Devastating Society

Description

United in their opposition to the neo-conservatism underpinning America's current political strategies, the contributors offer a grounded critique of the real impact that these policies make, at home and abroad.



Starting with a close analysis of the Bush administration and the neo-conservative hold on power in Washington, they move on to a broader historical analysis. They set today's topical issues in the context of what they see as a gradual shift towards the right in American politics, and the creeping corporatisation of American society. The contributors show that September 11 was used by the Bush administration to clamp down on civil liberties at home and to step up an aggressive line in foreign policy. The impact on American society, and societies elsewhere, has been deeply damaging.



Ranging over this and other topics including the US economy, corporate crime and anti-environmentalism, this book is ideal for anyone who wants a critical introduction to current affairs issues, set within the broader context of America's history of foreign interventions and global capitalism.
Abbreviations and Acronyms

Foreword by Bernd Hamm

Introduction by Bernd Hamm

1. The Power Cadres

2. The Bush Family Saga by William Bowles

3. War Hawks and the Ugly American by Andrew Austin

4. September 11 and the Bush Administration by Walter E. Davis

5. The neo-liberal destruction of American society

6. Above the Law: Executive Powers after September 11 by Alison

Parker and Jamie Fellner

7. The US Economy by Trevor Evans

8. The Way Towards Corporate Crime by Ted Nace

9. The Real State of the Union by Jay Shaft

10. The Ascendancy of Anti-Environmentalism by Andrew Austin, Laurel Phoenix

11. The World Hegemon

12. Wars of Terror by Noam Chomsky

13. History of United States Interventions by William Blum

14. Global Poverty in the Late Twentieth Century by Michel Chossudovsky

15. The Other America

16. Dissenting Groups and Movements by Laurel Phoenix

Authors

Index

Sujets

• Political Freedom
• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849644662
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Devastating Society

Devastating Society

The NeoConservative Assault on Democracy and Justice

Edited by Bernd Hamm

P Pluto Press LONDON • ANN ARBOR, MI

First published 2005 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Bernd Hamm 2005 A slightly amended version of Chapter 4 was first published in Human Rights Watch’s 2004 Report, and is reproduced with permission. Chapter 6 was first published as chapters “The Revolt of the Bosses,” and “Crime Wave,” in Ted Nace,Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy(San Francisco BerrettKoehler, 2003). Reprinted by permission of BerrettKoehler Publishing Company. Chapter 9 © 2003 by Noam Chomsky; originally published inNew Political Science, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2003. Chapter 10 first published as chapter 17 of William Blum,Rogue State(Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 2000), updated by and reprinted with permission of the author. Chapter 11 was first published inJournal of International Affairs(Columbia University), vol. 52, no. 1 (Fall 1998); Center for Research on Globalization (CRG), www.globalresearch.ca, 26 January 2002, and is reproduced with permission. The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN ISBN

0 7453 2362 6 hardback 0 7453 2361 8 paperback

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in Canada by Transcontinental Printing

Contents

Abbreviations and Acronyms Preface,Bernd Hamm

Introduction,Bernd Hamm

PART I: THE POWER CADRES  1 The Bush Family Saga—Airbrushed out of History William Bowles  2 War Hawks and the Ugly American: The Origins of Bush’s Central Asia and Middle East PolicyAndrew Austin  3 September 11 and the Bush Administration: Compelling Evidence for Complicity?Walter E. Davis

vi xi

2

1

1

4

6

7

7

PART II: THE NEOCONSERVATIVE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY  4 Above the Law: Executive Powers after September 11 Alison Parker and Jamie Fellner 91  5 The Vulnerabilities of an Economic ColossusTrevor Evans 110  6 The Way Towards Corporate CrimeTed Nace 130  7 Poverty, Homelessness and Hunger in the US Today Jay Shaft 151  8 Beyond the Texas Oil Patch: The Rise of Anti EnvironmentalismAndrew Austin and Laurel E. Phoenix 163

PART III: THE WORLD HEGEMON  9 Wars of TerrorNoam Chomsky 10 A Concise History of US Global Interventions, 1945 to the PresentWilliam Blum 11 Global Poverty in the Late Twentieth Century Michel Chossudovsky

PART IV: THE OTHER AMERICA 12 Dissenting Groups and MovementsLaurel E. Phoenix

Notes on the Authors Index

185

204

247

267

291 297

Abbreviations and Acronyms

9/11 ABC ACLU ACSH ACT AEI AFL AFLCIO

AI AIEDEP

AIF AIPAC ALEC ANC ANWR AP API ASSC ATM AU

BCCI BCIS BICE BIPAC BNL BOP BSP CAREC CBS CCSP CD CEO CEQ

September 11, 2001 attacks American Broadcasting Corporation American Civil Liberties Union American Council on Science and Health America Coming Together American Enterprise Institute American Federation of Labor American Federation of Labor—Congress of Industrial Organizations Amnesty International African Institute for Economic Development and Planning Animal Industry Foundation American—Israel Public Affairs Committee American Legislative Exchange Council African National Congress Arctic National Wildlife Reserve Associated Press American Petroleum Institute Advancement of Sound Science Coalition automatic teller machine Americans United for Separation of Church and State Bank of Credit and Commerce International Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Business—Industry Political Action Committee Banco Nazionale Del Lavoro Bureau of Prisons Bulgarian Socialist Party Clean Air Responsibility Enterprise Committee Columbia Broadcasting System Climate Change Science Program Christian Democratic Party Chief Executive Officer Council on Environmental Quality

vi

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

vii

CFACT Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFR Council on Foreign Relations CIA Central Intelligence Agency CLG Citizens for Legitimate Government CMA Chemical Manufacturers Association CNN Cable News Network CO carbon dioxide 2 COINTELPRO FBI’s Counterintelligence Program COW Coalition of the Willing CP Communist Party CREA Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy CRG Center for Research on Globalization DCI Director of Central Intelligence DEA Drug Enforcement Administration DHS Department of Homeland Security DNA deoxyribonucleic acid DPB Defense Policy Board DPG Defense Planning Guidance DRNK Democratic Republic of North Korea ECLAC UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ECO Environmental Conservation Organization ELN National Liberation Army (Colombia) ENN Environmental News Network EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPICA Ecumenical Program in Central America and the Caribbean EU European Union FAA Federal Aviation Administration FAIR Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FASB Financial Accounting Standards Board FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation FCC Federal Communications Commission FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act FOE Friends of the Earth FOIA Freedom of Information Act FREE Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment FWS Fish and Wildlife Service

viii

G7

G8 GAO GCC GDP GNP Group of 77 HCC HHS HMO HPI HRW HUD

IASPS

ICBM ICCPR

ICRC IFI IMC IMF INC INS IPCC IRA ISI ITT JINSA LCV LEC MAI MPLA MRI NAFTA NAS NATO NBC NCC

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Group of Seven (USA, Canada, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Italy) G7 plus Russia General Accounting Office Global Climate Coalition Gross Domestic Product Gross National Product Developing countries in the UN HCC Insurance Holdings Company Health and Human Services Health Maintenance Organization Human Poverty Index Human Rights Watch US Department of Housing and Urban Development Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies Intercontinental Ballistic Missile International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Committee of the Red Cross International Financial Institution Independent Media Center International Monetary Fund Iraqi National Congress Immigration and Naturalization Service Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Irish Republican Army Inter Services Intelligence International Telephone and Telegraph Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs League of Conservation Voters Law and Economics Center Multilateral Agreement on Investment Mozambique People’s Liberation Army magnetic resonance imaging North American Free Trade Area National Academy of Sciences North Atlantic Treaty Organization National Broadcasting Corporation National Coal Council

N

CTA

NED NEPDG NGO NIC NIMBY NMA NMCC NORAD NRDC NSA NSC NWF NY OAU OECD

OFF OMB OPEC OSHA OSP PAC PBS PEER PLO PNAC POGO PSR S&B S&L SAP SEC SEPP SII SLAPP SOP SSA SWAPO TIA TNRCC

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ix

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States National Endowment for Democracy National Energy Policy Development Group nongovernmental organization Newly Industrialized Country notinmybackyard National Mining Association National Military Command Center North American Aerospace Defense Command Natural Resources Defense Council National Security Advisor National Security Council National Wildlife Federation New York Organization of African Unity Organization for European Cooperation and Development Oil for Food Office of Management and Budget Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Occupational Safety and Health Administration Office of Special Plans Political Action Committee Public Broadcasting Service Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Palestine Liberation Organization Project for a New American Century Project on Government Oversight Physicians for Social Responsibility Skull and Bones alumni Savings and Loan Structural Adjustment Program Securities and Exchange Commission Science and Environmental Policy Project Sovereignty International Inc. Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation standard operational practice Social Security Administration SouthWest African People’s Organization Total Information Awareness Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission