The collapse of the Soviet Union unleashed a new era of unchecked American unilateralism, driven by neo-conservative ideology that views the U.S. as uniquely entitled to global dominance.
This ideology has had devastating consequences, including wars, humanitarian crises, and damaged international reputation, making the U.S. widely disliked globally.
President Trump and the current American administration now reverses this ideology, returning to a focus on rebuilding America domestically and strengthen the Western hemisphere.
Paul Craig Roberts interview: In this exclusive interview with The Herland Report, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, chairman of the Institute for Political Economy and a former Wall Street editor, provides a critical analysis of the neo-con U.S. foreign policy from the late 1980s and the ideological shifts that have shaped it since the end of the Cold War. His insights focus on the removal of geopolitical constraints following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of neoconservative ideology, and the resulting consequences for America and global stability.
He examines the close alliance between neoconservatives and Israel, which has shaped much of U.S. Middle East foreign policy, often at the expense of regional stability during the neo-con years in American politics.
Domestically, the combination of neoconservative foreign policy and divisive identity politics presents significant challenges, compounded by a media environment controlled by a few powerful interests.
Paul Craig Roberts interview: Dr. Roberts emphasizes the collapse of the Soviet Union as the worst event in his lifetime for both the United States and the world. This event removed the only significant check on American unilateralism, enabling Washington to act without meaningful restraint globally.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union acted as a counterbalance to U.S. dominance, limiting its ability to bully other nations beyond certain spheres of influence like South America (except Cuba), Western Europe, and Japan. Its absence allowed the U.S. to pursue hegemonic policies unchallenged.
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Paul Craig Roberts interview: The neoconservative belief system, rising prominently from the Reagan administration but fully dominant from the Clinton era onward, is based on the premise that the United States is the “indispensable” and “exceptional” country. This ideology implies global hegemony with other nations considered dispensable or unexceptional, a mindset likened to a claim of being “God’s chosen people.”
Dr. Roberts says: – The are several terrible things that have happened to the United States. The worst thing that have happened in my lifetime was the collapse of the Soviet Union. This was absolutely the worst thing. Not only for the United States, but for the entire world, because it removed the only constraint on American unilateralism.
As long as the Soviet Union was there, there was a limit to Washington and its ability to bully and dominate. It could do it in South America, excluding Cuba, it could do it in Western Europe and of course it had firm control of Japan. Yet, most of the world was immune to this kind of bullying because the Soviet Union was there as an alternative. It could check American unilateralism. Both sides pretty much knew where the line was.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the constraint on American unilateralism disappeared. It was down to nothing to constrain Washington’s power and its hegemony. This happened right at the time when a new ideology in the United States was rising up: The ideology of the neoconservatives.
Paul Craig Roberts interview: The neoconservatives’ ideology is that America is a indispensable country. It is the exceptional country.
What does it mean when you say that? If the United States is indispensable then it means everyone else are dispensable.
If the United States is exceptional, then everyone else are unexceptional. It’s a claim to hegemony over mankind.”
The Clinton administration saw neoconservatives influence sanctions on Iraq, resulting in high civilian casualties, including the death of 500,000 Iraqi children, which was callously defended by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Under George W. Bush, neoconservatives, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, dominated government, orchestrating the 9/11 aftermath, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a broader campaign of global military interventions.
The military-security complex, including intelligence agencies, wields significant power by controlling narratives and fabricating justifications for interventions under the veil of national security, often without transparent evidence.
The neoconservatives have had strong ties with Israel, influencing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. The U.S. pressures Syria and Iran because they support Hezbollah, which has twice repelled Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon. Israeli strategic aims include gaining control over southern Lebanon’s water resources and containing Iranian and Syrian influence. Media narratives attacking Iran are largely Israeli-inspired.
Paul Craig Roberts interview: The pro-Israel lobby is described as extraordinarily powerful, frequently ensuring near-unanimous congressional support for its interests. This contributes to American foreign policy decisions that align closely with Israeli goals.
Dr. Roberts identifies two dominant, destructive internal ideologies: Neoconservative foreign policy ideology promoting American hegemony and identity politics ideology, which also fragments and weakens the country internally. The combination of these ideologies creates a challenging environment for effective governance.
The mainstream media, concentrated in the hands of a few corporations and influenced by powerful lobbies, acts as a conduit for government and elite narratives, limiting independent journalism and critical scrutiny.
Watch the interview here.
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Led by Scandinavian bestselling author, Hanne Nabintu Herland, The Herland Report provides independent analysis from leading Western intellectuals and ground breaking Podcasts and YouTube interviews, cutting through the mainstream media rhetoric. It is a great place to watch interviews and read the articles of leading intellectuals, thought leaders, authors and activists from across the political spectrum. The Herland Report believes in freedom of speech and its editorial policy resides above the traditional Left vs Right paradigm which we believe has lost its relevance and ability to describe the current driving forces in Western politics.
