Hegemony or Survival: Realities in the Pacific Century
When the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez waved a copy of Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival during a speech in the United Nations, many Filipinos rushed to the bookstores but came home disappointed. Fortunately, I discovered its audiobook version. You can download it & listen from your mp3 players.
Here's the link:
http://rapidshare.de/files/33984969/NOAM.ZIP.html
When Mr. Chomsky wrote this, the Great Debacle that is Iraq was still not evident for all to see. The supposed-to-be only superpower forced to a stalemate by a ragtag band of militias and insurgents. He didn’t mention the heavy US deficits as the US tried to finance an adventure in a tiny corner of the world. The hegemony may be precluded by the limits of actual US economic, political & military limitations. And by the rise of new powers. Mr. Chomsky mentioned in passing the wealth of East Asia but he didn’t push the possibilities of that vignette beyond a few paragraphs in one chapter. It was a big omission because it may turn out those fears of hegemony may be for naught after all. We can see the signs now. Bush is just a manifestation of the declining hegemonic powers of America just when it was thought it was at its zenith. The fact is, all these things were happening at a time when its potential rivals were growing faster. It may have the biggest military now but the one with the biggest money will acquire the biggest military in time. And as we can see from the gizmos we buy & as we have watched from the space tourists flown by Russians in Kazakhstan, technology is not a monopoly of one nation or race.
Some may say, when the only superpower tried to flex its mucle & show finally who’s the boss, the thug next door tapped him in the head & was unceremoniously told Get real! All worked well when the US just showed intimations of power, not actual power. In short, bluff. That’s the folly of Mr. Bush, he displayed his cards early.
Here's the link:
http://rapidshare.de/files/33984969/NOAM.ZIP.html
When Mr. Chomsky wrote this, the Great Debacle that is Iraq was still not evident for all to see. The supposed-to-be only superpower forced to a stalemate by a ragtag band of militias and insurgents. He didn’t mention the heavy US deficits as the US tried to finance an adventure in a tiny corner of the world. The hegemony may be precluded by the limits of actual US economic, political & military limitations. And by the rise of new powers. Mr. Chomsky mentioned in passing the wealth of East Asia but he didn’t push the possibilities of that vignette beyond a few paragraphs in one chapter. It was a big omission because it may turn out those fears of hegemony may be for naught after all. We can see the signs now. Bush is just a manifestation of the declining hegemonic powers of America just when it was thought it was at its zenith. The fact is, all these things were happening at a time when its potential rivals were growing faster. It may have the biggest military now but the one with the biggest money will acquire the biggest military in time. And as we can see from the gizmos we buy & as we have watched from the space tourists flown by Russians in Kazakhstan, technology is not a monopoly of one nation or race.
Some may say, when the only superpower tried to flex its mucle & show finally who’s the boss, the thug next door tapped him in the head & was unceremoniously told Get real! All worked well when the US just showed intimations of power, not actual power. In short, bluff. That’s the folly of Mr. Bush, he displayed his cards early.
posted by ED NUÑEZ at 3:56 AM
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