by NOAM CHOMSKY
John Gray (Delusions of grandeur, Review, 11 February) writes that “it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that, for Chomsky, America is virtually the sole obstacle to peace in the world”. This and other furious charges (eg that I think the US is uniquely evil, can solve every problem in the world, etc) is based entirely on the fact that the collection of op-eds that he reviews (Making the Future) focuses on US and British policies and commentary, a natural and entirely appropriate concern. The stunning irrationality of his inferences renders comment superfluous.
Gray fulminates that I do not bring up “intractable conflicts” such as Iran-Saudi Arabia. Actually I do, repeatedly. Thus I discuss the standard interpretation that Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are calling on the US for defence against Iran, noting that it keeps strictly to the alleged views of the ruling dictators, ignoring the US-run polls that reveal that by overwhelming margins, the public regard the US and Israel as the serious threats, with Iran barely listed. Opposition to US policies is so strong that a large majority feel that the region would be more secure if Iran had nuclear weapons. It is instructive that Gray cannot even perceive the deep contempt for democracy revealed by these practices.
Gray cites only one of the 29 op-eds, which deals with the fashionable topic of “America’s decline”. But he dismisses this refutation of his major thesis because it “turns out to be largely about the role of money in shaping legislation in Congress, … hardly news”. Towards the end, there are indeed a few sentences about this topic, citing Thomas Ferguson’s discussion in the Financial Times of how congressional practices have so radically changed that those who most fund the party get the posts of influence – surely news.