Chomsky's writing is usually very dense, full of references to legislation,` media reports and other documents from across the political spectrum, yet he still manages to get his main points across clearly and precisely.

"We have been geared to a war economy since before 1945. Memo 68 of the National Security Council [U.S. government and arms cartels] was eagerly adopted by the Truman administration and set up a Cold War policy framework against Communist agression. The Marshall Plan was far from altruistic - it made other countries dependent on U.S. business agro-exports and surplus production. South American countries like Guatemala were invaded, in this case in 1954, and puppet governments created favourable environments for American business interests to have safe access to raw materials. In line with this came the rise of trans-national corporations (TNCs), and further worker exploitation."

This worldview was influenced by the writings of George Orwell, whose prophetic book 1984 adapted a dystopia from Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia and Socialist Britain. Chomsky accommodates this into a work that challenges the mainstream view set forth by Henry Kissinger's Diplomacy tome, which "met with enthusiastic reviews from most of the idealistic press."

Chomsky describes international relations on the basis of power, termed political realism (Realpolitik). Oswald Spengler published his two volume Decline of the West (New York: G. Allen & Unwin, 1926-28, revised edition) which made an impression on the German General Karl Haushofer, who became the master theorist of "geopolitics", the study of state expansionism based on ideological, political and geographical analysis. Haushofer was blamed, in the post-Nuremberg Trials climate, for Adolf Hitler's aggressive European expansion in the late 1930s.

Hans Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations (New York, Knopf, 1978, 5th edition) became the bible of U.S. realpolitik planners, an interventionist political framework that emerged in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Henry Kissinger personified this American foreign policy school, notably during the 1972 Paris Negotiations, when he combated similar strategies used by the Soviet/Chinese axis.

Robert Strausz-Hupe summed up the doctrine brilliantly in the following passage from the seminal Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1942):

"As policy evolves towards several continental systems, and technology accentuates the strategic importance of large, contiguous areas. Thus the era of overseas empires and free world trade closes. If this reasoning is pushed to its absolute conclusion, the national state is also a thing of the past, and the future belongs to the giant state. Many nations will be locked in a few vast compartments. But in each of these one people, controlling a strategic area, will be master of the others."

This was written thirty-three years before Indonesia brutally annexed East Timor after the Portuguese empire collapsed. But why would a country that had just made a 500 year modernisation leap invade its smaller neighbour? To ensure a safe Indian/Pacific passageway for American submarines and to plunder for its own profit East Timor's rich oil fields.

"The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) basically opens up Mexico to American business firms," Chomsky told me.

Two hours after reading his predictions that Clinton's policies would wreak havoc in Mexico and interfere with Canadian micro-economic reform, particularly with health insurance firms, I turned on CNN to see US Secretary of State Warren Christopher announce a US$40 billion bail-out of the Mexican peso to prevent industry collapse. Over the next week immigration officials struggled to cope with an influx of Mexicans fleeing financial ruin and social disorder. Concerned that the Mexican situation could contaminate the U.S. domestic economy and spread its disease to G-7 countries, a complex package of credits and loans guarantees was unveiled. Similar promises weren't made to the environmentally-ravaged Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Columbia or Nicaragua.

"Mexico is being used as a buffer by the US to protect its economy. Most of the aid will actually help American businesses export to Mexico, so the aid isn't as large as it seems. They may use the term 'economic recovery', but it isn't for the general populace. They sell off public interests under the guise of paying off huge debt commitments to their cronies. Similar strategies were tried during the Thatcher years . . . leading to an ever widening gap between the poor and privileged classes," Chomsky told me at his lecture on democracy and markets.

He pointed out at the same lecture that NAFTA was signed on 12 August, 1992 in secret, during a Presidential election. Two years later Mexico's trade deficit had risen to 8% of GDP, whilst the average Mexican's purchasing power fell by 40%. The Wall Street firm Bear, Stearns & Co bought billions of dollars worth of bonds under President Selinas. The later election of Zedillo and suppression of revolution in Chiapas was a prime example of "controlled elections", a point alluded to by Chomsky in World Orders Old and New. The book's prophetic tone was surpassed by the Clinton Administration's invasion of Haiti and the vilification of the Palestinians after the historic Israeli Peace Accord was signed in late 1994.

The official press conference was held on the morning of 19 January. Just over 40 people jockeyed for space in a room on the seventh floor of the Public Sector Union (NSW branch) building. (Later when I visited ETRA's Parrematta office I noticed another PSU reference, but the union denied any official link). SBS was the only major television network to cover the event, along with several of the larger newspapers; elements of the Left, Sydney based students and other minority groups were well represented.

ETRA's Executive Director Agio Pereira outlined the tour, and then a grinning, quietly spoken Chomsky took the floor to answer questions directly. He would answer each question persuasively and calmly, pausing only to remind someone that their tape-recorder had stopped working.

"I arrived at the airport and the first headline I see is that Australia is about to ratify an arms sale of Steyr rifles to Indonesia. I wondered if they printed that just to keep me happy!" were his opening comments.

"But I seriously think we're at a turning point in this situation. Australia does have a role to play in influencing things. I would hope that with the proposed 'Victory in the Pacific' celebrations this year - note it's not "Victory over Japan," Australians can honestly examine the situation and remember the sacrifice made by the East Timorese in defending Australia during World War II. It's time for us to repay that favour by supporting East Timorese claims for independence."

Journalists from the Green Left Weekly, the International Socialist Organization (ISO), and the Sydney Morning Herald dominated question time. The ISO journalist attempted to confront Chomsky over various issues. When asked what he thought of Dept of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) Minister, Senator Gareth Evans, he paused and the room buzzed with anticipation.