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이 글은 현재 작성 중인 문서입니다. 따라서 내용이 추가되거나 수정될 수 있습니다. 제가 지금 무엇을 하고 있는지 친구들이 더 쉽게 알아볼 수 있도록 미완성된 글을 공유합니다. 제게 연락할 방법을 안다면, 피드백을 남겨 주시면 감사하겠습니다!
A few years ago, I read an article about the US-backed overthrow of left-wing Chilean president Salvador Allende, titled "Declassifying U.S. Intervention in Chile" by Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive. The article covers various points regarding the US involvement in creating the climate for a coup d'etat in Chile and the information that has since been revealed bit-by-bit in declassified US documents over the years. While the article is centered specifically on Chile, the main thing that stuck with me about this article is a concept that I'd like to explore more generally when looking at imperialist policy toward countries around the world: what Kornbluh refers to as a "triad" of policy consisting of: (1) public policy, (2) covert operations, and (3) economic siege warfare, in the form of an "invisible blockade" of loans and credits to the targeted country. I would extend point (3) to also include the implementation of unilateral coercive measures (sanctions) and foreign asset freezes and seizures as well.
Applied to Chile, the policy triad consisted roughly of the following:
Public policy: as the Kornbluh article notes, US officials described a "correct but cool" diplomatic posture while working hard behind the scenes to prevent the consolidation of Allende's government—as discussed in the formerly classified document NSC National Security Decision Directive 93, "U.S. Policy Toward Chile."
Covert operations: CIA meddling in Chile's affairs, such as funding numerous opposition publications, funding anti-Allende congressional campaigns, bribery, paying journalists, spreading of disinformation, supplying arms, etc. The CIA's activity in 1960s-70s Chile is relatively well-documented and widely discussed, so I won't detail it here.[1]
Economic siege: Famously, US President Nixon told the CIA to "make the economy scream" in Chile. As Kornbluh explains, the Nixon administration "moved quickly to shut down multilateral and bilateral foreign aid to Chile." The article goes on to quote from US officials who worked to indefinitely stall loan approvals at the Inter-American Development Bank and get Chile disqualified from credit and future loans at the World Bank, and who made an agreement with the president of the Export-Import Bank to discontinue credits and guarantees to Chile, until after the coup when Chile was suddenly authorized to recieve millions of dollars worth of commodity credits.
Looking outside of 1970s Chile, I'd like to explore the policy triad's elements more generally in a range of countries and eras.
Because public policy is the stated position of a given government, it's relatively easy to discern, so I'll skip analyzing it for now. Just take it as what a government says and does in the realm of diplomacy and in the public sphere.
For many people, covert operations is definitely the most scandalous, intriguing, and obviously violent pillar of the triad at first glance. This is the realm of mercenaries, organized crime, psychological warfare, assassinations, conspiracy theories, cults, and so on. While it's important to be aware of the terroristic procedures that organizations such as the CIA exist to broker, I won't linger too much on this part of the triad either.
I will be focusing first on economic siege. Some discussions of economic siege can be found here and there on the public stage. Most easy to find are reports and articles by NGOs and in the social science field of development studies discussing the effects of economic sanctions or debt servicing on developing countries. Progressive journalists and authors may also be found going into detail about unilateral coercive measures and international financial institutions and the role which these play in reinforcing underdevelopment, dependence, imperialism, and/or neocolonialism.[2]
Note: This article is still a work in progress. Thanks for reading!