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The Military-Industrial Complex in the West and the Opposing Power Sphere in the East

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The World Disorder

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Abstract

After the defeat of the Axis powers in the Second World War, the world was divided into the spheres of influence of the two remaining great powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States claimed to represent the Free World, but the western democracies had incorporated many elements of a totalitarian state into their ideological arsenal, especially in the context of the Cold War, supporting dictatorships in the war against the eternal enemy, communism, and promoting the expansion of financial capital. Steadily rising inequality exacerbated, especially in the United States, these authoritarian tendencies. After the financial collapse of 2008, more power was concentrated in the Wall Streets banks, which further increased their grip on the economy and their influence over the White House and the Congress.

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Notes

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  3. 3.

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  4. 4.

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  5. 5.

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  6. 6.

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  7. 7.

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  8. 8.

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  9. 9.

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  13. 13.

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  14. 14.

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  15. 15.

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  16. 16.

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  17. 17.

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  25. 25.

    Ibidem.

  26. 26.

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  27. 27.

    Ibidem.

  28. 28.

    Ibidem.

  29. 29.

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  30. 30.

    Ibidem.

  31. 31.

    Thomas Piketty, 2013, p. 672.

  32. 32.

    Ibidem, p. 671.

  33. 33.

    Thomas Piketty, 2015, pp. 20–21.

  34. 34.

    Jim Lobe, “CEOs at Big U.S. Companies Paid 331 Times Average Worker”. Inter Press Service (IPS), April 16, 2014. Available at: <http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/04/ceos-big-u-s-companies-paid-331-times-average-worker/>.

  35. 35.

    Ibidem.

  36. 36.

    Thomas Piketty, 2015, pp. 20–21.

  37. 37.

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  38. 38.

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  39. 39.

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  40. 40.

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  41. 41.

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  42. 42.

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  43. 43.

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  44. 44.

    Henry Demarest Lloyd, 1965, pp. 5, 10 e 163.

  45. 45.

    Ibidem, pp. 9–11.

  46. 46.

    “The politics of Enron. Four committees in search of a scandal. As Congress cranks into action, there’s not much sign of the dirt from Enron reaching the president.” The Economist, January 17, 2002. Available at: <http://www.economist.com/node/940913>; CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff. “Follow The Enron Money”. CBS, January 12, 2002. Available at: <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/follow-the-enron-money/>.

  47. 47.

    Ibidem.

  48. 48.

    Richard A. Oppel Jr. & Don Van Natta Jr. “Enron’s Collapse: The Relationship; Bush and Democrats Disputing Ties to Enron.” The New York Times, Saturday, January 12, 2002.

  49. 49.

    “The politics of Enron. Four committees in search of a scandal. As Congress cranks into action, there’s not much sign of the dirt from Enron reaching the president.” The Economist, January 17, 2002. Available at: <http://www.economist.com/node/940913.CBSNews.com/staff>; “Follow the Enron Money”. CBS, January 12, 2002. Available at: <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/follow-the-enron-money/>.

  50. 50.

    “Gross Domestic Product: Fourth Quarter 2008 (Final) Corporate Profits: Fourth Quarter 2008 (Final)”. US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Available at: <http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2009/pdf/gdp408f.pdf>; “Gross Domestic Product & Corporate Profits: Second Quarter 2008 (Preliminary).” US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Available at: <http://bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2008/gdp208p.htm>.

  51. 51.

    Ibidem, p. xvi.

  52. 52.

    Bob Ivry & Bradley Keoun & Phil Kuntz, “Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress”. Bloomberg, November 28, 2011. Available at: <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html>.

  53. 53.

    Elizabeth Moyer, “Washington’s $5 Trillion Tab”. Forbes, November 12, 2008. Available at: <http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/12/paulson-bernanke-fed-biz-wall-cx_lm_1112bailout.html>.

  54. 54.

    Steve Watson, “Total Bailout Cost Heads Towards $5 Trillion. Numbers becoming meaningless as Paulson defends government intervention” Infowars.net, October 15, 2008. Available at: <http://infowars.net/articles/october2008/151008Bailout_figures.htm>.

  55. 55.

    Nick Mathiason & Heather Stewart, “Three weeks that changed the world. It started in a mood of eerie calm, but then 2008 exploded into a global financial earthquake”. The Guardian—The Observer, December 28, 2008. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/28/markets-credit-crunch-banking-2008>.

  56. 56.

    Nomi Prins, 2014, p. xvi.

  57. 57.

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  58. 58.

    Ibidem; John Melloy, (Investing Editor of CNBC.com). “Goldman, Morgan Stanley May Shed ‘Bank’ Status: Analyst”. CNBC, October 12, 2011. Available at: <http://www.cnbc.com/id/44875711>.

  59. 59.

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  1. Emeritus professor for History, University of Brasília, St. Leon-Rot, Germany

    Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira

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Moniz Bandeira, L.A. (2019). The Military-Industrial Complex in the West and the Opposing Power Sphere in the East. In: The World Disorder. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03204-3_3

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