Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali

Noam Chomsky is a world-renowned linguist, and lifelong radical intellectual. As the progenitor of the theory of “generative grammar,” he played a central role in pushing forward a cognitive revolution in philosophy, linguistics, computer science, mathematics and psychology. As a public intellectual, Chomsky has, since the 1960s, been one of the most prolific and consistent critics of United States foreign policy. He opposed the Vietnam war, and along with Howard Zinn was part of the Boston circle targeted by investigations after the release of the Pentagon papers. Since then, Chomsky has produced a formidable body of work, earning him a reputation as the foremost dissident voice in the American intellectual establishment. Tariq Ali is a British Pakistani military historian and public intellectual. During the 1960s, Ali earned a reputation as the original ‘street fighting man,’ acting as a political campaigner and activist while leading efforts against the Vietnam War in Britain. Over the years he has maintained a steady output as an anti-war commentator and staunch leftist. A spirited debater, Ali remains a strong critic of Western imperialism and neoliberal reform, bringing to bear a sweeping account of historical developments over the last century. In recent work he has brought into focus the continuity between the Bush and Obama administrations, claiming that the Global War On Terror remains a pretext for escalating lawlessness in the international conduct of the United States and its allies.