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Containing the National Security State represents more than 100 editorials that assess the militarization of U.S. governance and U.S. foreign policy.
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The Biden Administration and the Crossroads of Conflict
Over the past fifteen years, President Joe Biden has been committed to reducing the U.S. use of military force in the Third World. Biden tried to convince President Barack Obama to reduce the military presence in Afghanistan, and warned Obama about pressure from the Pentagon, particularly from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, to expand the…
US Hypocrisy and the Global South
The Biden administration needs to take note of the charge of hypocrisy from leaders in India, Brazil, and elsewhere. While U.S. diplomats encourage Global South nations to avoid energy contracts with Russia, the United States is looking for ways to improve its relations with Venezuela in order to import more oil from Caracas. President Joe Biden campaigned on the basis of turning Saudi Arabia into a “pariah,” but traveled to Riyadh to fist bump Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in order to get increased Saudi oil production. Numerous European countries have signed significant energy contracts with repressive Arab regimes in order to bolster their own energy imports.
The US and the War Crimes in the War on Terror
The most prominent war crimes were the Central Intelligence Agency’s detentions and renditions program as well as the sadistic program of torture and abuse, which have been devoid of any accountability whatsoever. One of the leaders of the program, Gina Haspel, even became Donald Trump’s CIA director.
Is the US Finally Losing Influence in the Middle East?
Biden had to take on the military establishment, seasoned policymakers, and celebrity pundits in allowing the withdrawal from Afghanistan that Donald Trump had negotiated. Former secretary of defense Robert Gates once assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that “we’re not ever leaving [Afghanistan}.” Gates was speaking for a powerful constituency within the national security community that opposed the efforts of Obama and Donald Trump to end the military mission.
