The Un-Diplomatic Podcast Live! What's Causing America's Imperial Decline? | Ep. 285
Feb 10, 2026
A field recording from New Zealand interrogates why American power is waning. The conversation rejects shallow labels and argues for imperialism as the deeper cause. Primitive accumulation, resource seizure, and dispossession are spotlighted as drivers of modern statecraft. Geopolitical rivalry, profit-driven seizure, and the risks of a declining empire are explored in short, sharp segments.
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Description Without Explanation Is Useless
- Van Jackson argues that naming U.S. foreign policy without explaining causes is useless and misleading.
- He insists the best label is one that provides a historical-materialist account, not mere description.
Age Of Primitive Accumulation
- Jackson identifies our era as the Age of Primitive Accumulation driving imperialist statecraft.
- He links imperialist foreign policy directly to dispossession, resource grabs, and frontierization.
Primitive Accumulation Defined
- Primitive accumulation means wealth hoarding via dispossession and extraction beyond wage exploitation.
- Jackson says this mode is replacing wage-labor accumulation amid low global growth.