The New Rulers of the World

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How the 'Great Game' is played, at home and abroad - Rated
John Pilger has been an investigative journalist for many decades. He is known as being impassioned; some might say emotionally manipulative. The way his books work - and this one is no exception - is that he describes an event, such as life in Iraq or Aboriginal Australia, he interviews people on the receiving end of Western policy and then he confronts the politicians with his evidence, culled from both first hand interviews and academic and/or independent research organisations.

The New Rulers of the World follows this pattern. The subject matter is nothing new but then again, the crimes described in it are old ones, given modern doctrinal disguises, such as cloaking imperialism in the language of 'humanitarian intervention'.

If you are already familiar with Pilger's work, then this is a fine addition to the canon. If you've never read any of his books then this would be an excellent starting position, covering as it does several faces of contemporary exploitation, including Indonesia, Australia (Pilger lives in London but is an Australian) and the Middle East.

John Pilger's analysis shares much in common with Noam Chomsky, who also locates anti-democratic policy making in entrenched structures of power within Western institutions. Consequently, his work is often dismissed (and often by people who won't read it), as shrill, blame-America-first, soft-on-terrorists, anti-Americanism. This ideological rhetoric would have been equally appropriate under Stalinist Russia, with outsiders being denounced as anti-Russian stooges of Western imperialism.

Unlike Chomsky, however, Pilger writes beautifully. Chomsky can often be quite dense to read, full of sarcasm, with lengthy, meandering sentences. Pilger's work is clear and concise, though equally fact-filled, yet the warmth of humanity of many he interviews shines through in his conversations. This might be a difference of style and not substance, it could be argued but the passion of Pilger's work is undeniable.

As with much that is deemed 'controversial' or 'dissident' and beyond the realms of polite expressible discourse, all that can be asked is that the book be read honestly and then to make up one's own mind.

solid book from Pilger - Rated
Constistent in quality by Pilger's standards.

A lone voice in the dark though...

Fearless outspoken worldclass investigative journalism - Rated
This was the first Pilger book I read. A friend gave me his copy who insisted I read it immediately. This was completely out of character for him and so I read it and haven't felt the same about the world since.
Pilger relentlessly fills the pages of this remarkable book with assertions that seem incredulous compared to our sanitised media coverage of the world. But what makes this undismissable is that he references almost every painful fact. Respectfully and uniquely treating his readership as peer reviewers of his work rather than accepting automatons.
Pilger's unveiling of some of the world's worst comtemporary injustices is a beacon of truth in the stormy world of political corruption, greed and mass manipulation. This sort of book takes both enormous effort as well as immense courage to publish and demands the attention of a far wider readership.
I have read most of the other reviews on this website and they all seem to have given this book the maximum 5 star rating. If you've come this far I respectively ask you how can you not read it now?

Torch-bearer for investigative journalism and human rights - Rated
One of the great tragedies of recent times is the death of quality journalism; so much of the press is given over to hype, scandal, trivia, or spin, so much of the press is owned and controlled by so few politically powerful magnates, there appears little room for investigative reporting or thorough analysis. There are a few, inspiring exceptions.

John Pilger has an incisive writing style, a sharp focus, and apparently endless energy. For years, now, he has been castigating our political and economic masters, exposing the abuses of power and uses of corruption which dominate international relations and internal politics. In his "New Rulers", Pilger shines his investigative light into areas the press is usually happy to abandon to darkness.

It's a well judged package - looking at the plight of the indigenous population in Australia, at ethnic conflict in East Timor, at Turkish abuses of Kurds, at Western abuses of Iraq and Afghanistan, and at the tensions of the Middle East. It's a world in which globalisation is not just a word, it's a world where globalisation means manipulation of silence - thousands of people will die today, tomorrow, and the next day because it is to the advantage of the West and the political status quo.

This is a timeless enquiry. The abuses Pilger exposes have not gone away. They will not go away until investigative journalism, or crusading journalism of Pilger's quality becomes the yardstick by which we judge our newspapers, magazines, television and radio coverage. Implicit in Pilger's analysis is the recognition that we, each of us, have to get up and make our voices heard. We have to demand greater press freedom, we have to demand better standards, and we have to take to the streets and ballot boxes and protest ... until people like Blair and Bush are forced to take note and not simply try to explain away the suffering of the world as a necessary toll in their war against 'terrorism'.

Keep Doing What You Do Mr Pilger - Rated
I'm reader with a similar background to John Pilger, in that I was raised in a small industrial town in Australia (I've been to Kurri Kurri from where John Pilger hails) and I moved to the UK where I have lived for over a decade. As a result, I find much in Pilger's work that resonates.

The chilling thing about the book is that, having read it when it was first published and having re-read it just the other day, I find that much of what John predicted in 2002 is undeniable fact today. That means the research was impeccable, as was the analysis.

If you are new to John Pilger's work, read everything of his that you can find. I have made a habit of clipping newspaper articles he has written and stashing them away in the back of his books. They form a solid analysis as a collection.

This book is a sourcebook of truth. Read it. Re-read it. Follow up the references. You will never see the world in quite the same light ever again. That's a good thing.