World Orders Old and New

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Summary: Authoritative work on United State's imperialism
Review: Aside from virtually predicting the Colombian and Middle East conflicts the United State's currently finds herself embroiled in, Chomsky's World Orders Old and New offers a vast array of scholarly documentation to prove his over riding, and stunningly accurate thesis: American foreign policy is embarked upon for the benefit of the transnational corporations and wealthy Wall Street investors; the State Department, Pentagon, CIA and corporate owned media are their tools and propaganda apparatus to dominate the world's land, labor and resources.
The naivete of Chomsky's critics simply astounds me. It's as if they don't want to believe or acknowledge the pink elephant that's in the room. For some it seems they simply refuse to disbelieve the ridiculous fairy tales they were taught in grade school and by rightwing radio talkshow hosts about the well intentioned United State's government and its interventions abroad.
World Orders Old and New is a fantastic work that's filled with obscure references to sensational sources along with references from mainstream sources that are often buried beneath the stories about Clinton's sex life and the Juice's homicidal rampage. Moreover, Chomsky fills the book with quotes from our leaders that are hard to believe but impossible to ignore. Chomsky digs deep and unearths the quotes from old State Department flacks, which will leave you awed in there audacity.
In World Orders Old and New, Chomsky also touches upon the economic trends that have befallen 70% of the American domestic workforce. Primarily the fact that the Fortune 500 and unfair labor laws (dramatically favoring management) have assaulted American workers and the power for them to effectively organize strong unions. He vividly points out that wages for the typical U.S. worker have been on a steady decline since the early 1970's and that the number one cause for this is the business world's virtual destruction of unions -- the one avenue in which working people can have a say in their livelihoods.
The last chapter gives a detailed analysis of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, actually, as Chomsky demonstrates, that's somewhat of an inaccurate way to label the Mideast conflict. As World Orders Old and New so accurately points out, it should be considered the Israeli lawlessness and brutality campaign backed by billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic aid. Chomsky simply gives one the proof that Israel can get away with committing just about any human rights violation while at most the U.S. media will critize them in the most tepid way possible.
If one has never read Noam Chomsky, they should do themselves a favor and pick up World Orders Old and New, it will help them to understand why much of the international community holds the U.S. in contempt. The common citizens of the U.S. deserve better than what their current leaders are giving them. Chomsky's book will go a long way in helping others recognize the pink elephant sitting in the room. As an internationally respected linguistic philosopher, it appears Dr. Chomsky would have it no other way.

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Summary: A useful intro to globalization and Palestine-Israel
Review: Chomsky is a true scholar, as is evident in the way he supports his ideas and conclusions with his analyses of reports and news literature from all over the world. It takes a ruthless analytical mind to present ideas as mind-opening and--for most people outside the USA--as vindicating as his. Here Chomksy dissects the significance of prominent post-Cold War events such as the bombardment of Iraq, and casts a sharp eye on the march of economic internationalization in the 90s (GATT, NAFTA, WTO), as well as on the Palestinian predicament and how Israel continues to violate basic human rights in the Occupied Territories. Chomsky cogently argues that there is an over-arching theme in the hostile world of global politics, or about American foreign policy rather. The book can get dense for the simple reason that he presents so many reports and findings confirming the biased and elitist nature of the New York Times and other American media. The volume of the evidence he presents can make you slightly indifferent after the depression or fury it invokes, forcing you to put the book down every now and then. Nevertheless, if you are looking for concrete evidence, the three chapters and the notes are replete with them. His work is valuable because it also exposes you to media and op-eds in other countries. For example, it is shocking to read what Rabin, Peres, and other notable Israelis have had to say to Israeli newspapers and television about the Oslo Agreement, and the Palestinians in general. Because he avoids talking in a mystifying and technical way about global politics and economics, Chomskys simply cuts to the chase in his criticism of the political elites. On a lighter note, his analysis of the writings of prominent journalists and academics can put a grin on your face. I especially relish his treatment of Thomas Friedman.

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Summary: from an ex-chomsky fan
Review: I bought this book about two years ago and for quite a while studied it quite intensely. It made me into a Chomsky fanatic and I became quickly familiar with the author's other works. However, about a year ago I made a major u-turn in my thoughts on U.S. foreign policy. As a result of exploring other intellectual views on US foreign policy, I was convinced that while Chomsky is brilliant Linguist, he doesn't know the first thing about international affairs. He, along with Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, and a few other radicals (all of whom I once greatly admired) come from both the blame-america-first school as well as the economics-is-everything school. Once you know that, their views become rather predictable. For example, while Chomsky condemns (unlike Parenti) the domestic and foreign policies of the USSR, his interpretation of the Cold War is simply bewildering. It goes way beyond what one could reasonably lable as revisionist. We learn that the Soviet threat was never any threat at all; just a pretext to dupe the american public so corporate america could conquer and exploit the third world. I could write much more, but I will leave you with this: while there is plenty of good literature out there to refute this "scholarship" (and im not talking about right-wing commentary) what really did it for me was Vietnam, the Necessary War by left-of-center writer Michael Lind. His analysis of vietnam, cold war, the military, national security, etc. is so enlightening yet so contrary to Chomskyism that I was forced to completely abandon the renowned MIT professor. I now feel uncomfortable owning this book.

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Summary: World Orders Old and New
Review: This book is a radical critique of the US world role and of what the author considers Europe's half-millennium of global domination. Chomsky is famous for both his work that revolutionized the study of language and his radical views on superpower domination. With a historical sweep going back 500 years and focusing on the past fifty, the author rejects all standard interpretations and justifications concerning the Cold War, which he considers merely a passing phase in European global domination. As the political left's leading critic of government policy, power, and language, he devotes particular attention to domestic and international events following the collapse of the Soviet Union. With characteristic consistency and intensity, Chomsky surveys the Middle East, Central America, Eastern Europe, and other regions of the world where American efforts aim at "maintaining stability" or "restoring hope." According to the author the new world order is based on the old Churchillian guidelines of world rule by the rich nations, which are in turn to be ruled by the rich men within them. With considerable skill, impressive scholarship, and compassion for the oppressed, the author offers a stimulating, controversial, fresh perspective. The new world order is very much like the old, in disguise. The basic rules of world order have not changed: the rule of law for the weak, the rule of force for the strong; the principles of "economic rationality" for the weak, state power and intervention for the strong. For those who are unwilling to accept such a state of affairs the traditional tasks remain: to challenge and unmask illegitimate authority, and to work with others to undermine it and to extend the scope of freedom and justice.

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Summary: The more things change,the more they stay the same.
Review: When it comes to analysing how the world is really run, very people can beat Chomsky. His work is brilliant, rigorously sourced and meticulously strips away the lies and propaganda that characterises the "New World Order" and its advocates. I find it laughable that a reviewer below critiques Chomsky for not having a political science background. Well mate, I'm doing a DPhil in International Relations and I can assure you that Chomsky is very well respected. Not of course by the extreme right who defend to the hilt the United States foreign policy, or Israel's behaviour, but by thinking people who aspire to a better world. The comments about Chomsky's "defence" of Robert faurisson are way off beam - they've been comprehensively refuted not only by Chomsky himself but also by journalists such as Christopher Hitchens. I'm surprised the reviewer below is ignorant of such facts. Aside from this, buy this book - it is one of the most important works on global politics to emerge in the post-Cold War era.