Surviving Capitalism (Not) : R2P: Imperial Conquest by Another Name

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

R2P: Imperial Conquest by Another Name

A 16:17m video from Global Research TV featuring an interview with Pepe Escobar on how the Empire has misused and corrupted the humanitarian Responsibility to Protect doctrine to serve the interests of the Empire's One Percent. To be sure, all ruling classes will always use some nice sounding pretext to justify the use of violence to protect their interests, but the Empire is now making the most hypocritical use of this doctrine to expand their control over the MENA region.

As the world recovers from one humanitarian peace bombing in Libya, and braces for another possible intervention in Syria, many are now asking how it is that the so-called liberal left have become cheerleaders for the very wars of aggression they once pretended to deride. As long-time investigate reporter Pepe Escobar explains, an obscure international doctrine called Responsibility To Protect or R2P has been the main tool for shaping this new paradigm for the continuation of NATO's imperial power grabs around the world.