Who Rules the World?
Written by Noam Chomsky
Narrated by Brian Jones
4/5
()
About this audiobook
A New York Times Bestseller
The world’s leading intellectual offers a probing examination of the waning American Century, the nature of U.S. policies post-9/11, and the perils of valuing power above democracy and human rights
In an incisive, thorough analysis of the current international situation, Noam Chomsky argues that the United States, through its military-first policies and its unstinting devotion to maintaining a world-spanning empire, is both risking catastrophe and wrecking the global commons. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from the expanding drone assassination program to the threat of nuclear warfare, as well as the flashpoints of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Israel/Palestine, he offers unexpected and nuanced insights into the workings of imperial power on our increasingly chaotic planet.
In the process, Chomsky provides a brilliant anatomy of just how U.S. elites have grown ever more insulated from any democratic constraints on their power. While the broader population is lulled into apathy—diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable—the corporations and the rich have increasingly been allowed to do as they please.
Fierce, unsparing, and meticulously documented, Who Rules the World? delivers the indispensable understanding of the central conflicts and dangers of our time that we have come to expect from Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky was born in Philadelphia in 1928 and studied at the university of Pennsylvania. Known as one of the principal founders of transformational-generative grammar, he later emerged as a critic of American politics. He wrote and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, contemporary issues. He is now a Professor of Linguistics at MIT, and the author of over 150 books.
More audiobooks from Noam Chomsky
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Kind of Creatures Are We? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Because We Say So Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the World Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Who Rules the World?
Related audiobooks
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Precipice: Neoliberalism, the Pandemic and the Urgent Need for Social Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wages of Rebellion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Illegitimate Authority: Facing the Challenges of Our Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven in Disorder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking Through Power: It's Easier Than We Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A People's Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Nationalism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Myths We Live By Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Internationalism or Extinction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Marx Was Right: 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Propaganda Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unspeakable: Chris Hedges on the most Forbidden Topics in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
International Relations For You
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Internationalism or Extinction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diplomacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ghosts of Langley: Into the CIA's Heart of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-67: The Left, the Right, and the Legacy of the Six-Day War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Conscience of a Conservative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/563 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Beirut to Jerusalem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking History: A White House Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Vortex: A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5JFK vs. Allen Dulles: Battleground Indonesia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Who Rules the World?
146 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5it refers to contemporary politics and opened my mind about global conflicts and reading the news between the lines; thanks for sharing knowledge
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Boring and incoherent I didn’t like this one .. not what I expected and not what the title denotes
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The good thing about this audiobook, is that the reading is fluent and the voice is pleasing.
As for the content, it is merely a collection of half truths, carefully filtered and altered in a childish way, to support a certain view which is more or claiming that the United States and it’s allies are the sources of evil of this universe, while Iran and the Ayatollahs are the righteous ones. Really an absurd. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's been many years since Chomsky wrote "Manufacturing Consent", but in many ways little has changed. The title is somewhat rhetorical - America rules the world, and Chomsky is an expert in how it's done. That's part of the reason, no doubt, you rarely see him in the media, as he's made it his role to expose all of their campaigns to maintain their power over much of the world. That includes, of course, creating the facade that they are "making the world safer" or "spreading democracy" in doing so, as it's generally the opposite.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Here is the latest book of political analysis by "America's most useful citizen" (so says the Boston Globe). Chomsky is a linguistics professor emeritus at MIT, and has been writing about political issues for many years.The Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris has been called the most threatening assault on journalism and free expression in living memory. Evidently, the April 1999 NATO rocket destruction of Serbian state TV headquarters doesn't count. There were no calls for inquiries into western Christian culture in its aftermath.Why wasn't the US military budget cut after the collapse of the Soviet Union? America must maintain its "defense industrial base" because of the growing "technological sophistication" of Third World countries. America invaded Panama, killed thousands of people, and installed a client regime with no Soviet threat. The pretexts given were nonsense, the invasion was a huge violation of international law and the media neglected to mention the US veto of a unanimous Security Council resolution condemning crimes by US troops during the invasion.Elites and the political class consider Iran to be the primary threat to world peace. The average person does not agree. Polls in Europe show that Israel is the biggest threat to peace. In Egypt, only ten percent of the people regard Iran as a threat. Only a quarter of Americans regard Iran as an important concern. There is strong opposition to military engagement in an Israel-Iran war. A good step toward peace in that part of the world would to be declare it a nuclear weapons-free zone. America will never let that happen.This book is a huge eye-opener. It has revelations on nearly every page, revelations that will never be mentioned by the US political class or US media. It deserves six stars, and is extremely recommended.