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The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World Audiobook
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From one of the world’s most prominent thinkers, an urgent warning of the threat that U.S. power poses to humanity’s future as well as a sharp indictment of both American foreign policy and the national myths that support it
The Myth of American Idealism offers a timely and comprehensive introduction to the incisive critiques of U.S. power that have made Noam Chomsky a “global phenomenon,” one of the most widely known public intellectuals of all time. Surveying the history of U.S. military and economic activity around the world, Chomsky and his co-author Nathan J. Robinson vividly trace the way the American pursuit of global domination has wrought havoc in country after country – without, ironically, making Americans any safer. And they explore how dominant elites in the United States have pushed self-serving myths about this country’s commitment to “spreading democracy,” while pursuing a reckless foreign policy that served the interest of few and endangered all too many.
Chomsky and Robinson range across the globe, offering penetrating accounts of Washington’s relationship with the Global South, its role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan –all justified with noble stories about humanitarian missions and the benevolent intentions of American policy makers. The same kinds of myths that have led to repeated disastrous wars, they argue, are now driving us closer to wars with Russia and China that imperil humanity’s future. Examining nuclear proliferation and climate change, they show how U.S. policies are continuing to exacerbate global threats.
For well over half a century, Noam Chomsky has committed himself to exposing governing ideologies and criticizing his country’s unchecked use of military power. At once thorough and devastating, urgent and provocative, The Myth of American Idealism offers a highly readable entry to the conclusions he has come to after a lifetime of thought and activism.
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"[This book] couldn’t be more timely. An outspoken critic of American empire for most of his life, here Chomsky zeroes in on the myths underlying that imperial expansion, namely the idea that the spread of democracy (no matter the methods) is an unalloyed good. The problem, of course, is that powerful men in small rooms who think themselves both wise and just tend to do the most damage."
— Literary Hub
Quotes
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Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . He may be the most widely read American voice on foreign policy on the planet.
— The New York Times Book Review -
With relentless logic, Chomsky bids us to listen closely to what our leaders tell us—and to discern what they are leaving out . . . Agree with him or not, we lose out by not listening.
— BusinessWeek -
For anyone wanting to find out more about the world we live in . . . there is one simple answer: read Noam Chomsky.
— The New Statesman -
It is possible that, if the United States goes the way of nineteenth-century Britain, Chomsky'sinterpretation will be the standard among historians a hundred years from now.
— The New Yorker -
America’s most useful citizen.
— The Boston Globe -
Noam Chomsky . . . is a major scholarly resource. Not to have read [him] . . . is to court genuineignorance.
— The Nation -
America, in [Chomsky's] view, must be reined in, and he makes the case with verve. . . . We should understand it as a plea to end American hypocrisy, to introduce a more consistently principled dimension to American relations with the world, and, instead of assuming American benevolence, to scrutinize critically how the US government actually exercises its still-unmatched power.
— The New York Review of Books -
Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . He may be the most widely read American voice on foreign policy on the planet.
— The New York Times Book Review -
It is possible that, if the United States goes the way of nineteenth-century Britain, Chomsky's interpretation will be the standard among historians a hundred years from now.
— The New Yorker -
Noam Chomsky . . . is a major scholarly resource. Not to have read [him] . . . is to court genuine ignorance.
— The Nation -
Blistering . . . The authors’ top-versus-bottom analysis becomes strikingly perceptive in a final chapter analyzing how today a global elite benefits from world-killing fossil fuels. This offers rich food for thought.
— Publishers Weekly
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About the Authors
Noam Chomsky is the bestselling author of over 100 influential political books and has collaborated with journalists on books such as Perilous Power, Gaza in Crisis, and On Palestine. He is a laureate professor at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus in the department of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is one of the foremost critics of US foreign policy. He has published numerous groundbreaking books, articles, and essays on global politics, history, and linguistics. His work is widely credited with having revolutionized the field of modern linguistics.
About Sean Patrick Hopkins
Erin Bennett is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and a stage actress who played Carlie Roberts in the BBC radio drama Torchwood: Submission. She can be heard on several video games. Regional theater appearances include the Intiman, Pasadena Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, A Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, and the Getty Villa. She trained at Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.