Long before WWII ended the United States used its military might, and later the CIA and later still, its economic might to extend hegemonic if not imperialistic tendencies worldwide.
Regardless of how one labels American aggression as merely hegemonic, when we confront the facts on the ground we see that the United States foreign policy clearly falls into one of the two categories—whether for better or worse is a further debate. Consider that according to the Department of Defense, in 2009 the U.S. military presence on foreign soil was comprised of 716 military installations in 130 of the 193 countries in the world. These numbers of course do not include secret CIA interrogation sites. Compare that with Russia’s nine bases on foreign soil (two of which were scheduled to be closed by 1/1/09) in six countries—all of them former Soviet satellites. Or consider again that CIA stations around the globe do not merely collect intelligence, but through a multitude of covert--or otherwise--actions violate the sovereignty of the nations in which they are stationed.
This project will give you the opportunity to scrutinize U.S. military and CIA intervention in one sovereign nation, as well as to share your findings with other student teams who will be researching U.S. intervention in other countries.
" If an American is concerned only about his nation, he will not be concerned about the peoples of Asia, Africa, or South America. Is this not why nations engage in the madness of war without the slightest sense of penitence? Is this not why the murder of a citizen of your own nation is a crime, but the murder of citizens of another nation in war is an act of heroic virtue? "
Introduction
Long before WWII ended the United States used its military might, and later the CIA and later still, its economic might to extend hegemonic if not imperialistic tendencies worldwide.
Regardless of how one labels American aggression as merely hegemonic, when we confront the facts on the ground we see that the United States foreign policy clearly falls into one of the two categories—whether for better or worse is a further debate. Consider that according to the Department of Defense, in 2009 the U.S. military presence on foreign soil was comprised of 716 military installations in 130 of the 193 countries in the world. These numbers of course do not include secret CIA interrogation sites. Compare that with Russia’s nine bases on foreign soil (two of which were scheduled to be closed by 1/1/09) in six countries—all of them former Soviet satellites. Or consider again that CIA stations around the globe do not merely collect intelligence, but through a multitude of covert--or otherwise--actions violate the sovereignty of the nations in which they are stationed.
This project will give you the opportunity to scrutinize U.S. military and CIA intervention in one sovereign nation, as well as to share your findings with other student teams who will be researching U.S. intervention in other countries.
" If an American is concerned only about his nation, he will not be concerned about the peoples of Asia, Africa, or South America. Is this not why nations engage in the madness of war without the slightest sense of penitence? Is this not why the murder of a citizen of your own nation is a crime, but the murder of citizens of another nation in war is an act of heroic virtue? "
Martin Luther King, Jr.