American Way: Stories of Invasion

The US's bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaos at Kabul Airport have led to speculation about an end of empire moment. However, it is important to remember the US's long history of war, occupation, and political interference, which has had a devastating human cost. This anthology explores the human cost of these interventions on foreign soil, with stories by writers from that soil and testimonies from expert historians. The book aims to bring some clarity to this history, presenting it from indigenous, grassroots perspectives.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 528 pages
\n Publication date: 05 August 2021
\n Publisher: Comma Press
\n

Following the US's bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the scenes of chaos at Kabul Airport, we could be forgiven for thinking we're experiencing an "end of empire" moment, that the US is entering a new, less belligerent era in its foreign policy, and that its tenure as self-appointed "global policeman" is coming to an end. Before we get our hopes up, though, it's wise to remember exactly what this policeman has done, for the world, and ask whether it's likely to change its behavior after any one setback.

After 75 years of war, occupation, and political interference - installing dictators, undermining local political movements, torturing enemies, and assisting in the arrest of opposition leaders (from Ocalan to Mandela) - the US military-industrial complex doesn't seem to know how to stop. This anthology explores the human cost of these many interventions onto foreign soil, with stories by writers from that soil - covering everything from torture in Abu Ghraib, to coups and counterrevolutionary wars in Latin America, to all-out invasions in the Middle and Far East.

Alongside testimonies from expert historians and ground-breaking journalists, these stories present a history that too many of us in the West simply pretend never happened. This new anthology re-examines this history with stories that explore the human cost of these interventions on foreign soil, by writers from that soil. From nuclear testing in the Pacific, to human testing of CIA torture tactics, from coups in Latin America, to all-out invasions in the Middle and Far East; the atrocities that follow are often dismissed in history books as inevitable in the "fog of war." By presenting them from indigenous, grassroots perspectives, accompanied by afterwords by the historians that consulted on them, this book attempts.

\n \n
Dimension: 198 x 128 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781912697397\n \n