Posts tagged : "U.S. foreign policy"

  Kourosh Ziabari - The United States claims that Iran is after developing nuclear weapons, and has been repeating this allegation for nearly one decade. Although it has constantly failed to confirm its claims by presenting reliable and valid evidences and witnesses, it has imposed hard-hitting economic sanctions against Iran which have taken a heavy toll on the ordinary Iranian citizens, but interestingly haven’t demoralized them or undermined their solidarity and resistance. Hundreds of academicians, peace activists, journalists, media personalities, authors and thinkers have admitted that these sanctions are criminal and tantamount to a gross violation of human rights, but the United States officials have been relentlessly...

  Kourosh Ziabari - To get a clear insight of where the US Empire is headed to, one needs to study and explore the viewpoints of different scholars, thinkers, academicians and researchers who have looked into the political, economic, cultural and social aspects of the American life and its prospects. Why do some people in the developing world think of the United States as a dreamland in which all of their aspirations can be realized, and why do a number of scholars inside the United States believe that Washington has established a rogue police state which does not conform to any of the standards, ambitions and objectives of the Founding Fathers who wanted to make the United States a symbol of democracy and freedom? These are the...

Kourosh Ziabari - The American physician and peace activist Dahlia Wasfi believes that the U.S. government has hypocritically turned a blind eye to the suffering of the people of Bahrain under the oppression and crackdown by the Al Khalifa regime, while using the unrest in Syria to Balkanize and disintegrate the country and further its agenda for the Greater Middle East. “I think my government wins the contest for whose country’s politicians use double standards the most. US leaders turn a blind eye to the violent repression of protesters by the Al Khalifa regime because Manama, Bahrain hosts the headquarters to the US Fifth Naval Fleet and US Naval Forces Central Command. As long as the American agenda is being served, American...

  Kourosh Ziabari - It’s an almost undeniable fact that the political power which constitutes the basis of American hegemony is predominantly hinged on the economic superiority and affluence of the nation. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United States receives the highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) among the world countries and this means that it has successfully absorbed an enormous amount of capital and resources from the other parts of the world and utilized them for the sake of its own wellbeing and prosperity. But the bitter reality for the United States is that the late-2000 economic recession, coupled with the aggressive foreign policy of subsequent administrations,...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Is military prowess and political dominance everlasting and eternal? The answer is certainly a big “no”, regardless of which power we are talking about. A brief study of the geopolitical developments of the past few centuries indicate that even the largest and most prosperous nations failed to survive in the face of social and cultural waves that have swept away their military and political dominance and hegemony. Missiles, nuclear bombs and numerous colonies couldn’t save the deceased empires of our time, and they cannot do so in the future, as well. But what happens to our world if today’s number one superpower which has an almost unchallenged and matchless economic, political and military supremacy...

  Kourosh Ziabari - The assumption that the United States is experiencing a political decline and its economic and military power is also on the wane has many proponents and critics. Many academicians argue that the United States has been facing a serious political downfall following the World War II and it cannot exert influence over so many countries as the world nations have woken up to the urgent need for a structural revision of their relations and interactions with the United States as a hegemon, and don’t tolerate its absolute and uncontested dominance anymore. These thinkers believe that the U.S. has also undergone economic setbacks, especially following the late-2000s economic crisis. However, there is another group...

  Kourosh Ziabari - The fact that new contenders have been challenging the economic and political absolutism of the United States for several decades is almost clear to all of those who have been closely monitoring the developments of the American society and the U.S. foreign policy. Japan has risen from the ashes of the World War II, has consigned to oblivion the deadly atomic bombardments of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and is now featuring itself as one of the world’s largest economic powers. China has made such enormous economic progress that is predicted to surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy no later than 2020. Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey and Iran, among a number of other countries are also...

  Kourosh Ziabari - The concept of imperialism and the issue of the global political, economic and cultural dominance and hegemony of the United States are complicated and subtle questions which should be dealt with carefully and eruditely. It’s not possible to tackle this issue in a disorganized and incompetent manner. It should be noted that the hegemony of the United States has to be studied in terms of its military, political, social, cultural, industrial and media aspects and all of these aspects need elaborate and detailed discussions to be completely clarified, both to the academics and the public. Following the conclusion of the World War II, the phenomenon of the plurality of political powers started to emerge...

Kourosh Ziabari - Today, most of the international relations analysts and experts consider China as the world’s second political and economic power after the United States. China came second in the International Monetary Fund’s 2011 ranking of countries by GDP (nominal) and is one of the main producers of agricultural products, industrial commodities and the world’s number one exporter of goods to other nations. China is also the United States’ first trading partner and at the same time, it’s major economic and political competitor. The politics of China are thoroughly complicated and in most cases, incomprehensible. National interests define the limits of China’s foreign policy while some traces of opposition to the Western...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Today even the most optimistic advocates of the U.S. foreign policy are confessing that the aggressive attitude of the consecutive U.S. administrations in the recent decades have contributed to the weakening and undermining of the American Empire, portraying a detestable image of the cultural hallmarks, lifestyle and socioeconomic values of the United States. In Iran Review, we have started a project to discuss the issue of the future of U.S. Empire and the survival of imperialism with the world’s renowned political scientists and public intellectuals. We reflect the viewpoints and ideas of world’s academics regarding the decline of the U.S. Empire, and whether they agree or disagree with these...

Kourosh Ziabari - Just a few hours before the midnight deadline of May 26, 2011, the US President Barack Obama signed a 4-year extension of the controversial USA Patriot Act to prove that his strategic plans are not significantly different from those of his hawkish predecessor, George W. Bush, who showed to the international community the real face of the American democracy with his warmongering policies. Patriot Act is an Act of the US Congress which allows private security firms under the supervision of the government to monitor and search American citizens' phone conversations, email communications, medical, financial and official records to discover potential terrorism-related threats and foil the probable plots which can jeopardize...

Kourosh Ziabari - Mark Glenn is an American journalist and radio host based in Washington D.C. He runs the Ugly Truth radio show which features interviews with political activists, journalists, academicians and informed people who talk about the most important political developments of the world, and especially the Middle East. The Ugly Truth radio show has some co-hosts such as the Palestinian journalist Sammi Ibrahem. Mark Glenn is a staunch supporter of Iran and has dedicated many of his radio programs to the Iran affairs, including Iranian culture, lifestyle and civilization, the media propaganda campaign of the United States and Israel on Iran, the war threats of the same countries against Iran and the terrorist operations of MKO,...