Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project)

Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project) is certainly worthy of mention, as it became an immediate national bestseller. The book was published on August 12, 2004.

Who is Noam Chomsky? Noam Chomsky is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a linguist, philosopher, historian, activist, cognitive scientist, and author. He has been one of the most dynamic speakers in college campuses throughout the United States. College students know who Noam Chomsky is.

Professor Chomsky is a very prominent figure in literary circles and is well known around the world. It is fair to say that he is a critic of United States foreign policy and of the propaganda model behind the war machine.

The theme of the book is global hegemony and the consequential impact of worldwide American aggression. Chomsky has given an in-depth analysis of America’s pursuit of global dominance in the 20th century and beyond, and what the political ramifications will be if this tradition is not stopped. Chomsky has deep concerns of what America is doing and what it has done to other countries around the globe. He argues that U.S. foreign policy has totally disregarded human rights in other parts of the world, while wealthy elites have thrived at the expense of the majority of people.

U.S. Imperial Grand Strategy is the the theme of the century, in “order to maintain its status as the world’s foremost superpower since at least the culmination of the Second World War.”

Chomsky has written what other journalists would consider tabeau subject material, such as U.S. policy toward Indonesia, especially in East Timor. Nobody else dared to touch this political hot potato because it was much too controversial at the time.

Some may argue that Chomsky’s prose is a little dry, his chapters are intellectually challenging, and his material is somewhat complicated. However, his research is impeccable and his documentation is well sourced. He writes nothing but factual evidence and offers nothing but skillful analysis of American imperialism.

Since the Iraq War was the topic of the day when the book was written, a great deal of attention was placed on this event, as well as ongoing modern conflicts in the Middle East.

Chomsky skillfully provides a brief timeline of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. America’s role is factored into the struggle and the author spends a great deal of time on this subject. It’s interesting to note that Chomsky is critical of Israel policy, while taking into the account that he comes from a Jewish background. But many progressives are critical of the American-Israel relationship and what it has done to the Palestine people.

The American intervention of places like Columbia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, and Indonesia is discussed. The Cuban-American crisis (Cuban Project) is acknowledged and emphasized.

Neoliberalism is a topic that the author is more than willing to give credence:

Privatization has other benefits. If working people depend on the stock market for their pensions, healthcare, and other means of survival , they have a stake in undermining their own interests: opposing wage increases, health and safety regulations, and other measures that might cut into the benefactors on whom they must rely, in a manner reminiscent of feudalism.

Globalization is another hot topic:

One effect of incorporating national security exemptions in the mislabeled “free trade agreements” is that the leading industrial societies, primarily the U.S., can maintain the state sector on which the economy substantially relies to socialize cost and risk while privatizing profit.

America’s support for fascism is nothing new:

The rise of fascism in the interwar period elicited concern, but was generally regarded rather favorably by the U.S. and British governments, the business world, and a good deal of elite opinion. The reason was that the fascist version of extreme nationalism permitted extensive Western economic penetration and also destroyed the much-feared labor movements and the left, and the excessive democracy in which they called function. Support for Mussolini was effusive. Across a broad range of opinion, “that admirable Italian gentleman” (as President Roosevelt described him in 1933) enjoyed great respect until World War II broke out. Support extended to Hitler’s Germany as well.

It is, incidentally, well to bear in mind that the most monstrous regime in history came to power in the country that by reasonable measures represented the highest peak of Western civilization in the sciences and the arts, and has been considered a model of democracy before international conflict took forms that could not accommodate this conception; and — rather like Saddam Hussein half a century later — retained substantial Anglo-American support until Hitler launched direct aggression that infringed too seriously on U.S. and U.K. interests. Support for facism began at once. Praising the Fascist takeover in Italy, which quickly destroyed the parliamentary system and violently suppressed labor and political opposition, Ambassador Henry Fletcher articulated the assumptions that were to guide U.S. policy there and elsewhere in years to come.

Italy faced a stark choice, he wrote the secretary of state: either “Mussolini and Fascism” or “Giolitti and Socialism”; Giolitti was a leading figure of Italian liberalism.

Hegemony or Survival is a delightful read to those that possess an understanding of the subject material. Otherwise, it’s not an easy read for the novice of foreign affairs. At least a brief familiarity of the topics is necessary to grasp the ideas. I personally have read this book three times and yes, I was among the naive individuals that believed that the United States usually meant well in the world. Boy was I uninformed.

Noam Chomsky has an incredible talent for organization and adding perspective to normally complicated issues. He has decades of experience and his synopsis is well polished.

It could be truthfully argued that the author is leftist, however, I have found that he has been very critical of both sides of the aisle. This fact is often overlooked by pundits and critics alike.

You don’t necessarily have to agree with all of what this author has written. You will be quite challenged if your mission is to prove his analysis wrong, for the most part. The intellectual heavyweight Noam Chomsky deals with fact and not opinion. “America’s quest for global dominance” can no longer be ignored if survival of mankind is valued.

For the open-minded and well-informed scholar that really wants to advance in superior knowledge, Hegemony or Survival should be on the top ten list. You can choose to be naive,  ignore the global agenda, and believe the whitewash that the mainstream spouts daily. If you really want the full monty, Chomsky’s book is an absolute must read. Beware, reality is not pretty…

“Maintaining a hold on political power and enhancing US control of the world’s primary energy sources are major steps toward the twin goals that have been declared with considerable clarity: to institutionalize a radical restructuring of domestic society that will roll back the progressive reforms of a century, and to establish an imperial grand strategy of permanent world domination.” — Noam Chomsky