The Myth of American Idealism

The Myth of American Idealism

How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World

Summary

From one of the world’s most prominent thinkers comes an urgent warning of the threat that US power poses to humanity’s future

The land of the free. The home of the brave. But what has America achieved in the aim of “spreading democracy” — except wreak havoc in country after country and establish a reckless foreign policy that served the interest of few and endangered all too many? Without, ironically, making Americans any safer. In this timely book, Noam Chomsky, one of the most widely known intellectuals of all time, and his fellow political commentator Nathan J. Robinson vividly trace America’s pursuit of global domination, offering an incisive critique of the self-serving myths they continue to push.

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, they argue, they are now driving us closer to wars with Russia and China that imperil humanity’s future. At once thorough and devastating, urgent and provocative, The Myth of American Idealism offers a highly readable entry to the conclusions Noam Chomsky has come to after a lifetime of thought and activism.

Reviews

  • One of the greatest, most radical public thinkers of our time. When the sun sets on the American empire, as it will, as it must, Noam Chomsky's work will survive
    Arundhati Roy

About the authors

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky is a political theorist, activist and linguist. Chomsky is internationally recognised as one of the most critically engaged public intellectuals alive today. He is the author of numerous bestselling political works, which have been translated into scores of languages worldwide. Among the books are Optimism Over Despair, On Palestine, The Precipice, Chronicles of Dissent, On Anarchism and Hegemony or Survival.
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Nathan J. Robinson

Nathan J. Robinson is the editor of Current Affairs magazine and a leading voice of left politics. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and elsewhere. He is the author or editor of ten books including Why You Should Be A Socialist and Trump: Anatomy of a Monstrosity.
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