Tom Barry

Ideology and faith are stirring new calls to arms among influential political factions in the United States. At a time when the U.S. public is questioning the interventionism and unilateralism of the Bush administration, leading social conservatives and neoconservatives insist that the United States needs to militarily confront the purported threats facing the Judeo-Christian world … Continue reading “Rick Santorum,
American Crusader”

The recently released staff report on Iran issued by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee and the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on global terrorism conclude that the threats to U.S. national security are grave and increasing. These reports, which bolster arguments for a more aggressive "global war on terror," represent the latest in a long … Continue reading “Electoral Terrorism”

A career diplomat and foreign policy operative, Eric S. Edelman has just replaced the controversial Douglas Feith at the Pentagon as the new undersecretary of defense for policy, having been appointed by President Bush during a congressional recess. Many observers had wrongly assumed that Edelman would become Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s top deputy. Instead … Continue reading “Cheney’s Man Slated to Replace Feith”

The “world’s democratic movement” is not another one of the transnational citizens’ movements, like the anti-globalization or antiwar movements, that prides itself on having no central structure, no dogma, or even an office. This movement is highly organized, better funded, and even has its own “secretariat.” Unlike other leaderless but world-shaking transnational citizens’ networks that … Continue reading “World Movement for Democracy: Made in the USA”

Pax Americana has got problems – not just in the Middle East and East Asia, but in the imperium’s own backyard. Latin America’s turn to center-left politicians and the rise of what the U.S. Southern Command calls “radical populism” have sent Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scurrying to the region … Continue reading “Southcom Generals Fret Over New Domino Effect”

The top U.S. government official in charge of arms control advocates the offensive use of nuclear weapons and has deep roots in the militarist political camp. Moving into the old job of John Bolton, the administration’s hardcore unilateralist nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert G. Joseph is the right … Continue reading “Nuclear Warrior Replaces Bolton as Arms Control Chief”

Since the founding of the CIA in 1947, it has been under attack, mainly from the right. Although left-center charges that the CIA has engineered coups against democratically-elected governments and trained death squads have received more public attention, a phalanx of right-center forces have been the CIA’s most implacable foes. For more than five decades, … Continue reading “Negroponte and the CIA’s Eclipse”

Unlike most neoconservatives, UN Ambassador-designate John Bolton didn’t start out his political career on the center-left – either as a liberal, social democrat, or socialist. When Irving Kirstol, regarded by many as the “godfather of neoconservatism” described a neoconservative as a “liberal who has been mugged by reality,” he wasn’t describing John R. Bolton. In … Continue reading “Bolton’s Baggage”

The CIA has long been caught in the crossfire from the left and the right. Human rights critics and left-center internationalists have charged that the CIA has engineered coups and trained paramilitary units. On its right flank, the agency has been accused by militarists, old guard conservatives, and neoconservatives of dangerously underestimating threats to U.S. … Continue reading “Negroponte: Policy Hack or Intelligence Reformer?”

Elliott Abrams, a figure from the Ronald Reagan-era Iran-Contra scandal who describes himself as a “neoconservative and neo-Reaganite,” is moving to center stage in U.S. foreign policy as head of President George W. Bush’s Global Democracy Strategy. In his new position, Abrams will oversee the administration’s promotion of democracy and human rights while continuing to … Continue reading “Elliott Abrams: A Fallen Hawk Soars Again”