The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism,
Secrecy, and the End of the Republic
(The American Empire Project) by
Chalmers Johnson
Breaks Through The Deliberate Obfuscation Of Our Government And Media.
Since September 2001, the United States has undergone a transformation
from republic to empire that may well prove irreversible, writes Chalmers
Johnson. Unlike past global powers, however, America has built an empire
of bases rather than colonies, creating in the process a government that is
obsessed with maintaining absolute military dominance over the world,
Johnson claims. The Department of Defense currently lists 725 official U.S.
military bases outside of the country and 969 within the 50 states (not to
mention numerous secret bases). According to the author, these bases are
proof that the United States prefers to deal with other nations through the
use or threat of force rather than negotiations, commerce, or cultural
interaction. This rise of American militarism, along with the corresponding

layers of bureaucracy and secrecy that are created to circumvent scrutiny,
signals a shift in power from the populace to the Pentagon: A revolution
would be required to bring the Pentagon back under democratic control, he
writes. In Sorrows of Empire, Johnson discusses the roots of American
militarism, the rise and extent of the military-industrial complex, and the
close ties between arms industry executives and high-level politicians. He
also looks closely at how the military has extended the boundaries of what
constitutes national security in order to centralize intelligence agencies
under their control and how statesmen have been replaced by career
soldiers on the front lines of foreign policy--a shift that naturally increases
the frequency with which we go to war. Though his conclusions are sure
to be controversial, Johnson is a skilled and experienced historian who
backs up his claims with copious research and persuasive arguments. His
important book adds much to a debate about the realities and direction of
U.S. influence in the world. --Shawn Carkonen
Personal Review: The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy,
and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project) by
Chalmers Johnson
Most American should, by this point, be experiencing a great level of
cognitive dissonance. As they read and watch the rhetoric sold to them by
their government, and the equally complicitous corporate media, they
should intuitively feel that reality is a far cry from what is being
represented. In the last eight years especially, what we are being told is
taking place is the exact opposite of what is really transpiring: protecting
freedom by abolishing the 4th Amendment; war for peace; fighting for our
way of life as a euphemism for fighting for private corporate interests;
protecting free markets by providing corporate welfare and bailouts of
corporate practitioners of maleficence; fighting for the human rights of our
fellow man, but only those that reside over oil reserves. The list goes on ad
nauseam.
What Chalmers Johnson does in The Sorrows of Empire is break through
the disinformation campaign being perpetrated on the world and expose
our practices for what they really are: maintenance and expansion of
empire.
The word "empire" is taken by many as a pejorative, and they recoil from
any serious consideration of the possibility that America may actually be
one. When they think of an empire, they think about the Romans,
Alexander, or Khan, and then they contrast their understanding of those
ancient empires with their own contemporary lifestyle. They subsequently
discount the notion that America has become an empire and continue to
support the politicians who depend on their ignorance.
This book allows such a reader to see beyond the world he perceives
through the blinders of corporate media obfuscation and government
propaganda. It permits him to look beyond the smoke and mirrors and to
see the world as it actually is.

From his recounting of the historical events that have brought us to empire,
to his reporting of contemporary events that compel us to maintain empire,
Chalmers Johnson is able to provide valuable insight to the American
citizen who clings to the false notion that we remain the constitutional
republic intended by our founders.
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