Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky

Another one of my "well I really need to read more to solidfy my opinion on Iraq" book purchases, I was expecting a long heavy book full of facts and footnotes.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this book incredibly interesting and easy to read! With an overview of the military campgaigns that the US has been involved in from WWII through to 2003, this book offers some insight into the military and economic motives of various campaigns.

A bit of an eye-opener into the politics of war without getting bogged down into the inherent statistics and facts of this.

As the Iraq conflict is more of a "pre-emptive" war, the book shows how over the last 50 years America has become more and more concerned of itself rather than other countries. Reading this in the light of the current potential problems in Iran made me feel that I would live to read an update with this in mind.

This book is extremely pointed, and I would recommened it to anyone who wants to know more about why the US are STILL in Iraq, why they went into Iraq in the first place, and how they continue to justify this past the "WMD" agrument that was proven to be null and void. It also show an understanding of how the US ethos of the last 50 years will continue to have an effect in all future military conflicts across the globe.

I'm still surprised how much I enjoyed reading this book. I for one have fingers crossed that a much more democratic leader is in power in the US in 2008, and that America does not continue it's empire-like pre-emptiveness and hegemony in regards to overseas conflicts.