Imperialism and the Rule of Law

By Donald Monaco

November 21, 2019 "Information Clearing House" -  Watching the Trump impeachment hearings, one hears again and again the phrase, ‘the rule of law’ uttered with great solemnity.  The phrase is followed very closely by another slogan, ‘fighting corruption’.  The American public is told by the congressional democrats on the House Judiciary Committee that in effect, impeaching President Trump is an imperative action needed to set an example to the world that the United States upholds ‘democracy’ and the ‘the rule of law’.  Furthermore, the public is told that U.S. policy in the Ukraine is designed to counter ‘Russian aggression’ and reverse the ‘Russian invasion’ of that beleaguered country.  That no such ‘aggression’ or ‘invasion’ has taken place is irrelevant to democrats and republicans alike. 

Several questions should be asked by way of examining the political rhetoric currently being used to justify U.S. foreign policy in Ukraine.  Firstly, was the 2014 U. S. sponsored coup d’etat of President Victor Yanukovych an example of upholding democracy?  Secondly, was supporting ultra-rightwing and neo-Nazi shock troops in the 2014 Maiden uprising as did U.S. senator John McCain an example of respecting the rule of law? Thirdly, was the intervention undertaken by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt into the domestic political affairs of Ukraine that resulted in the selection of that government’s pro-Western Yatsenyuk leadership in the wake of the coup an example of democratic governance?  Fourthly, was placing the Ukraine in debt to the IMF to the tune of $18 Billion and requiring that the government slash its national gas subsidies thereby contributing to a 50% increase in gas prices an example of exercising the rule of law?  Fifthly, is funding a war in the Ukraine that has cost the lives of an estimated 13,000 people by delivering military aid to the pro- Western Kiev government an example of the United States promoting democracy and human rights? 

In effect, the answer to all of the above questions is ‘yes’ if we mean the law of the imperialist jungle.  The answer is ‘no’ if we mean international and constitutional law.  U.S. imperialism is above the law in the latter sense.  Imperialist diplomacy is conducted by gangsters who routinely make offers to other leaders that cannot be refused.  Yanukovych was deposed after refusing to take loans from the IMF.  His replacement, the Ukrainian businessman and oligarch, Petro Poroshenko, had no such qualms.  The popular Ukrainian actor and hapless new President Volodymyr Zelensky is left to pick up the pieces of a broken state wrecked by war, neo-liberal privatization and the attendant oligarchical corruption that flows in its wake.