Speaking Freely, Volume 4: Chalmers Johnson

The fourth entry in the Speaking Freely series—devoted to “political, economic, and social discourse, in which free thinkers speak their expert minds”—features an hour-shy informal monologue by Dr. Chalmers Johnson, Professor Emeritus of the University of California at San Diego and the author of a nonfiction trilogy (Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis), about what he calls the American Empire: its negative effects on both the U.S. and the world at large, and its inevitable decline and fall. Though Johnson served as a consultant to the CIA between 1968 and 1972, his studies of the post-Soviet world have convinced him that contemporary American foreign policy since World War II has lacked wisdom, with its emphasis on military and financial power as a means of enforcing a de facto global hegemony. Johnson believes that this effort—for which he holds both political parties culpable—has increased worldwide hostility towards the U.S., undermined some of our fundamental values, and created a serious threat to the domestic economy. The articulate and soft-spoken Johnson—casually dressed, seated on a couch in what appears to be his study—presents an impressive amount of data to buttress his argument, and even if one isn't entirely persuaded, there's no question that Johnson makes a powerful case for his provocative viewpoint. Sure to arouse debate, this is definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)