Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hegemony or Survival, 5 Aug 2007
This is another eye opening book from Chomsky about American foreign and domestic policy. It covers the period from the end of the second world war, and focuses (as expected) on Iraq. It has some fascinating and shocking information (although a lot of it has been said elsewhere by various people, including Chomsky) and I would say this is a good starting place for those new to American foreign policy and practise. Sadly, considering Chomsky is a linguistics professor, this book isn't too clear at times. I found that for many pages the prose flowed coherently and put across the points extremely well, only to be followed by a couple of pages that were unfocused and hard to decipher at first read, and I've read many Chomsky and political books. This is the only reason this book got four stars from me. Overall, an insightful, fascinating, if slightly scary and depressing read. If this whets your appetite, try 'One No, many yeses' By Paul Kingsnorth for one portrayal of an alternative world view.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Times seem right for Chomsky now!, 7 Aug 2007
I have always been one to question Noam Chomsky's positions on issues, and at times have even felt his proclivity for citing himself in support of an argument to be a bit questionable from a scholarly perspective. But that being said, this is an excellent read. Despite what one may think of this author's point of view there is much to be considered within this book.
Chomsky supports his arguments and delivers them in a concise way that puts into context so much of recent histories worst attrocities. I recomend this book highly for any one who is ready to see what has been well hidden by a very tight knit group of commercial interests and elitists who do not have the needs of humanity at heart.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An unconventional, controversial view of U.S. foreign policy, 7 Aug 2008
Most commentators view globalization almost exclusively from an economic perspective. However, controversial iconoclast Noam Chomsky, a well-known left-wing (some would say far left) academic, famed also as an innovator in linguistics, discusses globalization's political impact as the modern driver of U.S. foreign policy. Political economics is a sensitive topic, but Chomsky doesn't hold back as he argues that U.S. foreign policy has been imperialist since World War I. He contends that in the invasion of Iraq, and earlier forays elsewhere, the U.S. disregarded the U.N. as well as public opinion at home and abroad. Chomsky makes important, though contentious, points, but he would have a wider audience if he developed a more comprehensible writing style, avoided torturously long sentences, and provided more background on some events he covers, particularly America's more esoteric political and military interventions. He is provocative, subjective and deeply negative about the U.S. (even referring to it as a "terrorist state") and its allies. getAbstract finds this book may intrigue those who want to know about political thinking at all ends of the spectrum. (As is true of every Abstract, the following views are those of the author and not of getAbstract.)
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by Noam Chomsky
by Naomi Klein
by John Pilger
