Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
Written by Noam Chomsky
Narrated by Alan Sklar
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene militarily against "failed states" around the globe. In this much-anticipated sequel to his international bestseller Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky turns the tables, charging the United States with being a "failed state," and therefore a danger to its own people and the world.
"Failed states," Chomsky writes, are those "that do not protect their citizens from violence and perhaps even destruction, that regard themselves as beyond the reach of domestic or international law, and that suffer from a ‘democratic deficit,' having democratic forms but with limited substance." Exploring recent U.S. foreign and domestic policies, Chomsky assesses Washington's escalation of nuclear risks; the dangerous consequences of the occupation of Iraq; and Americas's self-exemption from international law. He also examines an American electoral system that frustrates genuine political alternatives, thus impeding any meaningful democracy.
Forceful, lucid, and meticulously documented, Failed State: America offers a comprehensive analysis of a global superpower that has long claimed the right to reshape other nations while its own democratic institutions are in severe crisis, and its policies and practices recklessly place the world on the brink of nuclear and environmental disaster. Systematically dismantling America's pretense of being the world's arbiter of democracy, Failed State is Chomsky's most focused— and urgent—critique to date.
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky is the author of numerous bestselling political works, including Hegemony or Survival and Failed States. A laureate professor at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, he is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He lives in Tuscon, Arizona.
More audiobooks from Noam Chomsky
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Kind of Creatures Are We? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Because We Say So Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Rules the World? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the World Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Failed States
Related audiobooks
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Illegitimate Authority: Facing the Challenges of Our Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Fascism: 12 Lessons from American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking Through Power: It's Easier Than We Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism-American Style Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happened to Bernie Sanders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnti-Intellectualism in American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do about It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extremism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Nationalism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untold History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Precipice: Neoliberalism, the Pandemic and the Urgent Need for Social Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the World Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Political Ideologies For You
The Vision of the Anointed: Self-congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Will Own Nothing: Your War with a New Financial World Order and How to Fight Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marriage Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Democrat Party Hates America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Communist Manifesto (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Marxism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fascism: A Warning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emergent Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anti-Communist Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why We're Polarized Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Failed States
232 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a great digestion of the frightening state of human rights in the world, from one of the great anarchist (or anti-authoritarian if you prefer) thinkers of our time.If you are familiar with the political work of Noam Chomsky, you are going to find the recycling of some historical examples from some of his other works. As we should expect from someone building their arguments on the shoulders of modern history.What is new is the continued deteriorating state of world affairs.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Noam Chomsky polarizes which unfortunately prevents many of his opponents from considering his books on their own merit. His work is backed up by a huge amount of research and documentation. His flaw, if it is one, is to hold the United States of America to an incredibly high moral standard. A standard most humans and active governments are unable to meet. Thus, he sees US failure all around, failures most of his opponents either ignore or dismiss ("stuff happens"). But costly failures they are (especially for the recipients of US support). The Iraqi occupation adds another poster case to Chomsky's (familiar, but nonetheless true) collection of botched US foreign policy (Cuba, Vietnam, Chile, Iran, Nicaragua, ...). The contrast of lofty rhetorics and failed execution is cruel, maddening and disheartening.What I find disconcerting about Chomsky is that he usually does not account for US successes and does not dwell on the negative aspects of US opponents (Most often, he points out their evilness in just a single line.) which in his presentation results in a lopsided balance unfair to overall US global influence (although positive US initiatives lately have become fewer and fewer). I think Chomsky could make his message much more palatable in acknowledging successes.The book is divided into six chapters, five dealing with foreign policy, one with the US itself (unfortunately, the weakest chapter of the book featuring Chomsky's usual lament about corporations). The first chapter deals with the disconnect of proclaimed and actual goals. US representatives idealistic claims result in naked power and control politics - not exactly a new message, but one which undermines US credibility. The second chapter adds the US unwillingness to comply with global treaties and exempt itself from banal to crucial commitments. Some are obviously more equal. The US government positions itself alongside Russia, China and other non-complying states instead of the group of democracies. The practice further erodes US credibility. The third chapter destroys (if it ever needed destroying) the respectability of the notion of preemptive war. The value of this book lies in the discussion of the "illegal but legitimate" bombing of Serbia where Chomsky can convincingly (but thanks to hindsight) show that last-minute diplomacy could have achieved most of the good elements of the intervention without the (Serbian) human rights abuses which followed US intervention. Overall, "illegal but legitimate" actions have a bad track record and should only be undertaken with extreme caution. The fourth chapter shows that much what US governments call democracy promotion ends up supporting the opposite (creating nasty side effects, such as the Iranian Revolution). The fifth chapter is a valuable case-study in the well-intentioned but contra-productive support for Israel which discourages a reasonable conflict resolution. The sixth chapter deals with the US itself and lacks analytical sharpness. It is Chomsky's familiar lamentation about the corporate control and skewed playing field of US politics which while certainly accurate does not offer any solutions or improvements. Tacked on as an afterword is a list of (sensible) good global citizen measures the US should adopt.Chomsky meticulously documents the transgressions the Americans overtly and covertly made in South America, Asia and the Middle East usually supporting the wrong guy for the wrong reasons. Sometimes, this results in Orwellian flip-flops ("Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.") when formerly allied thugs (Saddam, Noriega, ...) become public enemies which have to be evicted by force. Chomsky is at his best in exposing the rhetoric contortions and inconsistencies of US government positions. The main problem is that the US allies itself to the local (undemocratic) rulers and supports them against their own people. Preaching democracy and supporting oligarchy (if not worse) is a double game the rest of the world less and less tolerates. Within the land of the free and home of the brave, the broken media environment does not prick the bubble. I learned from the book that the New York Times already in the Eighties had a tendency for selective reporting, so Judith Miller is a continuation not an aberration. The problems of US democracy become more and more apparent. Analysis is certainly not lacking. Unfortunately, realistic solutions remain elusive. Chomsky's book adds anger and frustration but does little to mend the broken government.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forget Iraq and Sudan--America is the foremost failed state, argues the latest polemic from America's most controversial Left intellectual. Chomsky (Imperial Ambitions) contends the U.S. government wallows in lawless military aggression (the Iraq war is merely the latest example); ignores public opinion on everything from global warming to social spending and foreign policy; and jeopardizes domestic security by under-funding homeland defense in favor of tax cuts for the rich and by provoking hatred and instability abroad that may lead to terrorist blowback or nuclear conflict. Ranging haphazardly from the Seminole War forward, Chomsky's jeremiad views American interventionism as a pageant of imperialist power-plays motivated by crass business interests. Disdaining euphemisms, he denounces American "terror" and "war crimes," castigates the public-bamboozling "government-media propaganda campaign" and floats comparisons to Mongols and Nazis. Chomsky's fans will love it, but even mainstream critics are catching up to the substance of his take on Bush Administration policies; meanwhile his uncompromising moral sensibility, icy logic and withering sarcasm remain in a class by themselves. Required reading for every thoughtful citizen.