The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power
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- Create Date：2022-09-03 06:53:35
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- Author：Noam Chomsky
- ISBN：1620977605
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Summary
Two of our most celebrated intellectuals grapple with the uncertain aftermath of the American collapse in Afghanistan Not since the last American troops left Vietnam have we faced such a sudden vacuum in our foreign policy--not only of authority， but also of explanations of what happened， and what the future holds。
Few analysts are better poised to address this moment than Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad， intellectuals and critics whose work spans generations and continents。 Called "the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet" by the New York Times Book Review， Noam Chomsky is the guiding light of dissidents around the world。 In The Withdrawal， Chomsky joins with noted scholar Vijay Prashad--who "helps to uncover the shining worlds hidden under official history and dominant media" （Eduardo Galeano）--to get at the roots of this unprecedented time of peril and change。
Chomsky and Prashad interrogate key inflection points in America's downward spiral: from the disastrous Iraq War to the failed Libyan intervention to the descent into chaos in Afghanistan。
As the final moments of American power in Afghanistan fade from view， this crucial book argues that we must not take our eyes off the wreckage--and that we need， above all， an unsentimental view of the new world we must build together。
Few analysts are better poised to address this moment than Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad， intellectuals and critics whose work spans generations and continents。 Called "the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet" by the New York Times Book Review， Noam Chomsky is the guiding light of dissidents around the world。 In The Withdrawal， Chomsky joins with noted scholar Vijay Prashad--who "helps to uncover the shining worlds hidden under official history and dominant media" （Eduardo Galeano）--to get at the roots of this unprecedented time of peril and change。
Chomsky and Prashad interrogate key inflection points in America's downward spiral: from the disastrous Iraq War to the failed Libyan intervention to the descent into chaos in Afghanistan。
As the final moments of American power in Afghanistan fade from view， this crucial book argues that we must not take our eyes off the wreckage--and that we need， above all， an unsentimental view of the new world we must build together。
Reviews
Carissa Carns
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3。25 starsThis book suffers from format and bias。 I picked this up wanting to learn more about the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and not how evil the US is。 Clearly atrocities were committed， but in the context of the subject matter and thesis of the book， there are definitely one too many diatribes。This is a transcript style book that reads like a podcast。 I agree with other reviews that the formatting feels lazy and sometimes it's hard to keep track of who's talking。 This has the same tone 3。25 starsThis book suffers from format and bias。 I picked this up wanting to learn more about the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and not how evil the US is。 Clearly atrocities were committed， but in the context of the subject matter and thesis of the book， there are definitely one too many diatribes。This is a transcript style book that reads like a podcast。 I agree with other reviews that the formatting feels lazy and sometimes it's hard to keep track of who's talking。 This has the same tone as the Norman Mailer episodes in Gilmore Girls。 。。。more
Keith Grace
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If you want the frightening， depressing truth of the United States ruling class and its devastating impact on the world today， of course this is another important book/discussion to take in with Chomsky and Prashad。 Excellent foreword from Angela Davis。 One would hope Chomsky is wrong over his many decades。 Yet he rarely if ever is。
Zeb Kantrowitz
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The first thing I have to say about this book is， "stop here if you've read this before"。 Though many consider him one of the great intellectuals of the Twentieth Century， if you read what he wrote about the Vietnam War， you've got him。 Back in the day， and I'm his age （and met him at MIT in the 70s）， his responses were genuine and unvarnished。But like most political pundits， he's just like a train and always seems to run on the same rails。 After a while all you have to do is fill in some poor c The first thing I have to say about this book is， "stop here if you've read this before"。 Though many consider him one of the great intellectuals of the Twentieth Century， if you read what he wrote about the Vietnam War， you've got him。 Back in the day， and I'm his age （and met him at MIT in the 70s）， his responses were genuine and unvarnished。But like most political pundits， he's just like a train and always seems to run on the same rails。 After a while all you have to do is fill in some poor country of people being persecuted by the US and everything about his statements fit。 His arguments haven't changed in half a century。 Now don't get me wrong， he's not wrong， but I have a feeling that somewhere in the world some other country must be warring on their neighbors for no other reason than greed for power or resources。As an example， China's Belts and Suspenders initiative， has placed it in powerful positions in small countries that are then swamped by the Chinese （look at Djibouti）， and leave only the lowest level of work to be done by the locals。 This doesn't even touch on the genocide the Chinese have done in Tibet and are currently doing to the Uygurs。 This also doesn't touch on how the Chinese are taking over islands and atolls in the South China Sea that are claimed by other countries。This has been my complaint about Chomsky for years is that he sees the world with blinders。 Time to come up for air （it doesn't make us any better or worse） against what's being done by the rest of the world， to the rest of the world。 。。。more
Niklas Pivic
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My review was too long to be published on Goodreads。 Please find it here: https://niklas。reviews/2022/08/20/cho。。。 My review was too long to be published on Goodreads。 Please find it here: https://niklas。reviews/2022/08/20/cho。。。 。。。more
Mustafa Abbass
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I received an eARC of "The Withdrawal: Iraq， Libya， Afghanistan， and the Fragility of U。S。 Power" by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad from the publisher The New Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review。The book is expected to be published on the 30th of August， 2022。For my reading tastes in this genre， I didn’t mind the podcast-trascript-like style， but I am not a fan。This book feels like a reiteration of Noam’s forever take on the U。S。’s power and a commentary-like additions—which add I received an eARC of "The Withdrawal: Iraq， Libya， Afghanistan， and the Fragility of U。S。 Power" by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad from the publisher The New Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review。The book is expected to be published on the 30th of August， 2022。For my reading tastes in this genre， I didn’t mind the podcast-trascript-like style， but I am not a fan。This book feels like a reiteration of Noam’s forever take on the U。S。’s power and a commentary-like additions—which adds context， refines， and polishes—from Prashad， an intellectual who is “highly-influenced” by Chomsky。Moreover， I would have liked more stories， more in-depth plunges into the muds and murk of these geographical theatres。 Just more details in general would have sated my appetite， especially regarding the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan。There have also been some facts which are outdated today; they mentioned that “Iraq has the second largest reserves of oil in the world…”—It is now considered to have the fifth largest oil reserves。All in all， it is a very good book。 I recommend it to anyone interested in world politics， and the U。S。’s imperialistic foreign policies over the last few decades。A full 6-minute read review can be found at:mustafaabbass。com 。。。more
J Earl
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The Withdrawal: Iraq， Libya， Afghanistan， and the Fragility of U。S。 Power， from Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad， is an insightful and nuanced analysis of the many failures of US foreign policy over the past half century or so。In case you missed the subtitle， this is not simply a rehash of the withdrawal from Afghanistan， this is broader and far more about overall policy failure than about one instance in isolation。 If you read the introduction， you will understand what the objectives are， from th The Withdrawal: Iraq， Libya， Afghanistan， and the Fragility of U。S。 Power， from Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad， is an insightful and nuanced analysis of the many failures of US foreign policy over the past half century or so。In case you missed the subtitle， this is not simply a rehash of the withdrawal from Afghanistan， this is broader and far more about overall policy failure than about one instance in isolation。 If you read the introduction， you will understand what the objectives are， from the withdrawals mentioned to coup reversals and losing control of events in places the US thought they were in control。 In other words， withdrawal in the bigger picture， not a sensationalized account of the most recent episode。This is taken from many discussions between the authors as well as interviews。 While there is a lot that will be familiar to readers of either writer， it isn't about always finding something brand new to say。 It is about connecting the dots between previous analyses and more recent events; it is about applying ideas rather than trying to create shiny new ideas for those too lazy to do the work of making connections。 Passive readers may well feel like they heard it all before。 Active readers will find that what they heard before is just as important to say today as it was yesterday。I would recommend this to readers who are concerned about what is happening globally as well as within a very polarized US。 You don't have to agree with everything， no one is inside your head while you read， so just read to understand what they are saying， then if you disagree with some parts， you will be actually disagreeing， not just repeating the mantra your handlers have driven into your mind。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more
Hallie
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This is my first foray into reading Chomsky， who I have watched in interviews and lectures before， and （in my mind） is one of the great thinkers/scholars of our time。 Admittedly， this ended up being not quite what I expected。 This book is more of a summation of a conversation between Chomsky and Vijay Prashad， and while that back-and-forth is certainly interesting， I would advise readers not to expect a detailed， in-depth look at the U。S。 withdrawal from Afghanistan。 Overall， this was more of a This is my first foray into reading Chomsky， who I have watched in interviews and lectures before， and （in my mind） is one of the great thinkers/scholars of our time。 Admittedly， this ended up being not quite what I expected。 This book is more of a summation of a conversation between Chomsky and Vijay Prashad， and while that back-and-forth is certainly interesting， I would advise readers not to expect a detailed， in-depth look at the U。S。 withdrawal from Afghanistan。 Overall， this was more of a discussion regarding U。S。 foreign policy generally， going as far back as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War， through to the present （indeed， Afghanistan did not feature prominently）。 I did enjoy their ability to tie these threads of various U。S。 wars and proxy wars together--namely， the United States' interest in maintaining its position as the sole global superpower on behalf of capital。 On the flip side， because this is really just a printed conversation， it makes for a pretty quick read。 3。5 stars。NetGalley provided me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Sarah
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Disclamer: I was provided a copy by NetgalleyWhat a depressing but insightful read。 I was too young， not born or unaware of a lot of the events described in the book。 Though I vividly remember my parents not being happy about the U。S。 wars when I was a child。 There was a new years eve where I asked my parents why we were not lighting any fireworks， as a lot of other people do here in Germany， and they told me "there is nothing to celebrate with all that misery and war in the world"。 I feel like Disclamer: I was provided a copy by NetgalleyWhat a depressing but insightful read。 I was too young， not born or unaware of a lot of the events described in the book。 Though I vividly remember my parents not being happy about the U。S。 wars when I was a child。 There was a new years eve where I asked my parents why we were not lighting any fireworks， as a lot of other people do here in Germany， and they told me "there is nothing to celebrate with all that misery and war in the world"。 I feel like The Withdrawal has explained well how the West， the U。S。， the NATO and even we， Europe， are entangled in this and maybe also why this misery seems to not end。What I have to say about the writing:The book is mostly is a recall of events and the whys and evidence behind it。 At times they didn't explain enough of what had happened and I'm not sure I fully understand because of that。 But I assume that some of the things left out would be the things someone a bit more into the topic might know。 Then again they went into depth on some other topics。 So for a reader like me who has not done a deep dive on some of the topics it was enough to keep up but maybe not enough to fully understand。The book is written as a conversation between Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad。 This is interesting as we get explanations and insights from two sides。 Allthough they mostly seem to agree and just complement eachother。I would though have appreciated another view of the topic that is as funded as their view。 Also some kind of outlook on how these dilemmas could be solved， maybe by example， would also have been nice。 I refuse to believe that the world is black and white and the outlook is as bleak as this book makes it look！ All in all I'd say this is an eye-opening read I would recommend to anyone interested in world-politics and -dynamics。 It is definitely hard to swallow and I would not recommend reading this on the beach to relax。 But I feel like it is a worthwhile read， especially in a world where conspiracy theories are threatening to take over and misinformation is more available than ever。 。。。more
cheer
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