Reddit reviews Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project)
We found 11 Reddit comments about Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
> But if the World Bank (and let's throw in the IMF and WTO as well, if you like) never existed, global poverty would be mostly unchanged. I'm open to being wrong about this, but I haven't even seen anyone lay out the argument that these institutions are primarily responsible for the persistence of global poverty.
Well, from a geostrategic point of view, the structural purpose of the World Bank and IMF - and debatably the entire Bretton Woods economic system - was to facilitate the continuation of traditional international power inequities in the post-World War II world. For American planners at the close of World War II, their country had leapfrogged over the declining European powers to become, by far, the most wealthy and powerful country on Earth. Invariably, they wanted to supplant those traditional European powers in their respective colonies and spheres of influence to become the dominant actor themselves, but - as the American political tradition has largely frowned upon overt imperialism - they needed to do it in a way that meshed with the liberal political culture of their society, as well as with their liberal propaganda about democracy and "free" markets. Herein lies the strategic purpose of the World Bank and IMF, at least in terms of their predatory relationship to the former European colonies (what we might today call "the 3rd world"). You can get pretty specific overviews of World Bank/IMF structural adjustment programs, as well as their strategic purpose, by reading Dilemmas of Domination by Walden Bello, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins, and Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky.
I hope I've helped illuminate this issue a bit, but really, nobody here should be surprised to learn about how this works; this is very basic realpolitik.
EDIT: I should note that in recent decades, the process of globalization has ushered in a remarkably different economic and political order from that of the Bretton Woods system, but that's a rather different discussion.
So this is why I have to reread every other sentence in Chomsky's books.
Any of Bill Blum's books are probably a good primer on US imperialism.
https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Deadliest-Export-Democracy-Everything/dp/1780324456
The obligatory Chomsky
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805076883/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i9
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250131081/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1
PS - don't buy directly from Amazon :P
It's funny, this morning I was just reading about this U.S. backed terrorist in Noam Chomsky's book, Hegemony or Survival.
I highly suggest you don't read any Noam Chomsky. E.g., Hegemony or Survival. Nor any Howard Zinn. E.g., Peoples History of the United States. Nor watch any documentaries they are in. Definitely don't do any of that. No sir.
The first one I read was Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, which was a great introduction. It's short and very easy to get into. You can read it in an afternoon. It's actually from a speech he gave, so you can probably find the audio online for free and listen to it instead if you prefer.
But his best book, in my opinion, is Understanding Power. It's more of a collection of essays, speeches and interviews, but it really shaped my understanding of the world better than any other book I have read. I can't recommend this book enough.
If you're more interested in libertarian socialism, in addition to Understanding Power, read Chomsky on Anarchism. He presents the theories in very clear language, instead of being overly theoretical.
If you're more interested in his writings on US foreign policy, also read either Failed States or Hegemony or Survival.
Enjoy!
Political works by Chomsky:
The Responsibility of Intellectuals (1967),
At War With Asia: Essays on Indochina (1969),
Government in the Future (1970),
The Fateful Triangle (1983, 2015),
The Chomsky Reader (1987, 2010),
Manufacturing Consent (1988, 2002),
Year 501: The Conquest Continues (1992, 2015),
Understanding Power: The Indispensible Chomsky (2002),
Hegemony or Survival (2003),
Failed States (2006).
Works on Chomsky:
Noam Chomsky: A personal bibliography, 1951-1986 (1986),
Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent (1998),
Chomsky: Ideas and Ideals ( 1999, 2002, 2016),
The Cambridge Companion to Chomsky (2005, 2017),
The Social and Political Thought of Noam Chomsky (2000, 2002, 2004),
The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower (2007), Noam Chomsky (2015)
Also this, this, this and this.
I'd personally start with a few videos, then work your way into literature. The literature I suggest below is intentionally easy to read.
Literature by Marx and Engels:
I guess somewhere around here you can start reading Marx and Engel's other works, with Capital being your priority. Where you go after that is up to you.
Some interesting literature:
There are a couple big boy words in here, but if you want to actually know what you're talking about you should read Living in the Shadow of the Eagle. Or if you really want to stretch that pea brain of yours, I recommend Hegemony or Survival.
But seeing as you're just a right wing loon desperately trying to justify US Imperialism, I doubt you'll read either and just call me some derivative of "shit" again like a really smart guy.
okay. i just read this and i recommend that you do too.
https://www.amazon.com/Hegemony-Survival-Americas-Dominance-American/dp/0805076883
but hey maybe you think noam chomsky is an uneducated individual as well so idk
This would be reccomended reading: http://www.amazon.com/Hegemony-Survival-Americas-Dominance-American/dp/0805076883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292760960&sr=8-1