Enemies, Empires & the Rhetoric of War and Conspiracy

As the European powers relinquished their status and colonies, the U.S. filled the void in order to limit the march of communism and to control the growing anticolonial sentiments at home and across the world, but not without help from Britain. The U.S. distinguished the way it managed its role in the world from the British Empire. Yet, the power dynamic is the same and questions abound concerning the use and abuse of propaganda, austerity programs, technology, the military-industrial complex and the security-industrial complex. Also, accusations about cover-ups, support for dictators and bungled operations have created a sense of public paranoia that inspires the conspiracist blowback that is often discounted but remains a persistent part of the American public imagination. This Matrix Map will provide opportunities for you to explore the conflicting interests and shifting narratives surrounding many famous foreign entanglements around the planet. Also, it reveals why limited transparency makes distinguishing rhetoric from reality very difficult, raising even more concerns about the permanence of war and the economics of misery and  violence in the nation state.