Book Rec: Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer
Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer, a foreign correspondent and author, is a stunningly readable account of approximately 11 (or 12, depending on how you read the book) regime changes supported and/or orchestrated by the U.S. government in the past "long century". Ranging from the 1893 annexation of Hawai'i to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and featuring such notable names as Queen Liliuokalani, Sanford Dole, Sam "the Banana Man" Zemurry, Theodore Roosevelt, John Foster Dulles, Dwight Eisenhower, Mohammad Mossadegh, John and Robert Kennedy, Salvador Allende Gossens, John Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Manuel Noriega, Osama bin Laden, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, it seriously examines the motives of the people involved, their options, and the consequences of their decisions. The style is simple, moving easily from biographical sketches to accounts of major events to analysis.
Points of particular interest: the relation between "missionary Christianity," big business and government overthrow; the willful ignorance displayed by various administrations (most notably McKinley regarding the Phillipines, Kennedy regarding Vietnam, and Bush Jr. regarding the Middle East); and the repeated failure to remain on the ground to rebuild countries whose governments were overthrown by the U.S.
If you haven't already done so, read this book.
Points of particular interest: the relation between "missionary Christianity," big business and government overthrow; the willful ignorance displayed by various administrations (most notably McKinley regarding the Phillipines, Kennedy regarding Vietnam, and Bush Jr. regarding the Middle East); and the repeated failure to remain on the ground to rebuild countries whose governments were overthrown by the U.S.
If you haven't already done so, read this book.