For Reasons of State

An essential record of Chomsky's political and social thought as it was sharpened during the upheavals in domestic and international affairs of the early 1970s, For Reasons of State includes articles on the war in Vietnam and the "wider war" in Laos and Cambodia, an extensive dissection of the Pentagon Papers, reflections on the role of force in international affairs, essays on civil disobedience and the use of the university, and a now-classic introduction to anarchism. These essays reveal very different facets of Chomsky's power as a thinker, from his uncanny ability to join abstract philosophical considerations with the concrete political realities of his time, to his singular capacity to mount withering, fact-based critiques of American foreign policy. Following the recent release of American Power and the New Mandarins, For Reasons of State is a major addition to the intellectual history of the Vietnam era.

It's not a pretty picture. Chomsky quotes the Papers relentlessly, citing multiple versions of it. He lets the generals and politicians speak for themselves, revealing their real commitments, showing how they prevented democracy from breaking out in Vietnam in 1954. From there, he shows how the war expanded to Laos and Cambodia. The footnotes for these chapters are massive, citing hundreds of reliable sources. This section of the book is one of the best examinations of the Vietnam war you'll ever read, right up there with Gabriel Kolko's "Anatomy of a War" and Marilyn Young's "The Vietnam Wars."

Then Chomsky shifts gears. He writes a brief but powerful essay on war resistance and the role of universities as subversive institutions. These chapters show Chomsky's commitment to peaceful, intelligent, democratic protest --- and his honesty about its limitations.

The final chapters are about behaviorism, anarchism, and human nature. Although these topics are quite a change from the Vietnam war material at the beginning, they are no less impressive. Chomsky's review of BF Skinner's behaviorism completely demolishes the concept. This essay single-handedly brought the field to a halt in 1972. (Skinner responded once, failing to counter Chomsky's arguments, and behaviorism never recovered.) He even takes time to explain, in a single footnote, why Richard Herrnstein's study of IQ is useless (which made "The Bell Curve" irrelevant twenty years before it was written). Chomsky's notes on anarchism and his reflections on the mystery of human nature describe his underlying attitude about people and their relation to the state.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an education on Vietnam or Noam Chomsky's political work. The lies of Vietnam --- and the illegitimate authority of the state --- continue today in new forms. This book will inspire you to activism, and to learn more.


Chosky at most passionate   June 11, 2002
29 out of 35 found this review helpful

"For reasons of state" and "American power"; both written at the height of the vietnam war are chomsky at his most passionate. The works are obvoiusly written when the hopes of real change in the power structures of society seemed like a real possiblity. The condemnations of US policy are fast and furiuos as Chomsky turns scrutizing State dept papers into calls to action. There is no punches pulled here, hopeful thoughts of future stuctures of human freedom are disscussed in chapters with titles such as "notes on anarchism."
Agree with him or not this is one of the few political books that can actually raise your heart rate.


A Seminal Work With Relevant Lessons   January 29, 2010
R. L. Huff (Louisiana)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

Those wishing to understand the hijinks that led to the US invasion of Iraq can do no better in reviewing this seminal "nostalgia" piece on American war planning. Overcoming the "Vietnam syndrome" led right back to the quagmire, proof that those in power do not learn from history because they choose to ignore it.

The inaccurate ramblings of one reviewer - holding Chomsky somehow accountable for the Khmer Rouge coming to power after this collection of essays was published - demonstrate how atrocity reportage from postwar Indochina was consciously exploited to retroactively justify the war. Reading this review of the Pentagon Papers - over half the book - demonstrate that whatever befell the region later was established in Washington by men who cared not one bit for the nations and people they condemned to disaster.




100% tripe   December 31, 2003
Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel)
8 out of 72 found this review helpful

Really a total mis-mash of bewildering essays from the mid 70s this collection mirrors the typical anti-Americanism of the era. The essays are called `bold' but the reality is that disagreeing with the Vietnam war isn't exactly revolutionary. No original thought is found within these essays instead they are the typical `America is evil' mentality. One essay in particular focuses on the war in Laos and Cambodia but it ignores the Vietnamese invasions of these countries and the destabilizing influence that Vietnamese troops caused as they rampaged through the rice fields of Cambodia in order to invade South Vietnam. The reality is that these essays completely ignore and in fact deny the truth about Pol Pots regime in Cambodia, a communist regime that killed 25% of the country and especially murdered minority groups and Muslims. These glaring anti-factuals make this collection hard to accept and even harder to digest. Fans of the authors previous work will be delighted, while most will be unhappy.