<p>The world is witnessing the waltz of wealth and power under the façade of democratic ideals and statesmanship, not for the first time. By the 15th century, Europeans mastered gun technology, a Chinese invention. Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal became naval superpowers. 400 years of colonial expansion made them rich beyond imagination, leaving the Global South impoverished. An Oxfam 2025 report says the British looted a staggering $64.82 trillion from India.</p>.<p>The Europeans arrived in the Americas in 1492 and by 1900 had decimated the indigenous population by 95 per cent. The exploitation of land, resources, and enslaved people was worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. It was a successful business model. The unimaginable wealth of European settlers grew alongside racial inequity and sustains even today.</p>.<p>As the financier and supplier to a warring Europe, the United States enjoyed a massive industrial boom during World War I. After the war, the world’s financial capital moved from London to New York, and a debt-laden Europe yielded to the new hegemon, the US. Forty-four nations signed the Bretton Woods agreement after World War II, establishing the US dollar as the world’s currency of trade, with the IMF funding Europe’s recovery. NATO and the Cold War justified the US military presence in Europe.</p>.War exposes cracks in US cover for allies.<p>In the Middle East, the US recognised Israel within 11 minutes of its creation in 1948; $300 billion of aid has created a vital ally. The Carter Doctrine of 1980 commits the US to guarding the Persian Gulf and justifies its military presence in the GCC countries. They reciprocate by investing in US treasury bonds and buying armaments from US defence contractors.</p>.<p>Japan and Korea import oil from the Middle East, not from nearby Russia, to align with US policy. Eighty-five US military installations provide security dating from Cold War times. Like the GCC, they invest their trade surplus in US treasury bonds and defence contracts. The richer world pays for protection and bolsters the US economy in return. The poorer world is better subdued through force.</p>.<p>The first attempt at effecting a regime change in Iran was in 1953, when an elected government was overthrown because it nationalised the Western oil industry. Since then, the US has attempted regime change in Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Brazil, Chile, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela (twice) and now, again, in Iran. The familiar refrain of “spreading democracy and removing tyrants” has cloaked the real motive: securing rich natural resources and cheap labour for US companies by installing friendly tyrants. The US has spent more than $9.5 trillion on these operations.</p>.<p><strong>The order shifts</strong></p>.<p>Countries such as North Korea and Libya were sanctioned on suspicion of attempting to build nuclear weapons. However, it is acceptable for Pakistan, even with its history of terror, to build a nuclear weapon. Osama bin Laden sought shelter there. By his own confession, their nuclear scientist, A Q Khan, provided sanctioned Iran with technology and training. However, India’s nuclear programme was sanctioned in 1998. Our non-alignment comes at a cost.</p>.<p>Who has benefited, then? The top five defence contractors in the US are companies that are 100 years old. They require the US to be at war constantly somewhere, to continue earning $20 billion to $70 billion annually. Nine of the ten richest people in the US are technology moguls. The defence-technology nexus profits both. They require rare earth minerals, making Greenland and Ukraine important because other large deposits are located in hostile countries. The demand for treasury bonds overseas keeps the dollar stable, the stock market booming, interest rates low, and the huge federal budget deficit funded.</p>.<p>However, in the richest nation on earth, 600,000 people are homeless, minimum wage has stayed stagnant for 17 years, life expectancy is declining, and 35 million people are below the poverty line.</p>.<p>Thucydides said, no hegemon lasts forever, only the methods of domination do. China’s innovation, technology, stability, trade surplus, and global ambitions are trending upwards. US treasury bonds are already sliding, with major economic ramifications, as the vassal states shop for other avenues to stay secure, their confidence in US protection shaken by the war against Iran.</p>.<p>The hegemon had mastered the art of making peace with war, with exploitation looking like benevolence. The mask has slipped, and the world recalls that the nuclear policeman is the only country that has ever dropped a nuclear bomb.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a retired corporate leader)</em></p><p>(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)</p>
<p>The world is witnessing the waltz of wealth and power under the façade of democratic ideals and statesmanship, not for the first time. By the 15th century, Europeans mastered gun technology, a Chinese invention. Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal became naval superpowers. 400 years of colonial expansion made them rich beyond imagination, leaving the Global South impoverished. An Oxfam 2025 report says the British looted a staggering $64.82 trillion from India.</p>.<p>The Europeans arrived in the Americas in 1492 and by 1900 had decimated the indigenous population by 95 per cent. The exploitation of land, resources, and enslaved people was worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. It was a successful business model. The unimaginable wealth of European settlers grew alongside racial inequity and sustains even today.</p>.<p>As the financier and supplier to a warring Europe, the United States enjoyed a massive industrial boom during World War I. After the war, the world’s financial capital moved from London to New York, and a debt-laden Europe yielded to the new hegemon, the US. Forty-four nations signed the Bretton Woods agreement after World War II, establishing the US dollar as the world’s currency of trade, with the IMF funding Europe’s recovery. NATO and the Cold War justified the US military presence in Europe.</p>.War exposes cracks in US cover for allies.<p>In the Middle East, the US recognised Israel within 11 minutes of its creation in 1948; $300 billion of aid has created a vital ally. The Carter Doctrine of 1980 commits the US to guarding the Persian Gulf and justifies its military presence in the GCC countries. They reciprocate by investing in US treasury bonds and buying armaments from US defence contractors.</p>.<p>Japan and Korea import oil from the Middle East, not from nearby Russia, to align with US policy. Eighty-five US military installations provide security dating from Cold War times. Like the GCC, they invest their trade surplus in US treasury bonds and defence contracts. The richer world pays for protection and bolsters the US economy in return. The poorer world is better subdued through force.</p>.<p>The first attempt at effecting a regime change in Iran was in 1953, when an elected government was overthrown because it nationalised the Western oil industry. Since then, the US has attempted regime change in Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Brazil, Chile, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela (twice) and now, again, in Iran. The familiar refrain of “spreading democracy and removing tyrants” has cloaked the real motive: securing rich natural resources and cheap labour for US companies by installing friendly tyrants. The US has spent more than $9.5 trillion on these operations.</p>.<p><strong>The order shifts</strong></p>.<p>Countries such as North Korea and Libya were sanctioned on suspicion of attempting to build nuclear weapons. However, it is acceptable for Pakistan, even with its history of terror, to build a nuclear weapon. Osama bin Laden sought shelter there. By his own confession, their nuclear scientist, A Q Khan, provided sanctioned Iran with technology and training. However, India’s nuclear programme was sanctioned in 1998. Our non-alignment comes at a cost.</p>.<p>Who has benefited, then? The top five defence contractors in the US are companies that are 100 years old. They require the US to be at war constantly somewhere, to continue earning $20 billion to $70 billion annually. Nine of the ten richest people in the US are technology moguls. The defence-technology nexus profits both. They require rare earth minerals, making Greenland and Ukraine important because other large deposits are located in hostile countries. The demand for treasury bonds overseas keeps the dollar stable, the stock market booming, interest rates low, and the huge federal budget deficit funded.</p>.<p>However, in the richest nation on earth, 600,000 people are homeless, minimum wage has stayed stagnant for 17 years, life expectancy is declining, and 35 million people are below the poverty line.</p>.<p>Thucydides said, no hegemon lasts forever, only the methods of domination do. China’s innovation, technology, stability, trade surplus, and global ambitions are trending upwards. US treasury bonds are already sliding, with major economic ramifications, as the vassal states shop for other avenues to stay secure, their confidence in US protection shaken by the war against Iran.</p>.<p>The hegemon had mastered the art of making peace with war, with exploitation looking like benevolence. The mask has slipped, and the world recalls that the nuclear policeman is the only country that has ever dropped a nuclear bomb.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a retired corporate leader)</em></p><p>(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)</p>
