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If there were any one thing that Noam Chomsky should be revered for, it would have to be his indelible use of evidence. In his latest authored work entitled Failed States, Chomsky meticulously sifts through use of the rhetoric of principles and compares to its actual practice, presenting a chilling exposition of, “The (American) Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy.”1 Throughout the book, Chomsky focuses his attention on the deterioration of domestic democracy in the United States and elaborates on which principles and more specifically, what actions are contributing to such corrosion. Moreover, not only does Chomsky accurately provide citations and evidence for his arguments, he points to further notions that the current “Assault on Democracy,” is the continuation of a process that has been cemented in principles and institutionalized in practice throughout history. In a remarkably concise yet convicting piece, Chomsky presents a valid case for why the current direction of the United States (at home and abroad) is leading toward the definition of a “Failed State”, and more importantly, presents a reasonably optimistic faith in the public and possible change that may be in the making. Firstly, Chomsky begins Failed States with the chapter titled “Stark, dreadful and inescapable,” in reference to a 1955 appeal from Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein to the world to either renounce war or risk nuclear annihilation.2 Not long into the chapter, Chomsky goes onto state his primary objective in the book, to argue that the United States (or the Elitist/Ruling interests) do not adhere to the most elementary moral truism: The current incumbents do not apply to themselves the same standards they demand of others.3 Throughout the chapter (as the chapter are divided up by subsections) Chomsky’s primary contention is that the US’ current (as well as past) actions towards Nuclear Proliferation and Terrorism are not achieving their objectives of reducing the spread of WMD or terrorism, but are adversely encouraging and accelerating the spread of them. Relying on examples from Reagan’s SDI initiative, the denying of expert opinion regarding terrorism, and the further disregard of International bodies (a reoccurring theme), which the current administration has endorsed, Chomsky begins frighteningly with the prospects of the two most powerful forces on earth. The second section of the book entitled “Outlaw States,” speaks for itself in a reference to Chomsky’s reoccurring title of rogue or outlaw qualities of a state. This austere chapter poses the hypothesis that through veto power, re-writing of law and total rejection, the US in its actions and/or justifications at home and abroad are becoming characteristic of an outlaw state. Chomsky gives due regard for International bodies such as the UN, World Court, and Human Rights Organizations, while giving evidence for how the US acts in either total rejection or defiance of such bodies. With sections devoted to the rescinding of Geneva Conventions by torture tactics, the “ignorance” of corruption scandals, and the Self-Exclusion from persecution techniques, the chapter scornfully addresses the US as ignoring International Law and Cooperation and furthermore, ignoring basic natural and/or human rights blatantly.

2022-10-21 05:33