opens with acknowledgment that old-style imperialism is not dead: "It seems inevitable that the United States will soon conduct a full-scale war in Iraq. The US is also engaged in a war on terrorism that may extend to all regions of the globe. And, most importantly, the US has embarked on a foreign policy of "security" that dictates that it not merely react to threats but anticipate them with pre-emptive strikes.
"These military adventures are one sign that the US is fast becoming an imperialist power along the old European model, but on a global scale. It is imposing itself as the active and determining centre of the full range of world affairs, military, political, and economic. All exchanges and decisions are being forced, in effect, to pass through the US."
but goes on to argue that global elites will kill it:
"Once [hardt-negrian] empire is firmly established as the prevailing form of global rule, those who oppose the domination of global elites in the name of equality, freedom, and democracy will certainly find ways to struggle against it. But that does not mean that we prefer [old style retro] imperialism today.
"We can be confident that in the long run their real interests will lead global elites to support empire and refuse any project of US imperialism. In the coming months, and perhaps years, we may face a tragedy that we read about in the darkest periods of human history, when elites are incapable of acting in their own interest."
ok, you lose me at the end, there.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,861942,00.html
j
-- http://www.brainmortgage.com/ "Something's not in orbit in the capital of this galaxy." - Alphaville