Rogue States Book Summary - Rogue States Book explained in key points

Rogue States summary

Name: Rogue States
Rating: 4.4 (70 reviews)
Author: Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

The Rule of Force in World Affairs

4.4 (70 ratings)

13 mins

Topics

US Politics The Cold War Global Politics

Table of Contents

Rogue States
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

The term ‘rogue state’ was invented by the United States to eliminate opposition and maintain control globally.

By objective definition, a ‘rogue state’ is a country that unilaterally violates international laws and norms, and in doing so poses a serious risk to international peace and security.

In the post-Cold War, pre-9/11 era, US foreign policy and planning largely centered on targeting ‘rogue states.’ However, the list of states that qualified as ‘rogue’ suggests that this concept is not as clear-cut – and its purpose not as noble – as would first seem.

Consider the state of Cuba, which has consistently been defined and treated as a rogue by the United States for its alleged involvement in international terrorism. This is despite the fact that Cuba has not been directly linked to any such offense in well over a decade.

On the other hand, Indonesian dictator General Suharto, who oversaw the massacre of at least 100,000 inhabitants of East Timor, has not only been exempt from the list but also received implicit US support for many years.

The difference between the two? Cuba has vehemently rejected US economic and political orthodoxy, while Indonesia willingly supported their international objectives.

This selective adherence to the definition of ‘rogue’ demonstrates that, in a period exempt from clearly defined enemies such as ‘communists’ or ‘terrorists,’ ‘rogue state’ acts as a murky, catch-all term to target any state not willing to facilitate US political and economic interests. The extent of US power and influence results in almost complete international isolation for states that acquire the label, making it an extremely powerful tool at the hands of the global superpower.

The term ‘rogue state’ was invented by the United States to eliminate opposition and maintain control globally.

The United States is itself a ‘rogue state’ – its position of power has been created and maintained through force.

Throughout history, superpowers have created and maintained their position through force. However, following the destruction of World War II, the 1945 UN Charter outlawed the use of force except for self-defense. The charter was a historic commitment to the idea that sovereignty is a cornerstone of world peace and should be universally respected. The United States, however, has opted to consistently violate the charter and instead follow the example set by its superpower predecessors; it uses the rule of force in pursuit of power.

In recent years, the US military has directly intervened in Vietnam, Iraq and Kosovo, while also sponsoring brutal state violence in countries such as Indonesia, Turkey, Columbia, Croatia, and, before they changed their minds, Iraq. Whether the United States is pointing the weapons or just paying for them, the drastic human effects remain the same.

Economic objectives drive US foreign policy and foreign interventions.

Contrary to media and official rhetoric, the United States’ interventions abroad are not driven by moral superiority. The United States seems to feel obliged to intervene in certain conflicts, whereas others are completely disregarded. This discrepancy begs the question, what really drives intervention? The answer, inevitably, is economic interest.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States’ government has focused on opening global markets and implementing wider neoliberal reforms abroad. This Washington Consensus is promoted in order to create optimum conditions for large US corporations to generate profit.

To maintain legitimacy, the United States touts itself as a humanitarian savior.

Official Western rhetoric describes the post-Cold War era as a glorious US-led new age in which freedom, democracy and human rights prevail. This emotional rhetoric works as a powerful tool in legitimizing US foreign policy.

However, when US foreign policy is considered as a whole, it becomes clear that any commitment to morality is plain rhetoric.

The mainstream media is instrumental to the United States’ power.

The mainstream news media act as an important link between the government and public. The way the media report and frame foreign and domestic policy decisions determine how the public perceives them.

In order for the US government to maintain the public support for their wholly self-interested foreign policy, they must maintain the façade domestically and internationally that their actions stem from strong morality and an obligation to protect the world. While government rhetoric and propaganda play a key role in this, the media hold even greater weight as an ‘objective’ commentator.

The United States disregards or invokes international law at will.

In theory, international law is meant to play much the same role in the international arena as domestic law does in the domestic arena. Largely formulated after the Second World War, international law is a tool to punish states that act unilaterally to disrupt peace and security.

However, as the sole global superpower, the United States frequently chooses to ignore international law when its confines prove inconvenient for foreign policy goals. In the wake of the illegal US-backed Indonesian invasion of East Timor, the United States UN ambassador shed light on the United States’ disdain of the United Nations: ‘The Department of State desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective... I carried this forward with no inconsiderable success.’

The current global order benefits the few at the cost of the majority of the world.

The ruthless pursuit of power and financial gain by successive US governments are not without human consequence: the losers are many and the benefactors few.

Through direct illegal military interventions and indirect support for brutal regimes, the United States has — in pursuing its own ends — violated the basic human rights of countless innocent people. Furthermore, many countries that are desperately in need of support but cannot contribute to US interests are ignored. In addition, the vast majority of developing countries, desperate for income, are burdened with ‘odious’ debt originating from Washington. This debt carries conditions that solely serve US interests as opposed to those of the debtor states, ultimately making their development intricately tied to the United States.

It is market forces that truly drive and control the current world order.

The post-Cold War era has been characterized by almost complete neoliberal globalization, under which markets are free to run with little intervention from governments. The unregulated nature of this economic system, along with the sheer power wielded by those with money, has created a world in which markets and large corporations reign supreme and dictate the political and economic landscape for the majority of the world.

The problem is that large corporations are by no means democratic institutions, and markets have little interest outside of financial growth and capital gain. As such, the current world order is one in which the small number of individuals leading those companies, largely based in one country and interested solely in their own ends, dictate the fate of the global majority. Freedom, democracy, sovereignty and human rights are of little concern in a world ruled by market forces.

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What is Rogue States about?

In Rogue States, Noam Chomsky holds a critical lens to the nature of state capitalism and to American Foreign Policy, providing an alternative view to the one proposed by government rhetoric and mainstream media.

Who should read Rogue States?

Anyone with an interest in the power structure of states in international relations
Those seeking an alternative commentary on US political and economic affairs to that offered by mainstream media
Those interested in a critique of state capitalism

About the Author

Noam Chomsky is a world-famous linguist, philosopher, historian and radical political critic. His popular writing focuses primarily on the subjects of war, politics and the mass media.

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