America’s Russia Hysteria Is What Happens When A Collapsing Empire Descends Into Paranoia

In 2017, as revealed by the New York Times, FBI lawyer Lisa Page privately said to investigators in the “Russiagate” scandal:

In the Russian Federation and in President Putin himself, you have an individual whose aim is to disrupt the Western alliance and whose aim is to make Western democracy more fractious in order to weaken our ability, America’s ability and the West’s ability to spread our democratic ideals. That’s the goal, to make us less of a moral authority to spread democratic values.

This quote is very disturbing, because it means that the people within the system seem to actually believe the lies they tell the public. Page’s statement wasn’t made to be propaganda, since it was made with the expectation of being private. And it shows that despite America’s long record of carrying out coups, supporting terrorists and dictators, starting wars that kill millions, and otherwise destroying freedom and democracy for the sake of empire, the Washington consensus is that America’s actions are driven by love for freedom and democracy.

This isn’t surprising though, given how the central purveyors of war tend to be genuinely wrapped up in the fanatical nationalism they promote. As Orwell’s 1984 says about the mentality of the leaders of the fictional nation of Oceania: “It is precisely in the Inner Party that war hysteria and hatred of the enemy are strongest.”

This is what makes America so dangerous in its current state of imperial collapse. As American global influence rapidly shrinks amid an increasingly multipolar world, America is following the historical pattern where declining empires lash out to try to regain their lost influence. And when the U.S. empire’s leaders live in such a false reality, they make increasingly irrational and dangerous decisions.

The absurd attitude of American exceptionalism expressed by Page reflects on the arrogant and belligerent actions of the Trump administration. When Trump starts trade wars with Canada, China, and the EU, or threatens to cut off aid to countries that don’t sufficiently appease Israel, or threatens war with Iran and Venezuela because they’ve stepped away from the dollar, or leaves international agreements like the Paris climate deal and the INF, he’s fulfilling the behavior of a declining empire that’s desperate for renewed dominance. Trump is abiding by the unhinged foreign policy views of his National Security Advisor John Bolton, who’s said that “All international laws are invalid, meaningless attempts to constrict American power.”

The logic behind Bolton’s war against the rest of the world is remarkably similar to the Russophobic paranoia of liberal new cold warriors like Page. In a speech last September at the right-wing Federalist Society, Bolton defended the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with the International Criminal Court by painting a picture of a sinister global effort to undermine the American constitution and tarnish our national reputation. The ICC participants that Bolton singled out for his attacks included Venezuela and the Palestinian Authority, entities which the American empire desires to crush and which Bolton seems to hold in special contempt.

The radical right’s belief that America is being sabotaged by foreign villains-and that these villains are being aided by unpatriotic Americans-is mirrored by the centrists and liberals who think that our republic is under threat from Putin and his many agents in America. The endless sensations around sketchy claims about Russian meddling, the alarming trend among politicians and pundits of accusing dissenting public figures of being Russian agents, and the resulting drive towards censorship among Western governments and corporations under guise of “fighting Russian propaganda” all make up the American empire’s late-stage descent into McCarthyite paranoia.

The enemies of our exceptional nation, whether they’re the Ruskies, the socialists, the liberals, the Muslims, or the immigrants, are being increasingly targeted by the bipartisan clique of super-patriots. These patriots are determined to defend American greatness, and anyone who stands in their way is a traitor.

But all of this is ultimately going to accelerate the decline of American power and the implosion of neoliberal capitalism worldwide. Inequality and debt will continue to cripple the economy, with the upcoming recession expectedto be worse than the one from 2008. America’s global influence will continue to diminish, despite its efforts to strong-arm its way back to hegemony through endless wars and military budget expansions. The inevitable collapse of the dollar will pummel the American economy and exacerbate inflation, which could force a massive military contraction overseas. At that point, as Chris Hedges predicts, “the U.S. empire will be so diminished its threats will be, at least to those outside its borders, largely meaningless.”