How the US Creates

Book excerpt: Donald Trump’s purported reference to “Sh*thole Countries” has captured the (outraged) attention of the global community. And while there is some dispute as to whether or not the President uttered those exact words, what is not disputed is that the US President derided certain countries while discussing US immigration policy reform, suggesting that the US should have more immigrants from countries like Norway. How the US Creates Sh*thole Countries seizes this unique moment of global focus on the world’s most suffering countries to address some causative factors, and the extent to which their lamentable state is not of their doing. It questions the legitimacy, means and ends of US interventions in their domestic affairs in pursuit of its “interests”, which the US then regards as matters of national security. And from there it proceeds to other questions: Why and how does a country become a US target? What socio-economic, political and military policies— overt and covert—does the US undertake to bring the victim country into line? What are the results for the targeted countries? For US citizens, who have little idea what is going on, but are footing the bill? The seasoned analysts contributing to this book come from all walks of life and every shade of the political spectrum. Some have held high positions in government or at the United Nations; some taught or teach at prestigious universities; some are in forced exile because of their political beliefs and the exercise of their Constitutional rights; some have spent time in prison for acting on their beliefs; one of them sacrificed the limbs on his body.