Challenging Empire
People, Governments and the UN Defy U.S. Power
Phyllis Bennis

6" x 9" • 288 pages
ISBN 156656607X • paperback • $18.00 •

"Bennis is a first-class political surgeon...This book is a must reading for anyone who cares about international affairs and the relationship between ideals and the reality of power politics."
—Marcus Raskin on Calling the Shots

When millions around the world marched to protest the Iraq war and the U.S. drive towards empire, the New York Times dubbed global public opinion "the second super-power." What empowered those protests was their alliance -- if only for a brief moment -- with governments unexpectedly willing to stand up to U.S. pressure, and with the United Nations itself, when it followed its Charter's command to stop "the scourge of war." Bennis tracks the rise of U.S. unilateralism and the doctrine of preemptive war, looking particularly at Iraq and Israel/Palestine, and examines both the potential and the challenges ahead in reclaiming the UN as part of the global peace movement.


Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, and Director of its New Internationalism Program on UN and Middle East Affairs. Her books include Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today’s UN and Beyond the Storm: A Gulf Crisis Reader. Bennis’ work on the new Afghanistan crisis, on Israel/Palestine and US–Middle East policy, on Iraq sanctions, and on US–UN relations has been published in books, magazines, and newspapers across the US and around the world.

Olive Branch Press

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