Empire vs. Republic

	Prof. Chalmers Johnson

Besides being a nominee to Secretary of State on the Backbone Cabinet, CHALMERS JOHNSON taught for thirty years, 1962-1992, at the Berkeley and San Diego campuses of the University of California and held endowed chairs in Asian politics at both. At Berkeley he was chairman of the Center for Chinese Studies and of the Department of Political Science. His B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in economics and political science are all from the University of California, Berkeley. From 1968 until 1972 he served as a consultant to the Office of National Estimates of the Central Intelligence Agency. He first visited Japan in 1953 as a U.S. Navy officer and has lived and worked there with his wife, the anthropologist Sheila K. Johnson, every year between 1961 and 1998. He has written some sixteen books, including Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power on the Chinese revolution, An Instance of Treason on Japan's most famous spy, Revolutionary Change on the theory of violent protest movements, and MITI and the Japanese Miracle on Japanese economic development. In 1976 Chalmers Johnson was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was chairman of the academic advisory committee for the PBS television series "The Pacific Century," and he played a prominent role in the PBS "Frontline" documentary "Losing the War with Japan." Both won Emmy awards. In 2006 he appeared in the prize-winning documentary film "Why We Fight." His most recent books are Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (Metropolitan Books, 2000) and The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (Metropolitan, 2004). Blowback won the 2001 American Book Award of the Before Columbus Foundation, and Sorrows of Empire won the 2005 gold medal for non-fiction conferred by the Commonwealth Club of California. His new book, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, will be published by Metropolitan in 2007. He lives in Cardiff, California and devotes himself to his hobby of opera.

Actions needed for position:
Reviewed by Diane Wittner, co-producer

From Professor Johnson:

Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev played a crucial role in the transition of his country from Soviet Union to today's Russia, and Gorbachev merits greater credit from the world community for his extraordinary courage and leadership. A brave, realistic and effective leader is one factor in a relatively smooth transition from empire to republic.

Professor Johnson believes that Britain has shown by (admittedly flawed) example the precedent of a once-all-powerful country letting go of empire without completely extinguishing itself.

From Vice Admiral Shanahan:

The United States should uphold the standards of the Charter of the United Nations (see link below) which it signed.

The United Nations (especially the Security Council) ought to be given the opportunity to operate independent of U.S. interests, so that it can assume more responsibility for peace operations as alternatives to U.S. unilateral military action.

Talking Points:
From Professor Johnson:

In spite of warnings against maintaining a standing army - from our own Presidents George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower - the "Military Industrial Congressional Complex" (MICC) has infiltrated every aspect of our political, economic, and social lives since the 1950's, and has bankrupted the country. We are now awaiting unprecedented financial and societal ruin.

In his lifetime, Professor Johnson has witnessed the decline and last days of several world empires. There is often an unpredictable quality to empires ending, and the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is a prime example.

Professor Johnson believes that no one 'won' or 'lost' the Cold War. The times were ripe for the Soviet Empire to look to Europe, and eventually the US, for economic partnerships. The Soviet economy could no longer afford expensive and unreliable weapons systems, nor could it continue to effectively control its increasingly agitated satellite states. The termination of the Cold War had very little to do with the United States (in spite of the Reagan administration's claims to the contrary).

The Military Industrial Congressional Complex has now completely taken over the State Department and the national economy. Within the US, members of Congress are reluctant to close bases on which local and regional economies are dependent, and they receive vast amounts of money from companies which produce weapons systems. Abroad, the 730 known military bases are a also major employer for Americans.

From Vice Admiral Shanahan:

The costly and self destructive US military budget is unprecedented in its size and scope, and is entirely inpractical in its creation of unusable systems.

This mamoth siphoning off of US taxpayer dollars (for destructive purposes) is making it impossible for government to support domestic programs such as decent health care, free public education and the rebuilding of New Orleans. Americans across the nation are suffering as a result of these skewed priorities.

Furthermore, the MICC is ineffective in countering the number one threat to Americans today: terrorism. In fact, the MICC is increasing the likelihood of terrorist acts of aggression, and encouraging the ascent to power of radical and/or increasingly anti-American governments around the world.

Action Contacts:
WEBSITES RECOMMENDED

Charter of the United Nations (which the US signed, and should uphold) http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/

www.antiwar.com - recommended by Professor Johnson

www.truemajority.com - recommended by Vice Admiral Shanahan

www.sensiblepriorities.org - Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities

DHKerby.com

Conversation Participants:
Jack Shanahan, former Vice Admiral, US Navy, currently serves on Military Advisory Committee, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities

Nancy Hollander, Prof of Latin American history, L.A.

Jesse Lovell, Washington, D.C.

Karen Landers, Florida

DH Kerby (UC student during Prof. Johnson's tenure)

John Judge, staff of Rep. Cynthia McKinney