Part 1, titled "The Record: Idealism in Action", discusses U.S. role in various regime change operations and U.S. military interventions throughout Indonesia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

[2] Reviewing the book for Foreign Policy, Stephen Walt, Professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote "The record of hypocrisy [of U.S. officials and leaders] recounted by Chomsky and Robinson is sobering and convincing.

[1] Associate Professor of American History at Trinity College Dublin, Daniel Geary, for The Irish Times, wrote "Robinson has created the most accessible and coherent introduction to Chomsky’s ideas."

[5] James Denselow, for New York Journal of Books, wrote "He [Chomsky] compiles a long list of U.S. “crimes,” but at times the sheer quantity of examples might overshadow the need for more rigorous analysis of alternatives, such as a rules-based international order or the effectiveness of humanitarian interventions".

[6] Professor of American Studies, at the UCD Clinton Institute, Scott Lucas,[7] writing for the Irish Independent, described Chomsky as bitter and angry, and criticized the book for minimizing or failing to mention the role of other regimes.