In Middle East Illusions, Noam Chomsky unites previous and new material to construct a review of contemporary global politics that simultaneously impels the reader to heed the lessons to be learned from the past and to assess the present from a perspective free of political rhetoric and media representation.

With harsh reality as the core theme, Chomsky launches attacks on a range of subjects: from an analysis of the Zionist movement and United States presence in the Middle East, to a scathing, yet vaguely amusing, foray into the territory of his critics, whose analyses he brands as ‘amateur psychoanalysis of the Lipset variety’ and ‘out of hand as part of Alsopian fable.’

From the outset, resources – particularly oil - are established as the primary interests of the Western powers in the region.

While not an entirely unacknowledged point, the manner in which Chomsky presents his argument is an encouraging indicator of how the subsequent chapters will develop: each line of reasoning is ably supported by quotations and points of reference, lending even the most implausible and shocking of points credibility.

Nevertheless, the power of opinion cannot be underestimated and the absence of a balanced argument ultimately determines whether Middle East Illusions provides a persuasive and moralistic wake-up call to the abuse of human rights, or an idealistic voice that chimes in with a choir out of synch with the security and economic needs of a rapidly evolving world.

Divided into three parts, totalling ten papers of varying lengths, the first five chapters were initially published in 1974, having been composed during the critical period spanning the Six-Day and 1973 wars.

The two events have remained definitive and dominant factors of the course of events in the Middle East today, and the book’s structure provides a comprehensive guide through the history of the conflict, the main actors and their ideologies, accompanied throughout by the analytical and sage narrative of Chomsky. The combination of these factors works to make the publication highly accessible as both an introduction to the status quo and as a point of reference.

Recurrent throughout the book is the disappointing reality that regardless of international legislations, declarations and protocols, monopoly will prevail and sides will be chosen; in the process double standards continue to emerge and the notion of ‘them’ and ‘us’ is perpetuated in the name of peace, resources, and security.

Chomsky successfully demonstrates that the reality of sides being chosen is not only an anticipated aspect of human nature, but that the victims of the atrocities are valued differently is particularly saddening.

Citing Operation Just Cause as an example, the largest single contingency operation since World War II resulted in ‘the deaths of perhaps thousands of poor people (Western crimes, therefore unexamined) when George Bush I bombed the barrio Chorillo in December 1989…to kidnap a disobedient thug who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Florida for crimes mostly committed while he was on the CIA payroll.'       

It is difficult to disagree with the points raised throughout the collection of papers: Chomsky’s urgent request for enhanced awareness of the situation rings necessary, yet his own evidence leaves this, to a degree, a diminished plea.

Recent history has proven that superpowers will triumph, atrocities will continue and regrettably, some of the greatest injustices being perpetrated will not reach the sizeable audience required for changes to occur.

Despite this, it remains a significant and enlightening humanistic contribution to the debate on the Middle East conflict, and war in general.

Middle East Illusions: Including Peace in the Middle East? Reflections on Justice and Nationhood is published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 320 pages, 2004. ISBN: 0742533093.

[Image via: Rusty Stewart]