The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project) 1st Edition

by CHALMERS JOHNSON (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0805077971

ISBN-10: 0805077979

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"Impressive . . . a powerful indictment of U.S. military and foreign policy."
-Los Angeles Times Book Review, front page

In the years after the Soviet Union imploded, the United States was described first as the globe's "lone superpower," then as a "reluctant sheriff," next as the "indispensable nation," and in the wake of 9/11, as a "New Rome." In this important national bestseller, Chalmers Johnson thoroughly explores the new militarism that is transforming America and compelling us to pick up the burden of empire.

Recalling the classic warnings against militarism-from George Washington's Farewell Address to Dwight Eisenhower's denunciation of the military-industrial complex-Johnson uncovers its roots deep in our past. Turning to the present, he maps America's expanding empire of military bases and the vast web of services that support them. He offers a vivid look at the new caste of professional militarists who have infiltrated multiple branches of government, who classify as "secret" everything they do, and for whom the manipulation of the military budget is of vital interest.

Among Johnson's provocative conclusions is that American militarism is already putting an end to the age of globalization and bankrupting the United States, even as it creates the conditions for a new century of virulent blowback. The Sorrows of Empire suggests that the former American republic has already crossed its Rubicon-with the Pentagon in the lead.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Chilling . . . a frightening picture . . . of the spread of American military and economic control over the world.” ―The New York Times Book Review

“Original and genuinely important . . . The role of the prophet is an honorable one. In Chalmers Johnson the American empire has found its Jeremiah. He deserves to be heard.” ―The Washington Post Book World

“Trenchantly argued, comprehensively documented, grimly eloquent . . . Worthy of the republic it seeks to defend.” ―The Boston Globe

About the Author

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times and The Nation. His previous books include the national bestseller Blowback, as well as MITI and the Japanese Miracle. He lives near San Diego.

Publisher : Metropolitan; 1st edition (January 6, 2005)
Language : English
Paperback : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 0805077979
Item Weight : 1.05 pounds
Dimensions : 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #535,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #454 in International Relations (Books)
- #515 in Political History (Books)
- #569 in Government

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Shelley Isom

At last, some truth

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2012

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Chalmers Johnson's book, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy and the End of the Republic, is like a breath of fresh air. The sound and tv communicators and print empires have so accustomed us to the distractions of noisy repetition and endless distraction with red herrings, that we no longer notice the huge gaps in logic that this barrage leaves behind as we look up and contemplate what is actually taking place in our country. What he has to say and the information he backs it up with is incontrovertible. There is really no peaceful justification for 700+ bases worldwide(expanding all the time), half the budget going to the military, the fact that the CIA's budget is secret, that our military is the largest in the world, and all under the rubric of "defense." We have rarely had to defend our shores and this has given us the impression that we are perfectly justified in sowing destruction and death on any country perceived as thwarting our imperial and commercial interests in any way. Tiny Cuba has been a burr under the saddle for many years because it stood up to us. The main problem with empire is that it is no longer a democracy or a republic since the two things are deeply and inarguably opposed. So now we get oxymorons like "preventive war" or the bullying insistence that dying on a foreign shore during an invasion is a patriotic act. Since the 9/11 destruction of the twin towers was a crime rather than an act of war (which needs a country to do the deed), we have turned this crime into our carte blanche attack on anyone and everyone. This book is a necessary corrective to all the big lies and omissions we are subject to on a daily basis.

6 people found this helpful

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Jim Wilder

America's Preeminence

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2006

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Sorrows of Empire a thought provoking book and a counterpoint to the Friedman's The World is Flat, and Barnett's The Pentagon's New Map (both excellent books also).

Johnson suggests that US militarism and imperialism (e.g. military bases

throughout the world) will lead to 4 sorrows:

1) perpetual war - leading to more terrorism against Americans wherever

they may be an a growing reliance on WMD among smaller nations as they try

to object to US imperialism

2) Loss of democracy and constitutional rights as the presidency

skirts Congress and as both are influenced by the Pentagon

3) Truthfulness will increasingly be replaced by a system of propaganda,

disinformation, and glorification of war, power, and the military.

4) Bankruptcy, as we pour our economic resources into every more grandiose

military projects and divert capital from the free market, and shortchange

education, health and safety.

Johnson states that American triumphalists, including Robert Gates, convinced the US public that the demise of the USSR was a great American victory, but the actual collapse of the USSR into the CIS was due to economics (Freidman and Barnett make that same point). The Pentagon, rather than restructuring and demobilizing after their major Cold War enemy folded, has looked for other areas to justify its budgets (e.g. B2 bomber, the Joint Strike Fighter, and nuclear programs). The Pentagon is now involved in the war on drugs, the war on terror, and overt and covert preventive interventions throughout the world. In a change that has nearly been unnoticed, US foreign policy has shifted from civilian control to military policy control, and now the US is acting as a law unto itself, withdrawing from treaties and disparaging international cooperation.

This book was published in 2004, well before the current situation due to the Iraqi war venture could have been predicted, and Johnson's predictions are prescient: he describes the worst case for Iraq as sectarian violence and civil strife.

Johnson makes the case that a revolution in US relations with the 'rest of the world' occurred between 1989 (the fall of the Berlin wall) and 2002. Foreign policy gave way to military expansionism: permanent bases and airfields, espionage listening posts, and strategic enclaves on every continent. This is militarism - because US national security does not depend on this expansion. He states the armed services have put their institutional preservation ahead of national security, and in the first chapter he draws historical parallels with the Roman empire, which fell to barbarians because it couldn't afford to sustain its far-flung outposts.

Johnson states the 4th Amendment should protect the US citizens' right to privacy and prevent unreasonable searches, but that is not the case. He argues the government has systematically been violating our privacy - and this was before the controversy of the Foreign Intel Surveillance Court broke in 2005, before Gen Hayden was appointed to the NSA.

Johnson quotes Jefferson, "that when the government fears the people, there is liberty; when the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

The SoE describes that militarism, going beyond what is needed for national security, damages globalism and international relationships by taking capital resources from the free market forces, reallocating money, talent, and resources to the military which is not responsive to real forces of supply and demand, and which is responsive to crony capitalism and false claims of effectiveness.

Some of Johnson's assertions bear further explanation: e.g. on pg. 287, he cites Immanuel Wallerstein's `world systems theory', but this concept is not described. On pg. 70, he asserts that "Most neocons have their roots on the left, not on the right." I would have liked further explanation of this. Johnson, like Chomsky, is very critical of both Democrats and Republicans - he is describing the systemic forces, larger than politics, that are shaping the future of the US. Certainly many of his assessments are opinions which are quite controversial, but these opinions deserve consideration.

24 people found this helpful

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Christopher R

Breaks through the deliberate obfuscation of our government and media.

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2008

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Most American should, by this point, be experiencing a great level of cognitive dissonance. As they read and watch the rhetoric sold to them by their government, and the equally complicitous corporate media, they should intuitively feel that reality is a far cry from what is being represented. In the last eight years especially, what we are being told is taking place is the exact opposite of what is really transpiring: protecting freedom by abolishing the 4th Amendment; war for peace; fighting for our way of life as a euphemism for fighting for private corporate interests; protecting free markets by providing corporate welfare and bailouts of corporate practitioners of maleficence; fighting for the human rights of our fellow man, but only those that reside over oil reserves. The list goes on ad nauseam.

What Chalmers Johnson does in The Sorrows of Empire is break through the disinformation campaign being perpetrated on the world and expose our practices for what they really are: maintenance and expansion of empire.

The word "empire" is taken by many as a pejorative, and they recoil from any serious consideration of the possibility that America may actually be one. When they think of an empire, they think about the Romans, Alexander, or Khan, and then they contrast their understanding of those ancient empires with their own contemporary lifestyle. They subsequently discount the notion that America has become an empire and continue to support the politicians who depend on their ignorance.

This book allows such a reader to see beyond the world he perceives through the blinders of corporate media obfuscation and government propaganda. It permits him to look beyond the smoke and mirrors and to see the world as it actually is.

From his recounting of the historical events that have brought us to empire, to his reporting of contemporary events that compel us to maintain empire, Chalmers Johnson is able to provide valuable insight to the American citizen who clings to the false notion that we remain the constitutional republic intended by our founders.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Roger

Extremely informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2013

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Superb book - everyone should read it ... or better yet ...."Némésis".
I couldn't get my head out of the damned book..... until Némésis arrived!

VERISIMUS

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2017

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fine

ConsciousnesS

Five Stars

Reviewed in India on July 17, 2018

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Excellent read...

Runeblade

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on October 15, 2014

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excellent book

Kassim Ebrahim

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on November 27, 2014

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I have not completely read the book, but what I have, has met my expectations already

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