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Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
"Bravo! A vivid, well-aimed critique of the evils of US global interventionism, a superb antidote to officialdom's lies and propaganda."-Michael Parenti
"Rogue State forcibly reminds us of Vice President Agnew's immortal line, 'The United States, for all its faults, is still the greatest nation in the country.'"-Gore Vidal
"Bill Blum came by his book title easily: He simply tested America by the same standards we use to judge other countries. The result is a bill of wrongs-an especially well-documented encyclopedia of malfeasance, mendacity and mayhem that has been hypocritically carried out in the name of democracy by those whose only true love was power."-Sam Smith
William Blum's latest book is Freeing the World To Death: Essays on the American Empire.
393 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
William Blum
34 books224 followersJewish-American writer and critic of US foreign policy.
William Blum got wide media coverage, when his book "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was recommended by Osama Bin Laden in a speech.
William Blum got wide media coverage, when his book "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was recommended by Osama Bin Laden in a speech.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
December 27, 2007
This book changed my life. I have always been interested in the different cultures that make up the U.S. but did not know much about the culture that single-handedly dominates our landscape and has been doing so for the past 50 years-WAR. This book sheds light on our government. Rogue State sheds light on "our" nation's outlook towards every other country and gives a brief description of the entanglements/interests we have been in since the 1940s. This is a must read for anyone or everyone, especially since the 2008 presidential elections are nearing.
January 22, 2017
Ho Chi Minh wrote at least eight letters to Truman and the State department saying how he loved the Declaration of Independence, and could we help him be free of the French? Historically hating the “threat of a good example”, the U.S. watched Minh’s success and then bombed parts of Vietnam and Laos back into the stone ages. To the world, it promised Vietnam 3.25 billion in reconstruction aid but in the end paid nothing. In fact, Vietnam was forced to pay back America $145 million in debts for America’s costs of waging war against it. This, Blum says, is the legal definition of extortion. An article in the U.S. News and World Report once said “Civilian casualties are not… news. The fact is they accompany wars.” This hypocrisy becomes stunning when we contrast this with the news value of 9/11, where most casualties were civilian. Only American deaths apparently matter. Of course, if that were true then our media decades ago would have reported on the hundreds of cases of government’s radiation experiments involving unsuspecting American citizens, military personnel, as well as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. The United States has internationally “literally millions of experimental subjects” worldwide deliberately infected with Agent Orange in Korea and Vietnam, none of which receives any media attention. Those civilian victims don’t matter like 9/11’s for two reasons. 1. They aren’t American. 2. Yes they are victims, but they are victims of our nation’s actions. American newspaper editors know they will get hundreds of emails in complaint when they show pictures of civilian casualties – and so they don’t. Blum then shows a lot of examples of how the military has repeatedly endangered its own soldiers with deliberate infections, biological and chemical toxins, D.U. exposure and a long list of nasties. He says if the government can’t care for the health of its soldiers historically, how can we expect it to care for civilians in other countries? Blum (who himself worked in the US state department) shows that no one can rise to any position in the U.S. foreign policy establishment without being “inordinately cruel and remorseless” – the more you read about our foreign policy past with Blum and Chomsky, the more you will agree. A Defense Department planning paper from 1992 says we must deter all “potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role.” Thanks largely to media silence, the greatest threat to the world’s environment and future prosperity has been the U.S. Military. According to the LA Times, it destroyed the drinking water of Guam. Everywhere our military goes, pollution and destruction follows with the joy of millions of more gallons of untreated raw sewage in the oceans. Today’s military has but three goals: 1. Serve U.S. corporations 2. Stop all societies developing alternatives to capitalism (no threats of a good example are tolerated) 3. Expand the empire. The Blum explains how we always knew we were ahead of the Russians and that the Cold War was thus a fake front, by quoting from actual internal documents. Thanks to the PATRIOT Act, if anyone tries to influence any policy change in America and the government can say it somehow felt “intimidated”, that civilian will get arrested and be open to forfeiture and beyond. Any guesses on how chilling to dissent that could become in Donald Trump’s tiny hands? M. L. Mencken told us back in 1920 that the aim of politics is to keep the populace alarmed. General Douglas MacArthur told us in 1957 that he had never seen a time when the “perpetual” fear created by the government was warranted. Arnold Toynbee in 1961was concerned that America had become like Rome, in that we were now about inequality, injustice, and happiness for the few. Blum shows a 1995 internal document stating that the U.S. had to act like a madman so few rivals would want to engage. Then he discusses all the assassinations done with U.S. help, and how America was so upset when Rushdie got a fatwah but no one cared that U.S. led similarly unfair but larger fatwahs against Allende, Castro, Sukarno and others. There has not yet appeared any “legal or moral argument to explain why the United States and its officials should be exempt from international law and justice.” In this amazing book, you watch as America keeps intervening in someone else’s Civil War (China, Greece, Vietnam, etc.). You see how one can ever know what Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Iran, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Chile, and dozens of other countries could have been like today without the decades of unrelenting American interference. Iraq was a non-radical secular society with frequent happy intermarriage between Sunni and Shia. Then America came… The Philippines had a chance at real independence in 1898. Then America came… Iran loved Mossadegh in 1951. Then America came… The names change, the story stays the same. Great book…
September 8, 2019
An excellent book to beat people blithely proclaiming US forces to be always, by default, "the good guys", declaring the US to be absolutely, non-negotiably "the greatest country in the world" and spouting other such hubris-fuelled fantasies over the head with. One might wish to add John Tirman's Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars, assorted works by Noam Chomsky, and at least half a dozen other titles I can think of off the top of my head to the pile for good measure. The hypocrisy and arrogance alone is enough to turn one's stomach, let alone the despicable actions and atrocities visited upon people from across the world, including the country's own citizens. One might also wish to consider the fact that had this book been published in 2019 rather than (in the edition I read) 2002, it would easily have been twice as long.
June 18, 2013
“Rogue State” is a quick run-down of the unseemly things that the United States did between 1945 and 2000. The first 90 pages cover major foreign human rights violations by the American government and the support of human rights violations in other countries. The next 30 pages focus on our use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, as well as depleted uranium, cluster bombs, and other bombings of civilian populations, and our encouragement of chemical/biological weapons in other countries. The next 110 pages focus on all the ways in which we've tried to interfere with the governance of other nations, specifically through military intervention, intervening in elections, UN vetoes, and a whole host of CIA malfeasance. The book then ends with a 30-page rundown of the ways in which the American government limits democracy within its own borders.
Overall, the number of ridiculously immoral things that can be attributed to the American government over that 65 year period becomes stunning.
In some sense the book feels thrown-together. There's no clear flow, and subjects are often wedged in just to get them in there. In that sense it feels like a reference manual for American atrocities. However, the writing isn't too dense and the author throws in dark humor regularly, so it's still a decent read.
As far as accuracy of the facts goes, there isn't nearly enough room to adequately reference all the accusations, though there are a decent number of references. I can say from my own study of history from many different sources that I didn't see anything particularly controversial within the pages. The truth of specific events here and there might be in question, but the overall tactics and types of incidents are certainly part of the history of the American government. The author does a decent job of distinguishing between cases where there is evidence that the US government committed the acts in question and when there is only the suggestion that they may have done so.
This book was written in 2000. Strikingly, that was before 9/11, the “War on Terror”, the Patriot Act, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Abu Gharib, Guantanamo Bay, the torture of terror suspects, the assassination of US citizens, drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, and the exposure of almost universal NSA spying. It is clear that the tactics employed from 1945 to 2000 have not abated in the slightest. In fact, the final two paragraphs of the book show an almost prescient foreshadowing by the author of what was about to come:
“In place of finding a commie under every bed, they now find a drug possessor, user, dealer, shipper or courier. Instead of the Soviet Evil Empire, they now see Rogue Nations out there, Outlaw Nations, Pariah States—enemies need catchy name—with their regiments of terrorists, supporters of terrorists, acquaintances of terrorists, nuclear smugglers, questionable asylum seekers and other anti-American and un-American types. In place of civil rights agitators, the Authority Juggernaut now zooms in on youth gangs, immigrants, environmentalists, welfare recipients, prisoners, and a host of other folks with a glaring deficit of political power.
What keeps most Americans from being shocked by the shredding of the Bill of Rights is that they have yet to feel the consequences, either personally or through someone close to them. It would appear, however, that they only have to wait. America's foreign groupies, in the meantime, remain blissfully unaware of the above and in need of a reality transplant.”
The foreign groupies only needed 3-5 more years to finally lose their unawareness. Most Americans took another 10 years after that, but it looks like they may finally be getting the message as well.
Overall, the number of ridiculously immoral things that can be attributed to the American government over that 65 year period becomes stunning.
In some sense the book feels thrown-together. There's no clear flow, and subjects are often wedged in just to get them in there. In that sense it feels like a reference manual for American atrocities. However, the writing isn't too dense and the author throws in dark humor regularly, so it's still a decent read.
As far as accuracy of the facts goes, there isn't nearly enough room to adequately reference all the accusations, though there are a decent number of references. I can say from my own study of history from many different sources that I didn't see anything particularly controversial within the pages. The truth of specific events here and there might be in question, but the overall tactics and types of incidents are certainly part of the history of the American government. The author does a decent job of distinguishing between cases where there is evidence that the US government committed the acts in question and when there is only the suggestion that they may have done so.
This book was written in 2000. Strikingly, that was before 9/11, the “War on Terror”, the Patriot Act, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Abu Gharib, Guantanamo Bay, the torture of terror suspects, the assassination of US citizens, drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, and the exposure of almost universal NSA spying. It is clear that the tactics employed from 1945 to 2000 have not abated in the slightest. In fact, the final two paragraphs of the book show an almost prescient foreshadowing by the author of what was about to come:
“In place of finding a commie under every bed, they now find a drug possessor, user, dealer, shipper or courier. Instead of the Soviet Evil Empire, they now see Rogue Nations out there, Outlaw Nations, Pariah States—enemies need catchy name—with their regiments of terrorists, supporters of terrorists, acquaintances of terrorists, nuclear smugglers, questionable asylum seekers and other anti-American and un-American types. In place of civil rights agitators, the Authority Juggernaut now zooms in on youth gangs, immigrants, environmentalists, welfare recipients, prisoners, and a host of other folks with a glaring deficit of political power.
What keeps most Americans from being shocked by the shredding of the Bill of Rights is that they have yet to feel the consequences, either personally or through someone close to them. It would appear, however, that they only have to wait. America's foreign groupies, in the meantime, remain blissfully unaware of the above and in need of a reality transplant.”
The foreign groupies only needed 3-5 more years to finally lose their unawareness. Most Americans took another 10 years after that, but it looks like they may finally be getting the message as well.
April 25, 2008
Draw your own conclusions but as a collection of [very deliberately selected] facts this presents a coherent indication of why the US faces some of the international / trans-national / and internal points of view. In UK we too often fail to take a true interest in US internal politics and fail to anticipate the 'why' behind American foreign policy. DON'T base your view on this book but DO take it as a starting point for your own enquiries. AP.
February 6, 2015
A good insight into the United States mostly unethical and immoral interference in foreign countries, from the 1940's to the present time. There are so many instances cited in this book, that at times reading it can get monotonous. Some accusations against the United States may sound like an opinion, stated to top off a previously stated powerful thesis. There are so many accusations, so profound at times that the reader can clearly imagine a book researched and written in-depth on every one of them.
The CIA turns up as the biggest culprit - manuevering, advising, assassinating and planning under the guise of democracy in order to further US power and interests worldwide. There is no end to the oppressive and Machevellian machinations that the CIA and United State's secret echelon of officials will reach in order to profit at the expense of other nations. When compared against today's war in Iraq and the U.S.'s past conflicts in the Persian Gulf, it's easy to understand how America's administrations, the likes of Dick Cheney and the Bush family, may have profitted from overseas reconstruction in the form of millions of dollars of construction contracts and services.
Think all wars are being fought for oil? What about all the medical contracts, pharma companies, construction, manufacturing, education, civil engineering and trade contracts that result from these wars, all to America's benefit? If your a skeptic of anything, from government and propaganda to journalism and cover-ups, this book will at least give you an opportunity to question the possibility that greed and the lust for power were more instrumental in shaping out nations last 50 years, than the furtherance of democratic principles which we hold dear.
The CIA turns up as the biggest culprit - manuevering, advising, assassinating and planning under the guise of democracy in order to further US power and interests worldwide. There is no end to the oppressive and Machevellian machinations that the CIA and United State's secret echelon of officials will reach in order to profit at the expense of other nations. When compared against today's war in Iraq and the U.S.'s past conflicts in the Persian Gulf, it's easy to understand how America's administrations, the likes of Dick Cheney and the Bush family, may have profitted from overseas reconstruction in the form of millions of dollars of construction contracts and services.
Think all wars are being fought for oil? What about all the medical contracts, pharma companies, construction, manufacturing, education, civil engineering and trade contracts that result from these wars, all to America's benefit? If your a skeptic of anything, from government and propaganda to journalism and cover-ups, this book will at least give you an opportunity to question the possibility that greed and the lust for power were more instrumental in shaping out nations last 50 years, than the furtherance of democratic principles which we hold dear.
June 16, 2012
Solid compilation of several decades of skulduggery. Every president of every nation on the planet should follow the example set in this book. a case study on Machiavelli. What a happy world it would be (excuse the sarcasm). I reference Blum's compilation in my own book "Dioxinomics: The Myth of Superpower in the Age of Dioxin." Soon, we will know what total anarchy looks like at the hands of every popinjay sovereign on the planet.
August 3, 2011
This book is shorter more concise version of Killing Hope which makes it more readable.
Will shatter the 'good guy' myth if you read it. As shocking as it reads, most of it seems to be backed up by government references.
Will shatter the 'good guy' myth if you read it. As shocking as it reads, most of it seems to be backed up by government references.
April 12, 2008
Great book for anyone interested in 'real' American foreign policy.
August 6, 2016
Investigative journalist William Bloom explains how US, behind a well publicized but false facade of democracy and human rights rhetoric, is engaged through its secretive agencies (CIA, NSA, and other affiliates), in endless number of subversive and criminal activities throughout the world in the form of coups, election frauds, invasions, spying, bombings, sabotage, assassinations, torture, bribery, kidnappings, drug trafficking, money laundering, looting, and so on since the WWII. The justification stated for these actions is often ideological; as any perceived threat to capitalism and American interests is considered to be sufficient reason for subversive action by the American Empire. Equally disturbing, is lulling to sleep the masses by hypocritical and deceptive front-line politicians and agencies, while all these illicit and criminal activities are conducted secretly and without impunity in the background.
For those who can see beyond smoke and mirrors, the recent failed coup attempt in Turkey by the disciples of the cleric Gulen who resides in Pennsylvania, had CIA involvement stamped all over it. But the coup attempt was most likely strategized to fail by the long term planners of the Globalist Gang to hand more power to Erdogan, an emerging dictator in the country. In the process, some of Gulen’s followers were risked to be sacrificed and others pacified for the time being. With dismantling of the Soviet Union and the cold war, the utility of Turkey as the bulwark of eastern defenses of the NATO greatly diminished. So, in the long term, a dictatorship in Turkey in the style of Saddam Hussein or Kaddafi, not a civilized democracy, would suit better to the American Empire to stir up trouble in this oil-rich volatile region.
After reading this book, one can confidently say “Emperor has no clothes”.
For those who can see beyond smoke and mirrors, the recent failed coup attempt in Turkey by the disciples of the cleric Gulen who resides in Pennsylvania, had CIA involvement stamped all over it. But the coup attempt was most likely strategized to fail by the long term planners of the Globalist Gang to hand more power to Erdogan, an emerging dictator in the country. In the process, some of Gulen’s followers were risked to be sacrificed and others pacified for the time being. With dismantling of the Soviet Union and the cold war, the utility of Turkey as the bulwark of eastern defenses of the NATO greatly diminished. So, in the long term, a dictatorship in Turkey in the style of Saddam Hussein or Kaddafi, not a civilized democracy, would suit better to the American Empire to stir up trouble in this oil-rich volatile region.
After reading this book, one can confidently say “Emperor has no clothes”.
April 24, 2010
Rogue State should be renamed 1001 Reasons To Hate America. I have an issue with these books because granted, U.S foreign policy has been far from ideal with assasination attempts on most pro-communist leaders during the Cold War, but to make the assertion that the CIA planned an assasination attempt on Charles de Gaulle (president of France) in 1965 is absolutely ridiculous.
This and many other historically inaccurate assertions are made in the book written by William Blum, a seriously pissed of ex-State Department worker. I wonder what they did to piss this man off, he needs some therapy to calm him down. The book itself gives the impression of having been shouted on to paper, mixes fact with fiction and makes some incredulous remarks:
'Something fundamentally peculiar has happened when the US government fires cruise missiles at an individual, Osama Bin Laden. When has a government ever declared war on an individual?'
and...
'How the CIA sent Nelson Mandela to Prison for 28 Years'
among a few of his controversial statements.
William Blum does make some very valid points regarding the US government flawed foreign policy (the 'Our Son Of a Bitch Policy') when backing dictators and mass murdrers like Pol Pot, Saddam and hundreds of others stretching from south America to the middle east. He loses sight of the truth when he begins to connect every single event to the invisible hand of the CIA.
This and many other historically inaccurate assertions are made in the book written by William Blum, a seriously pissed of ex-State Department worker. I wonder what they did to piss this man off, he needs some therapy to calm him down. The book itself gives the impression of having been shouted on to paper, mixes fact with fiction and makes some incredulous remarks:
'Something fundamentally peculiar has happened when the US government fires cruise missiles at an individual, Osama Bin Laden. When has a government ever declared war on an individual?'
and...
'How the CIA sent Nelson Mandela to Prison for 28 Years'
among a few of his controversial statements.
William Blum does make some very valid points regarding the US government flawed foreign policy (the 'Our Son Of a Bitch Policy') when backing dictators and mass murdrers like Pol Pot, Saddam and hundreds of others stretching from south America to the middle east. He loses sight of the truth when he begins to connect every single event to the invisible hand of the CIA.
October 24, 2010
An unsettling catalogue of nasty deeds - assassinations, torture, tyrant-funding, electoral meddling and the like - all apparently carried out or supported by the United States from the 1940s to the present day. Its concise and country-organized approach makes this an accessible book, with events listed, bullet-pointed, summarised and referenced, rather than lost in a wall of words (à la Chomsky). Blum clearly understands that it becomes more difficult to dismiss specific episodes as 'deviations from the norm' when each is presented back-to-back in this succinct way.
Just be mindful not to take it as the full picture of what America stands for, because this is more criticism than critique. With a scope specifically limited to identifying the negatives, it's probably best read as a counterbalance to existing rhetoric rather than as a fair and balanced history in itself. Still, if only 50% of this book's claims are accurate, then what have our journalists been doing for the last 60 years?
Just be mindful not to take it as the full picture of what America stands for, because this is more criticism than critique. With a scope specifically limited to identifying the negatives, it's probably best read as a counterbalance to existing rhetoric rather than as a fair and balanced history in itself. Still, if only 50% of this book's claims are accurate, then what have our journalists been doing for the last 60 years?
November 13, 2014
kind of the standard left critique of US foreign policy these days. nutshells the much more impressive Killing Hope in a quick chapter, and includes essays on various topics, such as how the US meets its own definition of 'rogue state' (similar to Chomsky's later argument that the US also meets its own definition of 'failed state' and George's earlier argument that the Us meets its own definition of 'terrorism').
June 2, 2017
The horror and terror of US global imperial interventionism. A terrifying and chilling book.
February 27, 2020
Anything by Blum is totally recommended to everyone. He is one those guys whose every work is worth the read. I would even advice you all to read his "Anti Empire Reports" available on his website.
June 30, 2025
imagine how much longer this book would be if written today
January 27, 2021
I read this because the book was on Bin Laden's shelf. I got curious as to what he had been thinking.
The author's language is biased, which made me somewhat wary about his truthfulness, as he so clearly was sending a message. Would he have been able to keep to the facts? Not all his statements have clear enough notes to verify all of his statements, but where and when I could follow his trail (he misspelled some foreign names) some of the things he mentions by turn out to be common knowledge by now, and substantiated by many academic volumes.
The shelves you see with this review are the countries covered. These are the countries in which the US has striven to get it's own agenda pushed.Even of only half what is stated is true, then it is good that more people know about this. I recommend it, despite the above deficiencies.
I chided myself that the content of this book came as a surprise. And I will undertake to read more about the individuals, the countries and the events that are elucidated here, to see what broader image, in context, and twenty year later, will emerge.
The author's language is biased, which made me somewhat wary about his truthfulness, as he so clearly was sending a message. Would he have been able to keep to the facts? Not all his statements have clear enough notes to verify all of his statements, but where and when I could follow his trail (he misspelled some foreign names) some of the things he mentions by turn out to be common knowledge by now, and substantiated by many academic volumes.
The shelves you see with this review are the countries covered. These are the countries in which the US has striven to get it's own agenda pushed.Even of only half what is stated is true, then it is good that more people know about this. I recommend it, despite the above deficiencies.
I chided myself that the content of this book came as a surprise. And I will undertake to read more about the individuals, the countries and the events that are elucidated here, to see what broader image, in context, and twenty year later, will emerge.
March 13, 2012
William Blum is in the same class as Michael Moore only Michael has more style, wit and backs his examples with clever analysis which William tends not to have. The book is filled with numerous examples and resembles more of a reference book than an analytical one which the cover promises. Nevertheless the genre is an important one as not a great number of White writers are writing about their own kind. And they are the only ones who can make any difference in the public opinion. I found the book interesting because for me Islam and Islamic countries are not the only targets for the American bully which I did suspect for a long time but was finding difficult to defend among my Muslim friends.
January 18, 2012
The format of the book isn't particularly engaging, but it isn't supposed to be. It reads as a long list of charges against the U.S. separated into different categories, clinically documented, referenced and only briefly commentated on. The author's voice is present, along with his bias, but the analysis is on the mark and once all of the evidence is presented the book is succinctly concluded and the reader's left aghast, baffled and more than a little angry. A must read, especially as a primer for deeper research into American foreign policy, but far from a wholly reliable and balanced analysis.
May 2, 2015
We all know the US bullied its way toward superiority throughout the final half of the 20th century. This book opened up my eyes on just how far this lone rogue superpower would go to protect its ill-gotten hegemony.
Torture, kidnapping, harboring war-criminals, financing insurgencies, weapons and military aids. Sounds like a plot from a Hollywood spy movie. But underneath our world, there are men with bloodied hands, directing the order of our world. Often on the lives of thousands.
As Blum quoted Goethe, we are reminded of the value of this book to civilization.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Torture, kidnapping, harboring war-criminals, financing insurgencies, weapons and military aids. Sounds like a plot from a Hollywood spy movie. But underneath our world, there are men with bloodied hands, directing the order of our world. Often on the lives of thousands.
As Blum quoted Goethe, we are reminded of the value of this book to civilization.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
August 22, 2017
One of the best books detailing American hypocrisy in international politics and the dirty wars it has conducted in the contemporary era. From Iran to Latin America to Africa, William Blum takes you into the hidden facts of the government toppling, violence infused history of the world that America led secretly. Some statistics that will blow your mind in this short read - Borat was right to call it America's "War of Terror" but one thing he didn't highlight was that it had been going on for many decades since World War II. Find out the hidden history of the United States for the past 70 years in international relations in this book.
October 23, 2007
This is a really good book for reference material. When you want statistics or specific data in a discussion of US empire, this is the book to reach for. When you need to pick a year and say where the US was currently invading you open up the book to the chapter on invasions. While it's great as a reference book, he doesn't do much in terms of theoretical analysis. He is simply trying to convince everyone of his thesis of American Empire. If you're sitting on the fence, this is a book for you. If you're convinced of the thesis, use it as a reference.
April 10, 2020
“No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine.”
― William Blum, Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
This quote sums up the book. If you can imagine anything horrible - it is documented in this book as the US doing it with the when, why, and how.
― William Blum, Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
This quote sums up the book. If you can imagine anything horrible - it is documented in this book as the US doing it with the when, why, and how.
February 8, 2022
Well some parts of this book were truly scary and awful. Especially the last chapter, hard to believe.
Also there some points in this book of which I heard and if I am not mistaken this is the first book that mentions them and claims that they are true.
Anyway I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to obtain a more clear view of the citadel of democracy.
Also there some points in this book of which I heard and if I am not mistaken this is the first book that mentions them and claims that they are true.
Anyway I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to obtain a more clear view of the citadel of democracy.
January 16, 2020
Worryingly enlightening. Anyone who wants to understand America and its role in the world should read this.
July 7, 2020
This book was amazing. If every American knew the truth they would be very ashamed of their governments, both Republican and Democrat.
May 17, 2021
Don't get depressed after reading this extremely insightful, yet painful and pleasurable read.
July 14, 2021
A well documented laundry list of U.S. activities abroad and at home. Depressing.
Three stars because the Kindle version has all kinds of weird formatting issues not because of the content.
Three stars because the Kindle version has all kinds of weird formatting issues not because of the content.
September 9, 2023
Amerika Syarikat telah menjadi subjek perdebatan dan kontroversi yang berpanjangan dalam sejarah geopolitik dunia. Negara ini amatlah sesuai digambarkan seperti tajuk buku tersebut sebagai sebuah negara samseng yang menggunakan kekuatannya untuk mencapai kepentingan dan agenda politik di peringkat global.
Dari aspek lain yang perlu diperhatikan adalah penggunaan bom yang dilakukan oleh Amerika Syarikat terhadap banyak negara. Hal ini dapat kita lihat melalui penggunaan bom dan serangan udara yang dilakukan di Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria dan negara lain, yang telah mengakibatkan rakyat yang tidak berdosa menjadi mangsa korban. Serangan ini meskipun dimaksudkan untuk menghadapi ancaman terroris, namun seringkali menimbulkan kerosakan yang parah pada insfrastruktur dan turut melibatkan kehilangan banyak nyawa.
Selain itu, saya juga melihat Amerika Syarikat memiliki kecenderungan untuk memanipulasi situasi di negara-negara lain demi kepentingan politik dan ekonominya. Dukungan mereka kepada rezim otoriter dan tindakan campur tangan yang dilakukan di negara-negara seperti Chile, Guatemala dan beberapa negara benua Amerika lainnya. Tujuan mereka campur tangan sering kali untuk melindungi dan memperkuat ekonomi negara mereka tanpa memperdulikan konsekuensi yang mungkin akan timbul.
Dampak ekonomi negara Amerika Syarikat adalah pengeluaran militer yang besar serta penggunaan kekuatan politik untuk mempengaruhi perekonomian global telah memberikan Amerika Syarikat dominasi ekonomi yang signifikan. Namun, terlepas dari manfaat ekonomi yang diraih Amerika Syarikat, negara-negara menjadi korban seringkali mengalami kerugian yang sangat besar dalam infrastruktur, ekonomi dan kesejahteraan rakyat.
Memetik kata-kata Gore Vidal, negara Samseng mengembalikan ingatan kita kepada kata-kata Naib Presiden Agnew:
"Biarpun salah, biarpun silap, Amerika Syarikat tetap negara teragung di dunia."
Dari aspek lain yang perlu diperhatikan adalah penggunaan bom yang dilakukan oleh Amerika Syarikat terhadap banyak negara. Hal ini dapat kita lihat melalui penggunaan bom dan serangan udara yang dilakukan di Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria dan negara lain, yang telah mengakibatkan rakyat yang tidak berdosa menjadi mangsa korban. Serangan ini meskipun dimaksudkan untuk menghadapi ancaman terroris, namun seringkali menimbulkan kerosakan yang parah pada insfrastruktur dan turut melibatkan kehilangan banyak nyawa.
Selain itu, saya juga melihat Amerika Syarikat memiliki kecenderungan untuk memanipulasi situasi di negara-negara lain demi kepentingan politik dan ekonominya. Dukungan mereka kepada rezim otoriter dan tindakan campur tangan yang dilakukan di negara-negara seperti Chile, Guatemala dan beberapa negara benua Amerika lainnya. Tujuan mereka campur tangan sering kali untuk melindungi dan memperkuat ekonomi negara mereka tanpa memperdulikan konsekuensi yang mungkin akan timbul.
Dampak ekonomi negara Amerika Syarikat adalah pengeluaran militer yang besar serta penggunaan kekuatan politik untuk mempengaruhi perekonomian global telah memberikan Amerika Syarikat dominasi ekonomi yang signifikan. Namun, terlepas dari manfaat ekonomi yang diraih Amerika Syarikat, negara-negara menjadi korban seringkali mengalami kerugian yang sangat besar dalam infrastruktur, ekonomi dan kesejahteraan rakyat.
Memetik kata-kata Gore Vidal, negara Samseng mengembalikan ingatan kita kepada kata-kata Naib Presiden Agnew:
"Biarpun salah, biarpun silap, Amerika Syarikat tetap negara teragung di dunia."
April 27, 2023
نعم، الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية هي أكبر دولة قد تسببت في الإرهاب خلال القرن الأخير. لكن المؤلف لا يقوم بأي فعل للخير بإلقاءه كل اللوم على هذه الدولة وحدها و على سياستها الخارجية. فهو عندما يتحدث عن أعمال الإرهابيين أو دكتاتوريي الدول الأخرى يبدو بأنه يرفع أي ملامة عن أعناقهم و يضعها على الولايات المتحدة كالمسؤولة الوحيدة عن كل إرهاب يقع في العالم.
المؤلف بفعله بهذا، لا يبدو لي بأنه مهتم حقاً بمساعدة الدول المتضررة من التدخل الأمريكي أكثر من كونه مهتم بإلحاق الأذى لبنية الولايات المتحدة لأسباب أيديولوجية شخصية، فهو كإشتراكي يرى بأن الرأسمالية هي أحد الأسباب الأساسية للتدخلات الأمريكية - إن لم تكن السبب الكافي بحد ذاته - في شؤون الدول الأخرى، و بأن الدول الشيوعية و الديكتاتورية التي أضرت شعوبها لم تقم بذلك إلا بتحريض مباشر من الولايات المتحدة، و بدون هذا التحريض الأمور كانت ستسير على ما يرام.
شخصياً أرى بأن تحميل كل طرف مسؤولية أفعاله و مراجعة الذات حسب الواقع هو الخيار الأفضل للتقدم، عوضاً عن لوم الآخر تماماً و إعفاء الذات من الخطأ. فكل الدول المذكورة في هذا الكتاب هي متورطة في الأذى الحاصل لشعوبها و يجب أن تعترف بذلك، و أول هذه الدول طبعاً هي الولايات المتحدة.
المؤلف بفعله بهذا، لا يبدو لي بأنه مهتم حقاً بمساعدة الدول المتضررة من التدخل الأمريكي أكثر من كونه مهتم بإلحاق الأذى لبنية الولايات المتحدة لأسباب أيديولوجية شخصية، فهو كإشتراكي يرى بأن الرأسمالية هي أحد الأسباب الأساسية للتدخلات الأمريكية - إن لم تكن السبب الكافي بحد ذاته - في شؤون الدول الأخرى، و بأن الدول الشيوعية و الديكتاتورية التي أضرت شعوبها لم تقم بذلك إلا بتحريض مباشر من الولايات المتحدة، و بدون هذا التحريض الأمور كانت ستسير على ما يرام.
شخصياً أرى بأن تحميل كل طرف مسؤولية أفعاله و مراجعة الذات حسب الواقع هو الخيار الأفضل للتقدم، عوضاً عن لوم الآخر تماماً و إعفاء الذات من الخطأ. فكل الدول المذكورة في هذا الكتاب هي متورطة في الأذى الحاصل لشعوبها و يجب أن تعترف بذلك، و أول هذه الدول طبعاً هي الولايات المتحدة.
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