Chomsky, Noam. Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States. Metropolitan Books. NY, USA. Several editions, subtitles & publishers.

I don’t often review a best seller, but that is what this book by Chomsky has become recently. Although well known to political activists and students of political thought around the world, Chomsky, prolific and active as he is, has never been a popular best seller. That has changed with Hugo Chavez recommending this book to the world at the UN General Assembly.

He said. “It’s an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what’s happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet…The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads.”

Hegemony or survival by Noam Chomsky: Book review

Full Spectrum Dominance.

That sent many diplomats, politicians and curious listeners running to the bookstore. For many of us who have read Chomsky for years, it is an amusing, but heartening sight to imagine. This is a important book; the more people who read it, the better. As I write this I am organizing a vigil besides navy ships at Navy Days in Victoria. And Chomsky could not be more relevant & serious. Canada has become an extra wing on the USA eagle, while the USA soldiers on in Iraq; we are on ground for its strategy in Afghanistan. Chomsky, author of nearly 100 books over his long career is seldom wrong and is always full of insight into the machinations of the USA government.

Chomsky shows us how the present USA policies are rooted in the past, Bush II is no new aberration but he has built on the success of his father & his predecessors and the end of “the cold war” and the development of what the military planners call “full spectrum dominance.” With a powerful military–industrial complex (General/President Eisenhower’s phrase) ruling the White House and a president programmed to look like a simple Christian guy, the USA is hell–bent on global control. Most recently the 911 bombings of New York & Washington have provided a heaven send opportunity to be even more ruthless in pursuit of its goal.

Chomsky like many radical thinkers and activists is optimistic, putting the onus for creating a better world onto to activists and politicians everywhere who have integrity and commitment to believe and act as though ‘another world is possible.’ His works are a vital part of the matrix of our activism.

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