the tindog coffeehouse

In a blog post a couple of days ago about Honduras, I mentioned a book by John Perkins called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.  Coincidentally, that same day it was announced that Robert McNamara, the former defense secretary in the Kennedy administration and a key figure in the book, had died.  It’s funny to think how McNamara is related to the events unfolding in Honduras, as well as the ongoing protests in Iran.

Confessions centers around Perkins’ career as an “economic hit man” in the ’70s and ’80s, a position whereby governments in underdeveloped nations were made to accept massive loans from organizations such as the World Bank for infrastructure improvements and other public service projects.  Once in debt, those nations would then be willing to accept contracts with American companies, who would exploit the countries’ natural resources for their own gain.  Such nations would also become politically indebted to the U.S., thus furthering American political influence around the world during the Cold War.

Robert McNamara is remembered by most for his contributions to the Vietnam War, but according to the book, he played a major role in this expansion of the U.S. “corporatocracy” as well:

McNamara was a frequent visitor to our discussion groups — in absentia, of course.  We all knew about his meteoric rise to fame, from manager of planning and financial analysis at Fort Motor Company in 1949 to Ford’s president in 1960, the first company head selected from outside the Ford family.  Shortly after that, Kennedy appointed him secretary of defense. …

As we sat around the table discussing world events, we were especially fascinated by McNamara’s role as president of the World Bank, a job he accepted soon after leaving his post as secretary of defense.  Most of my friends focused on the fact that he symbolized what was popularly known as the military-industrial complex.  He had held the top position in a major corporation, in a government cabinet, and now at the most powerful bank in the world.  Such an apparent breach in the separation of powers horrified many of them; I may have been the only one among us who was not in the least surprised.

I see now that Robert McNamara’s greatest and most sinister contribution to history was to jockey the World Bank into becoming an agent of global empire on a scale never before witnessed.

As Perkins points out, this process of economic empire-building began in 1953, when the U.S. organized a coup to oust Iran’s prime minister and replace him with the Western-friendly Shah.  In 1979 the Shah’s reign ended with the Iranian Revolution and the appointment of the anti-American Ayatollah Kohmeini.  Today the massive “Green Revolution” protests in Tehran and the growing threat of Iranian nuclear weapons are direct descendants of those earlier events.

The current crisis in Honduras is also at least indirectly related to the empire-building described in Confessions.  American foreign policy relating to Central and South America during the Cold War was driven by the desire to not only extend our economic influence over the region but also our political influence, a clear extension of the Monroe Doctrine.  As such, Marxist revolutions such as the ones in Cuba, Nicaragua, and El Salvador became direct threats to the U.S. and our economic interests.  If ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya had gotten his way, he likely would’ve led that nation down the same anti-American path as Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

In my earlier blog post, I quoted Roger Noriega, the former assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, in his argument for removing Zelaya.  Such a position, it could be argued, stems from a vision of Latin America eerily reminiscent of the corporatocracy described by Perkins.

According to Tom Barry at the International Relations Center:

In a February 2006 report entitled “Two Visions of Energy in the Americas,” Noriega warns Latin American and Caribbean countries against going down the path of energy outlaws who violate the laws of the free market—pointing to Venezuela and Bolivia.  In his essay, Noriega advocates that corporations and governments “can and should work together to foster genuine growth and development in the hemisphere that serves both the bottom line and the moral imperative of helping raise millions out of poverty through the sound stewardship of natural resources.” …

What is more, Noriega encourages “Western energy companies” to “use their capital and technical expertise as levers to encourage countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to adopt clear and fair policies that make investments safe and sound.”  Noriega rightly notes that there is political sentiment in Latin America and the Caribbean that represents a “setback for market principles” and constitutes a “vision of energy in the Americas” that may run counter to the expectations and interests of the United States and U.S. energy corporations.

Another example of Robert McNamara’s legacy as it relates to Iran and Honduras is the Iran-Contra scandal which became public in 1986.  Through complex covert operations, the U.S. sold arms to anti-Khomeini forces in Iran and then used the money from those sales to fund anti-Sandinista forces in Nicaragua, with Honduras serving as a base of operations for the CIA.

My point is, these various events occurring around the world today are not isolated events.  History doesn’t exist in a bubble.  The consequences of decades-old decisions are still feeling felt today, just as today’s decisions will have consequences for decades more to come.  While I don’t think we should necessarily continue the Cold War-era empire-building described in John Perkins’ book, I don’t think it’s wise to fully retreat from those policies either, as the results of kowtowing to despots like Chavez, Kim Jong-Il, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be disastrous.

Instead, I agree with George Santayana: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Previously:
Choosing sides in Honduras
Obama and the end of the Monroe Doctrine