name: Hegemony_or_Survival isbn13: 9780805074000 isbn: 0805074007 title: Hegemony or Survival author: Noam Chomsky publisher: Metropolitan Books year: 2003 start: 2005-01-11 stop: 2005-01-28
Diatribe against American imperial policies.
Early on, Chomsky warns his reader not to confuse state power with a country and its people. One can be critical of state policy while praising the country and its culture. Interestingly enough, one reviewer on Amazon.com has fallen into that trap and assumes that since Chomsky is critical of the current administration, he must hate America too.
Chomsky documents how the Monroe Doctrine has shaped American policy, both foreign and domestic for the past 150 years. He uses newspaper articles, declassified documents, and political analysis to show how successive administrations have built up their military supremacy to an unparalleled level while at the same time taming the "great beast" of public opinion, giving them the freedom to use that power to the benefit of the national elite. Examples come from involvements in Central and South America, the Cold War including the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the post-Soviet era and the war on terror, to the war in Iraq. The progression is quite frightening.
The book includes 28 pages (10%) of notes listing sources for each quotes, and a 12-page index. You can check out his facts for yourself, if you have the time and patience to track down all those sources.
Note: If you look at the dates during which I was reading this book, you will see that they coincide with George W. Bush's second inaugural address (2005-01-20). In it, President Bush put forth a goal to promote freedom in the world. The future will tell if this was the latest incarnation of the Monroe Doctrine. In reaction to the inaugural speech, the New York Times published, on January 30, an op-ed by Tom Wolfe tying the address to the Monroe Doctrine and how successive administrations gradually expanded its reach until it spanned the entire globe.