The Withdrawal, Noam Chomsky
The Withdrawal, Noam Chomsky
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The Withdrawal
Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of US Power

Author: Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad, Angela Y. Davis

Narrator: Donald Corren

Unabridged: 4 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/30/2022


Synopsis

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.

About Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky is the bestselling author of over one hundred influential political books and is professor emeritus in the department of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About Vijay Prashad

Vijay Prashad is the executive director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is the author or editor of several books, including The Darker Nations: A Biography of the Short-Lived Third World, and The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. He writes regularly for Frontline, the Hindu, Alternet, and BirGun. He is chief editor at LeftWord Books.

About Donald Corren

Donald Corren is an audiobook narrator and a New York actor with leading credits on and Off-Broadway, as well as numerous television appearances. On Broadway, he costarred with Judy Kaye in the critically acclaimed production of Souvenir, and replaced Harvey Fierstein in the seminal production of Torch Song Trilogy. His Off-Broadway appearances include The Soap Myth, Dietrich & Chevalier, The Last Sunday in June, Stephen Sondheim’s Saturday Night, and the original New York production of Tomfoolery. His television credits include eight seasons as forensic tech Medill on NBC’s Law & Order, as well as his current role as Dr. Kurian on Syfy’s Z Nation.

About Angela Y. Davis

Angela Y. Davis is a political activist, scholar, author, and speaker. She is an outspoken advocate for the oppressed and exploited, writing on Black liberation, prison abolition, the intersections of race, gender, and class, and international solidarity with Palestine. She is the author of several books, including Women, Race, and Class and Are Prisons Obsolete? She is the subject of the acclaimed documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners and is Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Davis is the recipient of the 2020 Cultural Freedom Prize from Lannan Foundation.


Reviews

Goodreads review by cheer

Transparency Note: I received an advance copy of this book free of charge courtesy of the publisher. The Withdrawal, despite its title, does not spend much time at all discussing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. It does discuss Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the fragility of US power though......more

Goodreads review by Zach

This is a solid overview of U.S. hegemony over the past 60 years, from Vietnam to Eastern Europe. I can't say I learned a ton from this, as most of it is basically recycled essays from Noam Chomsky over the years, but it is still a crucial intervention in the dominant imperial mode of thinking in to......more

Goodreads review by Randall

In 1820, the Chinese economy was six times the size of Great Britain. China isn’t today ‘emerging’ as a world power, its merely getting back to where it was 200 years ago. British military aggression destroyed Chinese economic strength and led to a ‘century of humiliation’. In 1949, Mao said, “the C......more

This book has some useful info and tidbits in it, but overall it’s very unfocused and spends a solid 20% of it just pure Noam hagiography writing about how amazing Chomsky is and shit; he's no Lenin folks he rubbed shoulders with Epstein for fuck sake. About 40% of those killed in the American bombi......more

Goodreads review by Joy

When I pick up any works by Noam Chomsky I know I'm in for a treat and I can wholeheartedly say that this was just as brilliant as I expected. Easy to read, well informed, captivated and essential. I could not recommend this book more highly and I think everyone on earth should read it.......more


Quotes

“A fierce and well-informed condemnation of US imperialism.” Publishers Weekly