Asia Pacific Media Educator
Abstract
Chomsky, Noam (2003)
Hegemony Or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance,
Allen & Unwin, Sydney. 278 pp. ISBN 1 74114 162 1
Reviewed by David Blackall
This book is most likely to polarize readers - those whose arguments are reinforced or those who see it as essentially conspiracy theory. If for some time you have agreed with Noam Chomsky’s journalism and his other books and essays, then you will most likely agree with the pitch on the back cover – “from the world’s foremost intellectual activist, an irrefutable analysis of America’s pursuit of total world domination and the catastrophic consequences that will follow”. As an institute professor of philosophy, linguistics and linguistic theory, Chomsky’s discourse analysis drives the contention that America’s superpower mindset is hell bent on domination and this is pitched against the second superpower – world public opinion. Public relations and propaganda are the weapons used to serve the power elite: largely, the US oil companies and their greedy thirst for oil and other energy resources. The exploitation of other peoples’ fossil fuels and a militaristic foreign policy in gaining access to the same, attracts terrorism, which justifies the clamping down on domestic civil rights in the name of homeland security.
Recommended Citation
Blackall, David, Book review: Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, Asia Pacific Media Educator, 14, 2003, 169-171.Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/apme/vol1/iss14/15
