Fight the Empire

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Every first and third Wednesday from 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM. 

 

 

Connecting history with the latest world events

We live in an empire that began 500 years ago with the European conquest of the Americas. This program looks at how the empire permeates our lives.

 

What are we doing in the world? What are we doing to the world?

George Kennan was an influential US diplomat during the Cold War years. It was he who devised the containment strategy against the Soviet Union (as opposed to a more aggressive rollback policy). In February 1948 Kennan presented a document to President Truman, Presidential Policy Statement #23, which includes the following:

"The US has  50 percent of the world's wealth, but only 6.3 percent of its population. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which permits us to maintain this position of disparity...To do so we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming, and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives.

"We should cease to talk about vague and unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are hampered by idealistic slogans the better."

Some have claimed that Kennan was speaking as a foreign policy "realist," and arguing against an ideological anti-Communist crusade. That may be so, but his words are clear, as Noam Chomsky has pointed out. The US intends to keep for itself an unfair share of the world's resources. The main difference between the realists and the ideologues is one of tactics in pursuing this ignoble goal.

 

 

 

 

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How does American-style permanent-war resemble the warfare of European monarchs centuries ago?

Airs at: Thu, 05/19/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
Produced for Fight the Empire
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Host Per Fagereng speaks with historian and retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel William J. Astore about his latest TomDispatch post in which he takes up permanent-war, American-style, and its eerie similarity to “enlightened” wars fought by European monarchs centuries ago.... Read more

Wendy Brown: "Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs: The Thrivalist's Guide to Life Without Oil"

Airs at: Thu, 05/05/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
Produced for Fight the Empire
Host Per Fagereng speaks with Wendy Brown, author of Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs: The Thrivalist's Guide to Life Without Oil. In the age of Peak Oil,environmental catastrophe and a failing economy it is imperative that we transform the suburbs into sustainable c... Read more

Recognizing Palestine?

Airs at: Thu, 04/21/2011 at 12:00am
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Per Fagereng discusses an article by Ali Abunimah, "Recognizing Palestine?," which discusses how the Palestinian Authority is attempting to bring about an independent Palestinian state.  Ali Abunimah is the author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestini... Read more

William Pepper on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Airs at: Thu, 04/07/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
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Host Per Fagereng speaks with William Pepper, an American lawyer who practices international human rights law, about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4th, 1968. Pepper was present at Martin Luther King's April 4, 1967 Riverside Church speech in which Ki... Read more

Conn Hallinan on the Irish Economy

Airs at: Thu, 03/17/2011 at 9:00am - 9:30am
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In a special edition of Fight the Empire, Per Fagereng hosts Conn Hallinan, columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus, who talks about the Irish economy. CD-2139 Read more

Ann Jones advocates for increased role for Afghani women

Airs at: Fri, 03/04/2011 at 9:00am - 9:30am
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Host Per Fagereng speaks with writer, reporter, photographer and humanitarian Ann Jones about her article "In Afghanistan, a Woman's Place Is at the Peace Table," which says "Let women play a bigger role in the country's affairs and see what happens to the peace process." ... Read more

Fight the Empire on 03/03/11

Airs at: Thu, 03/03/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
Produced for Fight the Empire
Host Per Fagereng speaks with writer, reporter, photographer and humanitarian Ann Jones about her article "In Afghanistan, a Woman's Place Is at the Peace Table," which says "Let women play a bigger role in the country's affairs and see what happens to the peace process." w... Read more

Fight the Empire on 02/17/11

Airs at: Thu, 02/17/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
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Host Per Fagereng interviews Michael Scheuer about his new book, "Osama Bin Laden." Scheuer is a blogger, historian, foreign policy critic, and veteran of two decades in the ranks of the C.I.A, CD-1765 Read more

Juan Cole discusses his book, "Engaging the Muslim World;" and Egyption uprising

Airs at: Thu, 02/03/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
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Host Per Fagereng speaks with Juan Cole about the current uprising in Egypt and his book Engaging the Muslim World. Juan Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three decades, he has sought to put the relationship of th... Read more

Dr. Nasser Abufarha, author of "The Making of a Human Bomb: An Ethnography of Palestinian Resistance"

Airs at: Thu, 01/20/2011 at 9:30am - 10:00am
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  Host Per Fagereng speaks with Palestinian scholar and social entrepreneur Dr. Nasser Abufarha, author of The Making of a Human Bomb: An Ethnography of Palestinian Resistance (The Cultures and Practice of Violence). Abufarha earned his PhD in Cultural Anthropology and Int... Read more