[A-List] Things Fall Apart:China and the Decline of US Imperialism

[Charles Brown]

Things Fall Apart:
China and the Decline of US Imperialism
By Gerald Horne

Political Affairs
April 2007

When historians of the future look back, they may very well conclude
that 2007 marked the time when the crisis of US imperialism became so
obvious that even the dimmest bulb could detect it. For it is evident
that imperialism is about to suffer a staggering and transformative
defeat in Iraq as this illegal and criminal invasion has stretched
the military to the breaking point, alienated allies and emboldened
the lengthening list of foes of US imperialism.

At the same time, China, still ruled by a Communist Party, has
accumulated an eye-popping $1 trillion in foreign currencies, 
a figure never before attained by any nation. This sum is so
formidable, so huge, that there is a palpable fear in Washington that
Beijing may develop a version of the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank, rendering both of these imperialist dominated vehicles
irrelevant. In the so-called backyard of Washington, socialist Cuba
has not been slowed down by the hospitalization of President Fidel
Castro and continues to move from strength to strength. Cuba and
China in turn serve as anchors for Africa, Asia and Latin America in
their ongoing attempt to break the chains of imperialist bondage. All
this suggests that the crisis of US imperialism continues unabated.

The declining prestige of Washington was no better revealed than when
the human rights watchdog of the United Nations rebuked the US for
violations of international law at home and abroad, especially in
connection with its so-called war on terror. Adding to a growing
cascade of criticism, singled out were the secret detention
facilities where torture is the norm and the failure to provide
prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with due process of law. But what
really captured attention were the sharp criticisms of US domestic
policy. Washingtons draconian asylum and immigration policies, the
promiscuous deployment of the death penalty and life imprisonment and
police brutality, were all condemned in no uncertain terms.

FULL:
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/5044/