Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Linguist Chomsky (The Responsibility of Intellectuals) and historian Prashad (The Darker Nations) take a blistering tour of U.S. foreign policy failures. In a series of edited conversations, the authors contend that U.S.-led military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya not only failed to achieve their objectives, but unleashed "chaos" and "needless suffering" on civilians. They trace the roots of these debacles to America's "Godfather attitude," which "expanded geometrically" after the collapse of the Soviet Union left the U.S. without a rival superpower. Claiming that the CIA was more responsible for 9/11 than the Taliban, Chomsky and Prashad classify the invasion of Afghanistan as an "illegitimate aggression." Elsewhere, they delve into the Reagan administration's strong support for Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran; explain how the NATO bombing of Libya in 2011 undermined promising peace negotiations led by the African Union; and predict that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will bring Russia and China closer together and significantly set back efforts to mitigate climate change. Though the conversations tend to ramble, Chomsky and Prashad have a firm command of their subject matter and make incisive connections between seemingly disparate events. The result is a fierce and well-informed condemnation of U.S. imperialism. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
This work transcribes a late-2021 conversation between Chomsky (linguistics, MIT; Internationalism or Extinction) and Prashad (director, Tricontinental Inst. for Social Research; Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations). The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan serves as the prompt for this sweeping discussion about the nature of American power as demonstrated by its actions in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya; and how those events have shaped international affairs. The authors compare the United States to a mafia-like godfather that uses its power and influence to pressure both friends and foes to bend to its will. They argue that China is its primary rival, as it works to establish institutions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to circumvent the U.S.-dominated world order. They conclude that the relationship between these two powers could lead to a devastating world conflict, if not managed carefully. VERDICT This approachable book is recommended for readers interested in thought-provoking works on international relations and current affairs.--Joshua Wallace
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two prominent intellectuals rehash familiar discussions about the myriad failures of American foreign policy. In the foreword to this back-and-forth between Chomsky and Prashad, Angela Y. Davis calls Chomsky "the conscience of a country," an unbending critic of the flawed concept of American exceptionalism. In addition to examining America's disastrous, 20-year war in Afghanistan and the recent hasty withdrawal, the authors journey back to the Vietnam era, showing how the U.S. "has failed to accomplish any of the objectives of its wars." American bombing, they clearly demonstrate, has created only needless suffering, and they are perplexed that government officials wonder why there is often hatred and violence directed toward the U.S. Due to its relentless military bullying, the authors characterize America as a kind of godfather. "There is a mafia quality to the way the United States has exercised its power," they write in the introduction, "something that goes back to the days of the genocide against the indigenous peoples of North America….The idea that the United States…had a right to define the destiny of the Americas and to export this attitude to other lands, especially in parts of Africa and Asia, derives from its settler-colonial history." Using a mixture of dialogue and insertions of Chomsky's previous public pronouncements, the collaborators circle back continuously to the myth of American exceptionalism and how American attempts to govern with intimidation and military aggression have failed many times over. In a concluding section that feels tacked-on, the authors turn to the war in Ukraine, which they agree is a disaster for the planet: "The most significant effect of this war, barely discussed, is that it sets back--maybe permanently--the meager hopes for escaping the total catastrophe of climate destruction, the end of organized human life (and innumerable other species we are wantonly destroying)." A collection of insightful geopolitical analyses that offers little new for Chomsky devotees. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
