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172 of 185 found the following review helpful:
the horrible consequences of empire for AsiaMay 05, 2003
By razetheladder
"razetheladder"
I'm of two minds about Chalmers Johnson's Blowback. On the one hand, it's probably the best critical introduction to US foreign policy in Asia. On the other hand, Johnson too often chooses polemics over nuance and has a somewhat confused approach to imperialism and what to do about it.The first thing to know is that both the title and subtitle are misleading. This is a book almost exclusively about US imperialism in East and Southeast Asia. It rarely explores other regions or what's usually termed blowback. What Johnson does do is much more valuable - he explains America's military and economic policies toward Asia without getting stuck in the stultifying prose of security experts or the bewildering technical jargon of economists. It's not a pretty picture. We see the destructive legacy of American bases in Okinawa and elsewhere, the US complicity in the South Korean military's atrocities on Cheju (after World War II) and Kwangju (1980), the US arming and training of Indonesia's death squad military, the relentless push for a militarized Asia by the American military-industrial complex, and the horrible consequences of American economic priorities. We also learn a good deal about the recent history and politics of the region's major states. Johnson's strength is in recounting the specificities of US foreign policy; he's much weaker at an overall understanding of imperialism. He seems to think that American policymakers have naively built up the economic strength of their Japanese, Korean, and now Chinese competitors by focusing on maintaining their own military power. This is an old critique, resting on the notion that imperialism hurts the imperialists. But Johnson is relying on the idea that "America" is a unitary entity, so that the hollowing out of industry hurts "America", not specific social groups within the country. In reality, US foreign policymakers work to advance the interests not of "America", but of those same business elites that have benefited from turning Asia into the world's sweatshop and undermining the unions that built their strength on American industry. American economic imperialism is not a failed conspiracy against the people of Asia, but an alliance between American elites and their Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, and Chinese counterparts - against the potential power of the working majority in all those countries. But it's more complex than that, too, since the US seeks to prevent the emergence of an independent military challenge (especially China, but also Japan) to its Asia hegemony while seeking to expand the power of American commercial interests in the region, even as it tries to keep Asian elites happy enough with the status quo to prevent their rebellion against it. In other words, the US system in Asia is more complicated than Johnson conveys, and defending America's mythical "national interests" will never address its fundamental injustices. While Johnson seems to have abundant sympathy for the people of Asia, his nationalist framework prevents his from proposing the only real challenge to American hegemony: a popular anti-imperialist movement that crosses the barriers of nation-states.
57 of 62 found the following review helpful:
 Realistic: Why countries hate us, what we need to changeNov 16, 2001
By C. Colt
"It Just Doesn't Matter"
"Blowback" is an important and timely critique of America's over-extended and obsolete empire not from a moral perspective but from practical considerations of the nation's future well being. The term "blowback" is derived from a CIA reference to American foreign policy decisions that generate unforeseeable, negative consequences. For example, following the Gulf War in 1991, the United States stationed more than 35,000 soldiers in Saudi Arabia to deter any further hostility from Iraq. An unexpected consequence of this decision was the sudden fomenting of intense hatred toward America on the part of radical Islamic fundamentalists including Osama Bin Laden. Johnson argues that while most great powers exploit their empires, America, is actually exploited by its own. During the Cold War the United States justifiably sought to create a buffer of Pacific satellite nations to cope with the threat of Soviet expansion in Asia. While this may have been an effective deterrent, it also came with a price. According to Johnson, the United States effectively bribed Japan with favorable economic conditions that fueled phenomenal growth in that country while largely destroying the manufacturing base in America. Although this may have been a prudent strategy during the Cold War, Johnson asks why the United States continues to sacrifice its productivity and living conditions at home in order to maintain a troop presence in Asia. Where American troops were once stationed abroad as a buffer against Soviet expansion, they are now used to influence the countries they occupy or to train governments in counter insurgency and political repression. Johnson points out that in several cases American intervention on behalf of a repressive government merely turned American protectorates into implacable enemies. Johnson sites Vietnam and Iran as two examples of this failed strategy, and he warns of impending identical results in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. The tragedy of America's misguided foreign policy, according to Johnson is that while it drains enormous resources from America, it fails to provide the nation with beneficial results. Instead of continuing its obsolete Cold War strategy, Johnson calls on the United States to reevaluate its strategic requirements and to formulate a new foreign policy. An honest evaluation of American objectives according to Johnson would probably result in the recall of most American troops stationed abroad. Johnson foresees enormous resistance to such change from the military, which is the chief beneficiary of America's global military deployment. Johnson also argues that America is much better off accepting and working with China's inevitable economic surge and its increasing political status than attempting to contain the inevitable. To anyone who is wondering why citizens of many foreign countries hate the United States, this book is a must read. In case after case, Johnson demonstrates the negative impact of American military bases on local communities such as Okinawa and parts of the Philippines where, rape, crime, noise, disease, and environmental contamination are routine byproducts of American military presence. Add to this American complicity in atrocities such as the Kwangju massacre (South Korea 1980) or the inept reorganization of foreign economies by American controlled institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank and foreign hostility toward the United States ceases to be a mystery. Written prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, this book accurately predicts increasing blowback against the United States both at home and abroad in response to its late 20th Century foreign policy. The American challenge in the 21st Century according to Johnson involves dismantling the American empire and coping with blowback. This book is also a must read for self-styled Machiavellians, or believers in Real Politic. Johnson effectively argues that blowback is not a unique American phenomenon but is the product of expansionist nations in general. To this day, for example, Japan must tread carefully in its political dealings with nations such as South Korea and China that retain bitter memories of Japanese conduct prior to the end of the Second World War. To argue that American imperialism in its current form is realistic and necessary is to ignore historical examples that demonstrate the failure of empires that displayed similar arrogance, aggression, and a distinct inability to comprehend the perspective of their protectorates.
73 of 83 found the following review helpful:
Clear and to the pointMay 06, 2000
By Dennis E. Wright
Chalmers Johnson in this book is informative, factual and unbiased as he recounts our american approach to dealing with the post W.W.II situation and the Cold War. We as Americans would do well to reflect upon the validity of continuing to interact with our neighbors, friends and allies in this manner in the future. Having spent 30 years overseas in the places he describes, Viet Nam (68-71, Okinawa (71, 86 to 90), Japan, Saudi Arabia (Gulf War), Iran (during the Sha), Indonesia (in 97), Malaysia (98-99), Singapore (97-99) as both an instrument of U.S. policy (USMC) and a businessman I concur with his view of the situation. This book should be required reading for all federal government officials (elected or appointed) and all state department personnel. Chalmers Johnson in this book is a candle raging against the darkness.
23 of 25 found the following review helpful:
Stealth imperialismJan 11, 2006
By Luc REYNAERT
In this hard-hitting analysis, Chalmers Johnson explains the goals and the hidden (from its inhabitants) functioning of the US hegemon: an empire based on military power and the use of US capital and markets to force global economic integration on US terms at whatever costs to others.
On the military front, the US population forgot G. Washington's warning: `avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty.'
The US intelligence and military establishment is close to being beyond civilian control and becoming an autonomous system, whose colossal budget with its juicy cost-plus contracts is only controlled by vested ideological and financial interests. This book shows clearly that US presidents, like Carter or Clinton, had not the power to oppose the Pentagon's designs: perpetuate and develop the Cold War structures in order to consolidate its power. The ends justify all means as numerous intelligence or military interventions in the world show, which sponsored dictatorships, genocidal campaigns, war crimes, state terrorism and paramilitary death-squads. 90 % of all US weapons were sold, not to democracies, but to human right abusers.
On the economic front, globalization US style provoked economic disasters in South-Asia and South-America, throwing millions of people into poverty. However the US still urged its `allies' to buy weapons! This kind of globalization, which provoked still more economic inequality, will not be forgotten for a long time (see W. Bello: Dilemmas of Domination.).
By overstretching its financial means (weapon systems are profligate economic waste), the US risks a long lasting downfall of the dollar.
The US and its population need an industrial not a military or intelligence policy, because a new rival hegemon points at the horizon: China, which will be the superpower of the 21st century. China will not be contained. The US will have to adjust to it.
In a world of hypocritical and gagged media, Chalmers Johnson's much needed voice proposes human solutions for the world's problems: `bring most overseas land-based forces home and reorient foreign policy to stress leadership through example, economic aid, international law, multilateral institutions and diplomacy, instead of military intervention, economic bullying or financial manipulation.'
With its surprising comparisons, Chalmers Johnson sent a solid warning to the actual US establishment. A nation reaps what its sows. The blowback could be horrendous.
This book is a must read.
39 of 45 found the following review helpful:
Well versed, well written, and an important warningMay 13, 2000
By Andrew Fair
Although some of the reviewers of this book believe that Johnson has stepped beyond his realm of knowledge, as someone who has researched these issues in depth, I can say with certainty that he has not This book has placed forward a very important thesis on the current state of American affairs, and a rather accurate one. Cruise Missile foreign policy and economic brinksmanship have certainly dominated U.S. policy in this decade, and it is a very dangerous game to play. If anyone doubts Mr. Johnson's theory, then they should perhaps take a closer look at the countries and situations he had included into his writing, from China and Japan, which he knows intimately, to the politics and policies of the end of the Cold War. Johnson is not an isolationist, and neither am I, but the fact remains that America is in a new stage of psuedo-imperialism, only without even the containment justifications of the Cold War. You need only to look at Iraq and the Balkans to see the truth. That, and the economic information that the author provides is excellent. In the end, I do not agree with all of Johnson's statements, such as the brief analysis of Pentagon spending (his statement concerning the F-15 fighter being unmatched is flawed, consideringt he proliferation of agile Su-27/33 fighter in China). However, his thesis holds up, and his opinions are fundamentally sound. Not a single statement is made that cannot be backed up with hard evidence and plain old history.
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