Empire, Response, and the Bolivarian Revolution

© Richard K. Moore, 2006, rkm@quaylargo.com (1480 words)

Published in Cutting Edge magazine, Nov. 2006

We are living in a very special moment in history. After 4,000 years of ever-expanding kingdoms and empires, we have finally reached the stage where a single hierarchical regime is preparing to bring the entire global civilization under its centralized control. The United States provides the primary military muscle of this regime, but it would be a mistake to call this an American empire, in the same sense that we refer to the earlier British or Roman empires. It would be more accurate to refer to this emerging regime as a Capitalist Empire, a pyramid of global control ruled by an international financial elite with global sensibilities and perspectives.

The geopolitical architecture of Empire is spelled out by Samuel P. Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order[1]. Under this scheme, the world is to be partitioned along ethnic lines into nine regions, what Huntington refers to as “civilizations.” Each region is to have its own designated core state, dominant in its region, while the U.S. retains its status as lone superpower. In this way ultimate military control can be centralized, while at the same time the day-to-day burden (and cost) of imperial management can be shifted off to the regional core states. Huntington’s Clash model emphasizes ‘incompatible cultures’ among the various ‘civilizations’, facilitating a divide and rule approach to keeping the regions under control. We can see this scheme in action as we watch the anti-Muslim propaganda campaign being used to achieve acquiescence among Western populations for an attack on Iran and Syria.

While this basic architecture is designed to maintain global order, the real business of Empire is to be carried out by global corporations, as one would expect in a capitalist empire. The World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, and the IMF form the apex of a system of hierarchical economic governance, under the control of the same financial elites, and operating in conjunction with the geopolitical system. While the core-state hierarchy deals with macro-management of empire, the WTO hierarchy enables micro-management of local societies, a process we can see already highly developed in much of the third world[2]. The primary role of national governments under this regime will amount to little more than internal policing: maintaining control over their populations and protecting the ‘rights’ of corporations.

There are only two nations in the world—China and Russia—that have both the means and the will to credibly challenge the establishment of this global regime. The Imperial strategy for countering this challenge begins with a process of encirclement, as we can see already in Afghanistan and Iraq, and as is spelled out in a document published by the Project for a New American Century[3]. China and Russia are responding vigorously to this program of encirclement, by rapidly upgrading their military capabilities, and by the creation of a formidable counter alliance[4]. While Empire prepares itself for a nuclear first-strike[5], its imperial adversaries are urgently preparing a defense based on asymmetric warfare[6].

As regards the welfare of the people of the world, and apart from the immediate destructiveness of nuclear war, the outcome of the conflict between Empire and the Sino-Soviet bloc is of little consequence. Regardless of whether we enter a phase of multi-polar power or a phase of Empire, humanity will still be facing an immanent crisis of survival, due to the environmental destructiveness and exploitive practices of all modern industrialized states. While the Sino-Soviet bloc represents one response to Empire, the more promising response, in the long run, is represented by Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and the Bolivarian Revolution[7].

Chavez is one of those leaders who embody exactly what is needed at a particular moment of history, as we might say of Gandhi or of Martin Luther King. Backed up by immense oil reserves[8], at a time of high oil prices, he is taking effective action on several fronts. Geopolitically, he is making oil deals with China, arms deals with Russia[9], and generally doing what he can to watch his back as regards U.S. designs to assassinate him[10] and to intervene in Venezuelan affairs[11]. Far from being a dictator afraid of his own people, he is distributing small arms to ordinary people, so that they can defend themselves guerilla style in the event of a U.S. invasion or Contra-style terrorism[12].

On the Latin American front, Chavez is encouraging mutual-benefit alliances and trade arrangements[13], making credit available to help break the stranglehold of IMF indebtedness, and generally striving to counter the forces of neoliberal globalization[14]. As a voice in the international community, Chavez is telling it like it is like no other leader on the world stage[15], and he is campaigning for an upcoming seat on the Security Council. His homey style, honesty, and pugnacity bring a unique breath of fresh air to otherwise dry and oppressive international forums. He is even creating a major news network, to undermine the stranglehold of the global corporate media (Reuters, CNN, et al) in Latin America[16].

Chavez’ most remarkable initiatives, however, are internal to Venezuela, as he seeks to deal with Venezuela’s economic problems through grassroots programs—by establishing a society based on participatory democracy.[17] His primary opposition in this program of grassroots empowerment comes not from covert interventions or other external pressures, but from his own government’s bureaucratic sluggishness, and its traditional ties to established business interests. And here we can begin to understand how truly radical is the Bolivarian Revolution: it is not only a response to Empire—it is a response to hierarchy itself. Empire is the final stage in the four-millennia-long evolution of hierarchy. The Bolivarian Revolution represents a democratic response to that whole evolutionary path.

Like Gandhi and King before him, Chavez’ initiatives are unfortunately as fragile as his own heartbeat. Without his personal leadership it is likely that Venezuela would revert to politics as usual. As the effectiveness of his initiatives continues to grow, we can only assume that the likelihood of an assassination attempt grows as well. While his example is still before us, we have an opportunity to learn from the Venezuelan experience and to seek our own paths to empowerment. The Bolivarian Revolution is everyone’s revolution. Venezuela is simply leading the way.

We can already see the spirit of the Bolivarian Revolution spreading to Bolivia, as President Morales undertakes his own initiatives to undermine the hegemony of neoliberal globalization.[18] Throughout Latin America circumstances are similar to those in Venezuela, and as Chavez’ successes continue to mount, that is likely to inspire others throughout the hemisphere. For us in the more ‘prosperous’ nations, however, the relevance of the Bolivarian Revolution is unfortunately less obvious. There are many of us in the global North who express solidarity with the Venezuelan cause, but few who think in terms of applying its lessons to our own situations.

Our civilization is like a ship that is steaming downstream toward a waterfall. Humanity can only be saved if the ship is turned around and headed full steam in the opposite direction. The wealthy elites who are at the helm have no intention of turning the ship around. They are fully committed to their capitalist system and they know they and their friends will come out just fine when economic collapse and global famine arrive. The only ones who can turn the ship around are us, We the People. We can only accomplish this by establishing real democracies, by learning to govern ourselves. Self-governance begins at the grassroots, and the Bolivarian Revolution is showing us how grassroots empowerment can be pursued.

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.

—Frances Moore Lappé, Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Richard Moore is an American writer living and working in Ireland. Over the past ten years he has published dozens of articles in magazines around the world and has been moderating the online cyberjournal forum. He is the author of Escaping the Matrix: how We the People can change the world (http://escapingthematrix.org), published by The Cyberjournal Project.

“A brilliant historical expose of democracy as a smokescreen for continuing elite rule, followed by the most sensible ways to create it nevertheless. Couldn't be more timely or important.”


—Elisabet Sahtouris, author, EarthDance: Living Systems in Evolution

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[1] Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. A Touchstone Book. London: Simon and Schuster, 1997.

[2] The Globalization of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, by Michel Chossudovsky. Second Edition. Shanty Bay, Ont.: Global Outlook, 2003.

[3] Project for a New American Century, Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century. Washington, D. C., September, 2000, http://newamericancentury.org/publicationsreports.htm.

[4] William Engdahl, “USA's 'geopolitical nightmare' and Eurasian strategic energy arrangements”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1138&lists=newslog.

[5] Wikipedia, “Strategic Defense Initiative”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative.

[6] Victor  N. Corpus, “The ‘Assassin's Mace’: A Worst-case Scenario for the New American Century”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1133& lists=newslog

[7] “VENEZUELA: Building socialism — an interview with Marta Harnecker”, http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/646/646p12.htm

[8] “Chavez: Venezuela has largest oil reserves in the world”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=688& lists=newslog

[9] “Venezuela military cooperation with Russia”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1289&lists=newslog

[10] “CIA and FBI Plan to Assassinate Hugo Chávez”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=994&lists=newslog

[11] “Documentary proof of CIA involvement in Venezuela coup”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=375&lists=newslog

[12] “Women and Jobless Armed by Chavez to Resist ‘US Invasion’", http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1096&lists=newslog

[13] “Petro Wars: Brazil & Venezuela join forces”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=691& lists=newslog

[14] “Venezuela moves reserve funds from U.S. to Europe”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=634&lists=newslog

[15] “Chavez at UN: ‘Rise Up Against the Empire,", http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1807&lists=newslog

[16] “Venezuela Announces News Agency”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1845&lists=newslog

[17] “Venezuela shows the way to real democracy”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1759&lists=newslog

[18] “Bolivia dismantling neoliberal policies!”, http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?id=1295&lists=newslog