The obtaining of information is not a problem at all these days, but being able to interpret this information and judge its reliability can be difficult. This is particularly true for information about governments and their activities. Being intrinsically guarded about their information, governments seek to mask their activities through propaganda and hype, and therefore the imputation of certain intents and goals to the members of these governments frequently occurs. The lack of reliable or accurate information coming from governmental institutions provokes in the extreme case various conspiracy theories or elaborate generalizations. The author of this book does this to a certain degree, but he also offers an alternative viewpoint that at first glance may seem radical or cynical by some. This book, one of many by the author, is valuable because it helps to maintain an extreme skepticism about the activities of governments. Such a degree of skepticism is justified, given the horrendous acts that have been perpetrated by governments throughout the ages. It should be held as an axiom that governments cannot be trusted, that they lie more often than telling the truth, and that their goal is to mislead and manipulate the citizens they govern. To not hold to this extreme skepticism is to be vulnerable to government manipulation and propaganda, and susceptible to its possible tyrannies, to be in a failed state of mind.
The author is the guru of the political left, but since he has a scientific background he has attracted the attention of many readers who view themselves as being in the center of the political spectrum. He therefore has a wide audience, which would be even larger if he would not place so much trust in mainstream newspaper publications. The author incessantly speaks of the press as being the tool of the elite and as being an ally to government propaganda. However he references their articles without restraint, as if they were an authority on the events that they presume to cover. It is quite easy, even fashionable, to sit in an armchair and summarize what has been written in popular newspapers. It is quite another thing to get information from other sources that can act as a balance and countercheck. This is extremely difficult to do, even if you are "on the ground" in the geographical area of interest. In addition, the author should remember that he too is a member of society, and therefore is subject to the same biases and media pressures that everyone else is. He does not have an apodictic certainty about the events and history that he writes about. To refer to the "populace" as being something outside of oneself, and subjected to misleading doctrines beyond their control, is not justified or even fruitful for objective analysis.
The main goal of this book of course is to elaborate on the notion of a failed state, which as the author remarks, is a state that as a first requirement must be a potential threat to the security of the United States. Another requirement is that a failed state have a "deficit in democracy'. Still another is that it views itself as being outside the constraints of international law. And the author claims, perhaps without surprise, that the United States satisfies these requirements. This is a deep irony indeed, if one holds that the majority of Americans do in fact believe that they are "above it all" and are incapable of engaging in self-criticism.
The author asks the reader to look in the mirror and honestly assess whether the United States is approaching the status of a failed state. He offers a lot of evidence supporting this view throughout the book. But he also imputes intentions to government officials that would be difficult to verify. This mistake is a consequence of some of the vague, floating abstractions that sometimes arise in the book. The problem with abstraction and generalization is that it can sometimes lead to conceptual tyranny: it does not allow the classification of events or individuals outside of its borders, or even sometimes insists there are no borders. A good example of this is the author's insistence that moral truth must conform to the `principle of universality'. This he accepts without critical analysis, possibly because the abandoning of it would weaken his case on the inherent hypocrisy of American society. Indeed, abandoning this principle would allow the view of American culture as having some kind of "special status" and would leave open the possibility of its citizens being allowed to do as they please to other peoples of the world.
In general though the book is interesting reading and thought provoking, and encourages the reader to seek out more information on a particular topic. This is particularly true in the author's discussion on Israel, which is a country that is typically viewed by many in the Unites States as being benign or even heroic. The author though presents a view of Israel that is certainly a strong intellectual perturbation to this generally received view. His view of Israel is not a popular one, and if one repeats it in certain circles it will certainly raise an eyebrow, or even instigate retaliation and violence.
American society is deeply introspective but not self-critical. If this book can induce more healthy criticism it has done its job. If it merely preaches to the choir it has failed. It would be wrong to characterize American society as a failed state due to the actions of its government therefore. A good state is one where its citizens concern themselves with what is right and just, and act accordingly. A failed state is one whose citizens are pliant and easily manipulated. American society seems to be struggling with the idea of freedom and democracy, which is a supreme irony considering its history. The pragmatism of its citizens will no doubt win over the immoralities and criminal acts of its government.
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