AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): For over half a century, namely since the end of the Second World War that the US was recognized as a global power, Washington has had hands in a majority of crises around the world.
This crisis-creating role showed itself in the form of devastating wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, military coups in Latin America, Asia, and Africa against popular and pro-independence governments, backing for crackdown on pro-democracy movements by pro-Western dictatorships in pre-revolution Iran, Egypt, Bahrain, and elsewhere, stirring political chaos in many countries in Eastern Europe, and even adopting inhumane policy like supporting ISIS terrorist group in Syria and Iraq, and the support for apartheid regimes in South Africa and Israel.
Now the question is that why the US has role in relatively every international crisis? What is the relationship between the global economic and political position of the US and the emergence of international crises and White House policies at the international level?
Regional crises and the US military presence worldwide
Since the end of the WWII, the US adopted a constant policy of military presence across the world. Now in many countries, the US military bases are operating, with Washington legitimizing them under a set of excuses from protecting the freedom of navigation to defending the allies and fighting terrorism.
On the other hand, the effort to strengthen the military presence is not limited to the establishment of military bases, and the country has practically strengthened its military expansion in the world by stirring various wars or moving NATO to the East.
In the meantime, the issue that is always vital for the White House to gain domestic and international legitimacy for military presence is the need for crisis spots globally.
It may be true that some regional crises look inevitable but a look at the US approach as an international interventionist power since the WWII shows that Washington's role is mainly abusive for the good of the American military presence and control of geo-strategically important parts of the world in competition with other powers. In most of the cases, the American intervention only deteriorates the situation. Examples are many: Vietnam War, North Korea nuclear crisis, Taiwan tensions, Afghanistan occupation, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen wars, and lately Ukraine crisis.
In the Ukraine crisis, which has now led to a full-scale war in the Eastern European country, the US is, embarking on a policy of Russophobia to strengthen its toehold near the Russian borders and set up a security encirclement around the country. Over the past years, it deployed to Europe strategic and nuclear weapons. These measures not only made no peace but also led to frictions with Moscow. The start of Ukraine war must be seen as an outcome of the interventionist American policies.
International crises the driving force for capitalism
But in addition to geopolitical and geostrategic issues, a very important issue in understanding why the US political system is crisis-creating and crisis-driven is understanding the American economic infrastructure's bonds to war, crisis, and insecurity worldwide.
The US, as the leader of the capitalist world, owes much of its economic income to the sale of military weapons and equipment to other countries. As a result, to prevent the bankruptcy of arms companies, the US government's domestic and foreign policies are based on focusing on global crises. Washington provides billions of dollars in weapons and military services to its allies around the world each year. According to official reports released by the US government, US military arms sales in 2020 touched $175 billion. In addition to economic revenues, these arms deals are also expanding US influence internationally.
Military presence even serves the US energy policy. In Ukraine crisis for example, the Americans are playing a role to sell their weapons on the one hand and take the Russian place in the European energy markets on the other hand.
Crisis-generating, the US cultural hegemony's instrument
From another aspect, it is important to note that the other side of the Western and American cultural hegemony that grows under beautiful concepts like freedom, democracy, economic growth, human rights, and fight against terrorism is certainly the necessity of existence of crisis in non-Western cultural communities. In fact, cultural dominance as a less costly and less resistance-provoking way requires distortion of the values and de-identification of non-Western cultures. This process shows itself in the form of cultural self-esteemlessness in non-Western communities and paves the way for attraction to Western cultural and values.
This has been pursued for decades by Westerners, especially the US, using media and economic power and technological capabilities in Asian and African societies. The best way to counter the Islamic culture is, according to the Western strategy, generating crises across the Muslim civilization area and using them to feed anti-Islamic propaganda and Islamophobia. The CIA and Mossad roles in emergence of such takfiri and terrorist organizations as Al-Qaeda and ISIS in the Muslim countries are examples of this Western strategy. Rise of these organizations has so far generated various crises in West Asia and North Africa, affecting peace in these regions.
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