence of the growing resistance of the
peoples of the world to imperialist policies as well as popular
opposition in the United States to military interventions, as a result
of the declining capacity of the United States to finance them.

     So US policymakers have developed a new strategy in an attempt to
establish ideological justification for military intervention.  It
involves a new style coup d'état.  It is a strategy of "regime change"
that is directed against governments that defy imperialist objectives
and that seek to attain a degree of independence from the neocolonial
world-system.  It seeks to put into power national actors that are
less independent-minded and more inclined to adopt policies consistent
with imperialist objectives.  It involves the financing and
encouragement of violent gangs that attack citizens and government
property, accompanied by a campaign by the international new media,
which create a distorted image of chaos and violation of human rights
and which demonize the government and its leadership, thus
establishing justification for military support of opposition groups
or for direct military intervention.  Through these means, imperialist
intervention, an essentially undemocratic policy, is justified as an
intervention in defense of the democratic rights of an oppressed
people.

      The new imperialist strategy has been evident in recent events
in Venezuela.  In the case of Venezuela, the attempted coup d'état
appears to have failed, as a result of popular support for the
government and support of the government of Venezuela by Latin
American and Caribbean governments.  Further elaboration can be found
in post to my blog during this past week:  "Cuba, Venezuela and
freedom of the press" 2/24/2014; "Events in Venezuela" 2/25/2014;
"Venezuela and the mass media" 2/27/2014; and "US policy in Latin
America and Venezuela" 2/28/2014.  Look for the blog at the Global
Learning Website, "The View from the South: Commentaries on world
events from the Third World perspective."  Find it at
http://www.globallearning-cuba.com/blog-the-view-from-the-south.html.

     I am interested in comments by members of the list as well as any
recommended resources for further study.  In addition to replying to
this message, comments can be made in the comments section of the
blog.


     Charles McKelvey
     Professor Emeritus
     Presbyterian College
     Clinton, South Carolina

     Research Affiliate
     Center for US and Hemispheric Studies
     University of Havana