The Power of Imperialism” An Analysis of the United States’ Intervention in Afghanistan through Adam Curtis’ The Bitter Lake (2015)

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze if the United States’ operations in Afghanistan throughout the second half of the 20th century were imperialist interventions or part of the foreign policy in the context of the Cold War. The analysis is going to be performed using the documentary The Bitter Lake (2015) by Adam Curtis’ as historical background, alongside with Hobson’s Imperialism: A Study (1902), Lenin’s Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916) and Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) theses’ of imperialism. In the analysis, firstly, imperialism is going to be defined and typified, afterwards, Curtis’ documentary will be studied to determine that these operations were an imperialist intervention.

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si las operaciones que Estados Unidos llevó a cabo en Afganistán durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX fueron intervenciones imperialistas o parte de la política exterior en el contexto de la Guerra Fría. Para llevar a cabo este análisis, se usará el documental The Bitter Lake (2015) de Adam Curtis como contexto histórico, y las tesis del imperialismo de Hobson Imperialism: A Study (1902), de Lenin Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916) y de Arendt The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). En el análisis, primero, se definirá y tipificará lo que es imperialismo, para luego estudiar el documentar y determinar que estas operaciones fueron parte de una política imperialista.