Embassy, April 26th, 2006
FEATURE
By Brian Adeba
No longer is the term confined to the developing world as the U.S. increasingly fits the description
The term ‘failed states’ conjures up images of lawlessness, governments failing to provide security and basic services to their citizens, and marauding gangs armed to the teeth seizing control of a nation’s streets. Think Somalia. Think Haiti in the aftermath of the demise of the Aristide regime. Think Afghanistan under the Taliban. And while you are doing that, also think of the democratic deficit in such states.
Rarely do we think of Western countries with their “long tradition” of democracy as fitting the above description. But Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy, the latest book by prolific writer Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, forces readers to rethink the now widely accepted definition of what constitutes a failed state.
Failed states may be countries that have failed to protect their citizens, but Mr. Chomsky argues that they are also countries that “regard themselves as beyond the reach of international law,” despite the fact that these countries may be democracies. Add the fact that these countries also have “democratic deficits” at home which seriously undermine the full and equal participation of citizens in the democratic process, and the reader gets the complete definition of what a failed state is.
If, by now, the title elicits images of a number of Western nations constituting failed states, Mr. Chomsky does not waste time in pointing out who the main culprit is: the U.S.
Though this is no argument that the peaceniks haven’t pointed out before, Mr. Chomsky asserts that the aggressive foreign policies of the world’s only superpower and its double standards in enforcing democracy globally in the [mis]guided goal to foster stability, have been the cause of great distress in the world. From John Quincy Adams’ influential role in the invasion and subsequent capture of the state of Florida from Spain in 1818, to the attack on Iraq in 2003, such aggressive military policies have been the hallmark of American presidents of all stripes since the Founding Fathers proclaimed the republic, according to Mr. Chomsky. Lucid with well researched details, Failed States takes readers down memory lane, reminding them of the actions of past U.S. presidents.
Mr. Chomsky argues that far from being a stabilizing force, America’s “unilateral actions” (read violation of international law) have contributed to making the world less stable and less safe. As a result, the risk of nuclear war has now been accelerated, Mr. Chomsky contends, and the quagmire in Iraq is inspiring the creation of more jihadists around the world.
Perhaps one paragraph in the book sums up what Mr. Chomsky perceives to be the U.S.’s foreign policy when he says, “It is fair to describe Hamas as radical, extremist, and violent, and as a serious threat to peace and a just political settlement. But the organization is hardly alone in this surface.”
On the democratic deficit at home, Mr. Chomsky deplores the powerful voice of corporations in deciding the fate of the American people. Aristotle may have foreseen the flaws of concentrating power in the hands of the few rich by arguing for what essentially amounts to the creation of the welfare state, but Mr. Chomsky offers a gloomy forecast for the U.S. as far as this is concerned. “Accordingly, reforms will not suffice,” he writes.
Mr. Chomsky offers some suggestions to get the U.S. back in the good books of the international community, including that it should accept the edicts of international law, sign the Kyoto Protocol, allow the UN to take charge in international disputes, reduce military spending, respect the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions, and give up the veto power.
As said earlier, perhaps with the exception of the last point, Mr. Chomsky’s argument is nothing we haven’t heard before.
brian@embassymag.ca
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
By Noam Chomsky
Metropolitan Books
311 pp. $32
Source: Embassy, Canada’s Foreign Policy News Weekly, April 26, 2006
