A brief reconstruction of American Exceptionalism-Part 6

We have seen in the last five chapters how the idea of American Exceptionalism has influenced American policies in both home and abroad from American independence till today’s time. The belief that the Americans are an exceptional people, whose ideals, values and the ways of life are both morally and materially superior to the rest of the world, still holds sway among a significant amount among the American people particularly America’s intellectual elite.

America remains world’s strongest military power as well as world’s largest economy (despite strong showing by the countries like China and India in the last decade). Moreover America still retains a disproportionate amount of power in influencing the institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Security Council and the World Bank which allows her to influence and shape international opinion according to her interests. Since America still maintains vast magnitude of power which it can project globally and retains the exceptional attitude in reshaping the world into her own image there remains a very strong possibility in future for America impacting the world in a negative way as a consequence of her exceptional beliefs. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are very good examples for this argument.

Now let’s think what the other nations in the World need to do to ensure that they can hold onto their own interest, ideals and values in the face of the global onslaught which has been unleashed by the American exceptionalism since the end of the cold war.

The first and foremost important thing is not to give in to the idea of American exceptionalism, itself. The American state tends to project itself in terms of being an exceptional nation among others with no parallel. It uses every possible technique in the book from World Bank or IMF deals to Hollywood movies to project itself as the ultimate, invincible and unconquerable power in the eyes of the hapless people all around the world. Very often the common people in the world also come under the influence of this propaganda and take the ideas of American exceptionalism, seriously. Not only common people but very often even the power brokers in the world capitals also come under the shock and awe of perceived or actual American power. The recently concluded nuclear deal between India and America is a great example of that kind of reverential attitude towards American power.

The progressive people in the world should look to the situation in those nations whose leaders and citizens have accepted American hegemony and American way of life as their own. Let us go through the examples of Japan and Germany in this respect. Japan although currently being world’s second largest economy, has become standstill in terms of economic productivity, in the last couple of decades. The Japanese economy has virtually seen no growth in the last two decades. To complicate Japanese problems, Japan is going through one of the biggest demographic slumps in her history. The population growth has fallen well below the replacement level of 2 children per couple. Germany which holds the distinction of being the largest economy in the world is also suffering from more or less the same ills. Germany’s population growth rate as well as her economic growth rate has fallen to historic lows among the European countries. Both these two countries have accepted American hegemony as their ultimate fate. In the international arena both these two countries are becoming increasingly irrelevant and marginal as they gradually give up their political and economic innovativeness and ingenuity to America.

Compare to these two countries let us take up the examples of countries like Turkey, Brazil and Venezuela. All these countries are asserting their rights and interests in the face of strong American pressure. They are taking bold and new initiatives to challenge the status quo in the world like the recent Iran-Turkey-Brazil nuclear deal. These countries have accepted that in stead of living under the shadow of “Pax Americana”, their interests will be better served by asserting their own values and interests. This should be the way for the rest of the world to follow if they want to hold onto their own when it comes to asserting their interests in this unipolar world.

The responsibility for the people in countries like India is to constantly remind fellow citizens as well as their political decision makers for not being subservient to the overwhelming American hegemony. For too many times we have seen political elites in countries like India surrendering their countries’ legitimate interests to the American superpower. The common people in countries like India have to face the ultimate consequences for these kinds of submissive behavior towards American hegemon.

It is too tempting for people like us Indians to become overawed with the American power and pomp and leave the matter of dealing with America to our political class.
The fact is that when the consequences of being silent in face of American exceptionalism is in terms of having tragedies like Bhopal and Enron, we simply can not afford that. We have only two choices: either fight against the sense of American exceptionalism in every possible way or become a meek and subservient bystander in face of American hegemony. The choice is ours to make.

Poetic justice at the Gulf of Mexico

This week was a special one for those who believe in the power of justice. In the beginning of the week a court in India sentenced some people for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The verdict ended a 26 year long wait for the victims of the tragedy. Although all of us know that the big bosses of the Union Carbide Corporation will ultimately get away with the justice since they are just too big to be brought to justice. Already the hapless people in this country have started to what we are best in doing i.e. forgetting anything that we consider tragic and painful , thinking that if we do not remember the truth , the truth will not come back to haunt us.

Another tragic event which is taking place some thousand miles away from our country at the Gulf of Mexico is also a very momentous one, indeed. But while the world feels sorry for the oil-soaked Pelicans in Louisiana very few (if any) commentator in the world media have noticed the irony and poetic justice, inherent in the oil spill. For my part, I cannot stop thinking about one man while looking at those Pelicans in agony. I cannot stop feeling that had the world at the time listened to the man, this whole tragedy at the Gulf of Mexico might not have taken place at all.

The man I am talking about is none other than Mohammad Mossadegh, former prime minister of Iran. Let me give some background history to the viewers to understand things clearly.

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later Anglo-Iranian Oil Company) found oil in Iran in early 1908. This was a huge discovery for the company. Like any other corporation they tried their best to maximize their profits. These are some of the steps they took to boost their profit margin:

1. They made a deal with Iran by which the Iranians will get less than 20% of the profits generated from the export of Oil.
2. They made sure that all the extracted oil ended up in their home country, Great Britain. Iran ended up virtually getting nothing of her own oil.
3. They cut a deal whereby they would have complete monopoly over Iranian Oil for the next 60 years.
4. They did not allow the Iranians to do any bookkeeping, no Iranian were allowed to become a member of the company’s board of Directors.
5. The corporation cut backroom deals with some of the famous politicians in both Iran and UK to ensure its interests (the list includes some real famous ones like Winston Churchill and Reza Shah Pahlavi).

It is much better not to talk about the condition of the Iranian workers, working at the corporation’s oil plants. The director of Iran's Petroleum Institute wrote that

“Wages were 50 cents a day. There was no vacation pay, no sick leave, no disability compensation. The workers lived in a shanty town called Kaghazabad, or Paper City, without running water or electricity, ... In winter the earth flooded and became a flat, perspiring lake. The mud in town was knee-deep, and ... when the rains subsided, clouds of nipping, small-winged flies rose from the stagnant water to fill the nostrils .... Summer was worse. ... The heat was torrid ... sticky and unrelenting - while the wind and sandstorms shipped off the desert hot as a blower. The dwellings of Kaghazabad, cobbled from rusted oil drums hammered flat, turned into sweltering ovens. ... In every crevice hung the foul, sulfurous stench of burning oil .... in Kaghazabad there was nothing - not a tea shop, not a bath, not a single tree. The tiled reflecting pool and shaded central square that were part of every Iranian town, ... were missing here. The unpaved alleyways were emporiums for rats.”

Everything was going fine for the corporation till Mossadegh arrived in the scene. Mossadegh, who became prime minister at the age of 69, was appalled at the kind of treatment Iranians were getting from the company which was enjoying a roaring business. Mossadegh first tried to renegotiate the terms with the company but the company was to renegotiate with this western-educated and extremely mild-mannered gentleman. They thought things will be again back to normal if they simply ignore Mossadegh. They underestimated the man.

Mossadegh, after being rejected by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, took a historical decision which not even the mighty corporation expected him to take. He nationalized the oil industry and broke all relations with both the company as well as it’s chief patron, the British government. The huge empire of the mighty corporation turned to dust, overnight with just one stroke of pen by Mossadegh. The Iranian people stood behind their leader in that time which was a turning point in the history of the Middle East.

Unfortunately for the people of Iran, Mossadegh did not achieve the final victory. Just two years after the historic decision of nationalization, Mossadegh was overthrown in a military coup which brought into power the tyrannical Shah of Iran. This coup was organized by the British as well as the US government and their intelligence agencies i.e. the famous CIA and the MI6. The Shah regime reversed all the gains that Mossadegh had achieved and again the Western Oil corporations got a free hand in the Iranian oil industry for the next three decades. As for Mossadegh himself, he was put under house arrest till he died, 14 years later.

Looking at all those events now after all these years , I cannot stop feeling that had the so-called “civilized” Western countries had listened to Mossadegh at the time and reigned in the rogue Anglo-Iranian Oil Company , those Pelicans in the Gulf Coast might have been alive now.

The lesson that can be drawn from these unfortunate events is that the big corporations will do anything to achieve their target profit margins. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the price has to be paid either by the humans like those unfortunate workers at the Union Carbide or like those non-human Pelicans at the Gulf of Mexico.

Ohh , I just forgot to mention one thing …. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company exists with a different name now days. It calls itself BP.

Massacre on the Mediterranean Sea

Analyzing the massacre of the innocents in the Mediterranean Sea three broad
conclusions can be drawn. Two of them are very obvious and the last one is implicit but
most significant of the three.
Firstly, it is obvious the current Zionist government in Israel seems to be becoming more
and more paranoid and arrogant with the passing of each day. It will be interesting for the
readers to note that the Israeli Zionists can be paranoid about the poor and starving
people of Gaza. After all the Israel boasts the eleventh most powerful army in the world
(here) and the deadliest by far as per as West Asia is concerned. The Israeli government
apart from the most advanced conventional arms also boasts with about 300 nuclear
missiles. The Israeli economy is considered to be second only to the US when it comes to
high tech industries. Moreover the Israelis also have the USA as their patron thanks to the
“special relationship” they enjoy with the USA.
Compared to the Israeli Goliath, the Gazan David seems to be no match. Gazans do not
even have a formal army let alone any high tech weapons or nuclear missiles. Gazan
economy largely consists of hand-outs from compassionate donors (which include only
Iran and Syria to be precise) and incomes from smuggling through secret tunnels at the
Egyptian-Gaza border. Thus it is perplexing to think that the Israelis would fear the
Gazans. The reason behind the fear of Israelis about the Gazan people lies elsewhere.
Israel throughout the last 40 years of her occupation of the Palestinian territories has done
only one thing very consistently. That is to make the life difficult for the Palestinians in
every possible way so that they finally submit and surrender to the Zionist dream of total
control over the holy land. Daniel Pipes mentions the Zionist dream very clearly in his
writings. Unfortunately for the Israeli Zionists, the Gazan people have stood up against
them despite great odds thereby crashing the ultimate Zionist dream. Consider the
situation of the Gazans. They choose Hamas, the resistance movement against Israel in
2006 instead of the corrupt and authoritarian Fatah in an election which was considered
as “free and fare” by everyone. The outcome? Israel and rest of her allies (including the
pro-Israel Egyptian government) imposed an all-out economic blockade upon Gaza.
Israel was not even satisfied with it. It launched a military operation against the hapless
Gazans called “Operation cast lead” in 2008-2009 thereby killing about 1500 people
mostly innocent civilians. Israel has maintained a tough all-out sea blockade over Gaza
and controls the Gazan airspace. Basically Gaza has become world’s biggest Open air
prison.
Despite all these overwhelming odds the Gazan people have not surrendered to the
Zionist hegemony. The will to fight against all odds is clearly visible among the Gazan
people whether in digging up the tunnels for bringing goods into starving Gaza or trying
to build new homes from rubbles despite no help from any one. This is remarkable in the
history of freedom struggles. As time passes by even the so-called official “International
community” also has started to make some efforts (albeit non-existent) to make life better
for the Gazans. Now the Israelis fear all these. The Zionists simply do not get why the
Gazan people are not giving up despite all these oppression they have heaped upon them.
The attack upon unarmed peace activists on the freedom flotilla has to be seen in this
light. This is just another way by the Israelis to remind the Gazan Palestinians “Who is
the boss”? The Israelis know it for sure that the world will not bother about some “crazy,
pro-terrorist, unlawful” political activists. They expect the “world community” to
condemn things a little bit and then eventually moving on. They know they have the
world’s only superpower to watch their back. This is like a mafia boss killing innocent
people of the neighborhood indiscriminately to ensure people continue to fear him
knowing fully well that the proverbial “long hand of the law” will never caught up with
him.
The second conclusion which is probably the most obvious here is complete irrelevance
of the world’s only superpower and the assertiveness of a new Turkey when it comes to
Israel. The Turks are back in the game finally after a long period of slumber of nearly a
century thanks to the current government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The
new Turkey unlike it’s Kemalist predecessor wants to make it’s presence fell in the world
and not just be a junior partner to the USA and Israel. Mustapha Kemal might be turning
in his grave in Ankara watching this new Turkey but for the time the Turks are happy to
play this new game.
If Turkey is trying to assert himself, the USA seems to be busy in making himself a mere
sidekick when it comes to Israel. Take the example of President Barrack Obama,
“world’s most powerful man”. He lectured the Israelis (albeit in a very polite way that
suits the special US-Israel relationship) to stop confiscating land from the Palestinians in
the West Bank and urged the Israel to come clean on Israeli nukes. Guess what
happened? The Christian Zionists in the USA (probably world’s biggest volunteer lobby
working for the interests of a foreign country) went against him in full swing, threatening
his second-term election bid. The Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu just
shrugged off and showed Obama his place as a junior partner in the Zionist enterprise.
And guess what? Obama accepted all the humiliation. Even after Israel lambasted his
Vice President Joe Bidden publicly and after this brutal massacre of unarmed , peaceful
political activists on board the freedom flotilla , Obama seems to be doing his best to
ensure that Israel gets a soft landing. And why not he? After all, the Israelis are the
“Chosen people of G-D” and the USA must do her ultimate best to ensure Israeli security.
Moreover Obama needs to make history by becoming the first non-white president in the
US to win two terms. A little humiliation against the all powerful Israeli lobby is not too
hard to swallow for an US president now days.
The third and the most significant conclusion that we can draw is the role the common
people are playing in organizing the freedom flotilla. The freedom flotilla consists of
people from countries such as Turkey, Australia, Pakistan, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, USA
and even Israel. Most of these people come from as diverse backgrounds such as writers,
activists, politicians, intellectuals, media people and they include even a holocaust
survivor. These people have two clear goals. Firstly to provide much-needed aid this
includes food, construction material and books for the children in Gaza. But the most
important goal is to do the job which the world governments have failed to for a long
time that is to tell the Israeli Zionists that “Enough is enough”.
In our time when the World governments seem to be busy in making themselves
irrelevant the freedom flotilla is a hopeful effort by the progressive, freedom-loving
people of the world to do the right thing. If there is anything called a global village,
freedom flotilla is its best example.
My readers will probably be thinking by now that after all what interest should they serve
by speaking out for the Palestinians in Gaza? After all I am talking about a place which is
very far from our country and whose people do not share anything in common like
language, culture or food habits with us. Moreover our leaders like their US counterparts
have forged a “special relationship” with Israel. (See here) The thing for us to remember
is that oppressor and bullies do not have any difference among themselves. They want us
to not bother about their misdeeds so that they feel it confident no one will notice. By
keeping silent in face of oppression and injustice we make ourselves irrelevant and weak.
The fact remains that today if we do not speak up when a superpower attacks and
annihilates an ancient civilization for the pretext of non-existent “WMD’s” or when a
group of “God’s chosen people” kills a group of innocent, unarmed political activists , no
one tomorrow will speak up in our favor when our government will impose unjust taxes
upon us or police will kill someone among friends in a fake encounter or a profit-driven
industrialist will confiscate the land from the poor farmers or a drunken celebrity runs
you over.
The face of the oppressors and the unjust might be different but his intention is same. He
wants us to fear him and accept his oppressive and unjust behavior. In this way he wins.
The question is how to behave against injustice. There are two ways. One is the Spartacus
way and another is the Carthage way. It is up to us to decide our way.