The first Noam Chomsky book I read as a 19 year old, ‘What Uncle Sam Really Wants’ was published in 1992 and examines the real motivations behind US. foreign policy. Based on interviews and talks given by Chomsky between 1986 and 1991, one of the things that stayed with me over the years was his discussion of NSC 68.
Formulated during the early stages of the Cold War, the influential policy document established a blueprint for US interventionism by presenting the Soviet Union as an aggressive expansionist power. This in turn justified increases in US military spending and played a significant role in shaping US foreign policy for decades after.
Another section that stayed with me was “the threat of a good example”. Here, Chomsky argues that the US often perceived independent, successful and alternative models of governance or socio-economic systems in other countries as a threat to its hegemony. He states that the US has historically taken steps to undermine or overthrow governments that offer such models.
Chomsky primarily focusses on Central America to highlight America’s long history of interventionism: the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala in 1954, the support for the Contras in Nicaragua during the 1980s, and the invasion of Panama in 1989. While he also looks at US actions elsewhere, including the Middle East.
In addiction, Chomsky argues that the US uses its power to promote its own economic interests, using the example of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has imposed harsh economic policies on many developing countries, often with disastrous consequences for people living in them.
Chomsky’s analysis challenges the widely held belief that the US is a force for good in the world. He argues that American foreign policy is driven by a pursuit of power and control, often leading to devastating consequences.
Glass Asylum 