Illegitimate Authority

Facing the Challenges of Our Time

Noam Chomsky, C.J. Polychroniou

• Publisher: Haymarket Books
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781642599343
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Imperialism
• Index: Politics & International Relations

A wide-ranging and incisive collection of interviews with Noam Chomsky, addressing the urgent questions of this tumultuous moment. In these informative interviews, conducted for Truthout by C.J. Polychroniou, Noam Chomsky addresses the rapid deterioration of democracy in the United States and rising tensions globally. He examines the crumbling social fabric and fractures of the Biden era, including the halting steps toward a Green New Deal; the illegitimate authority of the Supreme Court, in particular its decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade; and the ongoing fallout from COVID-19. Chomsky also untangles the roots of the War in Ukraine, the diplomatic tensions among the United States, China, and Russia, and considers the need for climate action on an international scale. Throughout, Chomsky "remains…a beacon of hope in the darkest of times" (Sarah Jaffe).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Biden’s Early Agenda Gives Hope, But Activist Pressure Must Not Cease
• Biden’s Foreign Policy Is Largely Indistinguishable from Trump’s
• NOAM CHOMSKY AND ROBERT POLLIN: Green New Deal Is Essential for Human Survival
• Without US Aid, Israel Wouldn’t Be Killing Palestinians en Masse
• Republicans Are Willing to Destroy Democracy to Retake Power
• To Retain Power, Democrats Must Stop Abandoning the Working Class
• Bolsonaro Is Spreading Trump-Like Fear of “Election Fraud” in Brazil
• We Need Genuine International Cooperation to Tackle the Climate Crisis
• Biden’s “Radical” Proposals Are Minimum Measures to Avoid Catastrophe
• NOAM CHOMSKY AND ROBERT POLLIN: We Can’t Rely on Private Sector for Necessary Climate Action
• The US-Led “War on Terror” Has Devastated Much of the World
• It’s Life and Death—Intellectuals Can’t Keep Serving the Status Quo
• NOAM CHOMSKY, ROBERT POLLIN, AND COSTAS LAPAVITSAS: Are We Witnessing the Demise of Neoliberalism?
• NOAM CHOMSKY AND ROBERT POLLIN: COP26 Pledges Will Fail Unless Pushed by Mass Organizing
• Build Back Better Fiasco Exposes How Both Parties Serve Corporate Power
• NOAM CHOMSKY AND ROBERT POLLIN: Protests Outside of COP26 Offered More Hope Than the Summit
• US-China Cooperation Is Essential to Avert a New Cold War
• Outdated US Cold War Policy Worsens Ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict
• GOP’s Soft Coup Is Still Underway One Year after Capitol Assault
• US Approach to Ukraine and Russia Has “Left the Domain of Rational Discourse”
• US Push to “Reign Supreme” Stokes the Ukraine Conflict
• US Military Escalation against Russia Would Have No Victors
• A No-Fly Zone over Ukraine Could Unleash Untold Violence
• Peace Talks in Ukraine “Will Get Nowhere” if US Keeps Refusing to Join
• Let’s Focus on Preventing Nuclear War, Rather than Debating “Just War”
• Russia’s War against Ukraine Has Accelerated the Doomsday Clock
• US Policy toward Russia Is Blocking Paths to De-Escalation in Ukraine
• Our Priority on Ukraine Should Be Saving Lives, Not Punishing Russia
• Propaganda Wars Are Raging as Russia’s War on Ukraine Expands
• US Is Prioritizing Its Jockeying with Russia, Not Ukrainians’ Lives
• To Tackle Climate, Our Morality Must Catch Up with Our Intelligence
• The Supreme Court Is Wielding Illegitimate Authority in the US
• We Must Insist That Nuclear Warfare Is an Unthinkable Policy
• Overturn of Roe Shows How Extreme an Outlier the US Has Become
• Index
• Back Cover