Title : The 'New' Imperialism and Possibilities for Coexistence
Discussion Paper No : 2 (series 1)
Author(s) : James Putzel
Date : January 2004
[PDF]
Abstract:
What are the possibilities for
peaceful coexistence of divergent capitalisms, of the West with
the Islamic world, of rich and poor regions in the global
system? The central proposition of this paper is that only by
reinforcing multilateralism can the international community hope
to maximise the chances for peace. The paper examines the ‘new’
US ‘imperialism’ as articulated by the Bush administration over
the past three years, particularly through an analysis of the
National Security Strategy. It considers the Moscow Treaty on
Strategic Offensive Reductions as a decisive victory for the US
military. It then briefly considers the economic basis of the US
imperial project to suggest that its supremacy may prove
ephemeral. In the third section of the paper, the author
examines the political and economic motivations for the US-Anglo
invasion and occupation of Iraq. Finally, in the last section, a
return is made to an evaluation of the prospects for challenging
the imperial project and the basis on which this might be
pursued.