Synopses & Reviews
A war that has killed more than a million Iraqis was a “humanitarian intervention”, the US army is a force for liberation, and the main threat to world peace is posed by Islam. These are the arguments of a host of liberal commentators, including such notable names as Christopher Hitchens, Kanan Makiya, Michael Ignatieff, Paul Berman, and Bernard-Henri Lévy.
In this critical intervention, Richard Seymour unearths the history of liberal justifications for empire, showing how savage policies of conquest—including genocide and slavery—have been retailed as charitable missions. From the Cold War to the War on Terror, Seymour argues that colonialist notions of “civilization” and “progress” still shape liberal pro-war discourse, concealing the same bloody realities.
In a new afterword, Seymour revisits the debates on liberal imperialism in the era of Obama and in the light of the Afghan and Iraqi debacles.
Review
"Among those who share responsibility for the carnage and chaos in the Gulfare the useful idiots who gave the war intellectual cover and attempted to lend it a liberal imprimatur ... Richard Seymour expertly traces their descent from humanitarian intervention to blatant Islamophobia." Gary Younge
Review
"A powerful critique of 'humanitarian intervention' and of those liberal intellectuals who support it." Guardian
Review
"A great deal of damning material on the apologists of recent illegalities." Philippe Sands
Review
"A powerful counterblast against the monstrous regiment of 'useful idiots'." Independent on Sunday
Review
"Indispensable ... Seymour brilliantly uncovers the pre-history and modern reality of the so-called 'pro-war Left'." The Times of London
Review
"Delves into areas that are usually politely ignored, carefully uncovering liberalism and reformism's own shameful record of collaboration with mass murder ... essential reading." China Miéville
Synopsis
An updated account of how liberal calls for humanitarian intervention is imperial war by another name.
Synopsis
In this critical intervention against those liberal commentators who fervently beat the war drums--from Christopher Hitchens to Bernard-Henri Lévy--Richard Seymour unearths the history of liberal justifications for empire. He shows how savage policies of conquest--including genocide and slavery--have been retailed as charitable missions and argues that the colonial tropes of "civilization" and "progress" still shape liberal pro-war discourse, and still conceal the same bloody realities. A new afterword assesses interventionism after the election of Obama, with the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan and NATO's Libyan venture.
About the Author
Richard Seymour lives, works and writes in London. He is the editor Lenin's Tomb, one of UK's most popular political blogs, which comments on the War on Terror, Islamophobia and neoliberalism and is the author of The Meaning of David Cameron and American Insurgents: A Brief History of American Anti-Imperialism.