I have written and spoken about it a lot but it’s time to phrase it more directly:
When an empire – the U.S. to be more specific – takes up a role of a moral compass, the liberator, the “benign superpower”, we know too much at this point to trust and follow it blindly.
That mistrust doesn’t come from any tendencies of paranoia, contempt for the West, or uncalled cynicism.
It comes from knowing how it has behaved in various regions, what world leaders it has been working with, what paramilitary groups training, what weapons using against what population, what regimes selling weapons so, what refugees rejecting, and so much more.
As the war in Ukraine has started, we have seen some absolutely hypocritical statements made by U.S. officials.
But they’re only hypocritical if we know a bit of the context here.
And when we do, we are much better equipped to construct our own moral compasses, without any help from the U.S.
In other words, we can condemn Russian crimes ourselves; we don’t need to stand by any hypocritical statements that only add insult to injury to the tragedy in Ukraine.
This is what I illustrate and explain much better in my episode.
Resources:
- Convention on Cluster Munitions
- Cluster Munition Coalition
- Q&A: The International Criminal Court and the United States
- Why the war in Iraq was fought for Big Oil
- Everyone Is Denouncing the Syrian Rebels Now Slaughtering Kurds. But Didn’t the U.S. Once Support Some of Them?
- U.S. forces are using white phosphorus munitions in Iraq but it’s unclear exactly how
- US fired depleted uranium at civilian areas in 2003 Iraq war, report finds
- The US Poured So Many Toxic Weapons On Fallujah In 2004 That Residents Still Pay The Price
- The US spent $2 trillion in Afghanistan – and for what?
- The US’s hypocritical criticism of Russia for deploying ‘exceptional lethal weaponry’
Receive my work directly to your inbox:
Latest from the Blog
Updates On The Global Sumud Flotilla: Saif and Thiago Are Free
After their kidnapping and illegal detention in Israel, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila have been released. Our global pressure worked. But our work is far from over.
On The Global Sumud Flotilla, What The World with Israel in It Looks Like, And What It Does to Our Nervous Systems
To exist in the world where Israel, too, exists – to physically be and function in such a world – is hard on our nervous systems. The new horrors of the kidnapping of Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek are yet another reminder of how that heaviness won’t go away, as long as Israel -…
How Did Jon Stewart Miss The Greatest Piece of Satire on His Show?
Here’s a reminder that choosing to interview someone who history – and, hopefully, the ICJ – will remember as a war criminal and a genocide enabler, like Annalena Baerbock, is very much not cool. Especially when you have a massive platform.
What, According to My Government, Other Countries Can Learn from Israel
This is the most straightforward way I can put it: just like there are countries in history known for their collaboration with the Nazi regime, my country, Lithuania, has inscribed itself as one of the staunchest supporters of Israel, no matter the scale, depravity, or geography of its crimes. See if my rage resonates with…
Invest in Decolonising Narratives
Something incredible is happening in Panama – in that how anticolonial it is. I’m inviting you to support it.
What Israel’s Destruction of Lebanon Is Showing Us Painfully Clearly
When Israel shows only contempt for what its greater ally wants, we need no more proof is there’s anything above Israel’s colonial expansionist ambitions.
On Iran, (Ir)rationality, and Those Who Didn’t See Any Destabilisation of The Region in Israel’s Genocide
Remember when Iran used to be called an irrational, unpredictable actor? Well, I invite you to notice any changes when it comes to irrationality, constructed narratives, and how war propaganda looks these days.
On One of The Gravest Crimes against Humanity That Not Every Country Chose to Condemn at The UN
The UN just voted to describe the transatlantic slave trade as ‘the gravest crime against humanity’. Yet not every country, according to its vote, agrees. My commentary is on what the abstentions show.
Your Antiwar Voice Is Needed More Than You Might Think
The war machine won’t stop until it’s stopped, just as its propaganda won’t just disappear on its own. It was to be actively pointed to, deconstructed, and rejected as loudly as possible. And this is where everyone’s voice matters.
Good News: We Are on a Boat Ride Together; Bad News: It’s Being Steered by Psychopaths
We’re on a boat steered by psychopaths — and they’re not taking us anywhere nice. As the U.S. and Israel are destroying Lebanon and Iran, one thing can’t be clearer: it is the whole world that has to make them stop.
The Exploding Head Media 
One thought on “When an Empire Offers You a Moral Compass, You Can Pass”