All articles by Noam Chomsky
Chomsky on what we can do for Palestine
Noam Chomsky — July 29, 2010 2 Comments
The media and commentators — unanimously, to my knowledge — evaded the central fact about the war: the issue was not whether Israel had a right to defend itself from rockets, but whether it had the right to do so by force. It surely did not, because the US-Israel knew that peaceful means were available but refused to pursue them: accepting Hamas’s offer to renew the cease-fire, which Hamas had observed even though Israel did so only partially
Editor's Pick, Politics
Chomsky on Gaza freedom flotilla
Noam Chomsky — June 2, 2010 10 Comments
The siege of Gaza itself does not have the slightest credible pretext. It was imposed by the US and Israel in January 2006 to punish Palestinians because they voted “the wrong way” in a free election, and it was sharply intensified in July 2007 when Hamas blocked a US-Israeli attempt to overthrow the elected government in a military coup, installing Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan. The siege is savage and cruel, designed to keep the caged animals barely alive so as to fend off international protest, but hardly more than that. It is the latest stage of long-standing Israeli plans, backed by the US, to separate Gaza from the West Bank
Politics
Globalisation marches on
Noam Chomsky — March 27, 2010 1 Comment
So we have another significant shift in global power: from the general population to the principal architects of the global system, a process aided by the undermining of functioning democracy in the United States and other of the Earth’s most powerful states.
The future depends on how much the great majority is willing to endure, and whether that great majority will collectively offer a constructive response to confront the problems at the core of the state capitalist system of domination and control.
Politics
The decline of U.S. democracy
Noam Chomsky — March 15, 2010 0 Comments
The Supreme Court decision raises significant new barriers to overcoming the serious crisis of health care, or to addressing seriously such critical issues as the looming environmental and energy crises
Editor's Pick, Politics
“Hopes And Prospects”: Chomsky’s Amnesty International Lecture
Noam Chomsky — February 14, 2010 0 Comments
Returning to the US, the civilizing impact of the activism of the ’60s naturally elicited efforts to restore order and discipline. One component has been the state-corporate economic programs, which, particularly since the Reagan years, have broken the link between economic growth and social and economic health. Under these programs of financialization of the economy, real wages for the majority have stagnated while the limited benefits system declined, and inequality has soared to unprecedented heights
Editor's Pick, Politics
Containing the “virus” of decency in the Obama era
Noam Chomsky — October 28, 2009 2 Comments
In thinking about international affairs, it is useful to keep in mind several principles of considerable generality and import. The first is the maxim of Thucydides: the strong do as they wish, and the weak suffer as they must. It has an important corollary: every powerful state relies on specialists in apologetics, whose task is to show that what the strong do is noble and just, and if the weak suffer it is their fault. In the contemporary West, these specialists are called “intellectuals,” and with only marginal exceptions, they fulfill their assigned task with skill and self-righteousness, however outlandish the claims, a practice that traces back to the origins of recorded history
Politics
Militarizing Latin America
Noam Chomsky — September 16, 2009 5 Comments
Establishing US military bases in Colombia is only one part of a much broader effort to restore Washington’s capacity for military intervention. There has been a sharp increase in US military aid and training of Latin American officers, focusing on light infantry tactics to combat “radical populism” – a concept that sends shivers up the spine in the Latin American context.
Editor's Pick, Politics
Noam Chomsky on the Cuban embargo and “democracy promotion”
Noam Chomsky — February 23, 2009 17 Comments
Chomsky takes on the myths surrounding the US embargo on Cuba.
What They Really Mean
Noam Chomsky on the US, Israel, and Gaza
Noam Chomsky — January 8, 2009 39 Comments
Noam Chomsky takes on Ehud Barak and discusses Israeli-US objectives in the Gaza offensive.
What They Really Mean
Noam Chomsky on Barack Obama
Noam Chomsky — November 10, 2008 11 Comments
Chomsky takes on the President-elect.
Editor's Pick, What They Really Mean
Noam Chomsky on the Republican electoral campaign
Noam Chomsky — October 18, 2008 2 Comments
Noam Chomsky explains why the Republican campaign has become so base.
