Editing Noam Chomsky (section)

===United States foreign policy===
[[File:Noam Chomsky WSF - 2003.jpg|thumb|Chomsky at the 2003 [[World Social Forum]], a convention for counter-hegemonic globalization, in [[Porto Alegre]]]]
Chomsky has been a prominent critic of "[[American imperialism]]",{{sfn|Milne|2009}} but is not a pacifist, believing [[World War II]] was justified as America's last defensive war.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Atkins |first1=Stephen E. |title=The 9/11 Encyclopedia |date=June 2, 2011 |language=en |isbn=978-1-59884-922-6 |edition=2nd |publisher=ABC-CLIO |chapter=Chomsky, Noam |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=c06pxjS6z3AC&pg=PA108 108] }}</ref> He believes that [[foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]]'s basic principle is the establishment of "open societies" that are economically and politically controlled by the U.S. and where U.S.-based businesses can prosper.{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=92}} He argues that the U.S. seeks to suppress any movements within these countries that are not compliant with U.S. interests and to ensure that U.S.-friendly governments are placed in power.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=159}} When discussing current events, he emphasizes their place within a wider historical perspective.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=160}} He believes that official, sanctioned historical accounts of U.S. and British extraterritorial operations have consistently whitewashed these nations' actions in order to present them as having benevolent motives in either spreading democracy or, in older instances, spreading Christianity; by criticizing these accounts, he seeks to correct them.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=13}} Prominent examples he regularly cites are the actions of the British Empire in India and Africa and U.S. actions in Vietnam, the Philippines, Latin America, and the Middle East.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=13}}

Chomsky's political work has centered heavily on criticizing the actions of the United States.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=160}} He has said he focuses on the U.S. because the country has militarily and economically dominated the world during his lifetime and because its [[liberal democracy|liberal democratic]] electoral system allows the citizenry to influence government policy.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=14, 160}} His hope is that, by spreading awareness of the impact U.S. foreign policies have on the populations affected by them, he can sway the populations of the U.S. and other countries into opposing the policies.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=13}} He urges people to criticize their governments' motivations, decisions, and actions, to accept responsibility for their own thoughts and actions, and to apply the same standards to others as to themselves.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=18}}

Chomsky has been critical of U.S. involvement in the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], arguing that it has consistently blocked a peaceful settlement.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=159}} He also criticizes the U.S.'s close ties with Saudi Arabia and involvement in [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]], highlighting that Saudi Arabia has "one of the most grotesque human rights records in the world".{{sfn|''Democracy Now!''|2016}}

Chomsky called the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine]] a criminal act of aggression and noted that [[War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia was committing major war crimes]] in the country. He considered support for Ukraine's self-defense legitimate and said Ukraine should be given enough military aid to defend itself, but not enough to cause "an escalation".<ref name=scahill>{{cite news |date=April 14, 2022 |title=Noam Chomsky and Jeremy Scahill on the Russia-Ukraine War, the Media, Propaganda, and Accountability |work=The Intercept |url=https://theintercept.com/2022/04/14/russia-ukraine-noam-chomsky-jeremy-scahill/ |access-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604093657/https://theintercept.com/2022/04/14/russia-ukraine-noam-chomsky-jeremy-scahill/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His criticism of the war focused on the United States.<ref name=scahill/> He alleged that the U.S. rejected any compromise with Russia and that this might have provoked the invasion.<ref name=scahill/> According to Chomsky, the U.S. was arming Ukraine only to weaken Russia, and Ukrainian requests for heavy weaponry were untrue "Western propaganda", despite Ukraine's President [[Volodymyr Zelenskyy]] repeatedly asking for them.<ref>{{cite news |title=Noam Chomsky Says Ukraine Desire for Heavy Weapons Is 'Western Propaganda' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/noam-chomsky-says-ukraine-desire-heavy-weapons-western-propaganda-1706473 |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=May 13, 2022}}</ref> More than a year into the invasion, Chomsky argued that Russia was waging the war "more humanely" than the U.S. did the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vock |first1=Ido |title=Noam Chomsky: Russia is fighting more humanely than the US did in Iraq |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-interview/2023/04/noam-chomsky-interview-ukraine-free-actor-united-states-determines |website=[[The New Statesman]] |date=April 29, 2023 |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=June 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610182617/https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-interview/2023/04/noam-chomsky-interview-ukraine-free-actor-united-states-determines |url-status=live }}</ref>