american power & the world

The period since 9/11 has renewed global debate about the nature of United States power and influence in a world being transformed by globalisation. openDemocracy writers - American and non-American - bring fresh perspectives to bear on the Iraq war, the question of empire, unilateralism, the "end of history", neo-conservatism, and foreign policy under and after George W Bush
Thursday 9th February

Colombia, a state of flux

Adam Isacson, 9 February 2012
A decade of violence and insecurity has deeply marked Colombia's society, politics and institutions. For Colombia to move on, its beleaguered yet independent justice system will have a vital role to play, says Adam Isacson.

The Arab revolts in year two

Volker Perthes, 9 February 2012
The uprisings across the Arab world are becoming more complex and variable as they enter their second year. This makes it all the more important to identify their main dynamics, says Volker Perthes.
Monday 23rd January

America's social security: reforming a giant

Matt Kennard, 23 January 2012
The cost of the United States's trillion-dollar pension system is high on the presidential-election agenda. But turning problems into workable proposals is hard, reports Matt Kennard.
Friday 20th January

The thirty-year war: past, present, future

Paul Rogers, 20 January 2012
The prognosis of a thirty-year war looked outlandish as Saddam's regime toppled, persuasive as Iraq's insurgency erupted - and now less plausible amid American forces' retreat. But two core issues continue to give it life.
Thursday 19th January

Sanctioning Iranian oil

Reyhaneh Noshiravani, 19 January 2012
With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

Thinking about war with Iran

Michael Doliner, 19 January 2012
The real Iranian threat is not its nuclear capacity but its independence. If Iran continues to stand as a model of defiance for increasingly poverty-stricken and restless populations of family fiefdoms in the Gulf, the current US-backed setups will either fall or be forced to democratise. These potentially catastrophic losses of empire go a long way to explaining the rising beat of war drums in the region.
Monday 19th December

Pakistan: next in line?

Shazad Ali, 19 December 2011
After Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has now turned its belligerent attention towards Pakistan. But opening up a new battlefront, this time in Pakistan, in the run-up to the presidential elections, will prove another quagmire for the Obama administration.
Wednesday 23rd November

American leadership, and a system failure

Godfrey Hodgson, 23 November 2011
The combination of a faded president, discredited rivals, and a dysfunctional political system spells trouble for the United States - at home and in the world, says Godfrey Hodgson.
Monday 3rd October

America against the tide

Godfrey Hodgson, 3 October 2011
The United States's capacity to build alliances and extend influence was once founded on confidence that history was on its side. No longer, says Godfrey Hodgson.
Sunday 11th September

The two 9/11s: Chile and the United States

Patricio Navia, 11 September 2011
The coup of 1973 and the attacks of 2001 were very different in character. But the contrast in the responses of Chile and America to their respective national traumas is instructive, says Patricio Navia.
Saturday 10th September

9/11: more security, less secure

Cas Mudde, 10 September 2011
The world has been changed by the securitisation of everyday life and the Islamisation of security. The accompanying threat-complex has shifted American sensibilities, says Cas Mudde. 

9/11: a perfect pretext, a terrible legacy

Mariano Aguirre, 10 September 2011
The tragedy of 11 September 2001 was used by authoritarian forces in the United States as a political opportunity. The ensuing damage to liberty, legality and democracy has been deep, says Mariano Aguirre
Friday 9th September

America after 9/11: the wrong target

Rein Müllerson, 9 September 2011
A flawed response to terrorism on its soil brought the United States low. The lessons are also for the rest of the world to learn, says Rein Müllerson.
Thursday 8th September

9/11, and the lost decade

Paul Rogers, 8 September 2011
What are the principal lessons of the ten years of war since the 11 September 2001 attacks? Paul Rogers, whose first openDemocracy column was published a few days after 9/11, responds to three questions.
Wednesday 7th September

The mutilated world: 9/11 in Poland

Adam Szostkiewicz, 7 September 2011
The intense Polish empathy with America of the days after 11 September 2001 drew on an enduring connection. But there are signs of change, says Adam Szostkiewicz.

9/11: the identity-politics trap

Sami Zubaida, 7 September 2011
The reaction to the attacks of 11 September 2001 included an instinctive veneration of their chief architect. Its deeper foundation is a regressive and widespread ethno-religious view of the world, says Sami Zubaida.

9/11, ten years on: reflections

David Hayes, 7 September 2011
A terror-filled day of mass murder in the eastern United States imprinted itself on the world's consciousness - and became the prelude to a decade of further violence. openDemocracy writers reflect on the impact and legacy of the events of 11 September 2001.

After 9/11: a painful lesson

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, 7 September 2011
The inspiring Arab protesters of 2011 bring hope that the tragic cycle of animosity opened by 9/11 can end, says Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi.

After 9/11: the ripples of global violence

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, 7 September 2011
The postmodern terror of 11 September 2001 unleashed a decade of catastrophic war. A decade's accounting includes both numberless victims and some unlikely beneficiaries, says Arshin Adib-Moghaddam.

9/11: the memory of violence

Madawi Al-Rasheed, 7 September 2011
The atrocity of 11 September 2001 entrenched an imaginary polarisation between “the west and the rest” - and buried a deeper reality that is only now emerging to light, says Madawi al-Rasheed.
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