Terrorizing The Neighborhood: American Foreign Policy Post-Cold War Era

by Noam Chomsky

Chomsky explores American foreign policy in the post Cold War era. 9780962709128 0962709123 Publication 6/1991 63 Pressure Drop

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

About the author

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

[Randall Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Noam is so refreshing: “Putting it schematically, for the Soviet Union, the Cold War has been primarily a war against its satellites; and for the United States a war against the Third World, with ancillary benefits with regards to domination of the other industrial societies.” U.S. Foreign Policy Rule One: “It would be imprudent to attack anyone capable of fighting back.” “Consensus is fragile and will vanish if violence meets resistance.” The rationale for the Vietnam War was based on defending of South Vietnam; “the trivial fact that the United States had invaded South Vietnam and virtually destroyed it was unthinkable and remains so.” Noam even includes a handy glossary with regular words as later redefined by U.S. power. Here’s Noam’s U.S. Cold war redefinition of a Communist: “labor leaders, peasant organizers, priests organizing self-help groups, and anyone who has the wrong priorities and thus gets in our way.” “Unlike the U.S. clients, the Sandinistas did not slaughter their own populations. The equally uncontroversial fact was that they attempted social reforms and directed resources to the needs of the poor majority.” If you are looking for more reasons why the U.S. wanted former client Noriega suddenly gone, note his support for the Contadora peace process which threatened to replace constant U.S. bullying with diplomacy. Many noted that on the same day that the U.S. invaded Panama to “save human rights”, the U.S. announces the sale of $300 million in high tech gear to China “to leaders whose human rights record was a thousand times worse.” When have you last seen the U.S. Media write how the U.S. forces cigarettes down international throats and is thus one of the world’s leading narco-traffickers? Another great book by Noam Chomsky.

[Shaneeza aziz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess, I've always felt too intimidated by Chomsky to read any of his books. I selected this book because it is the shortest and perhaps the most talked about among readers. I found his point of views to be stated in a clear and consistent manner. Unfortunately,I'm no history buff, so I was a little lost on some of the examples he used to prove his theory, but overall I would recommend this book as a good introduction about chomsky's views on american foreign policy.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los tres ensayos de Chomsky que componen este libro son lúcidos, concisos y, sobre todo, ilustrativos para entender el poder política que tiene Estados Unidos.
Una lectura fascinante.

[Marta Hubach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es que no sé ni perquè ho intento.

[GreyAtlas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. Anti-American fame seeking writing that offers nothing of substance.

[Wendy Knaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

lo termine hace muuuucho y me gusto bastante
lastima el chomsky que conocimos hace poco.....

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8