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Alfred W. McCoy

Authoritarianism
Trump was aping Third World Dictators when he Tried to make his Coup

Trump was aping Third World Dictators when he Tried to make his Coup

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com) – As an eyewitness, I can recall the events of January 6th in Washington as if they were yesterday. The crowds of angry loyalists storming the building while overwhelmed security guards gave way. The slavishly loyal vice-president who would, the president hoped, restore him to power. The crush of media that seemed confused, […]

Afghanistan
The Winner in Afghanistan: China

The Winner in Afghanistan: China

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com) – The collapse of the American project in Afghanistan may fade fast from the news here, but don’t be fooled. It couldn’t be more significant in ways few in this country can even begin to grasp. “Remember, this is not Saigon,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a television audience on August 15th, […]

Drugs
Was 'the War on Drugs' always a White Nationalist Project?

Was ‘the War on Drugs’ always a White Nationalist Project?

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Fifty years ago, on June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon stood before the White House press corps, staffers at his side, to announce “a new, all-out offensive” against drug abuse, which he denounced as “America’s public enemy number one.” He called on Congress to contribute $350 million for a worldwide attack […]

Afghanistan
Can Biden’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan escape the Shadow of Saigon?

Can Biden’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan escape the Shadow of Saigon?

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com) – Many of us have had a recurring nightmare. You know the one. In a fog between sleeping and waking, you’re trying desperately to escape from something awful, some looming threat, but you feel paralyzed. Then, with great relief, you suddenly wake up, covered in sweat. The next night, or the next week, […]

China
Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion:  China and the U.S. Struggle over Eurasia, the Epicenter of World Power

Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion: China and the U.S. Struggle over Eurasia, the Epicenter of World Power

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com) – Empires live and die by their illusions. Visions of empowerment can inspire nations to scale the heights of global hegemony. Similarly, however, illusions of omnipotence can send fading empires crashing into oblivion. So it was with Great Britain in the 1950s and so it may be with the United States today. By […]

China
That Time when America was a Superpower before Trump surrendered to China

That Time when America was a Superpower before Trump surrendered to China

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – After four years of Donald Trump’s fitful tenure, America is awakening from a long, troubled sleep to discover, like the fictional character Rip Van Winkle, that the world it once knew has changed beyond all recognition. In that classic American tale by Washington Irving published in 1819, an amiable but shiftless […]

Drugs
Decriminalizing the Drug War:  The Damage done by a Century of Drug Prohibition

Decriminalizing the Drug War: The Damage done by a Century of Drug Prohibition

Alfred W. McCoy

We live in a time of change, when people are questioning old assumptions and seeking new directions. In the ongoing debate over health care, social justice, and border security, there is, however, one overlooked issue that should be at the top of everyone’s agenda, from Democratic Socialists to libertarian Republicans: America’s longest war. No, not […]

Climate Change
Could the Climate Crisis End America's Global Dominion?

Could the Climate Crisis End America’s Global Dominion?

Alfred W. McCoy

(Tomdispatch.com) – Once upon a time in America, we could all argue about whether or not U.S. global power was declining. Now, most observers have little doubt that the end is just a matter of timing and circumstance. Ten years ago, I predicted that, by 2025, it would be all over for American power, a […]

Plutocracy
Trump’s Trade Czar, The Latest Architect of Imperial Disaster

Trump’s Trade Czar, The Latest Architect of Imperial Disaster

Alfred W. McCoy

Trump’s Trade Czar, The Latest Architect of Imperial Disaster Five Academics Who Unleashed the “Demon” of Geopolitical Power By Alfred W. McCoy ( Tomdispatch.com ) – As Washington’s leadership fades more quickly than anyone could have imagined and a new global order struggles to take shape, a generation of leaders has crowded onto the world […]

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