About the Book
Atrocity fabrication - the invention and reporting of atrocities committed by an adversary without knowledge that they ever occurred - has a centuries-long history at the heart of propaganda and power politics as an effective means of moving public and international opinion. Its use can provide pretext for a range of hostile measures against its targets, transforming in the public eye wars of unprovoked aggression into wars of liberation of the oppressed, or turning blockades to starve enemy civilians into humane efforts to pressure abusive governments under the moralistic label of sanctions. As it plays a large and growing role in global conflict in the 21st century understanding atrocity fabrication and the consistent means by and ends to which it has been used has become crucial to comprehending geopolitical events in the present day.
This book elucidates the seldom explored but central role played by atrocity fabrication in eleven major conflicts from the 1950s to the present day: from Korea, Vietnam and Cuba during the Cold War to Iraq, Libya and the emerging Sino-U.S. cold war more recently. It highlights the many variations of atrocity fabrication, the strong consistencies in how atrocity fabrication is used, and the consequences it has for the populations of the targeted countries, The book demonstrates the roles played by media and both government and non-governmental organizations in misleading the public as to the actuality of these highly publicized events. The emerging trend towards this mode of action, and the deep implications this has for world order, make an understanding of its history particularly critical.
About the Author :
A. B. Abrams is the author of Power and Primacy: A History of Western Intervention in the Asia-Pacific, Immovable Object: North Korea's 70 Years at War with American Power and World War in Syria. He has published widely on defense and international politics, and holds Masters degrees in related subjects from the University of London. Abrams is proficient in several Asian languages including Korean and Arabic, and has closely studied the conduct of war for close to a decade. He is based out of London.
Review :
"This eye-opening and unusually relevant study opens with a significant quotation from veteran realist Henry Kissinger: 'It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.'...The book gives an altogether sobering account, but its exposition is vitally important if people are to see through artificial perceptual smokescreens of manipulative propaganda lies inherent in power politics." PARADIGM EXPLORER V0l. 23/2
"Abrams' book, Atrocity Fabrication and Its Consequences (2023) is a comprehensive cogent overview of US propaganda operations, black ops from the Korean war and Vietnam war onward. Seeing them together is a formidable read. Fabricated or inflated security threats have been a key entry point of American influence." Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Chair and Distinguished Professor of Global Studies and Sociology at University of California Santa Barbara.
"Whenever the U.S. goes to war, the public is told that the enemy is committing horrible atrocities, in contrast to America's supposedly pure motives and conduct. In many cases, documents and other evidence come out later showing that these atrocities were exaggerated or didn't happen at all and that U.S. intentions and tactics were not as clean as portrayed. Examples explored in this book include the Vietnam War, Tiananmen Square, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, the war on Libya, and more." MATT WITT, New Labor Forum, City University of New York.
" An impressively timely study ..., "Atrocity Fabrication and Its Consequences: How Fake News Shapes World Order" is an exceptionally well written study that is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Political Science collections. ..[It] will have a very special relevance and value to students, academia, political activists, state and federal government officials, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject of 'Fake News" with respect ot Human Rights," Journalism, Democracy and Social Media Communications." MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
"The book talks about the demonization of the Russian and Vietnamese governments, as well as that of Libya and Iraq in a bid to validate the Gulf War, while also revisiting numerous cases of U.S. propaganda aimed at subverting its foes while giving impetus to itself and its beliefs in a bid to uphold the unipolar system that it has been trying so hard to keep propped up--to no avail. The recounting of the countless crimes committed by the United States comes as no surprise to many as the latter has done so for decades, and continues to do so, exploiting its hold on the media to give itself the moral high ground over its geopolitical enemies." Al Mayadeen, republished Monthly Review
"Abrams book, Atrocity Fabrication and its Consequences, is a masterpiece, deciphering modern history, and identifying the facts underlying the theatrical obfuscation by Western media." CARLA STEA, GlobalResearch.ca
"Atrocity Fabrication arms the reader with information to ponder and to think past mind-numbing patriotism. This is the third book that I have read by AB Abrams, so I am aware of the depth of research, the substantiated factuality, the logic, and the implicit morality that led to these books being written. Books by Abrams are critical reading." KIM PETERSEN, Dissident Voice
"I can't recommend highly enough...Despite using the term "fake news" there is not the slightest speck of a hint of Trumpism. Despite reporting on atrocity fabrication, there is not the slightest glimmer of a reference to nonsense claims that school shootings are staged, or any mention of anything at all that is not well documented. Most of the fabricated atrocities recounted here have been admitted to by their fabricators and recanted by the media outlets that had promoted them." DAVID SWANSON, World Beyond War
"Abrams is a highly respected scholar, known for his superb research-led work into geopolitical relations, and his ability to see through the thick fog of media noise. In painstaking detail, with sources carefully cited, this new book tells precisely how to western world uses the media to shape global thinking by creating false narrative and weaponizing concepts such as human rights to demonize rivals." FridayEveryday, Hong Kong
"With clinical precision, A.B. Abrams has delivered a devastating expose of the interventionist clique that has weaponized human rights in order to destabilize enemy nations and immiserate their populations." MAX BLUMENTHAL, journalist, editor at Thegrayzone, and author of New York Times bestseller Republican Gomorrah
"A B Abrams has provided a signal service by taking 'fake news' about alleged atrocities out of the current affairs arena in which it is mainly discussed and into a much broader, deeper and in fact even more disturbing context. He perceptively traces the evolution of the use of fabricated atrocity narratives back to the first days of Western warfare and colonial expansion through to eleven more recent case studies. Chillingly, he chronicles how domination of the information space by Western powers through atrocity narratives has driven conflicts far worse in their outcomes than the atrocities alleged. Scholars, journalists and others with a serious interest in understanding international affairs will find this thought-provoking, ground-breaking analysis highly rewarding." PETER FORD, Former British Ambassador to Syria
