BIH Author Biography
South End Press is a nonprofit, collectively run book publisher with more than 200 titles in print. Since our founding in 1977, we have tried to meet the needs of readers who are exploring, or are already committed to, the politics of radical social change. Our goal is to publish books that encourage critical thinking and constructive action on the key political, cultural, social, economic, and ecological issues shaping life in the United States and in the world. In this way, we hope to give expression to a wide diversity of democratic social movements and to provide an alternative to the products of corporate publishing. Through the Institute for Social and Cultural Change, South End Press works with other political media projects - Z magazine; Speakout, a speakers' bureau; and Alternative Radio - to expand access to information and critical analysis. On the web at www.southendpress.org.Back Cover Copy
Described by the New York Times as "an exploder of received truths," Noam Chomsky is an articulate opponent of political hypocrisy, state brutality, and abuse of power. Rogue States is the result of his tireless efforts to measure the world's superpowers by their own standards and to hold them responsible for the acts they commit in the name of their people. The United States and its allies come in for particular scrutiny for their numerous blatant violations of the very international laws they claim to uphold. With analysis of the United States's bombing campaign against Iraq, NATO's intervention in Kosovo, US support for a regime of terror in East Timor, and the political crisis in Colombia, Chomsky interrogates the rhetoric of Western foreign policy to reveal the insidious interests behind insupportable actions - from paralyzing economic sanctions to surgical military strikes. Chomsky also turns his penetrating gaze towards continuing 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. Throughout, Chomsky reveals the United States's increasingly open dismissal of United Nations resolutions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international legal precedent in justifying its motives and actions. As his analysis of US statecraft and warmongering amply reveals, the rule of law has been reduced to a mere nuisance in the United States's brazen bid for the title of "rogue state."Main Description
Contents Rogues' Gallery: Who Qualifies? Rogue States Crisis in the Balkans East Timor Retrospective "Plan Colombia" Cuba and the US Government: David vs. Goliath Putting on the Pressure: Latin America Jubilee 2000 "Recovering Rights": A Crooked Path The United States and the "Challenge of Universality" The Legacy of War Millennium Greetings Power in the Domestic Arena Socioeconomic Sovereignty Notes Index An Excerpt from Rogue States by Noam Chomsky The concept of "rogue state" plays a pre-eminent role today in policy planning and analysis. The current Iraq crisis is only the latest example. Washington and London declared Iraq a "rogue state," a threat to its neighbors and to the entire world, an "outlaw nation" led by a reincarnation of Hitler who must be contained by the guardians of world order, the United States and its British "junior partner," to adopt the term ruefully employed by the British foreign office half a century ago. The concept merits a close look. [...] A secret 1995 study of the Strategic Command, which is responsible for the strategic nuclear arsenal, outlines the basic thinking. Released through the Freedom of Information Act, the study, Essentials of Post-Cold War Deterrence, "shows how the United States shifted its deterrent strategy from the defunct Soviet Union to so-called rogue states such as Iraq, Libya, Cuba and North Korea," AP reports. The study advocates that the US exploit its nuclear arsenal to portray itself as "irrational and vindictive if its vital interests are attacked." That "should be a part of the national persona we project to all adversaries," in particular the "rogue states." "It hurts to portray ourselves as too fully rational and cool-headed," let alone committed to such silliness as international law and treaty obligations. "The fact that some elements" of the US government "may appear to be potentially 'out of control' can be beneficial to creating and reinforcing fears and doubts within the minds of an adversary's decision makers." The report resurrects Nixon's "madman theory": our enemies should recognize that we are crazed and unpredictable, with extraordinPublisher Fact Sheet
Chomsky turns his attention toward U.S. involvement in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, & Central America, relying on recently released government documents to trace the origins of violent regional conflicts.
Described in a 1998 profile in the New York Times as "an exploder of received truths", Noam Chomsky is the world's most informed, controversial, and articulate opponent of political hypocrisy and abuse of power. Rogue States is the latest result of his tireless efforts to measure the world's superpowers by their own professed standards and to hold them responsible for the indefensible actions they commit in the name of democracy and human rights.PThe United States and its allies come in for particular scrutiny for their numerous recent violations of the very international laws they claim to uphold, making them the real "rogue states" in the world today. In analyzing the recent war over Kosovo with Yugoslavia, Chomsky challenges the legal and humanitarian arguments in favor of NATO's aggression, instead calling attention to the West's failure to support democratic movements in the region. Chomsky also turns his penetrating gaze toward U.S. involvement in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Central America, relying on both historical context and recently released government documents to trace the paths of self-interest and domination that fueled these violent regional conflicts. Throughout, Chomsky reveals the United States' increasingly open dismissal of the United Nations and international legal precedent in justifying its motives and actions. As his analysis of U.S. statecraft reveals, the rule of law has been reduced to a mere nuisance. Characteristically incisive, provocative, and rousing, Chomsky leaves no bombshell unexploded in his evaluation of the West's shameless reliance on the rule of force today.
Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the author of more than 80 books. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.