U.S. Mideast Policy: Motives and Consequences
Chomsky examines the roots and underlying impulses that inform, guide and direct U.S. policies in the Middle East. Within the regional context, he focuses on U.S. relations with Iran and Israel. He explores the background of the Iran/contra scandal and documents that secret arms shipments were going to Iran via Israel since the early 1980s. He shows how and why the U.S. has created and manipulated Israel as a “strategic asset” and why both countries have opposed and blocked a peace settlement with the Palestinians. Chomsky’s perspectives are singular, his arguments cogent and his conclusions startling and provocative.
Recorded at UCLA.
Speaker
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky, by any measure, has led a most extraordinary life. In one index, he is ranked as the eighth most cited person in history, right up there with Aristotle, Shakespeare, Marx, Plato, and Freud. His contributions to modern linguistics are legendary. In addition to his pioneering work in that field, he has been a leading voice for peace and social justice for many decades. Chris Hedges says he is “America’s greatest intellectual” who “makes the powerful, as well as their liberal apologists, deeply uncomfortable.” The New Statesman calls him “the conscience of the American people.” He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. At 97, though having health setbacks, he continues to inform and inspire people all over the world. He is the author of scores of books, including Masters of Mankind, Consequences of Capitalism, Chronicles of Dissent, and Notes on Resistance. He is co-author with Edward Herman of Manufacturing Consent. His latest books are The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World and Surviving the 21st Century.
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