Episode

5/4 The Anti-Democracy of US Foreign Policy; Crisis in Sudan w/ David Allen & Joshua Craze

May 4, 2023

It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She hosts David Allen, historian of U.S. foreign relations, to discuss his recent book Every Citizen a Statesman: The Dream of a Democratic Foreign Policy in the American Century. Then, Emma talks to Joshua Craze, writer and researcher specializing in Sudan, to discuss the recent civil conflict that’s broken out in the region over the past few weeks. First, Emma runs through updates on a brand new Clarence Thomas corruption reveal, the FED getting back into their attacks on the working class, the murders of Jordan Neely and Tyre Nichols, the anniversary of the IDF’s murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, McDonald’s child labor fiasco, and Montana Gov. Gianforte signing off on his state’s fascist legislation, also diving into the heartless and incoherent responses from Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to the killing of Jordan Neely on the New York subway. David Allen then joins as he dives right into the rise of undemocratic control over the US National Security State, and how it became so normalized after decades of debate. Allen first steps back to parse through the state of US Foreign Policy at the beginning of the 20th Century, with the First World War finally putting the US in an important position on the world stage, in an era with an incredibly small State Department with a much more direct relationship to Democracy, as represented by the forming of the Foreign Policy Association, an organization made up by myriad progressive activists and suffragettes,  in 1918, as well as attempts to educate the American public on issues of foreign policy and collective participation. However, as the US moved out of the Second World War with a massively expanded government and State Department, as well as growing tensions (both Nuclear and otherwise) with the emergence of the Cold War, the government began to detach the public from the processes of state-making and foreign policy, establishing agencies like the National Security Council and the Department of Defense. Wrapping up, Allen walks Emma through the cementing of the exclusive nature of US Foreign Policy, the role of think tanks and elite participation, and whether any optimism is held for the future of democratic participation in USFP. Joshua Craze then joins as he parses through the rise and fall of Omar Al Bashir’s rule over Sudan, the civilian transition in the wake of the 2019 ousting, and the ongoing competition between military, paramilitary, and civilian-driven groups. Next, they dive into the role of US support for military control, both in bolstering Al Bashir’s neoliberal regime, and in actively pushing out civilian resistance committees in the rebuilding process due to their opposition to neoliberal economics. Wrapping up, Craze tackles the particular roles that the capital city of Khartoum and the region of Darfur play as the center stage of the warfare, the impact of the devastation in Khartoum on greater humanitarian issues, and why the most discussed solutions all involve an unpopular and impotent military gaining full power, likely starting a process of civilian transition all over again.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they cover the coverage from Fox and Friends, and others, on the killing of Jordan Neely, and the updates on Crowder’s workplace abuses. Dave from Jamaica dives a little deeper into the deeply upsetting response to the killing of Jordan Neely, and the fascism of the US police state, and Matt Walsh leaps to the defense of Tucker Carlson and the right to notice (the inferiority of other races and cultures), plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out David’s book here: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674248984

Check out Joshua’s work here: https://www.joshuacraze.com/

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