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SOCGRAD MINI-LECTURES
This is part III of a mini-series on the sociology of war with particular reference to the imminent invasion of Haiti.
The USA and the bloc of Seven which orchestra the political economy of the emerging world order uses several power tools with which to enforce market relations in general and to guarantee the flow of wealth from the 3rd world to the richest nation-states. These have varying efficacy of which I will speak later. The USA is the chief engineer and major supplier of these various power tools. This material comes from an essay on War and International crime written in 1989...it is available from the Red Feather Archives:
double click on:
POWER TOOLS AVAILABLE TO THE USA IN HAITI AND ELSEWHERE:
A. The Military. The USA spends over $350 billion a year to maintain political hegemony. As of 1989, there were:
1. 1,300,000 military personnel on active duty
2. 1,580,000 in the Reserve 3. 979,300 civilian employees of the U.S. Military
4. 1266 US Military bases in the world
5. the payroll of those on active duty was $34 billion+
6. the payroll of those on reserve duty was $5,500,000,000
7. pension costs of retired military amounted to $18 billions+
8. military contractors received $266.7 Billions
B. The C.I.A. the C.I.A. owns some of the largest companies in the US. It has an unrecorded budget with which to subvert 'foreign enemies.' Its activities has been recorded in a number of books available in libraries; these activities range from assassination to bribery of officials, elected or otherwise, in the 3rd world.
C. The National Security Agency. It collects intelligence to use to support or to de-stabilized governments...its budget is said to be the largest of any civilian federal agency including the department of Health, Education and Welfare...the budget is secret even from Congress although there is a congressional oversight committee.
D. Various International Financial Agencies including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Agency for International 'Development' and credit policies behind given US based multinationals of which there are some 1000, 300 of which are based in the USA.
[Note: since writing this lecture, I have heard a newsperson on PBS remark that there are only two super-powers in the world today. The USA can drop bombs. Moody's [a bond rating service] can destroy the credit of a nation. This was mentioned in the context of the USA defaulting on Government/Treasury Bonds, many of which are bought by foreign investors. If Moody's down-rated US Bonds, it would demote the USA from its Super-power status].
E. Embargoes and Blockades. A blockade involves the use of physical force around the target country...it is seldom used. Embargoes of goods and services are far more common. A new book on the use of such sanctions was reviewed on one of the news networks last evening...I tuned in after it began but did catch the part about the efficacy of embargoes.
As I recall the data from my hasty notes, there have been 109 embargoes since 1920; about 1/3 of them effective in forcing a government to comply. The factors involved included:
1. The rapidity with which it is put in place and the extent of it.
2. Support from other, adjacent nation-states. In Haiti, the embargo is compromised by trade with the Dominican Republic
3. Strength of the country embargoed; embargoes work better with weak countries; seldom with powerful countries. Haiti is weak and without powerful allies.
4. Embargoes are effective with allies and trading partners. There is too many interconnections in transport, finance, communications and investment for a weaker ally to hold out for long...the authors cited the British/French capture of the Suez canal. There were other points but memory fails...I didn't get the names of the authors but is sounds a valuable tool in political sociology and the soc/war.
One final point an author made: the poor suffer most from embargoes. The rich and powerful have first call on scarce supplies. This is true in Haiti, Iran, and other countries where embargoes have been instituted.
Those who are concerned about Cuba might want to consider the implications of this study. Much of the present distress in Cuba comes after the collapse of Soviet support.
When I was last there in '92, it looked as if several Latin American countries might disrupt the American blockade...along with Canada and other European countries but things look bleak in 1994.
End of this posting. I will do another containing anti-war poetry for those of you to whom facts and theories seem too remote and intellectual.
Peace, T.R. Young