Turning the Tide: US Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace

Summary

Noam Chomsky addresses relations throughout Central America and relates these to superpower conflicts and the overall impact of the Cold War on international relations.

Turning the Tide succinctly and powerfully addresses three interrelated questions:

• What is the aim and impact of the US Central American policy?
• What factors in US society support and oppose current policy?
• And how can concerned citizens affect future policy?

Turning the Tide shows how US Central American policies implement broader US economic, military, and social aims even while describing their impact on the lives of people in Central America. A particularly revealing focus of Chomsky’s argument is the world of US academia and media, which Chomsky analyzes in detail to explain why the US public is so misinformed about our government’s policies.

Whether the US initiates a major invasion in Central America or instead continues to support reaction through the region by economic pressure, CIA intervention, and proxy military activity, many US citizens will want to argue for a more humane policy. Chomsky provides the most compelling available analyses of what is going on, why, and what concerned citizens can do about it.