Research project over U.S. Imperialism

[Shinigami]

I've got a 475-point in total research project over U.S. imperialism all over the world and its negative effects due on May 18 and I was wondering if you guys could help me.
It needs to be 8-10 pages typed, doubled spaced with 12-point font, Times New Roman (the works).

I'm going to make it for the most part a typical introduction, arguments, refutations, and conclusion, but I want more refutation material.
The main things I'm hoping for help from here on are sources. Mainly primary sources, if possible. I need at least one source from an educational website (.edu), one from a book, and one from a periodical, and eight sources in total.
I've looked over the stickies on here but they seem a little outdated. I wasn't sure where to put this and figured History would be most fitting, so move if necessary I guess.

I'm thinking of some things like History is a Weapon's map but with sources and more information. I'm thinking of the main things like the US's containment policy, the Middle East, South America, etc. and the reason for the US's actions (controlling the market to benefit the US ruling class).
I kinda feel demanding with this, since I'm not on here all that often, buuuuut yeah. Any and all help would be highly appreciated, please. :p

[Invader Zim]

Where to begin? My suggestion would be to look at Guatamala and the United Fruit Company.

[Ocean Seal]

East Timor is also an important situation where the Indonesia sold billions in contracts to Haliburton after Indonesia destroyed the country and killed 200-300k people.

[gestalt]

A good place to start for anti-imperialist sources is Against the Beast (http://books.google.com/books?id=eFZyQgAACAAJ), which is a document-based history. Also Stephen Kinzer's Overthrow (http://books.google.com/books?id=88WGxGT1ptkC) provides a decent overview and has usable documents in the footnotes.

[Shinigami]

Thanks, guys. If you know of any, like, repositories of links, mainly articles or something like that, I'd really appreciate it. I also am looking to argue against the ideas that puppet governments set up by the U.S. are "better' than the society that would have occured had the leftist revolutions the U.S. stopped (containment and all that) been allowed to continue and overthrow the existing government. I'm thinking of the arguments like "Pinochet was a necessity" and such, that this was the lesser of two evils. Some statistics or something about how there really are good alternatives to U.S. imperialism would also be great (against the arguments like "it's either us or Al-Queda").

[wunderbar]

If you can use a documentary as a source, watch "The War on Democracy". Hell, watch it anyway. You'll probably get some ideas on what to write about.

[CynicalIdealist]

If you can use a documentary as a source, watch "The War on Democracy". Hell, watch it anyway. You'll probably get some ideas on what to write about.

This, in addition to The War You Don't See (also by John Pilger).

[flobdob]

I also am looking to argue against the ideas that puppet governments set up by the U.S. are "better' than the society that would have occured had the leftist revolutions the U.S. stopped (containment and all that) been allowed to continue and overthrow the existing government. I'm thinking of the arguments like "Pinochet was a necessity" and such, that this was the lesser of two evils. Some statistics or something about how there really are good alternatives to U.S. imperialism would also be great (against the arguments like "it's either us or Al-Queda").

Then have a look at Afghanistan (http://gowans.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/women%E2%80%99s-rights-in-afghanistan/), where the US imperialists funded a dirty war to overthrow a progressive government - by funding and training the Taliban.

[caramelpence]

The Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano (http://www.e-reading.org.ua/bookreader.php/149187/Open_Veins_of_Latin_America.pdf) is a must-read, probably worth buying a physical copy just to have it on your bookshelf, although I've linked to an online version.

[Shinigami]

Thanks, guys, I've got a lot of good sources to go by now that I can look at.
Is there anything you can link me to that shows the majority of the right-wing responses to some anti-imperialist arguments? (Like the "the US is the lesser of two evils" but more fleshed out.) Some right-wing documentaries or books (that I can check out online), or a debating website like Opposing Views that lists them all off.

[caramelpence]

Thanks, guys, I've got a lot of good sources to go by now that I can look at.
Is there anything you can link me to that shows the majority of the right-wing responses to some anti-imperialist arguments? (Like the "the US is the lesser of two evils" but more fleshed out.) Some right-wing documentaries or books (that I can check out online), or a debating website like Opposing Views that lists them all off.

It strikes me as slightly unprofessional to use documentaries (not that I can think of any right-wing pro-imperialist documentaries anyway) or online debating forums as the basis for a research project, so it would probably be a better idea looking at important documents and speeches. I don't know if you have to or want to focus on the US or contemporary imperialism but if you are looking for classical justifications for colonialism you might look over certain sections of JS Mill's On Liberty and Considerations on Representative Government, where he justifies the denial of democracy in instances of "barbaric peoples" until such a point where those peoples are ready for democratic institutions - I point to JS Mill because he's naturally a major figure in the history of the liberal tradition and so it might be useful to look at how justifications for imperialism have permeated the ideas of thinkers who are otherwise regarded as highly progressive. I am sure if you look around you will find a reader or primary source volume that contains what you need - if you want something more contemporary than Mill and something that (like Mill) also looks at the intersection between progressive thought and support for imperialism you might look at the Euston Manifesto (http://eustonmanifesto.org/the-euston-manifesto/), which is well known and a major text for contemporary left-liberal pro-imperialism.

[Shinigami]

so it would probably be a better idea looking at important documents and speeches

Yeah, probably. I wasn't sure what to look for exactly, though.
I'm mainly looking for examples from the past 100 years, especially the past sixty or so.

I know if I use too many obviously left-wing examples, I'll lose points for that, so I need some (as well as they can be) unbiased accounts, and some sources to point to when debunking right wing arguments and where they come from.

[Return to the Source]

Afghanistan, Guatemala, and Angola are all great places to start with a critique of US imperialism, but the one that really has my blood boiling recently is US support for the Khmer Rouge and Democratic Kampuchea in order to combat Vietnamese influence following the defeat of the US military in 1975. When the Vietnamese ousted Pol Pot and the KR in 1979, Reagan and other Western imperialists provided material and diplomatic aid to the remnants of the DK government. In other words, you can squarely place the horrors of the KR on the shoulders of the US.

[Shinigami]

I'll look about those. Does anyone know of any mostly-unbiased sources I can find documenting some of this? I need to start looking for 8+ sources and they're due Tuesday, and I need some that aren't completely left wing, like encyclopedias, articles over specific things that by themselves aren't too biased, but when I link them together, paint a picture of U.S. policy and the ruling class' interests, something like that.

My teacher suggested using Google Scholar to look for sources, but a lot of them are books. I'm going to read Open Veins of Latin America and watch those documentaries, but they're from solely left-wing perspectives as far as I can tell and I'm looking for some more, like say from reporters in Afghanistan/Iraq, or especially veterans (like VVAW), or even from notable right-wingers that I can use to my advantage.
I also just thought of Wikileaks. I could use Collateral Damage, because I watched that a while back. Does anyone know of any other documents I could from that?
Something about a good explanation of why some civilians decide to join up with forces like the Taliban and how they may feel that they have no other choice in order to resist U.S. imperialism would also be helpful as a refutation for imperialist arguments, and I'm also still looking around for something finalizing against the idea that the U.S. is the lesser of two evils (however I haven't yet read/seen everything I've been suggested, namely the documentaries [I can watch them tomorrow] and the book, so.)

[milk]

In other words, you can squarely place the horrors of the KR on the shoulders of the US.

You can't. The blame is squarely on the Khmer Rouge themselves for what happened in DK; it was they who carried out a failed revolution. That US imperialist interests in the region in some ways facilitated their rise to power indirectly, does not mean you can place the horrors of DK on the shoulders of the Americans.

By all means, the DK regime was temporarily whitewashed in the 1980s, but it was a different set of circumstances after 1979, which saw US realpolitik support the ousted Khmer Rouge, in matters of rolling back Soviet influence in Indochina.

[Shinigami]

Well, the specifics of whether the US or the Khmer Rouge is at the most fault don't really matter for this, the point is that the U.S. helped, but I've decided to moatly go over Latin America and the middle east.
Right now I'm looking for some examples of sexism and patriarchy in the military, and some examples of U.S. soldiers committing homocide, genocide, or mass rapes and (mainly) the failure or apathy of the commanders and military leaders to punish or prevent such things.

[milk]

They do matter. You can see US imperialism's indirect (a carpet bomb panacea) help in bringing the Khmer Rouge to power, but you can't blame the DK regime on the US. The Khmer Rouge themselves are responsible for that.

[Shinigami]

They don't matter to my project, is what I meant, then. My project is mostly gonna be about Latin America and the Middle East, with a few references to what the U.S. is doing in other nations, but not full-blown arguments about what happened there and who was at fault.