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Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (American Empire Project) Paperback – January 1, 2008

by Chalmers Johnson (Author)

183 ratings

Part of: American Empire Project

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A New York Times bestseller, Nemesis is Chalmers Johnson's "fiercest book―and his best" (Andrew J. Bacevich)

In his prophetic book Blowback, Chalmers Johnson linked the CIA's clandestine activities abroad to disaster at home. In The Sorrows of Empire, he explored the ways in which the growth of American militarism and the garrisoning of the planet have jeopardized our stability. In Nemesis, the bestselling and final volume in what has become known as the Blowback Trilogy, he shows how imperial overstretch is undermining the republic itself, both economically and politically.

Delving into new areas―from plans to militarize outer space to Constitution-breaking presidential activities at home and the devastating corruption of a toothless Congress―Nemesis offers a striking description of the trap into which the reckless ambitions of America's leaders have taken us. Johnson confronts questions of pressing urgency: What are the unintended consequences of our dependence on a permanent war economy? What does it mean when a nation's main intelligence organization becomes the president's secret army? Or when the globe's sole "hyperpower" becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all times?

Writing "as if the very existence of the nation is at stake" (San Francisco Chronicle), Johnson offers his most "bracing" and "important" (Los Angeles Times) exploration of the crisis facing America.

Editorial Reviews

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“Chalmers Johnson, a patriot who pulls no punches, has emerged as our most prescient critic of American empire and its pretensions. Nemesis is his fiercest book--and his best.” ―Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism

“Nemesis, the final volume in the remarkable Blowback trilogy, completes a true patriot’s anguished and devastating critique of the militarism that threatens to destroy the United States from within. In detail and with unflinching candor, Chalmers Johnson decries the discrepancies between what America professes to be and what it has actually become―a global empire of military bases and operations; a secret government increasingly characterized by covert activities, enormous ‘black’ budgets, and near dictatorial executive power; a misguided republic that has betrayed its noblest ideals and most basic founding principals in pursuit of disastrously conceived notions of security, stability, and progress.”―John Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II “Chalmers Johnson’s voice has never been more urgently needed, and in Nemesis it rings with eloquence, clarity, and truth.”―James Carroll, author of House of War “Nemesis is a stimulating, sweeping study in which Johnson asks a most profound strategic question: Can we maintain the global dominance we now regard as our natural right? His answer is chilling. You do not have to agree with everything Johnson says―I don't―but if you agree with even half of his policy critiques, you will still slam the book down on the table, swearing, ‘We have to change this!’” ―Joseph Cirincione, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress

“Chalmers Johnson's voice has never been more urgently needed, and in Nemesis it rings with eloquence, clarity, and truth.” ―James Carroll, author of House of War

“Nemesis is a stimulating, sweeping study in which Johnson asks a most profound strategic question: Can we maintain the global dominance we now regard as our natural right? His answer is chilling. You do not have to agree with everything Johnson says--I don't--but if you agree with even half of his policy critiques, you will still slam the book down on the table, swearing, ‘We have to change this!'” ―Joseph Cirincione, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress

“Nemesis is a five-alarm warning about flaming militarism, burning imperial attitudes, secret armies, and executive arrogance that has torched and consumed the Constitution and brought the American Republic to death's door. Johnson shares a simple, liberating, and healing path back to worthy republicanism. But the frightening and heart-breaking details contained in Nemesis suggest that the goddess of retribution will not be so easily satisfied before ‘the right order of things' is restored.” ―Karen Kwiatkowski, retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel

“Last fall a treasonous Congress gave the president license to kidnap, torture--you name it--on an imperial scale. All of us, citizens and non-citizens alike, are fair game. Kudos for not being silent, Chalmers, and for completing your revealing trilogy with undaunted courage.” ―Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst; co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

About the Author

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is the author of the bestselling Blowback and The Sorrows of Empire. A contributor to the Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, Harper's, and The Nation, among others, he appears in the 2005 prizewinning documentary film Why We Fight. He lives near San Diego.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Metropolitan Books; Reprint edition (January 1, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0805087281
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805087284
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.28 x 0.98 x 7.97 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,272,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,047 in Political Corruption & Misconduct
- #1,492 in National & International Security (Books)
- #5,007 in History & Theory of Politics

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Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is the author of the bestselling Blowback and The Sorrows of Empire. A frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, and The Nation, he appeared in the 2005 prizewinning documentary film Why We Fight. He lives near San Diego.

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Customers find the book well-researched and informative, with one review noting its copious documentation. Moreover, they consider it essential reading for understanding American politics, and one customer highlights its clear explanations. The book's pacing receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as magnificent.

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25 customers mention "Information quality"25 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's well-researched insights and interesting nuggets of information, with one customer noting its copious documentation.

"...Chalmers Johnson analysis is right on target. His comparison of the Roman, British, and American Empires is most interesting...." Read more

"...NEMESIS is an important, well-written, well-substantiated contribution to the growing library of books warning that America's political and military..." Read more

"...Nemesis is well researched with scores of citations. It poses alarming questions, such as: 1)..." Read more

"...work, Sorrows Of Empire is, by far, the best composed and most uniformly enlightening of the three works in his trilogy...." Read more

24 customers mention "Readability"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well worth reading and compelling, with many emphasizing that everyone should read it to understand the subject matter.

"All I can say that every American should read this book. Chalmers Johnson analysis is right on target...." Read more

"...NEMESIS is an important, well-written, well-substantiated contribution to the growing library of books warning that America's political and military..." Read more

"...is the third volume of the Blowback Trilogy and is a must read for anyone wanting to understand where the US is in the world, how we got there, and..." Read more

"This is an excellent informative read. The premise is that the US is now an empire modeled on on its predecessor empires of Great Britain and Rome...." Read more

7 customers mention "Clarity"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the clarity of the book, with one noting its thorough footnotes and another mentioning how it explains issues clearly.

"...In fact, the way he explained the economic theories was so open and obvious that I wondered why I hadn't understood them before...." Read more

"...His previous work, Sorrows Of Empire is, by far, the best composed and most uniformly enlightening of the three works in his trilogy...." Read more

"Chalmers Johnson is a gifted author with impeccable credentials . His books are very well footnoted and contain multiple confirmations of..." Read more

"...Johnson has done an enormous amount of research and explains the issues in a clear and interesting manner. I've had trouble putting the books down." Read more

4 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive1 negative

Customers praise the pacing of the book.

"...NEMESIS is an important, well-written, well-substantiated contribution to the growing library of books warning that America's political and military..." Read more

"...Nemesis is a must read and a fitting conclusion. I hope the next president reads it, in fact I pray the next president reads it!" Read more

"...We are the most dangerous, evil, contemptable, bunch of corrupt people in the world. There is no relief from the first page to the last...." Read more

"Nemesis is magnificent. It challenges one's worldview...." Read more

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C. Collins
The third in a powerful series of astute analysis
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2008
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I read all three of Chalmers Johnson's trilogy; Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis. I definitely see a trend and movement in the three books in that Blowback uses multiple examples from Chalmer's many years of work in Asia whereas in Nemesis, the makes his boldest statement and warning about the direction of the American Empire.

Nemesis covers a range of topics to support Johnson's primary thesis and warning.

First, he points out how militarism may contribute to the breakdown of constitutional government. Johnson supplies many examples but history could certainly provide more including the downfall of Napoleon III.

Second, Johnson compares the American Empire with the Roman and British Empires. Actually Johnson's thesis is one of hope and optimism for he relates how Rome was unable to turn from military imperialistic goals and restore a republic yet Great Britian was able to gradually lose an empire but strengthen its democratic and republican political structures. The American people however are not ready for this message from Johnson and therefore it must fall to a few insightful folks to steer America to a stronger committment to democratic republic principles as a series of economic crisis begin to remind Americans that we are not invulnerable.

Third, Johnson offers us a biting criticism of the CIA with its lack of performance and accountability.

Fourth, the expansive network of military bases and the wide claims of our military industrial complex are explored.

Fifth, Johnson offers the most original analysis and critique of the Star Wars program that I have seen in print. This chapter is worth the price of the book.

Finally, Johnson offers hope in that an empowered citizen body in the US must constantly monitor the processes and activities of our government. The issues are tremendously complex and thankfully we have political scientists such as Chalmers Johnson who are willing to do the hard work of putting all the puzzle pieces together to provide us a clear picture of a disturbing future unless we strengthen America's democratic republic roots and decrease the power of an imperial presidency and a government run in secret.

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Donald A. Collins
American Military arrogance equates with the Roman empire.
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2016
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This author, Chalmers Johnson, has a long history of being right about how US foreign policies have been badly flawed for decades. He broght up to date the term Blowback which was first mentioned in a CIA report in 1953, but most certainly was symbolized by 911. This book recaps the record and suggests it is vital that we review the history of flawed outcomes from our imperial war-making and our world wide web of military bases that constitute an empire. Ever since the American Presidency became truly imperial under LBJ, we have been treated to an endless parade of majestic media images--meetings, speeches and other events which likely would have made Mark Twain cringe. We increasingly kowtow to the office as if its occupant were somehow operating under the Divine Right of Kings. But how have our Imperial Presidents performed on national security? Truly badly. Pushed by the fear of not appearing strong on national defense, one by one they felt into the arms of the arms manufacturers who were the darlings of our military. A number of other writers have eloquently echoed Johnson's perspicacious prognostications about building our empire. For example, Andrew Bacevich in his book, Washington Rules: America's Path To Permanent War, describes the role of two key architects of that empire: Allen Dulles, who planned the Bay of Pigs disaster (which cost him his job), and General Curtis LeMay who drove the Strategic Air Command to obtain nuclear weapons could have blown the planet to smithereens many times over. Bacevich's book by a 20-year military officer, now a professor at Boston University, ranges over the decades since WWII to describe the process whereby America became an Empire, developing what Bacevich calls the "sacred trinity"--global military presence, global power projection and global intervention as exemplified by Korea, Vietnam and finally the Bush-contrived "preventive war" in Iraq. Another author who dedicates the book to Johnson, The American Way of War: How Bush's Wars Became Obama's, by Tom Engelhardt, offers a little-heralded paperback masterpiece of only 216 pages which should enlighten anyone who has not already come to the sad conclusion that the US has turned into a dangerous empire. From its first line, author Engelhardt sets the tragic scene: ''War is Peace' was one of the memorable slogans on the facade of the Ministry of Truth or Minitrue in 'Newspeak' the language invented by George Orwell in 1948 for his dystopian novel, 1984". [America's Tragic Descent into Empire, July 9, 2010] From there Engelhardt's readers are tutored in how our fear of attack was obsessively co-opted by our government and its willing military suppliers. All these authors plausibly describe the spread, like an octopus. of America's presence around the world, in the form of over 700 military bases--most in places where our security clearly wasn't then and/or is not now at stake. In retrospect our forays into Korea, Vietnam and now in the Middle East, proved that war was not the answer. The cost in human lives and treasure and the escalating threat of terrorism cry out for a new evaluation of our present imperial policies, But they have been embraced by all Presidents since WWII--including Obama, who has now bought into Bush's ultimate folly, continuing that "preventive war" in Iraq with no real end to our occupancy there and around the world in sight. For example, we have built our largest overseas embassy in Bagdad and have other large permanent military facilities in Iraq. As in Vietnam, these authors predict the US will eventually come to the point of withdrawal, after the loss of hundreds of lost lives on both sides later and trillions in wasted money. Johnson predicts bankruptcy if we do not. In fairness, all Obama's predecessors since WWII have folded to the wishes of the powerful military-industrial complex, about which President Eisenhower warned us in 1961. Of these three, it is my view that Chalmers Johnson's Dismantling The Empire: America's Last Best Hope represents the best overview of how we got where we are. His most dramatic recommendation--do away with the CIA--may never get traction, but his section on "The Legacy of the OSS" (the OSS was shut down in September 1945 and the Central Intelligence Agency started in 1947) should be enough to persuade most readers that our government should hasten to shut down this incompetent agency, which has been allowed total secrecy on how it has wasted our tax dollars (between $44 and $48 billion a year) and covered up dangerous and outrageous initiatives after they have failed. (Johnson's analysis of "Charley Wilson's War" should be mandatory reading for all Americans.) Yes, we lost 3000 lives on 9/11, plus over 4,000 men and women in the current wars. But we killed three million in Vietnam, then hundreds of thousands in Cambodia and now hundreds of thousands in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, including many women and children. Our Cold War motivations may have had some validity at an earlier time. But the alleged threats that prompted our military escalations clearly need reassessment now. Looking back on the recent dreary ninth Anniversary of 9/11, and at the decades of bad policies which preceded that "blowback" (a term updated from a 1953 CIA report by Chalmers Johnson), we are reminded of what Pogo said long ago: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

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Ms.Beyonce
Anti - Imperialist
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2007
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All I can say that every American should read this book. Chalmers Johnson analysis is right on target. His comparison of the Roman, British, and American Empires is most interesting. Niall Ferguson, British author,

" Colossus ", and apologist for Imperialism is nailed to the wall by Mr. Johnson. The misinformation and outright falsehood spouted by the Bush Admistration, and its allies in Congress, and the press, is thoroughly documented. The American Press has been a faithful ally in the effort to achieve American world hegemony.Dispite its tag as being " liberal " , the main Stream Media, has for the most part been pro - corporatist and nationalist, follies that would young men and woman are paying the price for today.The CIA is nothing but an arm of big - business and greed. To say such things is heresy, but it is the truth. It is about time Americans wake up and discover the truth about " America Spreading Freedom and Democracy. Mr Johnson points out how " free trade " cripped India. A must read !

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Paul Goldsby
A wake up call!
Reviewed in Canada on February 10, 2020
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Excellent read! would advise many to read it...

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Luc REYNAERT
On the brink of a military dictatorship
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2007
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Chalmers Johnson is deeply pessimistic about the future of the US and its citizens. He sees at the horizon `a collapse of constitutional government, perpetual war, endemic official lying and disinformation and finally bankruptcy. We are at the cusp of losing our democracy for the sake of keeping our empire.'
For him, the heart of the matter is `military Keynesianism' (the US economy is mightily based on weapon manufacturing) and the goal of the military-intelligence community (full spectrum dominance over the world and in space).
But this imperial adventure is far too costly. The US spends more on armed forces than all other nations on earth combined, for more than 737 military bases in more than 130 countries. Also, space weapons are pure waste. A space shield doesn't work, because weapons cannot make a distinction between warheads and free floating space debris. `The neoconservative lobbyists are only interested in the staggering sums required.'
The US enormous military budget (of which 40 % is secret) is not paid by US taxpayers, but by foreign investors in US debt.
In the meantime, democracy is undermined. Chalmers Johnson doesn't see `any president or Congress standing up to the powerful vested interests of the Pentagon, the secret intelligence agencies and the military-industrial complex.' The separation of powers is becoming a dead letter. The legislative and the judicial branches have lost their independence.
The author is extremely hard for the current government, calling members of the Administration `desk-murderers'. For him, `putting the ruler above the law is the very definition of dictatorship.' Its TIA (Total Information Awareness) program `is the perfect US computer version of Gestapo and KGB files.' He is extremely angry with the US media, calling them `Pravda-like mouthpieces of the powerful.'
For him, what Congress really should do is abolish the CIA and remove all purely military functions from the Pentagon.

This hard-hitting book is more than a very solid warning. It is a must read for all those interested in the future of mankind.
For a view from the South, I highly recommend `Dilemmas of Domination' by Walden Bello.

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carl mccrosky
Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on December 16, 2016
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If you're an American, please read Chalmers Johnson. His story is enormously important.

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squire
chalmers johnson
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2013
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I already knew what this book was about before I bought it,was recommended by my friends and family.He is a great writer, I have read other books written by him and I would recommend them all,he is so precise a true patriot.He just nails everything every time.This book is the reality of a failing empire, that seems not to care if it takes everyone down with it,and how paranoid they really are.Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,never was a truer word spoken.As a pacifist I find all this horrifying. This is part of the Blowback Trilogy I recommend you read them all.I will never forget his first part Blowback,it made me look at things in a different way.

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Shynney
Informative Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2014
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A VERY interesting and informative book covering subject which aren't usually talked about.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The third in a powerful series of astute analysis

5.0 out of 5 stars American Military arrogance equates with the Roman empire.

5.0 out of 5 stars Anti - Imperialist

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars A wake up call!

5.0 out of 5 stars On the brink of a military dictatorship

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

5.0 out of 5 stars chalmers johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative Book

The third in a powerful series of astute analysis

American Military arrogance equates with the Roman empire.

Anti - Imperialist

A wake up call!

On the brink of a military dictatorship

Five Stars

chalmers johnson

Informative Book