The Greater Middle East Initiative: Regime Chance, Neoliberalism And Us Global Hegemony

Abstract

The Greater Middle East Initiative: Regime Chance, Neoliberalism And Us Global Hegemony

Abstract

The George W. Bush Administration launched the Greater Middle East Initiative GMEI as "a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East" in November 2003. The policy emerged as a central plank in the "vvar on terrorism" just as Operation Iraqi Freedom began to encounter stiff resistance to the US occupation of Iraq. Marketed as a "brand nevv strategy" of "ending autocracy" in the region and bringing democracy to those deprived of freedom, officials clainned the policy vvas designed to "clean up the messy fart of the vvorld." This article argues that the GMEI is not about vvaging democracy in the Middle East, but rather neo-Wilsonian ideological cover for the neoconservative agenda of controlling the entire vvorld by force. On the dravving board, the National Endovvment for Democracy NED and its affiliated organizations, vvorking clandestinely through US private transnational corporations, are to serve as conduits for the imperialist control of local political parties and elections. This vvill allovv for the neoliberal control of the region by US and Israeli capital, help to contain China and Europe through the control of oil, and bolster US capitalist accumulation. Ultimately, the US is certain to fail back on business as usual, supporting local autocracies vvhich serve "US national interests."

Keywords

• Civil society
• democratization
• imperialism
• neoliberalism
• neoWilsonianism
• terrorism
• Turkey