Killing Hope

''Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions since World War II'' by William Blum is a history book on CIA covert operations and United States military interventions during the second half of the 20th century. The book, published in 1995 by Common Courage Press, takes a strongly critical view of American foreign policy. It is an updated and revised version of one of Blum's previous works, ''The CIA – A Forgotten History'' (1986).

The book covers various US foreign policy ventures from just after World War II onward. Its basic premise is that the American Cold War-era activities abroad were done with imperialist motives.

Critical reception

Noam Chomsky called the book "far and away the best book on the topic." John Stockwell described it as " e single most useful summary of CIA history", Ramsey Clark said it was a "valuable contribution", and ''International Securitys Teresa Pelton Johnson wrote: "Blum has performed a very important service in collecting this information in one place, and the documentation is praiseworthy."

Ted Dace said ''Killing Hope'' is " good, long look in the mirror".

Reviewing the earlier version of the book, ''Choices R. H. Immerman wrote: "By falling prey to the same Manichean absolutism that has hamstrung US global policies, Blum has compromised the credibility of his work. He has nevertheless produced a valuable reference for anyone interested in the conduct of US foreign policy."

In the '' LSE Review of Books'', LSE doctoral researcher Julia Muravska unfavorably compared ''Killing Hope'' with the work of academic historians such as William Keylor, stating that Blum's criticism of the U.S. occurs in an historical vacuum without any consideration for Soviet actions that "would have also helped the reader understand what drove the US foreign policy decisions that today's citizens find so morally repugnant." She said that much of the book is "heavily and meticulously footnoted," said the 2014 edition's "The American Empire Post-Cold War" chapter has "unsubstantiated claims" and shallow analysis, saying that "Blum relies on ... '' RT'' to make his case" regarding the post-2014 Russo-Ukrainian War.

Editions

First published in 1995,About William Blum
williamblum.org. Retrieved 24 December 2018. it has since been updated several times by the author.

* 1998 revised edition (Black Rose Books)
* 2003 revised edition (Common Courage Press)
* 2004 Updated Edition (Common Courage Press)
* 2014 Updated Edition ( Zed Books)

See also

* Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
* Timeline of United States military operations
* United States involvement in regime change

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

''Killing Hope''
at williamblum.org (contains online chapters)

''The CIA: A Forgotten History''
is an early version of ''Killing Hope''
Killing Hope
– at killinghope.org (archive copy)
*
Killing Hope
' PDF ( archive.org)

1995 non-fiction books
Non-fiction books about the Central Intelligence Agency
Books about the Cold War
Books critical of capitalism
Common Courage Press books