Prof. James Petras: The Obama Kerry Hagel Regime.

Selling death, and buying Assassins in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. As President Obama enters his second term with a new Cabinet, the foreign policy legacy of the past four years, weighs heavily on their strategic decisions, and their empire building efforts. Central to the analysis of the next period, is an evaluation of the past policies, especially in regions, where Washington expended its greatest financial and military resources, namely the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa. We will proceed, by examining the accomplishments and failures, of the Obama Clinton regime. We will then turn to the ongoing policy efforts to sustain the empire building project. We will then turn to the ongoing policy efforts to sustain the empire building project. We will take account of the constrains and opportunities, which define the parameters resulting from imperial military ambitions, Israeli Zionist influence in shaping policy, and the ongoing anti imperial struggles. We will conclude by examining likely policies and outcomes, resulting from current strategies: The Accomplishments.The greatest success of the Obama Clinton Imperial legacy was the virtual elimination of organized domestic anti war dissent, the demise of the peace movement, and the co option of virtually the entire progressive leadership in the US, while multiplying the number of proxy wars, overt and covert military operations and defense spending. As a result, the entire political spectrum moved further to the right, toward greater militarization abroad, and increased police state measures at home. Facing mass revolts, and the overthrow of long standing client regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, the Obama Clinton Administration moved rapidly to reconfigure new client regimes, while preserving the state apparatus, the military, intelligence, police, judicial and civilian bureaucracy. The empire dumped incumbent regimes, in order to save the repressive state, the key guarantor of US strategic interests. Washington successfully engineered a political pact between conservative Islamist leaders, and parties of the old military elite. The new political blocs in Egypt, upheld Israeli annexation of Palestine, the brutal blockade of Gaza, and the neo liberal economic order. Washington repeated the reshuffle of clients in Yemen and Tunisia. The OC intervention temporarily aborted the pro democracy, anti Zionist and anti corruption popular revolt.