Publisher, PM Press (June 2011)

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“Chomsky is a global phenomenon… perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet.” --The New York Times Book Review

“…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, author of The God of Small Things

Excerpt:

"Ignoring the will of the population is normal. It happens all the time. What’s a little more interesting about the Iran case is that the United States is also ignoring the will of major sectors of corporate interest that have a special interest in the Middle East. The energy corporations would be delighted to have the threats end and to be able to exploit Iranian oil but they’re being disregarded too and that’s a little more unusual. It happens but it’s unusual. It tells us something about how state power is exercised and why. In fact there is a state interest in isolating and undermining Iran that overrides the usual commitment to the interests of concentrated private power. It’s something you might call the Mafia Principle—a sensible principle. Disobedience can’t be tolerated." –Noam Chomsky

The world’s most influential living intellectual, Noam Chomsky, holds forth on the root causes of the conflicts in the Middle East, and talks about hopes for future social change. The renowned foreign policy critic and linguist brings the full force of his rapier-like mind and deadpan wit to bear in slicing through mainstream misconceptions—many of them intentional—about the internal and external politics of Iran and Israel/ Palestine. Chomsky eloquently contextualizes the power of the Israel lobby and the centrality of the U.S. in resolving the underlying antagonisms in the Middle East, as well as weighing in on how U.S. public opinion has shifted over the past several decades and addressing various positive directions for activism.

Tracks:

1. U.S. Policy in Middle East
2. Iran and the "International Community"
3. Nuclear Weapons Free Zones
4. Iran and the "Mafia Principle"
5. The Double Standard of Nuclear Non-Proliferation
6. Anti-Missile Systems as a First Strike
7. "Re-conceptualizing" Israel/Palestine
8. All Settlements are Illegal
9. Politicide
10. The Right of Self-Defense by Force
11. Israel and Hamas
12. U.S. Should Be the Target of Activism
13. Anger at Injustice
14. Young People and Middle East Peace
15. Is A One State Solution the Solution?
16. Honduran Coup
17. Progressive Jews and Illegal Settlements

About the Author: Noam Chomsky was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 7, 1928. He studied linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1955, he received his Ph. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Since receiving his Ph. D., Chomsky has taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. His work is widely credited with having revolutionized the field of modern linguistics. Chomsky is the author of numerous best-selling political works, which have been translated into scores of languages worldwide. His most recent books are the New York Times bestsellers Hegemony or Survival, Failed States, Imperial Ambitions, What We Say Goes, Interventions, and The Essential Chomsky.