An astonishing fact:

In the 248 years since the United States of America became an independent republic, the US has only been at peace for about eleven.

The United States of War, you could call it. David Vine does. Vine, a Professor of Anthropology at American University, in Washington D.C. has recently completed the third in a trilogy of books about Washington’s fondness for permanent war – and about the role military bases play in its warfighting pursuits – across North America, at first; then around the world.

The United States of War – a Global History of America’s endless conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State, was published in 2020 by University of California Press.

Listen to our conversation in today’s podcast. Click on the play button above, or go here.

And listen to the GPM‘s complete conversation with David Vine here:

Speaking about tiny islands coveted, invaded by and oppressed by Washington and its Western allies, consider little Haiti.

Columbus landed in Haiti (then Hispaniola) on his first voyage in 1492. Haiti became a Spanish colony.

In 1697, Spain ceded Haiti to the French, who turned it into a slave colony, reaping tons of sugarcane and massive wealth for the freedom-loving French. In 1791, former slave Toussaint Louverture launched a revolt. His successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated Napoleon, declaring Haitian independence in 1804 – the second free republic in the Americas.

Clearly a threat to Haiti’s far larger and more powerful slave-based republic to the north. Throughout the 19th century, US gunboats invaded Haitian waters on numerous occasions, seeking access to Môle Saint-Nicholas, a protected harbor on Haiti’s northwest tip – the perfect place to establish a naval base and coaling station.

US troops occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934, protecting US corporate interests. Powerful US, French and Canadian corporations would take their place, reaping profits from Haitian natural resources and cheap labour, in alliance with local ‘white’ elites, and the dictatorial dynasty of Francois Duvalier and his son.

Baby Doc was deposed in 1986. Elected but compliant regimes followed, punctuated by popular governments that inevitably displeased France, the US – of course – and Canada.

Haiti’s current turmoil began in July 2021, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Moise’s successor, Ariel Henri, has now been booted out, in violent street campaigns led by heavily armed street gangs. Anti-imperialist, the most powerful Haitian gangster calls himself.

To learn more about all this, the GPM spoke with Yves Engler. Engler is a Montreal-based writer and political commentator, and the author of thirteen books. His latest, Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy — co-written with Owen Schalk — documents Canada’s contribution to the ouster of over twenty elected governments around the world, including the popular Haitian government of Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Listen to our conversation in today’s podcast. Click on the play button above, or go here.

Thanks to Dan Weisenberger for his fabulous guitar instrumentals.