Ep. 0150: In the Shadows of the American Century with Alfred McCoy

CJ is joined in this episode by Professor Alfred McCoy, who holds a Ph. D. from Yale University in Southeast Asian history, and currently holds the Harrington Chair in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of many books, including The Politics of Heroin, Policing America’s Empire, and A Question of Torture, among others.

His most recent book is In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power.

Join CJ & Alfred as they discuss:

• Dr. McCoy’s interesting & hazardous research into the Southeast Asian heroin trade (and US government complicity in it), beginning in the 1970s
• The research techniques he developed to ‘get at’ that topic, which he later used in other research into darker aspects of the US government, including torture and surveillance
• His latest book, In the Shadows of the American Century, which examines the pillars on which the US empire is built, signs that the empire might be declining, and possible ramifications of this decline

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External Links

• Scott Horton’s recent interview with Alfred McCoy on the subject of Afghanistan’s heroin production (this is a great companion to this DHP episode)
• Dr. McCoy’s article archive at TomDispatch.com
• The History of the Southeast Asian Drug Trade (lecture on Youtube)
• A Short History of Psychological Terror (lecture on Youtube)
• The Rise and Decline of US Global Power (lecture on Youtube)