The US as a Semi-Failed State
Noam Chomsky was one of the first to raise the possibility the US was becoming a failed state. He published Failed States: the Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy. Chomsky’s book in early 2006, before it became anyone realized the federal government was incapable of rehabilitating post-Katrina New Orleans. And left it to a network of non-profits and grassroots groups to take it on. This was also prior to the 2008 economic collapse, which the US government also badly mismanaged, in contrast to other developed countries who have clearly tackled unemployment and home foreclosures far more efficiently than either the Bush or Obama administration. And prior to Obama’s mismanagement of the BP oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in history.
I refer people to a Dec 1 BP Oil Spill status report, concerning the continuing seepage of oil and methane through cracks in the ocean floor, increased seismic activity (due to crust damage), and the stalled Gulf Stream current : http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/
Moreover Chomsky’s book is more theoretical in nature. It focuses less on specific breakdowns in governance than on the US role as a “rogue” state that systematically violates international law and Constitutional civil liberties guarantees.
What’s a Failed State and Who Decides?
It used to be up to the CIA and World Bank to declare when countries were failed states. Over the last five years Foreign Policy magazine, in conjunction with Fund for Peace, has taken over this responsibility. In 2008 Foreign Policy was bought by the Washington Post, which some of my friends claim has longstanding CIA links. The Fund for Peace is a non-profit organization devoted to “sustainable security.”
Foreign Policy (one of their more interesting issues)
Foreign Policy/Fund for Peace rate potential failed states on twelve criteria: demographics (low life expectancy), refugees, illegitimate government, brain drain, public service, inequality, group grievances, human rights, economic decline, security, factionalized elites (vying for control with legitimate government) and external (military and economic) intervention. Here’s their 2010 failed states index: http://www.fundforpeace.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=452&Itemid=900.
Unsurprisingly, Somalia is at number one. Its failed state status has been well publicized. The proliferation of Somali pirates, which are blamed on the breakdown on the rule of law, have caused massive disruption to global shipping in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere. Chad is at number 2, followed by Sudan, Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Pakistan is number 10, Haiti number 11. Since 2007, the CIA has been predicting that Pakistan would become a failed state by 2015. I find this ironic, given that many Pakistani analysts blame their country’s failure to establish a stable democratic government on fifty years of CIA interference in their internal affairs (see http://www.fascistarmy.org/financed.html).
A Somali pirates montage
The close collaboration between the CIA and Pakistani intelligence (ISI), to finance and train Mujahideen guerrillas to fight the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, became public in 1979. However the CIA has been trying to distance themselves from the ISI since late 2001. After it came out that the head of the ISI had wired $100,000 to one of the 9-11 hijackers.
The Concept of Partially or Semi-Failed State
I myself would tend to put both Pakistan and India much higher on the list. As D. Suba Chandran of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies points out (see http://www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/issue/IB150-Suba-FailingRegions1.pdf), both countries have large geographic areas that are essentially ungovernable. In India these include Jammu and Kashmir in Northeast India and the so-called Red Corridor (plagued by high levels of militant communist activity) in Central/East India.
Likewise the tribal areas in Pakistan refuse to recognize the Pakistani government in Islamabad. In particular Balochistan has a strong Baloach separatist movement, which considers the current Pakistani occupation illegal. The Pentagon openly supports the secession of energy and mineral rich Balochistan from Pakistan – to become a US client state, like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and the other energy and mineral rich former Soviet republics (see http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/11/28/afghanistan-and-the-road-runner/). In fact many Pakistani analysts believe that Pakistan, rather than, Afghanistan is the real target of current US military intervention. Especially in view of China’s intention to use the Chinese-built port in Gwadar, Balochistan to transport Iranian oil and natural gas – via Pakistan and India – to China.
- Free Balochistan (note entire Middle East is redrawn)
In “Postcards from Hell” (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/postcards_from_hell), Elizabeth Dickinson points out that Victorian Britain meets many of the formal criteria of failed statehood. Curiously she doesn’t mention this is also true of the US. It leads me to wonder – given the non-existent recovery, the steady decline of the US dollar, and the loss of America’s manufacturing base – how ordinary Americans will know when their country had well and truly failed as a state. I seriously doubt either Foreign Policy or the Washington Post will tell us.
To be continued with a an eastern European view that the US is a semi-failed state.
22 Comments
This entry is filed under Challenging the Corporate Media, End of Capitalism, The Global Economic Crisis, The Wars in the Middle East, Things That Aren't What They Seem and tagged with baloch separatist movement, balochistan, bp oil spill, chomsky, cia, economic collapse, failed state, foreclosures, foreign policy magazine, fund for peace, gulf stream, gwadar port, india, iran, isi, katrina, new orleans, ocean conveyor belt, pakistan, semi-failed state, somali pirates, unemployment, us client states, washington post.
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I’m wondering if you have noticed how the media has changed? What once seemed like a never discussed issue has become more prevelant. It’s that time to chagnge our stance on this though.
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If US is supporting the Baloch insurgents then its doing a great job. Baloch have suffered a lot over past 6 decades. They have been denied their share in the resources. Gas is extracted from Sui near a place called Dera Bugti. For past 5 decades, the people of Dera Bugti are living without gas. In 2004, when the tribal leader of Bugti tride demanded a share in the gas that is extracted, he was killed. Artillery shells pounded residential areas, you can see it on youtube. Look at that video clip, i am sure you will have no sympathies for Pakistan which has subdued the Balochs for 6 decades. Its not the first ever insurgency, Baloch rose against the state in 1948, 1956, 1962 and 1974. And there insurgencies were brutally crushed. The entire Baloch population has been alienated and the demand for independence is too strong. US or no US support, Pakistan will have a hard time controlling it.
Ali, I have no sympathy whatsoever for what Pakistan is doing to the Baloch separatists.. The problem I have is with the Obama administration lying to the American people about the reasons for the war in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The main reason for the war is not about defeating the Taliban or “terrorism” – the Pentagon continues to pursue the war to protect US access to energy and mineral resources in the area. And the Pentagon seems to believe China will control these resources if Balochistan remains part of Pakistan. Whereas if Balochistan secedes, it is more likely to become a US client state, or at least this is what the Pentagon believes.
Interesting article but alot requires citations and appears to be personal opinions than facts. May be propaganda.e.g
opinion about ISI chief is without quoting any source.
The representative of Tribal area are in Pakistan assembly for last 60 years and they never challenged Pakistan government. If they are living by their own laws under the state what is wrong? Does every US state not has it’s own law.
Yes USA wants separate Balochistan but Balochistan separatist movement is not more than few hundred and most of them are living in Afghanistan, India and Western countries looking for sponsor agencies.
Thanks for your comment, truth seeker. Unfortunately the only personal opinion in this post is the one about the US being a semi-failed state. Pentagon support for Baloch separatists is very real. If you follow my links to prior blogs I have written on this subject, you will find all my sources:
http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/11/28/afghanistan-and-the-road-runner/
http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/09/26/iran-china-and-the-gwadar-port/http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/09/26/iran-china-and-the-gwadar-port/
http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/09/29/balochistan-the-place-to-watch/
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http://totallyfreepress.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/crossing-the-rubicon/
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Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, by Mike Rupert
The attacks of September 11, 2001 were accomplished through an amazing orchestration of logistics and personnel. Crossing the Rubicon discovers and identifies key suspects – finding some of them in the highest echelons of American government – by showing how they acted in concert to guarantee that the attacks produced the desired result.Crossing the Rubicon is unique not only for its case-breaking examination of 9/11, but for the breadth and depth of its world picture – an interdisciplinary analysis of petroleum, geopolitics, narco-traffic, intelligence and militarism – without which 9/11 cannot be understood.
The US manufacturing sector has been mostly replaced by speculation on financial data whose underlying economic reality is a dark secret. Hundreds of billions of dollars in laundered drug money flow through Wall Street each year from opium and coca fields maintained by CIA-sponsored warlords and US-backed covert paramilitary violence. America’s global dominance depends on a continually turning mill of guns, drugs, oil and money. Oil and natural gas – the fuels that make economic growth possible – are subsidized by American military force and foreign lending.
In reality, 9/11 and the resulting “War on Terror” are parts of a massive authoritarian response to an emerging economic crisis of unprecedented scale. Peak Oil – the beginning of the end for our industrial civilization – is driving the elites of American power to implement unthinkably draconian measures of repression, warfare and population control. Crossing the Rubicon is more than a story. It is a map of the perilous terrain through which, together and alone, we are all now making our way.
http://totallyfreepress.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/crossing-the-rubicon/
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