Category Archives: Week 13: War on Terror

The U.S. is seemingly involved in never ending conflict abroad. Although initially explained as a necessary war that was entered in order to combat terrorism, some people, including Andrew Bacevich, don’t find this explanation satisfactory considering how long the conflicts have lasted. Some alternative explanations include individuals such as President Bush himself, oil executives, andContinue reading “The Domestic Origin of Foreign Conflicts”

 The article discusses how we prioritized the safety of our homeland over abroad and how we view events like 9/11. It also gives us an idea of what the Department of Defense was trying to protect us from by creating the Homeland Security Act and its different levels of terrorist acts, so that our peopleContinue reading “The understanding of Freedom at home or abroad. “

The ideology of capitalism so closely followed by the US fosters a culture of mass consumption and production. As the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the US was positioned as the sole global superpower. However, as a result of the Cold War, the US developedContinue reading “Freedom and Empire”

The Iraq War and the general “War on Terror” are often thought of as only combating terrorism, but in reality, that is not the entire case. Sure, on the surface level, that was a goal but there was something else behind this move. Former Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich proposes that this is the case andContinue reading “The Great Liberation”

Andrew Bacevich’s argument is that US foreign policy in the Middle East motive is to sustain American profligacy, and not  to combat terrorism. The American way of life is constructed upon unrestrained material consumption and has a heavy dependence on availability of cheap oil and a smooth international marketplace. Therefore , war is in theContinue reading “profligacy”

Bacevich makes it clear that the actions of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, as threatening as they were, cannot fully explain why the United States finds itself locked in “seemingly never-ending conflict” (Bacevich 14). He alludes to the fact that the root cause isn’t terrorism, it’s Americans. America’s foreign policy is driven by anContinue reading “America Must Look Within: Did You Know the First Act of Terrorism Was a Domestic Attack in Oklahoma?”

George Bush saw the spreading of American freedoms and democracy abroad as “the mission that created our nation,” connecting America’s freedom with empires abroad (18). Immediately after WWII, the United States was at the top, controlling ⅔ of the world’s gold and the most powerful naval and air military force. In many Americans’ eyes, thisContinue reading “Freedom and Foreign Oil”

My first thought to this question: oil, oil, oil, and money, money, money. I was not too far from the truth–at least according to historian Andrew Bacevich. U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is centered around what Bacevich calls the “Global Pax Americana”: the American prerogative to establish and enforce norms governing international order,Continue reading “The Great American Prerogative to Want More, More, More.”

Andrew Bacevich, a Vietnam veteran and former U.S. Army colonel, says that the real reason the U.S. is always fighting wars in the Middle East is not just because of enemies like Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. He says that while these men did bad things, they are not the main reason why AmericaContinue reading “Forever Wars”