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Deterring Democracy

Noam Chomsky

FSG, 1991

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Noam Chomsky’s Deterring Democracy is a political Rorschach test. What you see inside depends entirely upon your political leanings. Put simply, if you think that the United States played the role of the villain in the Cold War, you’ll likely see this book as an enormously detailed, highly researched look at what the U.S. government would probably prefer you didn’t know. If you think the U.S. was the defender of democracy, you’ll probably see it as more blathering from an unrepentant Bolshevik. Either way, this book was significant when published early in the post-Cold War period and certainly illuminates several of the shadier policies ever undertaken by the U.S. government. As such, getabstract suggests that any well-read and well-informed person in either the professional or academic world acquire a working knowledge of the arguments made by Chomsky in this book, in order to decide on their merits for yourself.

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Although the United States has always been synonymous with democracy, that image is merely a cleverly crafted illusion. By looking at history as well as current affairs, no matter what your political leanings might be, you can see clearly that the American empire poses a danger for democracy, both at home and abroad. A major shift in global politics has left the U.S. unchallenged as the preeminent military power, even as its economic might has declined drastically in the face of competition from Germany and Japan. Potentially catastrophic consequences can result from this as the U.S. exploits its advantage ruthlessly to enforce its national interests - from Nicaragua to the Philippines, Panama to the Middle East. In the new world order, it is clear that the New World gives the orders.

U.S. policies have not always been what they seem. The general public in the U.S. has been kept largely in the dark about their government’s real agenda in matters both domestic and foreign, but that is nothing new. When you look at historical studies, the truth rarely emerges until many years after the fact. What the U.S. government denies, covers up, or has done covertly has...

About the Author

Noam Chomsky was called "the left’s answer to William F. Buckley" by the Los Angeles Times. His books include Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, On Power and Ideology, Turning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America, The Struggle for Peace, The Fateful Triangle: the United States, Israel and the Palestinians, and Towards a New Cold War: Essays on the Current Crisis and How We Got There.

Deterring Democracy

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