Marshall dissects recent and near past events in Tunisia in the context of global capitalist forces under the leadership of the US ruling class. The importance of the article is not simply to understand what is happening in Tunisia, but the strategies being employed by the Empire throughout the Middle East and North Africa to make that oil and mineral rich area secure for the capitalist Empire. Marshall has given us an excellent case study.
He first examines the published statements emanating from capitalist think tanks followed later by actual events on the ground. Earlier statements seemed much more candid, but more recent statements appear to be dressed up in Orwellian Newspeak. Take for example, the 2005 report issued by one of the top think tanks, the Council on Foreign Relations, entitled "In Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How" in which the authors stated, "democracy and freedom have become a priority" of US foreign policy in the region. By examining the evidence one is able to see how the formal, public statements of capitalist academics are translated into action.
Let us examine the evidence Marshall and others have provided about the events on the ground. First, police repression including severe human rights abuses continued without interruption from the previous regime to the present after elections. Second, adverse economic conditions continue, and in many ways, are worse than before the "revolution". Third, organized gangs are appearing on the streets and engaging in violent attacks on protestors and union leaders, including an assassination of a major opposition figure. Fourth:
The Obama administration sought to contribute to the “stability” of the new regime in Tunisia by providing $32 million in military aid from January of 2011 to spring of 2012. An American General and head of the U.S. Africom (Africa Command) noted that on top of the military aid, the United States was continuing to train Tunisian soldiers, having already trained 4,000 in the previous decade.It's clear that the more recent rhetoric used by Western think tanks is Orwellian Newspeak and must be translated into reality-speak. To do this, I think one must work back from the events on the ground to see what they really mean. Marshall's interpretation is very helpful in this process.
So, how do we translate their Newspeak about "democracy and freedom have become a priority"? It's obvious that such statements come with some major qualifications. The Council on Foreign Relation's paper provides some hints. "First, does a policy of promoting democracy serve U.S. interests and foreign policy goals? Second, if so, how should the United States implement such a policy, taking into account the full range of its interests?" It's clear that what they mean by "democracy" are elections managed by their operatives or friendly indigenous surrogates. What they mean by "freedom" and "full range of its interests" are the freedom of capitalists to secure and exploit properties in other countries, to move their currencies without restrictions, to allow US military bases on their territory, and to cooperate with US policy makers and operatives.
Translating capitalist Newspeak is very important especially for people living in the US who are daily bombarded by this language; the result being, that most Americans are extremely confused as to what
