Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The West opposes independent nationalism globally, seeking to subordinate it regardless of the time or effort required.
In plain terms
Western powers will work to crush any nation that acts independently, whether quickly or over decades.
What can you take from it?
Understand that Western foreign policy often prioritizes control over national self-determination.

Where it applies

  • international relations
  • historical analysis
  • policy debate

Putting it to work

  • review foreign interventions
  • study geopolitical history
  • assess media narratives

Questions to consider

  • When is intervention justified?
  • How is independence defined?

Another view

Some Western actions may aim at stability rather than mere subordination.

More from Noam Chomsky

  1. States are violent institutions. The government of any country, including ours, represents some sort of domestic power structure, and it's usually violent. Sta…

    Permalink to quote #130
  2. If, say, you say that Iran is a terrorist state, you don't need evidence. If you say that the US is a terrorist state, you need plenty. Here, that is. In Iran …

    Permalink to quote #132
  3. ...roughly speaking, states are violent to the extent that they have the power to act in the interests of those with domestic power...

    Permalink to quote #129

Related quotes

  1. The battle will decide whether Germany is to live or die. Your soldiers must fight hard and ruthlessly. There must be no pity. The enemy must be beaten, now or…

    Wilhelm MohnkeWilhelm Mohnke quote #2
  2. Follow the road behind the Emperor. We must build the world for Japan's sake, heaven ordered Japan to achieve this great mission.

    Kingoro HashimotoKingoro Hashimoto quote #3
  3. Germany, which has lately united 80 million Germans, has submitted certain neighboring countries to her supremacy and gained military strength in many aspects,…

    Vyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav Molotov quote #9