Capitalism is going senile. Its ambition is now restricted to maintaining the wealth of the wealthy in the world, while the poor, condemned to remain out of the loop, are increasingly demonized as the enemy. This is the theme of Samir Amin's major new book, in which the celebrated analyst presents a synoptic view of capitalism's future. He depicts a world in which NATO and so-called coalitions of the willing have taken over the role of the United Nations, in which US hegemony is more or less complete, in which millions are condemned to die in order to preserve the social order of the US, Europe and Japan. Samir Amin's analyses of the Gulf War, the wars in former Yugoslavia and the war in Central Asia reveal the scope of US strategic aims. He explains why Macdonald's hamburgers need McDonnell-Douglas's F-16s, arguing that the political and military dimension of US dominance is as significant as US economic preponderance in determining the future of capitalist development - with the recent US invasion and occupation of Iraq being a confirmation of Amin's prescient thesis.
