Hegemony or Survival

America's Quest for Global Dominance

By: Noam Chomsky

Narrated by: Brian Jones, Noam Chomsky

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

For more than half a century, the United States has been pursuing a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the globe. Our leaders have shown themselves willing, as in the Cuban missile crisis, to follow the dream of dominance no matter how high the risks. Now the Bush administration is intensifying this process, driving us toward the final frontiers of imperial control, toward a choice between the prerogatives of power and a livable Earth. Noam Chomsky investigates how we came to this moment, what kind of peril we find ourselves in and why our rulers are willing to jeopardize the future of our species.

Lucid, rigorous and thoroughly documented, Hegemony or Survival is Chomsky's most urgent and sweeping work in years. Certain to spark widespread debate, it is a definitive statement from one of the world's most influential political thinkers.

©2003 Aviva Chomsky, Diane Chomsky, Harry Chomsky (P)2003 Audio Renaissance

Critic reviews

"Judged in terms of the power, range, novelty, and influence of his thought, Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive." (The New York Times)
"In this highly readable...critique of American foreign policy from the late 1950s to the present...Chomsky brings together many themes he has mined in the past, making this cogent and provocative book an important addition to an ongoing public discussion about U.S. policy." (Publishers Weekly)

Interesting viewpoint - terrible reader

I found the ideas and concepts fascinating (if scary) but I had to force myself to continue listening because the reader was so bad. Would have been better if the author had read the whole thing instead of just an introduction. The person reading the book apparently got paid a bonus for reading as fast as possible, with extra points for butchered inflections. As a result, it was very tough to follow the reasoning of the author sometimes.

Classic Chomsky

If you are the type of person who likes to hear as many opinions on an issue as possible, you cannot avoid Chomsky. A must read for anyone interested in U.S. International policy. In order to not become as narrow minded and arrogant as a Sean Hanity or Geraldo Rivera, one must read as many arguments as possible. If you give Kissinger, Huntington, or even Coulter a chance, you would be doing a disservice to yourself not to read Chomsky, Zinn, or Said. Chomsky 's strength in Hegemony or Survival is his use of sources, he combines mainstream media, respected academics, and rarely used government documents to make a very strong argument.

Today's events in perpective

This books "explains" today's policies by comparing it to America's actions throughout the last century. I guess it could be considered to be a left leaning book, but I found it very balanced and well reasoned. It is always helpful to compare current events with the past. I was also surprised to hear the author express optimism during a recent televised forum; he thinks the American public is better informed about the Iraq war today than it was during the beginning of the Vietnam war - it took many years before there was any awareness about Vietnam. This is not a rant! I think even conservatives should read this and could find value in it.

A view of world events that will shock you awake!

Chomsky's message is so jarring that your reaction will be one of incredulity. Do your own research; I did and found that his facts stand their ground. This work will alter how you view the world we live in. As an audiobook, it is exciting, riveting, and excellently narrated.

An astonishing piece of writing!

This book is an astonishing piece of writing. This book is not written by Chomsky - yes, that is true. Almost, all of the book is put together by references from other documents. This amazing construction runs from sentence to sentence, paragraph after paragraph. This style of book in audio ONLY would be lost to some listeners like samreeve, from Pleasanton - who might complain that there are not eneough refrences. In Audio, it might carry this impression that these are author words while in reality he has just put it together from sources, which are clearly set off by quotation marks and referenced in the printed form.
I've not seen a book which is almost created wholly from Cut&Paste of diverse sources and yet remains chorent and readable.

Intelligent and Brave Dissenting Opinion

Mr. Chomsky?s perspective is radical but that doesn?t mean he is wrong. I suspect this book could offend those readers who think that Americans are always the ?good guys?, and who still believe in "Manifest Destiny". As much as I admire the United States of America, this book did help me understand that this Superpower, just like all of the other great civilizations that preceded it, hardly ever acts inspired by the noble and altruistic motives officially cited. This book is an eye opener and it is full of evidence to support the claims it makes. You may disagree with his views, but knowing them should offset the almost always bias ?official story?.

My compliments to Mr. Chomsky for his tremendous courage. Had he lived in a less tolerant society, he would most like have a price on his head.

Mr. Jones does a fine job narrating the book, even though he sometimes impresses an alarmist tone that may lead listeners to give less credit to the text. An argument is sometimes more convincing if it is made with a more neutral demeanor.

It would be a mistake not to read this book if indeed you seek to understand the past, present and future of the United States in the world.

hedgemony or Survival

This is an infuriatingly great read. If you feel a duty to know the largely untold story of US political history and have any devotion to "the golden rule", this is a must read. America is the 64,000 lbs gorilla. Does this give us, the voting citizens, a high obligation to check the natural propensity of big business, polititians and weapons makers to justify terrorism in the name of "our national interest"? fasinating stuff. Enjoy.

A hard pill to swallow for most Americans, but ...

I have read a fair amount of modern history, and was only vaguely aware (like most Americans) of the many of Chomsky's facts and assertions. Some were so startling that I felt I needed to verify. After researching four and finding them unassailable, I stopped trying to fault the facts. The indictment of US foreign policy that Chomsky devolves from these facts is at such variance with our view of ourselves that one is inclined to look for an explanation. If the facts are not false, then perhaps the interpretation is the problem, so I examined the logic by re-reading the book with careful attention to the relationship between facts and conclusion. There are weaknesses in some place where an argument depends on ?respected commentator? or some other unsupported assertion. However, even if one throws out all of the marginal cases, he is still left with a great deal to be dealt with--a paradigm changer for the honest and open minded, and something to be reviled and suppressed for those determined to believe that Americans are the good guys who go around the world altruistically stamping out evil.

Chomsky stops short of a monolithic conspiracy theory, but the pattern of behavior of the US over the last 60 years that is painted by this book is remarkably consistent and disturbing.

I love Noam Chomsky...

...but!
I have read other of Chomsky's books and seen a documentary of his and I really like his work!!! That being said I think the book was read too fast and I think the content was a bit scattered. Maybe the book is easier to follow when you see everything in print. I don't want to discourage anyone from learning more about this very important and interesting material.

Use an alias

Absolutley recommend. Not because I accept 100% of what he says, we all have the responsibility to make our own conclusions. But he gives great perspective on the application of power and the tradeoffs we all make. A challenge to apply critical thinking.

Use an alias? If the justice dept is checking library records, they might be interested in who listens to this....