Synopses & Reviews
Now with a new and up-to-date Introduction by the author, the bestselling account of the effect of American global policies, hailed as “brilliant and iconoclastic” (Los Angeles Times) The term “blowback,” invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended results of American actions abroad. In this incisive and controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire, which insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and using American capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms. From a case of rape by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asias financial crisis, from our early support for Saddam Hussein to our conduct in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster.
In a new edition that addresses recent international events from September 11 to the war in Iraq, this now classic book remains as prescient and powerful as ever.
Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, has written numerous books on Japan and Asia, including Miti and the Japanese Miracle and Japan: Who Governs? He lives near San Diego.
In this timely, urgent, and iconoclastic study, Chalmers Johnson details the ongoing dangers faced by America's overextended empire, which projects its military power to every corner of the world and uses its capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms. Bruce Cummings, author of The Origins of the Korean War, states: "As Johnson argues in this vital and engaging book, the halcyon days of American ascendancy cannot last: sooner or later, the stock market will fall, a counterbalancing force will emerge, or Washington will be unable to win a war without committing masses of ground troops, something for which the American body politic is utterly unprepared. Then all the latent contradictions in the American global position will emerge. When that happensand it willthis honest, deeply learned, courageous, provocative, and witty man, Chalmers Johnson, will be your guide. Get hold of this prescient book and keep it."
"Stunning . . . No one has exposed the shortsightedness, hubris, corruption, and instability of our country's imperial overreach with such impassioned incisiveness. Blowback is a wake-up call for America."John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"I assigned Blowback in an Introduction to American Politics course at California State University, Hayward . . . I love the book and plan on using it in the Spring."Wendy Sarvasy, Political Science department, California State University, Hayward
"Blowback is expansive thinking . . . a straight-talking analysis of America's global conduct during the cold war and since, and what we're eventually going to pay for it."Patrick Smith, The Nation
"Boldly provocative . . . A useful and timely alert."Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
"Stunning . . . No one has exposed the shortsightedness, hubris, corruption, and instability of our country's imperial overreach with such impassioned incisiveness. Blowback is a wake-up call for America."John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"Blowback is a powerful warning that the 'only superpower' complex is driving the United States into increasingly dangerous conflict with key countries throughout the world. Demolishing the argument that the United States is drifting into a new isolationism, Chalmers Johnson shows that American foreign policy is, in reality, more committed than ever to military intervention abroad and to the perpetuation of obsolete military alliances on terms incompatible with U.S. economic interests. This is original, hard-hitting 'must' reading for all those interested in the future U.S. global role."Selig S. Harrison, author of The Widening Gulf: Asian Nationalism and American Policy
"The 1990s were kind to the 'indispensable nation,' as Madeline Albright has called it. But, as Chalmers Johnson argues in this vital and engaging book, the halcyon days of American ascendancy cannot last: sooner or later, the stock market will fall, a counterbalancing force will emerge, or Washington will be unable to win a war without committing masses of ground troops, something for which the American body politic is utterly unprepared. Then all the latent contradictions in the American global position will emerge. When that happensand it willthis honest, deeply learned, courageous, provocative, and witty man, Chalmers Johnson, will be your guide. Get hold of this prescient book and keep it for that rainy day."Bruce Cumings, author of The Origins of the Korean War
"This eye-opening account of U.S. imperialist relations in Asia is stunning, disturbing, and very important. Chalmers Johnson warns that our present national security arrangements are mobilizing enemies around the world."Richard J. Barnet, coauthor of Global Dreams
"This brilliant dissection of the security, political, and economic relationships between the United States and Asia offers indispensable reading for anyone interested in the political economy of America's role in world affairs in the twenty-first century."Glen S. Fukushima, president, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
"Chalmers Johnson, the brilliant and iconoclastic scholar of China, Japan and the rest of East Asia, has in Blowback written a brilliant and iconoclastic assault on American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War."Anthony Day, Los Angeles Times
"Johnson is on to something . . . It is indeed a new post-Cold War ballgame, and Johnson's warning of blowback, if it were heeded in Washington, would help keep America safe from the temptation of untrammeled power."James P. Pinkerton, Newsday
Review
"Johnson is on to something....It is indeed a new postCold War ballgame, and Johnson's warning, if it were heeded in Washington, would help keep America safe from the temptation of untrammeled power." Newsday
Review
"This no-holds-barred indictment...is not for the faint of heart....[Johnson's] chilling conclusion backed by copious and livid detail is that a nation reaps precisely what it sows." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Engrossing and at the same time alarming, Johnson's well-researched book nevertheless presents an easy solution to fundamental problems that have usually forced great powers into catastrophic predicaments." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Boldly provocative....A useful and timely alert." Richard Bernstein, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[Johnson's] intimation of disasters to come, possibly wars, drives his insistence on dismantlement of the cold war security structures. This is edgy, unconventional wisdom that deserves hearing and debating." Booklist
Synopsis
Now with a new and up-to-date Introduction by the author, the bestselling account of the effect of American global policies, hailed as "brilliant and iconoclastic" (
Los Angeles Times).
The term "blowback," invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended results of American actions abroad. In this incisive and controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire, which insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and using American capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms. From a case of rape by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asia's financial crisis, from our early support for Saddam Hussein to our conduct in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster.
In a new edition that addresses recent international events from September 11 to the war in Iraq, this now classic book remains as prescient and powerful as ever.
Synopsis
Now with a new and up-to-date Introduction by the author, the bestselling account of the effect of American global policies, hailed as “brilliant and iconoclastic” (Los Angeles Times) The term “blowback,” invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended results of American actions abroad. In this incisive and controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire, which insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and using American capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms. From a case of rape by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asias financial crisis, from our early support for Saddam Hussein to our conduct in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster.
In a new edition that addresses recent international events from September 11 to the war in Iraq, this now classic book remains as prescient and powerful as ever.
About the Author
Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is a frequent contributor to the
Los Angeles Times and
The Nation. Author of the forthcoming
The Sorrows of Empire, and numerous books on Japan and Asia, including
MITI and the Japanese Miracle and
Japan:
Who Governs?, he lives in southern California.
Table of Contents
Introduction: After 9/11
Prologue: A Spear-Carrier for Empire
1 Blowback 3
2 Okinawa: Asia's Last Colony 34
3 Stealth Imperialism 65
4 South Korea: Legacy of the Cold War 95
5 North Korea: Endgame of the Cold War 119
6 China: The State of the Revolution 137
7 China: Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and Trade 157
8 Japan and the Economics of the American Empire 175
9 Meltdown 193
10 The Consequences of Empire 216
Further Reading 231
Notes 239
Index 253