An Inarticulate Imperialism: Dubya, Afghanistan and the American Century

Asserts that the US has developed an especially inarticulate & unintelligent brand of imperialism. US imperialism is earmarked by a designed avoidance of the societies it seeks to dominate. Throughout the 20th century, the ideology of US imperialism distilled down to the idea of containment that precluded the need for complex & articulate thought on the "international social." This notion has been superceded in the post-Cold War period by terrorism. It is contended that terrorism has become one of the primary means by which nation-states contact each other in a time of unprecedented interstate alienation & estrangement; ie, US involvement in Afghanistan. Discussion of the case begins with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in support of the collapsing communist regime & the US containment strategy in the form of clandestine support of antistatist "terrorism." Such a strategy took no account of long-term repercussions. It is noted that the intelligence required to combat the US's new enemy, al Qaeda, is human intelligence; however, a lack of sociality between the two parties inhibits US intelligence efforts. This has a direct impact on the post-9/11 (2001) US response; ie, the US chose a high-tech military intervention in accordance with its Revolution in Military Affairs rather than a police action in Afghanistan. A mimetic spiral of violence is predicted. J. Zendejas