Foreign Policy for the Working Class (Stay At Home #36)

[@steverobertson6068]

Excellent talk in general. The only nitpick I have is how Bessner implicitly frames the ideology of the military-intellectual "blob" as if their beliefs come from deep down inside them. When I was doing my phd in international politics, I probably would have agreed with this constructivist framing. Now, as I know many people who joined the blob in one way or another, I am convinced that it has very very little to do with beliefs. Many people who specialize in international politics simply make the decision to become a careerist, and allow their "beliefs" to reflect whatever is expedient to their career -- in other words, they "believe" in their careers, whatever concepts they come up with are a function of that belief. Some principled people like Bessner can overcome this and get jobs in academia. Some, like me, end up waiting tables and watching Jacobin. Also, public opinion will not save us. Everything is how you frame the question. You can get a majority of Americans to oppose foreign intervention of all kinds, you can get the majority of Americans to support nuclear first-strike against Iran. The Chomskian progressive view will never have the salience of the military-industrial complex. A socialist foreign policy must be vanguardist in this sense.

[@nickyg3244]

My first thought seeing the title was that this would include discussion on trade and its role in imperialism. Possibly a future topic for a video? The limited critique of trade deals from the left tends to focus on "our" workers in the US, Canada etc, leaving out the working class in the Global South who are directly held back often by broader US, EU, WTO trade policy

[@rustyjohnson5018]

Michael Hudson has for many years studied and revealed the links btwn America's military and economic policy. Look into Finance As Warfare or Superimperialism.

[@freewheelinghorn]

good recommendation, thanks 🙏for anyone interested: michael-hudson.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/superimperialism.pdf

[@JoaoSantos-lv4rc]

*trope. Thank you, informative talk. and discussion.