Left-wing Australian independent journalist Caitlin Johnstone is very right about the American empire - her thinking reminds me of John Mearsheimer's

Caitlin Johnstone

@caitoz

I see people saying the US gets nothing out of its alliance with Israel and it's all one way, which is inaccurate. The interests of the US empire are massively advanced by having a nuclear-armed intelligence proxy in a strategically crucial resource-rich region constantly inflicting violence and chaos on non-US-aligned nations. Perhaps more importantly, Israel's existence serves as the ultimate argument against ever removing US troops from the middle east, which it doesn't want to do because of its interest in controlling the world's fossil fuel supply. As Joe Biden said, "If Israel didn't exist, we would have to invent it." People often point to Israel's aggressive lobbying efforts in Washington to argue that the alliance is not mutually beneficial, but lobbying is just one of the adhesives which holds an unofficial, unacknowledged empire together. You may be certain that if Washington didn't want Israel manipulating US politics in its own interests, it wouldn't be happening; the US government has plenty of laws at its disposal to shut that down if it wants. Israel has no qualms about pushing the US to give it the most it can get for the smallest possible return because it understands, quite correctly, that in the end Israel is still just an ally of convenience and the US will throw it under the bus the moment it's in the empire's interests to do so. Israel has an extensive history of aligning with hostile and unpredictable powers to advance its own interests, like the anti-semitic Christian Zionists and supporting the rise of Hamas. So the two power structures use each other for whatever they can get in exchange, and because of the way Israel was set up from the beginning their interests are aligned far more often than not.

As if to prove she is right about the American empire, there is this an hour ago. 

Michael McFaul

@McFaul

Ukrainian warriors are fighting invading Russian soldiers in Ukraine today so that American warriors don’t have to fight them in Poland tomorrow. Aiding these Ukrainian warriors directly advances US security interests.

I can't help remembering that Henry Kissinger said, 'To be America's enemy is dangerous. To be her friend is fatal.