El mito del idealismo americano: Cómo la política exterior de EE.UU pone el mundo en peligro

by Noam Chomsky, María Serrano Giménez (translator)

La farsa del idealismo americano ofrece una introducción oportuna y exhaustiva a las incisivas críticas del poder estadounidense que han convertido a Noam Chomsky en un “fenómeno global”, uno de los intelectuales públicos más importantes de todos los tiempos. Examinando la historia de la actividad militar y económica de EEUU en todo el mundo, Chomsky y Nathan J. Robinson analizan vívidamente cómo la búsqueda estadounidense de la dominación global ha causado estragos país tras país, sin, irónicamente, hacer a sus ciudadanos más seguros. Además, exploran cómo las élites dominantes han promovido mitos interesados sobre el compromiso del país con “la difusión de la democracia,” mientras persiguen una política exterior imprudente que beneficia a unos pocos y pone en peligro a muchos. Examinando la proliferación nuclear y el cambio climático, muestran cómo las políticas estadounidenses siguen exacerbando las amenazas globales. A la vez exhaustivo y devastador, urgente y provocador, La farsa del idealismo americano brinda una entrada altamente legible a las conclusiones a las que ha llegado después de toda una vida de reflexión y activismo.

496 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2025

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

[Manuel Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro permite observar un resumen del pensamiento y de la visión de Chomsky sobre EEUU. No ofrece grandes reflexiones nuevas, se centra en repasar la hipocresía de realismo político vs idealismo (o lo que el dice retórica vs hechos).
La segunda parte del libro me ha parecido la mejor, el análisis de la creación de de consenso es maravilloso. El papel de estudios, medios y comunicaciones social por medio de valores intrínsecos y bases comunes forman un complejo ideológico al servicio de una élite burguesa que cuenta con todas las herramientas, estatales y empresariales a su servicio. Considero esencial conocer el papel de tertulianos, presunciones culturales, y lenguaje superficialmente apolítico pero intrínsecamente politizado que tiene en nosotros y en nuestra concepción del entorno y de nuestra posición en el mismo.
En último lugar me ha llamado la atención la poca referencia anarquista en el libro, teniendo en cuenta la ideología del autor, se muestra muy lejano a las apreciaciones hechas en otros títulos. Creo que una explicación para esto es que hay mucha mano en la edición final de Robinson. El fondo de la obra se puede colocar en una óptica socialista democrática pacifista, centrada en los problemas magnos de la crisis medioambiental, el peligro nuclear y el realismo político norteamericano.

[Sergio Drutas Holhos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro completo, que no solo muestra las acciones derivadas por un Estado que busca brillar por encima de los demás, sino también estudia aquellas acciones en contra del pensamiento acrítico. Liderado por unos pocos, las acciones se vuelven contra nosotros y nos enseña que las víctimas no son ellos. Son los que han sufrido. Un libro espectacular.