After the Cataclysm


Book Description

Volume two of the influential study of US foreign policy during the Cold War—and the media’s manipulative coverage—by the authors of Manufacturing Consent. First published in 1979, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman’s two-volume work, The Political Economy of Human Rights, is a devastating analysis of the United States government’s suppression of human rights and support of authoritarianism in Asia, Africa and Latin America during the 1960s and 70s. Still one of the most comprehensive studies of the subject, it demonstrates how government obscured its role in torture, murder and totalitarianism abroad with the aid of the news media. In the first volume, Chomsky and Herman focus on US terror in Indochina. In volume two, After the Cataclysm, the authors examine the immediate aftermath of those actions, with special focus on the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia. Throughout, the authors track the media response to the US interventions—a mixture of willful silence and Orwellian misrepresentation.




Atrocity Fabrication and Its Consequences


Book Description

Atrocity fabrication – the invention and reporting of atrocities committed by an adversary without knowledge that they ever occurred – has a centuries-long history at the heart of propaganda and power politics as an effective means of moving public and international opinion. Its use can provide pretext for a range of hostile measures against its targets, transforming in the public eye wars of unprovoked aggression into wars of liberation of the oppressed, or turning blockades to starve enemy civilians into humane efforts to pressure abusive governments under the moralistic label of sanctions. As it plays a large and growing role in global conflict in the 21st century understanding atrocity fabrication and the consistent means by and ends to which it has been used has become crucial to comprehending geopolitical events in the present day. This book elucidates the seldom explored but central role played by atrocity fabrication in eleven major conflicts from the 1950s to the present day: from Korea, Vietnam and Cuba during the Cold War to Iraq, Libya and the emerging Sino-U.S. cold war more recently. It highlights the many variations of atrocity fabrication, the strong consistencies in how atrocity fabrication is used, and the consequences it has for the populations of the targeted countries, The book demonstrates the roles played by media and both government and non-governmental organizations in misleading the public as to the actuality of these highly publicized events. The emerging trend towards this mode of action, and the deep implications this has for world order, make an understanding of its history particularly critical




Fateful Triangle


Book Description

Contents Foreword by Edward W. Said Preface to the Updated Edition 1. Fanning the Flames 2. The Origins of the "Special Relationship" 3. Rejectionism and Accommodation 4. Isreal and Palestine: Historical Backgrounds 5. Peace for Galilee 6. Aftermath 7. The Road to Armageddon 8. The Palestinian Uprising 9. "Limited War" in Lebanon 10. Washington's "Peace Process" Index An Excerpt from Fateful Triangle, Updated Edition For some time, I've been compelled to arrange speaking engagements long in advance. Sometimes a title is requested for a talk scheduled several years ahead. There is, I've found, one title that always works: "The current crisis in the Middle East." One can't predict exactly what the crisis will be far down the road, but that there will be one is a fairly safe prediction. That will continue to be the case as long as basic problems of the region are not addressed. Furthermore, the crises will be serious in what President Eisenhower called "the most strategically important area in the world." In the early post-War years, the United States in effect extended the Monroe Doctrine to the Middle East, barring any interference apart from Britain, assumed to be a loyal dependency and quickly punished when it occasionally got out of hand (as in 1956). The strategic importance of the region lies primarily in its immense petroleum reserves and the global power accorded by control over them; and, crucially, from the huge profits that flow to the Anglo-American rulers, which have been of critical importance for their economies. It has been necessary to ensure that this enormous wealth flows primarily to the West, not to the people of the region. That is one fundamental problem that will continue to cause unrest and disorder. Another is the Israel-Arab conflict with its many ramifications, which have been closely related to the major U.S. strategic goal of dominating the region's resources and wealth. For many years, it was claimed the core problem was Soviet subversion and expansionism, the reflexive justification for virtually all policies since the Bolshevik takeover in Russia in 1917. That pretext having




The Culture of Terrorism


Book Description

This scathing critique of U.S. political culture is a brilliant analysis of the Iran-Contra scandal. Chomsky offers a message of hope, reminding us resistance is possible.




After the Cataclysm


Book Description




Rogue States


Book Description

The bestselling author and activist “has delivered another impressive argument that the U.S. flouts international law when it finds it convenient to do so” (Publishers Weekly). In this still-timely classic, Noam Chomsky argues that the real “rogue” states are the United States and its allies. Chomsky turns his penetrating gaze toward US involvement in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America to trace the enduring combined effects of military domination and economic imperialism on these regions. “Noam Chomsky is like a medic attempting to cure a national epidemic of selective amnesia . . . [Rogue States is] a timely guide to the tactics that the powerful employ to keep power concentrated and people compliant . . . Chomsky’s work is crucial at a time when our empire perpetually disguises its pursuit of power under the banners of ‘aid,’ ‘humanitarian intervention,’ and ‘globalization.’ Americans have to begin deciphering the rhetoric. Chomsky’s a good place to start.” —The Village Voice “World-famous MIT linguist Chomsky has long kept up a second career as a cogent voice of the hard left, excoriating American imperialism, critiquing blinkered journalists and attacking global economic injustice.” —Publishers Weekly “Nothing escapes [Chomsky’s] attention . . . [Rogue States is] wonderfully lucid.” —PeaceWork Praise for Noam Chomsky “Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet.” —The New York Times Book Review “The conscience of the American people.” —New Statesman “One of the radical heroes of our age . . . a towering intellect . . . powerful, always provocative.” —The Guardian




World War I and the End of the Ottomans


Book Description

With the end of the First World War, the centuries-old social fabric of the Ottoman world an entangled space of religious co-existence throughout the Balkans and the Middle East came to its definitive end. In this new study, Hans-Lukas Kieser argues that while the Ottoman Empire officially ended in 1922, when the Turkish nationalists in Ankara abolished the Sultanate, the essence of its imperial character was destroyed in 1915 when the Young Turk regime eradicated the Armenians from Asia Minor. This book analyses the dynamics and processes that led to genocide and left behind today s crisis-ridden post-Ottoman Middle East. Going beyond Istanbul, the book also studies three different but entangled late Ottoman areas: Palestine, the largely Kurdo-Armenian eastern provinces and the Aegean shores; all of which were confronted with new claims from national movements that questioned the Ottoman state. All would remain regions of conflict up to the present day.Using new primary material, World War I and the End of the Ottoman World brings together analysis of the key forces which undermined an empire, and marks an important new contribution to the study of the Ottoman world and the Middle East. "




The Ethnography of Vietnam's Central Highlanders


Book Description

This book looks at ethnographic discourses concerning the indigenous population of Vietnam's Central Highlands during periods of christianization, colonization, war and socialist transformation, and analyses these in their relation to tribal, ethnic, territorial, governmental and gendered discourses. Salemink's book is a timely contribution to anthropological knowledge, as the ethnic minorities in Vietnam have (again) been the object of fierce academic debate. This is a historically grounded post-colonial critique relevant to theories of ethnicity and the history of anthropology, and will be of interest to graduate students of anthropology and cultural studies, as well as Vietnam studies.




The Chomsky Update (RLE Linguistics A: General Linguistics)


Book Description

Noam Chomsky has been described as ‘arguably the most important intellectual alive’. His revolutionary work in linguistics has aroused intense scholarly interest, while his trenchant critique of United States foreign policy and his incisive analysis of the role of intellectuals in modern society have made him a prominent public figure. Raphael Salkie’s timely book introduces the two parts of Chomsky’s work and explores the connections between them. He provides an accessible and up-to-date introduction to Chomsky’s linguistics, laying out his basic assumptions and aims – in particular, his consistent drive to make linguistics a science – and looking at a sample of Chomsky’s recent work. He examines the implications for other fields such as philosophy and psychology, as well as the main challenges to Chomsky’s position. Raphael Salkie also sets out the key themes in Chomsky’s political writings and his libertarian socialist views. He contrasts the ‘official line’ on US foreign policy – the view that the US is a ‘well-meaning, blundering giant’ – with Chomsky’s carefully argued alternative view. By focusing on Chomsky’s conception of human nature and human freedom the author draws out the links between the two sides of Chomsky’s work, in the belief that both sides raise issues which can profitably be explored. The author also provides a carefully annotated guide to further reading. As an experienced teacher of linguistics with a commitment to political activism, Raphael Salkie is uniquely qualified to present this introduction to one of the seminal thinkers of our time. First published in 1990.