Failed States : The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

Noam Chomsky

ISBN 13: 9798888901892

Published by Haymarket Books Jan 2024, 2024

About this Item

Neuware - The United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene militarily against 'failed states' around the globe. 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 America's self-exemption from international law. He also examines an American electoral system that frustrates genuine political alternatives, thus impeding any meaningful democracy.--From publisher description.

Seller Inventory # 9798888901892

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Failed States : The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
• Publisher: Haymarket Books Jan 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798888901892
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 214W x 144H x 25D millimeters 214 millimeters width by 144 millimeters height by 25 millimeters depth
• Weight: 504 grams

About this title

Synopsis

"It's hard to imagine any American reading this book and not seeing his country in a new, and deeply troubling, light." ―The New York Times Book Review
The United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene militarily against "failed states" around the globe. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his international bestseller Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky turns the tables, showing how the United States itself shares features with other failed states―suffering from a severe "democratic deficit," eschewing domestic and international law, and adopting policies that increasingly endanger its own citizens and the world. Exploring the latest developments in U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Chomsky reveals Washington's plans to further militarize the planet, greatly increasing the risks of nuclear war. He also assesses the dangerous consequences of the occupation of Iraq; documents Washington's self-exemption from international norms, including the Geneva conventions and the Kyoto Protocol; and examines how the U.S. electoral system is designed to eliminate genuine political alternatives, impeding any meaningful democracy.
Forceful, lucid, and meticulously documented, Failed States 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. Systematically dismantling the United States' pretense of being the world's arbiter of democracy, Failed States is Chomsky's most focused―and urgent―critique to date.

About the Author

Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor (emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Agnese Nelms Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. His work is widely credited with having revolutionized the field of modern linguistics. Chomsky is the author of numerous best-selling political works, which have been translated into scores of languages. Recent books include What Kind of Creatures Are We?, as well as Optimism Over Despair, and Internationalism of Extinction.