The capitalist core is incapable of developing the periphery and has no intention to do so. Far from it, the core seeks to stifle any new powerful economic hubs. That is why the US can only reinforce weakness, foster backwardness and upgrade the outdated material.
Russian literary scholar Vladimir Propp once proved that all fairy tales follow the same narrative arc. They start with the protagonist’s desire to gain or reclaim something that sets him on the quest to find it. Then, he gets a magic wand from the old sorceress, conquers the dragon, saves the princess – and you all know the rest of it, the part where the guy gets married and ascends the throne. This storyline may have varying details or a different cast of characters. For example, the protagonist may get his magic wand from somebody else, fight a different villain and eventually claims golden apples instead of a princess. By all means, it isthe same old story.
Propp showed that all these fairy-talish plotlines follow a repetitive set of patterns, just like the post-WWII U.S. policies. Upon closer inspection, we can see the American power freaks reproducing the same story, the same American-engineered fairy tale, time and again as it has already been replicated in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. The local props and the title characters of this grand-scale political telenovela changed, while the plot twists remained the same.
It invariably started off with the US voraciously seeking to snatch away something like cheap raw materials, lucrative industries or new export opportunities or reclaim something else (whenever the local leader nationalised something, thus damaging the US businesses). The US would go on to help their puppet grab the power and shower them with various perks after which the victimised country spiralled into poverty and landed in turmoil.
The cited researcher pointed to several elements of a fairy tale’s plot he referred to as functions. Here is the list of similar functions typical of a US fairy tale:
1) Damage or scarcity: at this stage, the US is convinced some country, say, Chile either jeopardises or may jeopardise its interests.
2) Run-up to the power grab: ‘Chicago boys’ show up, the public gets attacked on the information front and CIA operatives interact with politicians, officials and the military.
3) The power grab: a US-backed puppet replaces the incumbent.
4) The coup is spun by the US-controlled legacy media as the victory of the forces of light (democracy, liberalism, free market economy, progress etc.).
5) The so-called freedom becomes official, even though it does not extend beyond big foreign money.
6) An economic crisis ensues: both the manufacturing industry and agriculture stall against the declining standard of living, layoffs, soaring crime rates, food shortages etc.
7) Mass protests.
8) Terror: at this stage, the US power freaks help their minions overhaul the repression machine.
9) The war.
10) Disappointment: media worldwide begin reporting episodes of repression and torture, which contributes to public outrage.
11) The regime is eventually hailed as ‘corrupt’ and ‘undemocratic’.
12) The toxic political asset ends up dumped.
If you have ever wondered what in the world the clichés ‘the US promotes democracy’ and ‘the US play the long game’ mean, revisit the above list. These 12 functions are the American fairy tale constants; both the number and the sequence are set in stone. Should you compare the events that unfolded in a particular country against this list, you will easily figure out the principal highlights of the story.
The power grab may take various forms. Sometimes it is a military invasion (Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya). Alternatively, it can be a military coup (Iran, Indonesia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Greece, Burkina Faso and Romania). They can also meddle in the elections or undertake colour revolutions (the Philippines, Nicaragua, Czechoslovakia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia, Egypt, Armenia and Bolivia).
The war seems to play a pivotal role in the American fairy tale scenario, as does the ‘struggle’, per the cited literary researcher. A civil war is typically preceded by the growing social unrest fuelled by the economic slowdown. A war against the neighbouring states is usually provoked by the US itself as it sees ample opportunity for a new grab. Last but not least, the war helps the puppet regime explain away their botched domestic policy and bring the people together.
Following step No 12, the trainwreck of a state can embark on a path of recovery as long as it has proper leadership and faces an opportune constellation of political factors. But the puppetmasters may strike back, which can lead to a renewed attempt at a power grab. That is where they replace the puppets. For instance, a politician with a background in civil service is swapped for a top general, a right-winger for a left-wing pol, or a secular leader for an Islamist etc. So, rinse, repeat. This is despite the fact that, in an already weakened country, the rekindled process tends to be slower, less dramatic, and less beneficial to the US.
One can assume that Washington may aspire to protagonise a different fairy tale. Regrettably, it is impossible due to the very nature of American capitalism. The capitalist core is incapable of developing the periphery and has no intention to do so. Far from it, the core seeks to stifle any new powerful economic hubs. That is why the US can only reinforce weakness, foster backwardness and upgrade the outdated material in repressive and execution-minded law enforcement. And that is precisely why the American fairy tale is bound to repeat again and again.
Back in the day, it was this fairy tale that propelled the US to the global lead. The above protocol helped the US crush several Asian states, almost the entire South America and the fledgeling states in the African continent as well as turn Eastern Europe and the USSR into banana republic-style countries. That is what eventually shaped the American greatness.
Counterintuitively, though, the triumphant victory is bringing about a creeping blowout loss. As the American fairy tale ran its course time and again, the number of believers in the American dream and, hence, the number of potential allies for new power grabs was declining. The invasions, the coups and the colour revolutions came at a progressively higher cost and boasted a diminished success rate. Worse still, the masterminds began to have a hard time sugarcoating their bloodied fangs behind the veneer of democracy. Furthermore, the already completed power grabs did not bring the expected results. Each new puppet regime’s batting average was slumping while posing the same old problems to the US. But the countries that once went through the wringer of the American fairy tale and survived its upshots had a powerful boost to their immune systems, making them a harder prey. Those include Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Russia.
As of late, the American fairy tale was attempted in Hong Kong, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Bolivia. In 2019, the Americans successfully ousted President Evo Morales of Bolivia, but the following 2020 snap election was won by his follower Luis Arce. The terror-waging US puppets were charged and prosecuted. To add insult to injury, the US has recently lost control of its longtime submissive customer in Colombia.
The American political elites briefly appeared to have hit a true jackpot in Ukraine, a once developed and populous country. However, Ukraine is now running out of resources and the US is predictably losing interest. In a desperate search for a new high, Uncle Sam is acting more and more erratically on the global arena. This kind of behaviour is typical of an aging Lothario who is facing inevitable health issues and a pronounced lack of would-be girlfriends. And hard as they may try to reclaim their erstwhile greatness, they first need to learn this harsh lesson. Any fairy tale will once reach its final page.