Noam Chomsky: American Power Under Challenge and The Costs of Violence| Masters of Mankind (Parts 1, 2)

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Tomgram: Noam Chomsky, The Challenges of 2016 and
What Principles Rule the World?

American Power Under Challenge
Masters of Mankind (Part 1)

By Noam Chomsky   Tom Dispatch  May 8, 2016

Read Tom Engelhart’s introduction here.

[This piece, the first of two parts, is excerpted from Noam Chomsky’s new book, Who Rules the World?(Metropolitan Books). ]

When we ask “Who rules the world?” we commonly adopt the standard convention that the actors in world affairs are states, primarily the great powers, and we consider their decisions and the relations among them. That is not wrong. But we would do well to keep in mind that this level of abstraction can also be highly misleading.

States of course have complex internal structures, and the choices and decisions of the political leadership are heavily influenced by internal concentrations of power, while the general population is often marginalized. That…

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