The Office of Transition Initiatives and the Subversion of Societies
Weekend Edition May 2-4, 2014
Understanding the US Policy of Diplomacy, Development, and Defense
The Office of Transition Initiatives and the Subversion of Societies
by HORACE C. CAMPBELL
Introduction
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order establishing the United States Peace Corps with the objective of ‘helping’ underdeveloped nations struggling for economic growth and social progress. This order appealed to many of America’s young and brightest. Thousands of American youths flocked to serve a number of societies in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. These young people assisted in the building of sewer and water systems, constructed schools, helped in agricultural methods, and health initiatives among many things. The Peace Corps appealed to young idealistic Americans looking to change the world. Many had been brought into the Civil Rights struggles of that era. But, as with all things, capital and the opportunity for profit making was sure to follow. In those days, transnational corporations such as International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) and the seven sisters of oil dominated the planning for manipulation, today, these forces are called capital equity firms and are more tenacious in seeking to manipulate idealistic youths.
Since the end of the Cold War, the imperial centers have been working hard to control the thinking and actions of youths who want real social change. The buzz words of ‘Sustainable Development,’ ‘Humanitarian Assistance’ and ‘Good Governance’ had been mobilized to sustain the ideation plane of the neo-liberal order. ‘Nation Building,’ ‘Peacekeeping,’ ‘Transitions and Reconstruction Operations’ represents the new template for the Wall Street, Military and Information complex. This ‘mission’ of US capitalism has now been refined into the promoting of good governance internationally. US capitalists organized in ‘capital equity’ groups now work through ‘development’ NGO’s . These fronts for capital equity have replaced the idea that humanitarian organizations should be neutral, independent, and impartial in providing assistance to the exploited.
In this paper we will outline how contractors are central to the new ‘militaristic humanitarianism. The implementing agencies of the capital equity forces require cooperation between the State Department, USAID and the Department of Defense in the form of Development, Diplomacy and Defense. Recent information on the role of the top ‘development’ contractors for the USAID in a program of the Office for Transition Initiatives in planning for regime change in Cuba and Venezuela should assist Third World societies in evaluating the ‘development’ projects submitted to their societies by international development agencies, especially those from the United States and Britain. These exposures of the numerous SWIFT (Support Which Implements Fast Transitions) subcontractors of the Office for Transition Initiatives (OTI) place the British Department of International Development (DIFID) on the list of reliable ‘subcontractors’ for the US corporate and military interests. The subversion of the USAID/OTI may take different forms as in twitter accounts in Cuba, recovery initiative in Haiti, ‘democratic transition ‘ in Libya or ’yes youth can’ Kenya, but the ultimate objective is to advance US corporate interests.
It is important to outline how the interests of the youth who are seeking to make social change are divergent from the interests of the organizations for which they work. Progressive students, peace activists and pacifists need to be vigilant that in the demilitarization campaigns that focus on the plans and operations of the US military or intelligence agencies alone will not shed light on the numerous fronts that are being opened to subvert democratic participation and alternative forms of economic organizations. Since the African Awakenings in Tunisia and Egypt, US capital has gone way out to co-opt social media platforms to serve the top 1 per cent. We will end with a reflection on the need to demilitarize the ‘development’ field so that the neo-cons and Wall Street will discontinue the manipulation of idealistic young persons in the USA who are bogged down by massive student loans. Under the IMF and the ‘structural adjustment’ policies, neoliberalism has intensified the exploitation of all peoples around the world. Even, within the US military, it is difficult for the rank and file to defend the interests of Goldman Sachs, the other top Bankers and Private equity elements such as the Carlyle Group and Cerberus. The US military is on the defensive at home and abroad and the role of the progressive forces internationally is to expose their activities, out their front operations and bring the private military companies under democratic control by constant exposure on the forms that the new military contractors are taking.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/02/the-office-of-transition-initiatives-and-the-subversion-of-societies/