In September 1998, I was handed a submission for a proposed book by Chalmers Johnson. I was then (as I am now) consulting editor at Metropolitan Books. 9/11 was three years away, the Bush administration still an unimaginable nightmare, and though the prospective book’s prospective title had “American Empire” in it, the American Empire Project …
Continue reading “Portrait of a Sagging Empire”
LONDON — The European Union’s new sanctions against Iran appear to open a new space for eager Chinese companies to expand their investments in a country viewed as a rogue player by much of the western world. With China recently coming to light as Iran’s largest trade partner, some Chinese analysts predict a wealth of …
Continue reading “Sanctions Give China an Advantage in Iran”
P.C. Roberts: China, Russia waiting for US to self-destruct?
Last week’s meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New Zealand brought statements of concern over China’s planned nuclear deal with Pakistan, but U.S. State Department officials avoided taking a strong position on the deal when pressed by reporters this week. China’s proposed sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan would, in theory, stand …
Continue reading “White House Low-Key on China-Pakistan Nuke Deal”
As counterinsurgency (COIN) marches into the expanding ranks of failed U.S. military doctrines, the military-industrial-congressional complex casts about for a new raison d’être. Since manpower-centric, generational occupations of broken countries we can’t fix have finally fallen out of favor as our foreign policy tool of choice, the American warmongery is back to championing a high-price, …
Continue reading “Bull From the China Shop”
China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, has thrown the U.S. press and Congress into a tizzy with statements at his annual meeting with the press. The New York Times grumbles on page one that China is employing the dastardly tactic of "using the rules" of international trade to its own advantage. Paul Krugman, an increasingly strident economic …
Continue reading “The Panicky Eagle Circles the Dragon”
Conn Hallinan on US intervention in Asia
Trade relations between the U.S. and China appear to be hitting a rough patch, with China publicly threatening to impose sanctions on U.S. companies participating in the arms sales to Taiwan, leading some observers to express concern over the growing war of words between Washington and Beijing. While China’s opposition to the U.S. military’s support …
Continue reading “Taiwan Arms Sale Heats Up Simmering Row”
At least two Iraqis were killed and seven more were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, a former minister under Tony Blair, Claire Short, called Blair a liar and further accused him of stifling discussion leading up to the war. Also, Parliamentary Deputy Adil Badrawi called for a “serious dialogue” between the U.S. and Iran to prevent a regional war.
What country does the US fail to officially recognize, and yet is legally bound to defend? The answer is Taiwan, otherwise known as the Republic of China (ROC), a country born as the last redoubt of Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist army, which fled to the island in 1949 after being routed on the mainland …
Continue reading “Will the Dragon Awake?” 
