Identifying the world order

Noam Chomsky’s ‘Because We Say So’ is a must read for those with an interest in foreign policy

KARACHI: Henry A Giroux, a scholar and cultural critic, in his foreword for the Noam Chomsky’s Because We Say So explains Noam the philosopher’s thought process in these words: “Implicit to [Chomsky’s] role as a public intellectual are the questions of what a real democracy should look like, how its ideals and practices are subverted, and what forces are necessary to bring it into being. These are the questions at the heart of his thinking, his talks and the commentaries in this book.”

In Because We Say So, the most widely-read voice on foreign policy, Chomsky does just that. In the third part of his trilogy, the first two being Making the Future and Interventionsis, he pens over 30 forceful articles between 2011 and 2015 for the New York Times Syndicate.

The book criticises US policy, which is the forte of this linguist and political theorist, on controversial issues. These include human enforced climate change, the debt demon faced by students who are enrolled in public education institutes, global nuclear politics, the constantly increasing menace of IS, cyber warfare, the paradigms involved in creating and stabilising a democracy, former Central Intelligence Agency employee Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing and many more.



Chomsky raises his concerns about the US’s rejection and ignorance of multilateral agreements, while highlighting the cases of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. His articles bring to light the forensic analysis of the current power game in global politics, which, when run through an acid test of theoretical and political critique, highlight the savage face of corporate hegemony.

Thus, the economic and social policies produced as a result of this global domination are oppressive to say the least.

The book acmes when the gap between what we see and what happens in the background is exposed. Chomsky connects all the dots to reveal the larger picture of how things happening in one part of the world affect people in another. He explains how one policy accepted in the US creates history but, on the other hand, it exposes other countries to severe outcomes.

The book shapes the mind of its reader to notice the unnoticeable by helping people to recognise the unrecognised perspectives of different crises which trouble the world as a whole. The map sketched out by his articles on topics such as terrorism, corporate power, American exceptionalism and other big issues enable the readers to refigure their thought process and develop a new understanding of the on-going changes in the political, cultural and social domains.

Chomsky is one of the leading political commentators to come out in the last two decades and his writing style, as his fans already know, is authoritative. As a writer, he never engages in moral judgments and ethical debates; he leaves that to his readers. Chomsky’s choice of topics and method of presenting facts with ultimate ease are only unique to himself.

Title: Because We Say So

Author: Noam Chomsky

Publisher: City Lights

ISBN: 9780872866577

Price: $8.77

Even if you are not a fan of Chomsky, the book is a must read if you have an interest in foreign policy and power politics.

The writer is a subeditor at The Express Tribune’s Web desk

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2016.

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