Deterring Democracy

Chomsky regards the ``new world order'' proclaimed by Bush as a sham. What this phrase means, argues the noted MIT scholar, is that the U.S. will persist in its role as global enforcer of its own foreign policies. This meticulously researched, disturbing report offers a revelatory portrait of the U.S. empire in the 1980s and '90s, an ugly side of America largely kept hidden from the public by a complacent media. Chomsky criticizes the cynical U.S. invasion of Panama that ousted Bush's and Reagan's former friend and client, General Manuel Noriega, noting also that Washington supplied military assistance to Iraq before Saddam Hussein shifted status overnight from ``favored friend to new Hitler.'' In the Philippines, Africa and South America, Chomsky finds the same story: U.S. meddling to ``defend our interests'' brings increased poverty and political repression. (June)