Ben Lyons
Humanity has reached a critical moment in history, a point where we may soon discover the 'adaptive value' of intelligence (p. 1). We have the capacity to destroy ourselves many times over and the stakes are high. The threats to our survival at times seem insurmountable. Climate change, environmental degradation, terrorism, nuclear weapons, biological and chemical warfare, fear, hatred and suspicion, and lurking behind it all the overbearing presence of a global superpower bent on securing global hegemony, no matter what the long term costs.
Hegemony or Survival is not reassuring reading. Noam Chomsky's most recent book portrays a dark and frightening reality, a world in which the strategic and economic interests of an elite few come first, while the interests of wider humanity - indeed humanity's very survival - comes in a distant second.
Despite the terrifying possibilities, Chomsky retains some optimism. He recognises world public opinion as a 'second superpower' that may have the potential to counter America's march toward hegemony (p. 4). If this is to happen, it will be necessary to understand how its imperial ambitions fit within America's broader ideological and institutional framework, and how the USA is able to 'manufacture consent,' both at home and abroad, for policies that would otherwise be unthinkable. It is this that Chomsky sets out to achieve.
Hegemony or Survival is a wide-ranging investigation of the USA's hegemonic ambitions and the potential catastrophic consequences for humanity. Its strength is that Chomsky does not look at recent events in isolation, as something new or unique, but rather as the culmination of a long chain of historical precedents, in both US and world history.
As absurd and irrational as it may seem, Chomsky argues convincingly that this pursuit of hegemony is coldly logical within the 'lunatic doctrinal framework' (p. 236) of neo-liberalism, a potent and dangerous mixture of Wilsonian idealism and neo-classical economics. 'US hegemony is the realization of history's purpose and what it achieves is for the common good' (p. 43).The absolute freedom of the USA to act as it sees fit is 'a precious gift [they] offer to mankind' (p. 228).
To believe that we have entered 'an era of enlightenment and benevolence' in which the USA acts out of an altruistic dedication to principles and values, it is necessary to ignore the actions of the current administration and its predecessors (p. 51). The current support for brutal regimes in Central Asia and the Middle East is a prime example of the hypocrisy of the Bush administration. The atrocities carried out by, or with the support of, the US throughout Latin America and South East Asia during the Cold War demonstrate that, if anything, US policy is at least consistent in its hypocrisy.
The release of the USA's National Security Strategy in September 2002 signalled to the world that America is committed to a 'unipolar world' in which it will 'maintain its hegemony through the threat or use of military force' (p. 11).This hegemony is to be permanent and renders international law and institutions irrelevant. Key to the 'Bush doctrine' is the right of the US to resort to force at will - as demonstrated in Iraq in 2003. This was not a pre-emptive war, as most correspondents labelled it, but rather a preventive war - 'the use of force to eliminate an imagined or invented threat.' This 'falls within the category of war crimes' (p. 12).
The US has made it clear, however, that the accepted norms of International Law no longer apply. The invasion of Iraq was essential to establishing this change, as an 'exemplary action' and a warning to any who stand in the way of US interests (p. 17). The need to maintain the credibility of the US and establish the 'new' norm of preventive war far outweighed any of the potential consequences. The warnings of aid agencies and NGOs of the humanitarian disaster that would follow were ignored, as were warnings that an invasion would provide 'overwhelming incentives to wield weapons of terror' to deter American power (p. 8).
In Hegemony or Survival, Chomsky proposes that there are two 'simple truths' which would be useful to apply to the actions of successive US administrations, as well as the dominant interpretations of US policy. The first of Chomsky's truisms is that 'actions are evaluated in terms of the range of possible consequences... the actual consequences may be highly significant but they do not bear on the moral evaluation of the action' (p. 187).The second is that moral standards are universal. Most people would accept both these statements as blatantly obvious and apply them without question to the actions of others.
We are not, however, quite so eager to apply such standards to our own actions. A 'doctrinal filter' is applied that sees terror as 'a weapon of the weak' (p. 189).They commit acts of terrorism. We (the West) are the victims. 'Whether attacking 'soft targets' is right or wrong, terrorism or a noble cause, depends on who is the agent' (p. 193).By applying this filter, the West can safely ignore its own support for (and participation in) acts of terror against the populations of Nicaragua, Cuba, Sudan, Haiti, Palestine, Colombia, East Timor and more recently Afghanistan and Iraq, justifying the actions as counterinsurgency and part of a 'just war.' Meanwhile, should the people of these nations dare resist their subjugation to US interests, we immediately label them terrorists and criminals, and in doing so justify the next round of our noble fight for freedom.
Such filters are indispensable if the US is to achieve its hegemonic ambitions. They are but one of the means of controlling the 'great beast' of the people (p. 5). Opinions must be controlled in the interests of stability. 'If the public escapes its marginalisation and passivity we face a 'crisis of democracy' that must be overcome' (p. 7).The September 11 2001 attack on the World Trade Center provided the perfect opportunity for the Bush administration (and the leaders of many other nations) to overcome any such 'crises' that may arise, strengthening their hold on power by 'exploiting the fears and anguish of the moment' (p. 217).
A sense of great urgency pervades Chomsky's descriptions of America's ambition of world domination. Hegemony or Survival draws together an impressive and diverse range of historical and current sources in its analysis of US power, providing a damning indictment of the economic and political institutions and ideologies that drive and justify the self-proclaimed leaders of the free world. The consequences of their success will be devastating. However, success is not yet certain. Hope lies with Chomsky's 'second superpower' of world public opinion. With its superb clarity, relentless logic and thorough analysis of imperial ambitions past and present, Hegemony or Survival is certain to be a powerful weapon in the fight for humanity's continued existence.