Walter Benjamin once observed, “There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.” His insight points to the violent and bloody foundations upon which modern civilization was built: great monuments, cities, palaces, and fortifications often rose on the backs of slave labor, wars, and exploitation.
In the summer 2004, I faced a critical decision: whether to join the U.S. government as an intelligence analyst or continue my path in academia. After careful consideration, I chose the latter. I believed then—as I do now—that I could contribute more effectively to my country outside the constraints of government bureaucracy.
Twenty years of US neglect have created space for adversaries to build permanent footholds in the Western Hemisphere. Iran and other adversaries are quietly building an operational network in America’s backyard, one that sanctions alone cannot dismantle.
The writer, a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University, was a chief of emergency of the Red Cross in East Beirut during Lebanon’s civil war and a project manager of the US State Department-funded Iraq Research an a discursive look at the myriad of statements on Israel’s war with Iran issued across social media reveals the extent to which the Jewish state has been criticized or vilified for attacking Iran.
Denying authorization to Chevron and other American oil companies in Venezuela will only create a vacuum that will be filled by countries hostile to the United States.
