Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic

Front Cover
Macmillan, 2006 - 354 pages
The long-awaited final volume of Chalmers Johnson's bestselling
Blowback trilogy confronts the overreaching of the American empire and the threat it poses to the republic

In his prophetic book Blowback, Chalmers Johnson linked the CIA's clandestine activities abroad to disaster at home. In The Sorrows of Empire, he explored the ways in which the growth of American militarism and the garrisoning of the planet have jeopardized our stability. Now, in Nemesis, he shows how imperial overstretch is undermining the republic itself, both economically and politically.
Delving into new areas--from plans to militarize outer space to Constitution-breaking presidential activities at home and the devastating corruption of a toothless Congress--Nemesis offers a striking description of the trap into which the dreams of America's leaders have taken us. Drawing comparisons to empires past, Johnson explores in vivid detail just what the unintended consequences of our dependence on a permanent war economy are likely to be. What does it mean when a nation's main intelligence organization becomes the president's secret army? Or when the globe's sole "hyperpower," no longer capable of paying for the vaulting ambitions of its leaders, becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all times?
In his stunning conclusion, Johnson suggests that financial bankruptcy could herald the breakdown of constitutional government in America--a crisis that may ultimately prove to be the only path to a renewed nation.

From inside the book

Contents

The Blowback Trilogy
1
Rome Britain
54
The Presidents
90
U S Military Bases in Other Peoples Countries
137
The Ultimate Imperialist Project
208
The Crisis of the American Republic
243
Notes
281
Acknowledgments
332
Copyright

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About the author (2006)

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is the author of the bestselling "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire." A frequent contributor to the "Los Angeles Times," the "London Review of Books," and "The Nation," he appeared in the 2005 prizewinning documentary film Why We Fight. He lives near San Diego.

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