The Myth of American Idealism: How Us Foreign Policy Endangers the World

 
　　美國左派重量級知識份子、麻省理工學院榮譽教授杭士基（Noam Chomsky）與《時事雜誌》（Current Affairs）總編輯內森‧羅賓遜（Nathan J. Robinson），批判美國聲稱是在捍衛民主的理想主義，實際是以追求霸權和控制全球資源為目的。生動描繪自二戰結束以來，美國藉著反對共產主義、恐怖主義，在全世界進行魯莽的外交政策和軍事行動，如何為一個又一個國家和地區帶來災難。這些只能為少數人謀福利的政策，不僅無法讓美國公民活得更安全，還引發一場又一場的的戰爭，威脅到世界上多數人的安全。
 
　　本書回顧美國如何以人道主義為名，濫用軍事權力，介入以巴衝突、伊拉克及阿富汗戰爭，並闡述俄羅斯、中國如何也被推向了戰爭邊緣，尖銳譴責美國在防止核武擴散和氣候變遷等重大議題上，不當的政策與無可匹敵的權力，持續加劇全球危機。杭士基過去超過半個世紀以來，致力於揭發政治意識形態，為當今情勢提出迫切警告。(文/博客來編譯)

媒體好評推薦：
　　l   「尖銳犀利……全書最後一章展現作者們驚人的洞察力，分析當今全球上層菁英如何在毀滅世界的石化燃料中獲益，留下值得反覆思考的空間。」——出版人週刊（Publishers Weekly）
　　l   「身為美國帝國的直言批評者，杭士基的新書聚焦在外交政治上的迷思，亦即(無論以何種方式)傳播民主都是立意良善的行為。然而，問題在於小房間內那些自認為聰明、擁有權力的正義之士，往往做出最具破壞力的決策。」——書籍評論媒體（Literary Hub）

＂For anyone wanting to find out more about the world we live in . . . there is one simple answer: read Noam Chomsky.＂ --The New Statesman

From one of the world’s most prominent thinkers comes an urgent warning of the threat that U.S. power poses to humanity’s future as well as a sharp indictment of both American foreign policy and the national myths that support it.

The Myth of American Idealism offers a timely and comprehensive introduction to the incisive critiques of U.S. power that have made Noam Chomsky a ＂global phenomenon,＂ one of the most widely known public intellectuals of all time. Surveying the history of U.S. military and economic activity around the world, Chomsky and his co-author Nathan J. Robinson vividly trace the way the American pursuit of global domination has wrought havoc in country after country - without, ironically, making Americans any safer. And they explore how dominant elites in the United States have pushed self-serving myths about this country’s commitment to ＂spreading democracy,＂ while pursuing a reckless foreign policy that served the interest of few and endangered all too many.

Chomsky and Robinson range across the globe, offering penetrating accounts of Washington’s relationship with the Global South, its role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -all justified with noble stories about humanitarian missions and the benevolent intentions of American policy makers. The same kinds of myths that have led to repeated disastrous wars, they argue, are now driving us closer to wars with Russia and China that imperil humanity’s future. Examining nuclear proliferation and climate change, they show how U.S. policies are continuing to exacerbate global threats.

For well over half a century, Noam Chomsky has committed himself to exposing governing ideologies and criticizing his country’s unchecked use of military power. At once thorough and devastating, urgent and provocative, The Myth of American Idealism offers a highly readable entry to the conclusions he has come to after a lifetime of thought and activism.

Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor (emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Laureate Professor in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. His work is widely credited with having revolutionized the field of modern linguistics, and he is equally renowned for his incisive writings on global affairs and U.S. foreign policy. The single most cited and published living author, winner of numerous international awards, Chomsky has written over 100 books, including the bestselling political works Hegemony or Survival, Failed States, and Who Rules the World?.
Nathan J. Robinson is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Current Affairs magazine, an independent political bimonthly that ＂has become required reading for a generation of young leftists＂ (The Daily Beast). He is the author of several political books, including Why You Should Be a Socialist and Responding to the Right, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Republic, among others. Robinson holds a JD from Yale Law School and a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University.