The United States Of Cognitive Dissonace

Joe Lauria, Consortium News, September 29, 2015:

There was stunned silence in the General Assembly Hall on Monday as U.S. President Barack Obama warned leaders against falling back to pre-United Nations days, in which strong nations imposed their will by force against the weak. There was apparent disbelief as he said it was Russia and China that wanted a "return to the rules that applied for most of human history and that pre-date this institution."

These ancient rules included the "belief that power is a zero-sum game; that might makes right; that strong states must impose their will on weaker ones; that the rights of individuals don't matter; and that in a time of rapid change, order must be imposed by force."

The silence in the chamber came because everything Obama ascribed to others perfectly describes U.S. behavior from the end of the Second World War until today.

Since 1945, the U.S. has participated in dozens of documented invasions and overthrows of sovereign governments that resisted U.S. hegemony — the strongest nation imposing its will militarily on the weak.

In addition to that link, which runs only to 1999, read Stephen Kinzer's Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. One blogger's review of that book is here.