Woof a super heavy book (naturally) but really informative ( )

Great informational text about the United States history of imperialism beginning with Hawaii and ending with Iraq and "Operation Enduring Freedom." Each chapter is it's own "intervention" ranging from 5-18 pages. Kinzer highlights the rise of the CIA after WWII and its influence specifically in Latin America during the Cold War years. ( )

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer is exactly what its title suggests - a historical account of every time since the 19th century that the United States has intervened overtly or covertly to depose a regime perceived as unfriendly to US interests. I normally love Kinzer's books - he wrote the excellent All the Shah's Men, about an American-backed coup against a democratically elected Iranian leader in 1953 - but this one was tough going for me, perhaps because it was so long and so wide-ranging that I started to feel numb after a while. I confess that I skimmed the chapters on the most recent American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan because I have recently read so many books and articles about these topics & Kinzer did not appear to bring anything new to my understanding of these two conflicts.

Kinzer assesses that both political/ideological and economic reasons have motivated nearly every American attempt at regime change and his exploration of the role of corporations in shaping 19th and early 20th century American foreign policy in Latin America was particularly new and interesting for me.

His assertion that all states pursue their interests in foreign policy but that only the United States sees and describes its interventions as motivated by charitable ideals seemed somewhat of a stretch for me. Didn't European colonial powers claim that they were at least in part on a civilizing mission? All in all, however, a good read, but one that I am glad to finally be done with. ( )

A chronology highlighting some of the darker elements of US imperialism for the past 100 years, including details of all the blood it's spilled around the globe. No matter where or who or what, if the hungry America-beast wants something, it will by any means necessary go and take what it wants with impunity.

All the examples in this book illustrate the intense and deceptive PR campaigns perpetrated by each of the various administrations. And at the core of most of these overthrows sits industry, contributing cash to our elected officials election campaigns so each government currently in power will "send in the tanks" when the locals in a country have the audacity to want to control their own country's resources and not allow foreigners (Americans) to send their country's capital outside their borders leaving nothing behind but poverty.

It also highlights the fact that propaganda works and works well. Jingoism and overly simplistic (and often misnamed) labels sit at the center of all these campaigns and any major media outlet is only too happy to accommodate with support (publishing word for word what government tells them) and quashing any dissenting opinions.

This book is a good read; I went with the audio version and felt the narrator wasn't the most charismatic voice they could have selected, but still did enjoy the book. I've got another one of Kinzer's books I'm now looking forward to reading (which says something). Read this book and share it with everyone you know. ( )

A brisk and interesting chronicle of fourteen instances of U.S. intervention to promote
"regime change" -- the ouster of an existing government in favor of one that the U.S. preferred. Well-written and interesting, though it would be nice if he ventured further into the broader implications of U.S. interventionism. ( )