Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Chomsky's Foreign Policy Methodology in a Nutshell

In his own words:

"One lesson is that to understand what is happening we should attend not only to critical events of the real world, often dismissed from history, but also to what leaders and elite opinion believe, however tinged with fantasy.  Another lesson is that alongside the flights of fancy concocted to terrify and mobilize the public (and perhaps believed by some who are trapped in their own rhetoric), there is also geostrategic planning based on principles that are rational and stable over long periods because they are rooted in stable institutions and their concerns."




From Losing the World from American Decline in Perspective, Part I

1 comment:

  1. Chomsky also talks about other things that are pertinent to his methodology in foriegn policy analysis. There is comment in one of his books in the Real Story Series regarding where to look to find the pertinent data or information to research. There is also a quote Finkelstein uses from Chomsky about how to stay objective and scholarly despite your personal history and family obligations. Something like that.

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