The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World [Paperback]

John Perkins (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 29, 2008

From the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" comes an expos of international corruption. Perkins suggests how Americans can work to create a more peaceful and stable world for future generations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having made a splash with Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Perkins offers similarly entertaining but disturbing accounts of the American government wreaking havoc around the world in support of American business. In Perkins's view, American presidents willingly comply with their CEO masters, distributing foreign aid to corrupt Third World leaders who keep a share and return the rest to U.S. business for major projects, leaving their nations poor and massively in debt, and requiring more loans and slavish obedience to U.S. policy. If any leader objects, the CIA destabilizes his government, by assassination if necessary. Gathering evidence is not Perkins's strong suit. Typically, a shadowy figure pulls him aside, insists on anonymity, then reveals all. Critics will rightfully accuse Perkins of dreadful journalism and a taste for conspiracy theories. Yet economists admit that loans and "expert advice" to poor nations are often harmful. Few deny that America has ruthlessly undermined uncooperative governments and supported dictators including Saddam Hussein. Perkins's assertions that the U.S. assassinated Ecuador's reformist president and connived at genocide in Timor and Sudan are not absurd, merely unproven. This book's greatest value may be to encourage a competent journalist to cover the same ground. (June 5)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A sweeping, bold assault on the tyranny of corporate globalization, full of drama and adventure, with devastating stories of greed run wild. But Perkins is undaunted, and offers imaginative ideas for a different world. -- Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

John Perkins' new book is both an eye-opening expose of global corruption and a fascinating story of adventure and intrigue. This devastating indictment of current economic policies also offers hope by showing the power of the growing movement toward a caring economics worldwide. -- Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Reprint edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452289572
• ISBN-13: 978-0452289574
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Perkins website is www.johnperkins.org. His TWITTERID is economic_hitman. John Perkins has lived four lives: as an economic hit man (EHM); as the CEO of a successful alternative energy company, who was rewarded for not disclosing his EHM past; as an expert on indigenous cultures and shamanism, a teacher and writer who used this expertise to promote ecology and sustainability while continuing to honor his vow of silence about his life as an EHM; and as a writer who, in telling the real-life story about his extraordinary dealings as an EHM, has exposed the world of international intrigue and corruption that is turning the American republic into a global empire despised by increasing numbers of people around the planet.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#35 in Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing

#65 in Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs

#90 in Books > Business & Investing

#35 in Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing

#65 in Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs

#90 in Books > Business & Investing

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

155 of 162 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Perspectives, Though Weak on Details June 19, 2007

By Loyd E. Eskildson HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

"The Secret History's" Prologue provides an outstanding summary of the dark side of American generosity as exemplified by the World Bank's actions. The U.S. holds veto power over major World Bank decisions, and its president is appointed by the U.S. president. Perkins asserts that the World Bank's mission quickly became synonymous with proving the capitalist system superior to communism, and to further this role, its employees cultivated cozy relationships with multi-national corporations. This opened the door for economic hit men (EHM) to channel funds from the Bank into schemes appearing to serve the poor while primarily benefiting a few wealthy people.

In the most common scheme, staffers would identify a developing country possessing resources our corporations desired (eg. oil), arrange a huge loan for it, and then direct most of the money to our own corporations and a few collaborators. Infrastructure projects (eg. power plants, airports, industrial parks) would then spring up - however, they seldom helped the poor, and the nation was unable to be able to repay the loan about 50-60% of the time. The EHM could then demand eg. cheap oil, U.N. votes on key issues, and/or troops for eg. Iraq.

Perkins substantiates his "American Empire" label by asserting that the U.S. is run by a big group who collectively act much like a king. They run our largest corporations, and through them, our government. They cycle through the "revolving door" back and forth between businesses and government, fund political campaigns and the media - resulting in a great deal of control over elected officials and the information we receive, regardless of who is elected.

National disasters, like wars and aid projects, are highly profitable for big businesses.... A great deal of money for rebuilding is earmarked for U.S. engineering firms and large corporations owning hotel, communications and transportation networks, banks, insurance companies, etc. Sometimes they also provide an opportunity for local governments to extend their oppression - eg. just prior to the 12/26/04 tsunami the Indonesian government was ready to reach an agreement with Aceh rebels largely favorable to them - however, after the disaster disorganized and weakened the Aceh, it instead sent in additional forces to break their resistance in the resource-rich (multinational target)Aceh sector.

Overseas bribery is usually accomplished without violating U.S. law by leasing eg. equipment from companies owned by the target (and friends) at excessive rates; they can then subcontract portions to others at inflated prices. This model can be used to contract for food, housing, cars, fuel, etc. Another means is to offer to arrange for the target's children to attend prestigious U.S. colleges while covering all their expenses and paying consultant/intern salaries while they are in the U.S. U.S. companies also pay local militias for protection, thus weakening local control over them.

Little specific proof of the preceding is offered - however, it follows Perkins' earlier "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and numerous other sources. "The Secret History" then goes on to reference vague specifics in Asia, Africa, and South America in a conspiracy-mongering manner.

Some useful specifics come through, however. Examples include privatizing water in South America and then significantly raising rates to the point of provoking a mini-revolt, engendering political change in another country through energy-extraction agreements that provide little for the resident nation, etc.

Our "bottom-line" seems to be "go along with us or we'll foment revolution and/or assassinate you." Mid-East examples include Iran (early 1950s), and Iraq (early 1960s). (No wonder leaders are leery of American-style democracy.) Those wondering why the U.S. is so concerned about Israel's welfare have the answer provided by Perkins - Israel is America's foot soldier in the area, there to help keep the Mid-East in line.

Where have we ended up? Over half the world lives on less than $2/day, over 2 billion lack basic amenities such electricity, clean water, sanitation, land titles, phones, police and fire protection, the cost of servicing Third World debt exceeds their spending on health and education and is about twice what they receive in foreign aid, developing countries' 1970 trade surplus is now an $11 billion deficit, and U.S. corporations now pay less than 10% of federal taxes - down from 21% in as recently as '01 and over 50% during WWII.

Finally, Perkins is at his weakest in prescribing where we go from here. He senses environmentalism may offer the crisis for reform, and suggests that we all become less greedy.

Bottom Line: Despite the general weakness and generally conspiratorial tone of the book, I still found "The Secret History" to offer compelling perspectives in enough areas to be highly worthwhi Read more ›

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Time to Take the Red Pill....! April 2, 2008

By Jose B. Gonzalez

Format:Hardcover

Funny how all the deniers and thos who rate this author's books as "impossible" or "a fabrication" do so, I am willing to bet, from the comfort of having never left their own zip code. How can it be, if their scred "free market" and the government are forces of "freedom and justice"???

As a fomer officer of the Guatemalan Army, charged at one time with guarding those "advisers" and "experts" recommended by the US Embassy, witnessing the granting of unfathomable amounts of money and visas to the US for ministers and their families, as rewards for granting this or that contract to a selected few companies, I can assure you everything Perkins says is true. For those who ask for ironclad proof, it should be an invitation to get off their behinds and do some research of their own, the facts are out there but that would be too much to ask. There is a saying in Guatemala: No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver. "The worst kind of blindness is the one that refuses to see"
I really despair when I see the situation the country and the world are in nowadays and still there are those who claim it's all good. But as far as these books, they are an eye opener to how business is REALLY done outside the golf and country clubs of the US.

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A View from the Seedy Underbelly July 2, 2007

By Michael

Format:Hardcover

As a fifty-five year old man, my own history runs from a youthful idealism born in the frenetic 60's to a current disillusionment derived in part from a Supreme Court coup, a piecemeal destruction of the Constitution and a criminal Executive Branch that creates its own laws and ignores legislated ones.

When I read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" a year ago, the questions we all have about how the world got to this point in history suddenly became much clearer.

From a first-person perspective, Perkins exposed the seedy underbelly of the economic giant called the United States.

As Americans we've gotten used to angry epithets being thrown at us from around the world; by "dirty commies", by "tinhorn" South American dictators, by various types of anarchists and by "ignorant" peasants.

And the chant they repeated most often over the years was that the US was an IMPERIALIST nation.

The asbsurdity of this accusation was enough to make make most Americans ignore whatever else these people might have been trying to communicate to us.

But after reading this new Perkins book about the seriously evil deeds our national government and closely allied corporations have been up to for the last sixty years, we are forced to conclude that Empire is perhaps the kindest way to describe "unofficial" American foreign policy since World War II.

Perhaps the most intriguing section of his book--and most pertinent to today's most unsettling issues--is his discussion of the the Mideast's modern history as planned and executed by the major Western powers....

The perception and understanding by these powers that economic success depended on an unlimited and uninterrupted oil supply has underscored virtually every foreign policy initiative by the West since WWII.

The anger and hatred felt by a growing number of Muslims, Asians and other third world citizens did not arise in a vacuum. It has been building for the last six decades--much longer in our own Southern Hemisphere. The West, with the US spearheading the assault, has focused with laser precision on exploiting and safeguarding any lands around the world that have oil under those lands. Most thinking people by now know that Saddam had nothing whatsoever to do with 9-11. So what the hell do you think we're over there for? For God's sake, it was our own economic hitmen and jackals (CIA) who put him in power there in the first place!

Not content with only taking their oil, the corporations that do the actual work have exemplified the worst elements of unbridled capitalism by despoiling the land and water of those countries while giving almost nothing back to the people who are the rightful recipients.

Over the years, I've seen the concept of "unquestioning patriotism" become preeminent in our nation. Those who we depend on to ask those questions--the national media--have become part of the corporatocracy that conspires to create this world empire we call The United States.

John Perkins spent the first part of his life as an important element in the drive to create this empire. He now intends to spend the rest of his life trying to undo what he helped to create.

In a more-enlightened nation, these two books together would be required reading in every high-school history class. Only by seeing past the sophomoric belief that everything we as a nation do is good and that any criticism is unpatriotic will we also be able to hear beyond the angry slogans shouted at us throughout the world by those who have been victims of this; the American Empire. Read more ›

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Do They Hate Us? Perkins Provides Answers that Won't Make You Proud July 28, 2007

By Phyllis Staff TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

My mind reels as it did after reading "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." The obvious greed and lust for power of the American "corporatocracy" grows and continues. Can this be accurate? Can the United States have fallen so far as to rape and pillage the rest of the world?

Looking at conditions around the world, feeling the hatred that so many hold for "the Americans," I am forced to believe the witness of my own eyes.

Africa, South American, Middle East - American economic traps span the world. American embassies tote home the loot. America's reputation grows darker. Should we continue to wonder why they distrust and hate us?

Without doubt, the events related in this volume are filtered through the mind of a single participant. Therefore, they do not and cannot reflect the whole truth. But should they be as much as 50% accurate, the implications are chilling and shameful. The United States corporatocracy is guilty of immoral and illegal acts.

Like "Confessions," this volume will undoubtedly come under attack by NeoCon shills. Do yourself a favor. Ignore them. Ignore me, too. Read this book for yourself, painful though it will be, and then draw your own conclusions. Should you choose to accept the mission, Perkins suggests concrete ways you can change the world. America's can-do spirit is still alive.