Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

a tract which explores the us govt's commitment to democracy at home and abroad. some of the text has been presented before; the overall message is an attempt to explain the "strong thread of consistency" running through post-WWII US foreign policy. in particular, the "strong thread" is decidedly not the common refrain of democracy promotion; in fact it is the discontinuity between words and actions that is the real focus of the book. there are some real pearls in this one. the main target is US intellectual culture, which chomsky likens in a sense to postmodern criticism in the "restrict[ion of] attention to [journalistic] narrative and text, recoiling from Truth, perhaps a social construction." brilliant - a penetrating insight on what passes as journalism today, more an analysis of rhetoric rather than a sober and considered look at the results of policies. the fallout from neoliberal policies (IMF) forced upon societies is explored with the remarkable inverse correlation between adoption of said policies and economic growth. the "issue" of funding social security in the states is exposed as a myth. also, the US need for an ally in south asia in the "cop" scenario articulated by nixon explains alot of the recent pressure on india to play the part ... or else (us military funding to pakistan has increased - a not so subtle message). here are some more gems: "deeds consistently accord with interests, and conflict with words - discoveries that must not, however, weaken our faith in the sincerity of the declarations of our leaders." "In the term NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the only accurate words are 'North American'" "Many indigenous people apparently do not see any reason why their lives, societies, and cultures should be disrupted or destroyed so that New Yorkers can sit in SUVs in traffic gridlock."