The Masters of Mankind: Essays on the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy

With a never-before-published essay, "The New Norm of Preventive War: Iraq and Presidential 'Visions'" Elections and politicians come and go. But beneath these events, the essential continuity of the American political agenda is controlled by the elites. In these ten essays and interviews spanning thirty years of American politics Noam Chomsky demonstrates the central features of the world's only -super power. Selected by Mark Pavlick at the request of Noam Chomsky, these essays constitute what Chomsky considers the most important concepts underlying his work. Read these and you will have the framework of thinking like Chomsky. "Knowledge and Power" deals with military -Keynesianism, an essential economic force when he first wrote about it in the 1960s and a much larger force today. "An Exception to the Rules" takes on Michael Walzer and his "Just Wars" thesis, showing how it plays into the hands of American power. "The Rule of Force in International Law" reviews the importance and limits of the Nuremberg trials. At a time when the U.S. has set a new standard for breaking international law, this essay is especially pertinent. "The Divine License to Kill" reviews Reinhold Niebohr's rationalizations that serve American political culture, especially one that is today on a constant war footing. "The Responsibility of Intellectuals" is a classic that remains incredibly relevant. Included in this edition is some never-before-published commentary on the piece. Chomsky's exchange with Foucault lays out the similarities and differences between these two seminal thinkers. Carlos Otero's comment on the Chomsky/Foucault exchange explores those differences and describes them for the lay person. Noam Chomsky is the author of more than eighty books. Mark Pavlick is an activist in Washington, D.C.