""Blowback," a term invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended consequences of American policies. In this sure-to-be-controversial book, Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire, which insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and using American capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms.

From a case of rape by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asia's financial crisis, from our postwar creation of military satellites to our indiscriminate arms sales, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster. He shows how, even now, what the media report as the acts of "terrorists" or "drug lords," "rogue states" or "illegal arms merchants," often turn out to be blow-back from earlier American operations."--BOOK JACKET.