Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (unabridged 10 CD Set)
by Noam Chomsky, Read by Alan SklarAVAILABILITY: Usually ships within 2-5 days
Publication Date: 2006
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Condition: Special Sale
Description: Noam Chomsky does not take words lightly. The MIT linguistics professor examines government statements with special care. The man voted "the world's number one intellectual" notes, for example, that the United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene against "failed states" around the globe. In 'Failed States' he turns the phrase back on the Bush administration, charging that the United States of today is a "failed state" and a danger to its own people and the world. This stand-alone sequel to 'Hegemony or Survival' continues Chomsky's critique of American foreign policy and domestic practices.
"Failed states," Chomsky writes, are those "that do not protect their citizens from violence and perhaps even destruction, that regard themselves as beyond the reach of domestic or international law, and that suffer from a 'democratic deficit,' having democratic forms but with limited substance."
Exploring recent U.S. foreign and domestic policies, Chomsky assesses Washington's escalation of nuclear risks; the dangerous consequences of the occupation of Iraq; and America's self-exemption from international law. He also examines an American electoral system that frustrates genuine political alternatives, thus impeding any meaningful democracy.
Forceful, lucid, and meticulously documented, 'Failed States' offers a comprehensive analysis of a global superpower that has long claimed the right to reshape other nations while its own democratic institutions are in severe crisis, and its policies and practices recklessly place the world on the brink of nuclear and environmental disaster. Systematically dismantling America's pretense of being the world's arbiter of democracy, 'Failed States' is Chomsky's most focused - and urgent - critique to date.
Unabridged, 6 CD set, 7 hours.
Review(s): "A failed state, argues Chomsky, ignores international law and the need to protect its citizens. Guess what country fits the bill?" - Library Journal