Arab Spring to Dawn of Empire

The American Empire is a word left-wing pundits have thrown around loosely since at the very least Vietnam. The economic imperialism which the United States has participated in since the Second World War has produced a soft empire at the beck and call of American interests. American foreign policy determines domestic policy in many countries in the world. This map depicts countries which many believe to be in some way under the thumb of America; they are either reliant on American trade or military.

The countries highlighted may be countries which have an extensive American military presence, hold American military bases or rely on America for trade or security. Since becoming part of the 'soft empire,' some countries have achieved a certain degree of independence from American trade and militarism. Notably Vietnam and Brazil. Bolivia has been tentatively removed from the map, because of significant and largely successful efforts by the current President to move towards independence and Bolivian sovereignty. A cursory glance shows that much of the world is subsumed in the American Empire, far more than the British Empire at the turn of the 20th century. That's not to say it is more powerful, as America does not necessarily have direct authority over these nations; however, it is more stable because it does not appear as Empire to the careless viewer.

People point to the Arab Spring as a time when American influence is declining, mostly because of the ousting of American-backed dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Unfortunately, while Tunisia has made significant strides to determining its own future, it remains to be seen whether or not anything will change in Egyptian-American relations. Either way, these are exceptions to the paradigm. In Libya we saw American-backed rebels oust an anti-American leader. In Algeria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and more we have seen protesters fail to end pro-Western regimes largely with the open satisfaction of the American authorities. Further, it is seeming more and more likely that Syria and Yemen will fall in popular uprising or civil war; these are states which harbour enemies of the United States. It all seems to be leading towards toppling the biggest domino of them all, Iran. With heightened talk once again of a military strike on Iran maybe the United States will finally soon have the regional support it needs.

To the south of the Arab world comes another story of victory for the oppressed or so it seems. South Sudan, oil rich and long in conflict with the Sudanese authorities has seceded in a referendum largely engineered by American authorities. Bill Clinton oversaw the process and now, South Sudan can start exporting oil through Kenya to American oil interests. To secure the region America has already aided Ethiopia and Kenya in strikes against the wayward failed state of Somalia and recently authorities announced that American troops would begin to be stationed in the homophobic, Christian fundamentalist state of Uganda as a landing point for securing American empire in the region. In the end, this has not been a victory for the Nubian people but for the United States. American foreign policy has intelligently engineered the independence of South Sudan and the cooperation of its new neighbours in securing American oil interests.

As protesters of the American Fall protest at home they do not realise the Rise of America that is going on in the rest of the world. The economic downturn, the gap between the rich and the poor, the foreign wars which still rage are distractions from the growing soft empire. It's all moving closer to a confrontation between America and an enemy larger than any since the Second World War.

americanization of Canadians and the generational gap

With this week's election results now firmly in the minds of Canadians we've begun the obligatory period of discussion about the consequences. It seems the only thing we can agree on is that there has been a big change in the Canadian political landscape. Some people are pointing to the "americanization" of Canadian politics as the main driver of this change. This idea assumes that some outside force has imposed American standards of politics on Canadians; however, the true source of this change is much less dubious and potentially more grim. This election has emphasized the americanization of the Canadian people, not of our politics. Specifically, it marks the americanization of Canada's elders revealing a vast and problematic generational split between our youth and our seniors.

As we move through 4 years of conservative majority, we can expect that Canada will come to look more conservative. We can expect that our politics will come to look more American. Consecutive conservative majorities may well lead to a diminished role for the federal government in Canadians' day-to-day lives, which is exactly what our seniors voted for but exactly what youth opposed. What is really going on here is a generational split. En masse baby-boomers voted for a government who would guarantee their pensions but otherwise stay out of their lives. They don't need national childcare, they don't need job security and they don't need interest-rate caps. Seniors seem to just want to be left alone. On the other side, we have a smaller population of youth who are very concerned and opinionated. They have different concerns. Unfortunately, they are not politically active because this long-standing generational split has caused an alienation which is not about to go anywhere.

Throughout consecutive conservative majorities we may see a growing conflict between these two groups, the baby-boomers and youth. As the baby-boomers grow older what we will see is the growth of a populist gerontocracy. As the issues which matter to youth go unheard our country will suffer fundamentally. Some people foolishly say that the youth must now care for the old with our aging population when really we must all care for each other. How can our seniors receive treatment for health problems if students can't go to medical school? How can people afford to take care of sick relatives if they can't afford child-care? Populist appeals to an aging population and a blatant disregard for the needs of Canada's young citizens will end in disaster for all Canadians.

That's not to say elderly voters don't care about youth and youth don't care about the elderly, (youth voted en masse for parties who expressed a strong desire to stimulate our health care system, which should be of primary concern to our aging population but not so much to the healthy youth). Unfortunately, in many cases the issues which affect each group are easily forgotten by the other. What we need is for Canadian's to rise up, not to overthrow a regime, but to make that regime know what our needs are, that regime needs to listen to all of us. It can't be either/or, seniors concerned for their children and grandchildrens future, as well as youth concerned with the health of their grandparents and parents must all make their voices heard to close this generational gap once and for all.