Spodaj je izvleček iz dobre recenzije zadnje knjige Noama Chomskega in Nathana J. Robinsona “The Myth of American Idealism”. Chomsky in Robinson še enkrat več razzbijata mit, da ameriško zunanjo poolitiko vodijo dobri nameni in moralna načela in da so slabe stvari, ki se zgodijo, zgolj nezaželene stranske posledice. Nasprotno – ameriška zunanja politika je to, kar se kaže tudi navzven: brutalno uveljavljanje ameriške globalne hegemonije z vsemi sredstvi.

Seveda ni zanemarljivo, da je recenzijo napisal Stephen M. Walt, profesor politologije na univerzi Harvard in eden izmed vodilnih teoretikov realizma v mednarodnih odnosih (sicer tudi skupaj z Johnom Mearsheimerjem soavtor knjige “The Israel Lobby”.

For more than half a century, Noam Chomsky has been arguably the world’s most persistent, uncompromising, and intellectually respected critic of contemporary U.S. foreign policy. In a steady stream of books, articles, interviews, and speeches, he has repeatedly sought to expose Washington’s costly and inhumane approach to the rest of the world, an approach he believes has harmed millions and is contrary to the United States’ professed values. As co-author Nathan J. Robinson writes in the preface, The Myth of American Idealism was written to “draw insights from across [Chomsky’s] body of work into a single volume that could introduce people to his central critiques of U.S. foreign policy.” It accomplishes that task admirably.

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The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World, Noam Chomsky and Nathan J. Robinson, Penguin, 416 pp., $32, October 2024.

As the title suggests, the central target of the book is the claim that U.S. foreign policy is guided by the lofty ideals of democracy, freedom, the rule of law, human rights, etc. For those who subscribe to this view, the damage the United States has sometimes inflicted on other countries was the unintended and much regretted result of actions taken for noble purposes and with the best of intentions. Americans are constantly reminded by their leaders that they are an “indispensable nation” and “the greatest force for freedom the world has ever known,” and assured that moral principles will be at the “center of U.S. foreign policy.” Such self-congratulatory justifications are then endlessly echoed by a chorus of politicians and establishment intellectuals.

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