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Pirates and Emperors, Old and New
International Terrorism in the Real World
Noam Chomsky
Pages: 224Edition: New Edition
ISBN: 0-89608-685-2
Format: paper
Release Date: 2002-01-01
This book is also available in cloth
This new, fully updated edition of Noam Chomsky's classic dissection of terrorism explores the role of the US in the Middle East, and reveals how the media are used to manipulate public opinion about what constitutes "terrorism." With several new chapters as well as the original sections on Iran and the bombing of Libya, Pirates and Emperors is a brilliant account of the workings of state terrorism by the world's foremost critic of US terrorism.
New chapters cover:
- the second Palestinian Intifada—or war of stones—that began in October 2000;
- a detailed account of the impact that September 11, 2001 has had on US foreign policy in the Middle East; and
- a deconstruction of depictions and perceptions of terrorism since that date.
Chomsky starts by tracing the changing meaning of "terrorism," examining how it originally referred to violent acts by "governments designed to ensure popular submission." He calls its current application "retail terrorism," practiced by "thieves who molest the powerful." Chomsky argues that appreciating the differences between state terror and nongovernmental terror is crucial to stopping terrorism, and understanding why atrocities—like the bombing of the World Trade Center—happen. In comparing the "war on terror" launched by George W. Bush to that of his father and Ronald Reagan's administrations, Chomsky recalls Winston Churchill's summation of the terror by the powerful:
"The rich and powerful have every right to demand that they be left in peace to enjoy what they have gained, often by violence and terror; the rest can be ignored as long as they suffer in silence, but if they interfere with the lives of those who rule the world by right, the 'terrors of the earth' will be visited upon them with righteous wrath, unless power is constrained from within."
Other topics that are related to International Studies are:
Noam Chomsky
Click here to view Noam Chomsky's full Author PageNoam Chomsky is a world-renowned linguist, scholar, and political analyst. Born on December 7, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chomsky became politically conscious at a very young age, writing his first political article, on the fight against fascism in Spain, when he was only ten years old.
His 1957 work Syntactic Structures revolutionized the field of linguistics, fundamentally changing the current understanding of language and mind. Chomsky joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955, and in 1976 was appointed Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.
Chomsky has written and lectured extensively on linguistics, philosophy, international affairs, U.S. foreign policy, and other contemporary political issues. His essays have appeared in The New York Review of Books, The Nation, Z Magazine, CAQ, and numerous political and scholarly publications.
Chomsky's groundbreaking work on Palestine and the Middle East, East Timor, the Gulf War, and the mass media have gained international attention. As evidence of his broad appeal and importance, he was the subject of the award-winning 1993 film “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media,” and excerpts from his speeches have appeared on the b-side of a single by the band Bad Religion.
Chomsky books with South End Press include Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs, Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and Palestine and Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies among others.