The Post-Cold War in Central America
The invasion of Panama was the first U.S. military action not justified by the threat from the Soviet Union. Noriega, a former Washington “asset” and “minor drug figure” was made into the “worst monster since Attila the Hun.” The press, says Chomsky, “went along with appropriate jingoist hysteria and…rapturous enthusiasm.” He traces U.S. policy in the region and elsewhere and predicts what is likely to follow absent the USSR. Washington’s main concern was in the past, and still is “nationalist regimes which are responsive to the demands of their populations.” This is Chomsky at his prescient best.
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 96, he continues to inform and inspire people all over the world. He is the author of scores of books including Consequences of Capitalism, Chronicles of Dissent, Notes on Resistance, and Letters from Lexington (new edition.) His latest book is The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World.
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