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Thursday, January 7, 2021
Ian Welsh — Trump Has Proven The US Is Ripe For A Right Wing Coup
I don’t say this lightly, and I don’t say it WILL happen. I don’t know if it will. But the conditions for it are there....
Tom, regarding a statement you earlier made that US soft power is in shambles... I don't think you guys were ever good at it -- you always relied on brute force (you know, "carrying a big stick") either directly (wars), or indirectly (sponsoring coups).
The US strategist and historian Edward Luttwak noted in his 2009 book "The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire" that US softpower is nonexistent today, and how future US leaders can learn a lot from how the Greeks of the middle ages used soft power to counter decline of their military power.
The US used a combination of hard (military) power, soft power, propaganda and black ops. But the cover for liberal internationalism (really liberal interventionism = US colonialism) was US soft power based on "freedom" and democracy." That no longer works very well, since it is so obviously hypocritical. The US is no longer "the shining city on a hill," not that it ever was in reality. It was a myth. That myth is now debunked. And the unraveling of it is far from over.
They'll be ripe for a "coup" 2 years from now, and in 4 years. That's what happens when "liberal" politicians double down on the status quo.
ReplyDeleteTom, regarding a statement you earlier made that US soft power is in shambles... I don't think you guys were ever good at it -- you always relied on brute force (you know, "carrying a big stick") either directly (wars), or indirectly (sponsoring coups).
ReplyDeleteThe US strategist and historian Edward Luttwak noted in his 2009 book "The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire" that US softpower is nonexistent today, and how future US leaders can learn a lot from how the Greeks of the middle ages used soft power to counter decline of their military power.
@lastgreek
ReplyDeleteThe US used a combination of hard (military) power, soft power, propaganda and black ops. But the cover for liberal internationalism (really liberal interventionism = US colonialism) was US soft power based on "freedom" and democracy." That no longer works very well, since it is so obviously hypocritical. The US is no longer "the shining city on a hill," not that it ever was in reality. It was a myth. That myth is now debunked. And the unraveling of it is far from over.