Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson, Chalmers Johnson (Introduction)

From the Publisher

An explosive account of the resentments American policies are sowing around the world and of the payback that will be our harvest in the twenty-first century.

Blowback, a term invented by the CIA, refers to the uninted consequences of American policies. In this sure-to-be-controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overexted 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 actions in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster.

In the wake of the Cold War, the United States has imprudently expanded the commitments it made over the previous forty years, argues Johnson. In Blowback, he issues a warning we would do well to consider: it is time for our empire to demobilize before our bills come due.

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 Cahners Business Information.

The Nation - Patrick Smith

Blowback is expansive thinking. It arrives just as our national conversation begins to suggest we're waking up from a dream. The book does much to articulate this change—and will do much to advance it further...Johnson's book arrives none too soon.

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