Product Description

Brilliant and iconoclastic.Los Angeles Times Boldly provocativeA useful and timely alert. The New York Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169714 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 268 pages

Amazon.com
If the 20th century was the American century, the 21st century may be a time of reckoning for the United States. Chalmers Johnson, an authority on Japan and its economy, offers a troubling prognosis of what's to come. Blowback--the title refers to a CIA neologism describing the unintended consequences of American activity--is a call for the United States to rethink its position in the world. "The evidence is building up that in the decade following the end of the Cold War, the United States largely abandoned a reliance on diplomacy, economic aid, international law, and multilateral institutions in carrying out its foreign policies and resorted much of the time to bluster, military force, and financial manipulation," writes Johnson. "The world is not a safer place as a result." Individual chapters focus on Okinawa (where American servicemen were accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in "Asia's last colony"), the two Koreas, China, and Japan. The result is a liberal-leaning (and Asia-centric) call for the United States to disengage from many of its global commitments. Critics will call Johnson an isolationist, but friends (perhaps admirers of Patrick Buchanan's A Republic, Not an Empire) will say he simply speaks good sense. All will agree he is an earnest voice: "I believe our very hubris ensures our undoing." --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly
This no-holds-barred indictment of what Johnson calls the post-Cold War American "global empire" is not for the faint of heart. Among the opening images is a plastic bag containing three pairs of bloodied men's underwear gathered as evidence from the brutal 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by two American marines and an American sailor, a crime that was officially passed off as an aberration but may qualify more accurately as another move in the endgame of, in Johnson's astringent phrase, "stealth imperialism." In his highly critical appraisal of the global U.S. military presence, Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute and prolific commentator on Japan and Asia, focuses on the effects of "blowback," a term coined by the CIA to denote the unintended consequences of policies that were in many cases kept secret from the American public. From anti-Chinese pogroms carried out by U.S.-trained soldiers in Indonesia to the viciously suppressed 1980 pro-democracy demonstration in Kwangju, South Korea, Johnson examines the fallout from what he sees as American "economic colonialism." Detailed assessments of American engagement in Japan, Korea and China are coupled with closer-to-home observations on the liquidation of American jobs in places such as Birmingham, Ala., and Pittsburgh, the latter yet another consequence of the massive U.S. trade deficit with the countries of East Asia. Brazenly spending ever-swollen defense budgets, Johnson argues, the Pentagon is fueling an "antiglobalization time bomb" that could blow up at any moment. His chilling conclusion--backed by copious and livid detail--is that a nation reaps precisely what it sows. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
"Blowback": it's a term coined by the CIA to describe the unforeseen consequences of U.S. foreign policy. Chalmers, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, here takes us from Okinawa to the Balkans.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Begin your American History class right here!
Chalmers Johnson--perhaps the most knowledgeable man in America right now. All three books in his American Empire series underscore the dangerous line we have crossed as a nation. See The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (American Empire Project) and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (American Empire Project)

No longer are we a land of democracy-loving bureaucrats bent on spreading peace and prosperity-- we've become a true threat to any sovereign nation who will not bow to our interests on our terms. We are covertly expanding our imperial reach as quickly as possible. We do not obey International Law, yet no nation or media outlet has the nerve to slap us down. We do not observe the Geneva Conventions, yet no one dares stand up against us because we dominate all the world financial markets and hold the U.N. hostage with our monetary and military support.

We've created a monster-- and it's armed to the teeth, quietly stealing away our freedoms, our non-governmental jobs, and our money. Only a complete breakdown will shake us up enough to take action. I wonder.. if worse comes to worse, will the Second Amendment mean anything in the face of a militarized American government...gone bad?

A fascinating book.
`Blowback' is the term the CIA uses to refer to the unintended consequences of American actions abroad. The author makes the reader aware of the dangers faced by the US Empire, which he feels has been overextended, with about 19 military bases worldwide. The US insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and to force global economic integration on its own terms. I remember once a Chinese leader commenting, "Why should we live by the standards set by the US?" In other words, who says the US way of life is the best there is and we should all follow it? This method of dictating what's right and what is not to the rest of the world angers a lot of people according to the author, and will one day cause a blowback against US interests.

The author asks, "Why are there still US bases in Japan?" He then asks if the American people would like it if other nations had military bases on US soil.

The US is not liked in Japan for many reasons. The US dropped two atomic bombs on them, one on Hiroshima and another on Nagasaki, killing many innocent women, children, and the elderly. The blowback from this atrocious act is still to come. Today such an act would be condemned worldwide. Could you imagine if India decided to nuke Pakistan, or North Korea nuked a neighboring country, what would the world's response be? Yet the US got away with it during World War II, even though Japan was on the verge of surrender before the atomic bombs were dropped. Killing civilians is unacceptable. If Russia had won the cold war, the US would today have been paying compensation to the Japanese, much like how Germany is still paying the state of Israel compensation for the atrocities it inflicted on the Jewish people under Hitler.

The author mentions rape cases on Okinawa committed by US soldiers based there. In one case, a 12 year old Japanese schoolgirl was gang raped by US soldiers. Japanese Families are upset because these soldiers are trialed in the US under US military laws which tend to be lenient with the soldiers. Furthermore, in many cases, by the time a lawsuit is brought against a US soldier, he or she no longer is on Okinawa. The US soldiers' duty time on Okinawa is only 6 months! Once a soldier leaves Japan, it is impossible for the Japanese families to bring him or her to justice. US soldiers based on Okinawa therefore get away with crimes.

Bases were also built on land owned by Japanese farmers without giving them compensation. Military maneuvers and artillery fire are constantly being performed on protected reefs around Okinawa. Furthermore, bullets made of depleted uranium at one point littered Okinawa's coast, but the Navy eventually cleaned up the shores after international pressure and outrage. How would American citizens feel if China or Russia had military bases on American soil, raped young American girls, took land from farmers without compensation, and polluted the US coast with UN prohibited depleted uranium bullets? How would the American people feel if crimes committed against them could not be trialed under US laws? For example, why didn't the soldiers involved in Abu Ghuraib prison in Iraq stand trial in an Iraqi court under Iraqi law? Similarly, the US fighter pilots involved in the cable car accident in Italy stood trial in the US and were found innocent! Why didn't they stand trial in Italy? This angered the Italians.

The author discusses Afghanistan and how the CIA started helping the Mujahedeen before the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, not after as is often believed. The CIA therefore used the Mujahedeen to fight the US war against the Soviets. Once the Soviets were defeated, the CIA dropped support for the Mujahedeen. The blowback was that the Mujahedeen turned against the US.

Interestingly, the author says that the US should withdraw all of its troops from the Middle East. If this is done, the author says, there would no longer be the hatred that Arab people feel today against the US. Imagine China had military bases in Canada, Mexico, and Cuba. How would the US people feel? Threatened? Unsafe? This is exactly how Arabs feel today.

The book also discusses the IMF and how it has destroyed the Indonesian economy. I thought that chapter on the IMF and globalization extremely interesting and thought provoking.

This is really a great book, and if you like reading Noam Chomsky, you will like this book. This book was originally published before 9/11, but has a new introduction on blowback in the post-9/11 world.

One thing to keep in mind: All empires throughout history have collapsed. The question to ask is `Why?' If the US can answer this question, it might just defeat the cycle of history.

We were warned
This book is quite well researched and somewhat academic. I would not call it dry nor would I call it spellbinding. It presents a plethora of facts prior to making predictions that have been proving to be true.

Chalmers is an expert on China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. You will find considerable recent history of these countries, history with a bias in economics.

A very minor complaint is that Chalmers refers to the US Treasury when he should be referring to the Federal Reserve which essentially privatized the US Treasury...in 1913 as I recall. But he likely has a good reason for his chosen vernacular.

As the title indicates, this book focuses on a prediction that our militaristic hubris and imperialism would be likely to both earn enemies and eventually undermine our economy.....to think that it was written before the Bushbarians galloped into town and made Chalmers look like the prophet of the century.

Chalmers divides his time ripping into the military history of Japan, the USSR, and of course Cold War America..especially post Cold War America. With the exception of Tibet, China receives comparatively light treatment.

This is a great book for those who feel comfortable with slightly academic leaning books.