Conflict After the Cold War, Updated Edition (2nd Edition)

Book Description

Edited by one of the most renowned experts in the field, this collection helps readers understand the causes of wars and examines the question: can we make war obsolete? With new readings on terrorism and unconventional warfare, this volume introduces readers to the types of political violence that have come back with such horrifying force in the beginning of the 21st Century. DOES WAR HAVE A FUTURE?; ANARCHY AND POWER; INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND COOPERATION; PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE; ECONOMIC INTERESTS AND INTERDEPENDENCE; POLITICAL IDEOLOGY AND IDENTITY; MILITARY TECHNOLOGY; TERRORISM AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE. Anyone interested in understanding why political violence—terrorism, warfare, unconventional warfare—happens and if it can be stopped.

Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World (LSE Monographs in International Studies)

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The Cold War's Over: Let's take some names
Useful survey of US interventions
BEST GOVERNANCE?
Jolly good read
A must-read for anyone interested in 20th-century history

Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World (LSE Monographs in International Studies)
Karin von Hippel
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521659558

Book Description

Since the end of the Cold War the United States has intervened militarily in a number of civil conflicts around the world, with varying degrees of success. This book examines four US-sponsored interventions (Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia), focusing on the vital nation-building efforts which have followed military action. The book seeks to provide a greater understanding of the successes and failures of US policy, to improve strategies for reconstruction, and to provide some insight into the conditions under which intervention and nation-building are likely to succeed.

Customer Reviews:

The Cold War's Over: Let's take some names.......2007-03-24

The Berlin Wall came crashing down in November 1989. The Cold War ended with neither a bang nor a whimper but - true to 1980s form - with a party. Two unfortunate things came about from this. One, the only 80s person more annoying than Rodney Dangerfield - David Hasselhoff - sang for freedom atop the wall. The second was the turning off the spigot of billions of dollars to prop up regimes throughout the world. What were formerly acceptable regimes as US or Soviet clients were now totally unacceptable. The New World Order of "humanitarian" and democracy based intervention had come.

While Karin von Hippel touches briefly upon why each post war intervention happened, her main focus is the success of the intervention itself. She tacitly accepts that interventions into small troubled or failed states will continue to happen. Therefore we must do our best to do it right. From Panama to Kosovo she looks find the lessons that were learned from each intervention and how such lessons can be put into practice later.

But, what is the most interesting is the lessons unlearned. If one were to take each of the lessons from Panama, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo and place them on a grid next to the main problems facing the US in Iraq, one sees either lessons ignored or unlearned by the new administration. Written in 1999, and therefore before the Iraq War or the issue of WMD - right or wrong - it is instructive to see that people did see the problems that could be faced in Iraq coming.

Von Hippel's style is clear and concise. Very little jargon or classic Political Science turgidness is found in this book. The small-scale, low-intensity war will be the use of the military over the next decades. It is therefore refreshing that someone is willing to look to the interventions not as to whether or not it should have happened but how could it be better? Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Unfortunately, this administration apparently did not read Democracy by Force.

Useful survey of US interventions.......2002-07-16

This book analyses the developments in nation-building following US-sponsored military intervention by examining the four post-Cold War cases in which both took place: Panama, Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia.

The UN did not authorise the US intervention in Panama. President Bush launched the invasion `to restore democracy', after thirty years of supporting the drug-trafficking dictator General Noriega. As von Hippel writes, `the democracy excuse rang hollow'. 37% of the people are still below the poverty line. Its debt is 70% of its GDP. US troops are still there.

The US government intervened in Somalia in 1992-95 under what von Hippel calls `the humanitarian pretext'. The Security Council breached the UN Charter by authorising the intervention. Several thousand Somalis were killed. In the `Blackhawk down' incident in Mogadishu, 300 Somalis were killed and 700 wounded; 30% of the casualties were women and children. Intervention cost $4 billion, used 50,000 troops and worsened an already dire situation. The World Bank has no figures for the economy, but knows that the country owes exactly $2.3 billion.

Over Haiti, the Security Council again broke the UN Charter by sanctioning military intervention, for another `unique' situation `requiring an exceptional response'. Haiti was no threat to `international peace and security', so Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela opposed intervention. The CIA funded corrupt, drug-running fascist generals, which von Hippel calls `somewhat unpredictable and bizarre', despite noting the similarity with US support for Noriega. Structural Adjustment Programs and sanctions, as usual, worsened the country's problems, causing 60% unemployment. 80% of the rural population still live below the poverty line.

The US intervention in Bosnia has produced a military protectorate, with the economy destroyed. In 1997, Serbia's unemployment rate was 50% and in the Republic of Srpska, part of Bosnia, 90%.

Von Hippel notes that foreign aid and international charity cause aid dependency. In Somalia, for instance, foreign aid funded 70% of the national budget, before the collapse. She writes that aid "tends to enrich only the elite at the expense of the masses."

Her accounts show that nations cannot be built from outside, especially not by US military intervention.

BEST GOVERNANCE?.......2001-05-24

Democracy - rule by the people - is widely considered as the central legitimating ethic of modern governance. Although definitions of democracy have shown substantial variety from one country and time period to the next, there is a consensus in today's world that good governance means democracy. Moreover, democratic states tend not to fight other democratic states, and the spread of democracy would lead to greater international security according to Democratic Peace Theory. Putting humanitarian concerns high on the agenda and ignoring state sovereignty for the promotion of democracy, after the Cold War with the disappearance of Superpower competition, the international community, especially the USA, has been involved in certain civil conflicts which, between 1990 and 1996, outpaced other types of conflicts like the ones between states. When economic sanctions or diplomatic pressures have failed, military intervention, that is to say, democracy by force, has been undertaken in these civil conflicts. After a brief discussion of the evolution in military intervention and nation-building, by examining Germany, Japan and Vietnam cases, since World War II, and after defining nation-building and democratisation elaborately and clearly, this book analyses four US-sponsored post-Cold War military interventions successively taking place in Panama, Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia in order to evaluate what in fact has changed since 1989. Also, reader can use the maps that are on the first page of each case to see where an event occurs during studying if necessary. In each of these cases, Karin Von Hippel explains military intervention and the use of force, which often lead to peace support operations, which in turn can lead to nation-building attempts. The 1989 US invasion of Panama provides an appropriate starting point for this study as it straddles the Cold War and post-Cold War interventions. Panama case introduced the democracy rationale; that is, to oppose the repeal of democratic elections as a justification to intervene, without an obvious threat of communism. US troops also used the post-World War II plans for the reconstruction of Germany and Japan as their model for Panama. Somalia then served as a test case for a purely humanitarian crisis that did not affect the developed world. Demilitarisation was a priority in this heavily armed society. However, its failure hindered any reaction in the next major humanitarian crisis in Rwanda. Events in Somalia did not stop the US government from intervening in Haiti in 1994, due to the latter's closeness to the USA and problems related to the increased flow of refugees into Florida. Haiti then became the first case when the aim of the military intervention and the nation-building attempt were the same: to establish a democratic state. It was also the first time the UN Security Council sanctioned intervention to restore a democratically elected government. The USA considered Somalia when trying to avoid involvement in Bosnia, but was eventually pushed into acting there militarily beginning in 1995, again on humanitarian grounds, in spite of maintaining the credibility of the NATO and US leadership in Europe. Dayton may have been the most complicated nation-building mission since World War II. In the final chapter, Karin Von Hippel, first, examines the common threads linking and leading to the Panama, Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia interventions, second, points to the lessons learned and applied within the military, in civil-military relations, and in peace support operations, and third, concludes by discussing the developments in nation-building, areas of continued concern, and how future operations might achieve greater success. Today it is believed that the democracy is the best governance. Even for the promotion of democracy, however, intervention in domestic affairs of a state may not be always necessary, and there may be other solutions to be applied as the concept of democracy is flexible, and its meaning may change from time and society to time and society. In certain cases, restoration of democracy may be only an immediate cause, and the underlying cause of intervention may be different from the promotion of democracy, such as national interest. Also, the US government does not stick to democracy in its own country although it intervenes in the internal affairs of other states for the promotion of democracy. So this study tries to legitimise certain faulty actions of the USA, and this makes this book seem far away from objectivity.

CANER SANNAV

Jolly good read.......2000-12-15

Karin von Hippel presents an excellent analysis of the US military in the post-Cold War era. She gives a intriging looks at what the future holds for the US military and what kinds of projects it is most likely to behold. She observes most of the factors causing intervention, even those not included in administration publications. Hopefully we can look forward to further editions.

A must-read for anyone interested in 20th-century history.......2000-10-03

Karin von Hippel is an up-and-coming foreign policy thinker whose academic credentials (Yale, London School of Economics)are reinforced by stints in Kenya, Somalia, Haiti and Kosovo. As a result, her examination of US military interventions in the post-Vietnam era is refreshingly clear-headed and readable, as well as being extremely smart. Von Hippel looks at four instances of US intervention--Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia--and discusses why the US got involved in those countries, whether US intervention worked, and what Americans can learn from those experiences. What I particularly liked about this book is that it's insightful and intelligent at a level academics would find satisfying. But I'm not an academic, and I found it really interesting. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in modern American history.

The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Project of the International Peace Academy)

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Good for courses and just for learning more

The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Project of the International Peace Academy)

Manufacturer: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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United Nations and Changing World Politics
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ASIN: 1588262405

Customer Reviews:

Good for courses and just for learning more.......2005-09-03

I've had to use this book for a course on the UN security council, and I must say that this is one of those books to me that was interesting outside the course purpose as well: it has given me a better insight in the politics and mechanics of the UNSC and it's decidision-making. All chapters have been written by different authors, including some major political figures (not the ones you see in front of the camera all the time, but the guys behind the scenes that do the actual job), and that means it's pretty much impossible to find this book biased in one direction or another, and it has a high information density.

The only problem with an editorial like this is that with so many different writers, there is of course less cohesion to the book as a whole, but sometimes I do prefer an editorial because it gives so many more points of view. And especially in politics that is something I value very high from time to time.

Expect some tech-talk on resolutions as well, but you can skip those parts without too much trouble, or simply scan them to get the picture and it won't affect the your knowledge too much. Only where it is important are they extensilvely reviewed, other than that you can always very easily search for a resolution with a searc engine on the UN website when you have the resolution number and year (always provided).

Good book, chapters have definitely been written for those who seek to learn more about general issues and specific cases within the UNSC. Recommended.

Conflict After the Cold War (2nd Edition)

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Conflict After the Cold War (2nd Edition)
Richard K. Betts
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Use of Force: Military Power and International Politics
Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and Socialism
War and Change in World Politics
Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations (The Norton Series in World Politics)
Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (Longman Classics in Political Science)

ASIN: 0321081706

Book Description

Betts, Richard, Conflict After the Cold War, 2nd Edition*\ Assembled by one of the most renowned scholars in the field, this collection aims to help readers sort out the main debates concerning the possibility and place of war in the post-Cold War world. The essay in this collection outline contrasting arguments about the future of the post-Cold War world and puts them in philosophical and historical context. Professor Betts has framed the readings in a topically organized and ideologically balanced survey of the most relevant schools of thought, examining the arguments about what political, economic, social and military factors tend to cause war and whether such causes can be made obsolete. For those interested in the Cold War.

In the Midst of Events The Foreign Office Diaries and Papers of Kenneth G. Younger, February 1950-October 1951 (British Politics and Society)

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In the Midst of Events The Foreign Office Diaries and Papers of Kenneth G. Younger, February 1950-October 1951 (British Politics and Society)
Geoffre Warner
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The years 1950 and 1951 were significant in Britain's Post-war foreign policy. The Cold War was at its height, the Korean War was beginning and German rearmament was a contentious issue. At the same time, Britain's ambiguous relations with Europe were becoming apparent during discussions over the Schuman Plan, and the dispute with Iran over oil revenue was becoming increasingly hostile.

During this period, Kenneth Younger was the no. 2 minister at the Foreign Office, meaning his diaries offer a unique insight into world events at a time when Britain could still claim to be an international power. In this book, Younger's papers have been collected for the first time, and his incisive analysis and vivid descriptions of event and personalities make this essential reading for anyone interested in the post-war period. This primary source is also of relevance to present day issues of foreign policy, particularly in its shred evaluations of the pros and cons of the 'special relationship' between Britain and the United States.

Nuclear Rites: A Weapons Laboratory at the End of the Cold War

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Armchair Anthropology at its worst
Shows This Small Town!
A Fascinating Look at the Soul of Nuclear Weapons Lab
A Fascinating Look at the Soul of Nuclear Weapons Lab
A phenomenal read

Nuclear Rites: A Weapons Laboratory at the End of the Cold War
Hugh Gusterson
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520213734

Book Description

Based on fieldwork at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory--the facility that designed the neutron bomb and the warhead for the MX missile--Nuclear Rites takes the reader deep inside the top-secret culture of a nuclear weapons lab. Exploring the scientists' world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist Hugh Gusterson uncovers the beliefs and values that animate their work. He discovers that many of the scientists are Christians, deeply convinced of the morality of their work, and a number are liberals who opposed the Vietnam War and the Reagan-Bush agenda. Gusterson also examines the anti-nuclear movement, concluding that the scientists and protesters are alike in surprising ways, with both cultures reflecting the hopes and anxieties of an increasingly threatened middle class.
In a lively, wide-ranging account, Gusterson analyzes the ethics and politics of laboratory employees, the effects of security regulations on the scientists' private lives, and the role of nuclear tests--beyond the obvious scientific one--as rituals of initiation and transcendence. He shows how the scientists learn to identify in an almost romantic way with the power of the machines they design--machines they do not fear.
In the 1980s the "world behind the fence" was thrown into crisis by massive anti-nuclear protests at the gates of the lab and by the end of the Cold War. Linking the emergence of the anti-nuclear movement to shifting gender roles and the development of postindustrial capitalism, Gusterson concludes that the scientists and protesters are alike in surprising ways, and that both cultures reflect the hopes and anxieties of an increasingly threatened middle class.

Customer Reviews:

Armchair Anthropology at its worst.......2003-06-25

Background Info: I majored in Anthropology at college.

This book has 2 main problems. 1) It is horribly boring. Yes, there are some interesting field works here. But too often the narrative is bogged down with explanations of anthropological or postmdern or Focaultian theories, which add absolutely nothing to it. I wanted an ethnography, not a text book.

2) The author did not one observe employees at work. Although this is understandable, it makes it hard to write a believeably ethnography. Obseving the employees at work is fundamental to research. Without that, this is just psychology, and not really true anthropology.

Shows This Small Town!.......2002-07-30

While I enjoyed this book and all it's talk about nuclear weapons, I had to add a side note that I love the way it really does capture this small town.

A Fascinating Look at the Soul of Nuclear Weapons Lab.......2001-08-04

I have been working across the street from Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL) as an intern at Sandia National Labs, and picked this book up in Sandia's library to get a better sense for the community around me.

Hugh Gusterson does a great job at documenting the culture of the LLNL scientists and how they face their jobs and those who protest them. This is a fascinating work by a keen anthropologist who has researched a culture that is foreign in its secrecy.

A Fascinating Look at the Soul of Nuclear Weapons Lab.......2001-08-04

The culture in a nuclear weapons lab is utterly unique. Coming from a background where most of my friends are against nuclear weapons, it is interesting to work among people who believe with their heart that what they're doing is good for society.

Hugh Gusterson does a great job at documenting the culture of the LLNL and how it fits in with the culture of Livermore, CA, and how it clashes with the culture of anti-nuclear weapons activists. Gusterson's objectivity is refreshing, and the material is fascinating.

If you've worked at a national lab, want to get into the minds of a nuclear weapons scientist, or just want to learn a bit about one of the US's biggest national laboratories, I highly recommend this book.

A phenomenal read.......1999-03-05

An anthropologist looks at a nuclear weapons plant. Instead of making an exotic culture familiar, Gusterson takes apart the social workings of Livermore. In doing so, he shows that scientists aren't always rational, that there are elements of hazing rituals in an FBI background check, and that employees internalize their training to a fundamental level.

Customer Reviews:

Like a truly prophetic Biblical voice, Father Merton calls us back to God more powerfully now than forty five years ago........2007-01-31

Originally this was intended by Father Merton over forty five years ago to be a collection for private circulation only of his private letters written around the time of the Nuclear Missile Crisis and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) nuclear policy, gathered in one quarter this amount. At that time Father Merton was absurdly under orders from the Trappist office in Rome not to write about war and peace, as beneath the concerns of a monk, as his writings were incompetently read by a non-English speaking secretary to the Trappist primate. In the absence of that secretary a more competent reader was called in who declared Father Merton's submissions for review for publication "pure Gospel." Pacem in Terris was at that time still on the papal writing desk, inspired by Father Merton's own suppressed writing. I fully expect this my present review to be absurdly suppressed by uncomprehending yet vocal forces who hate peace and the Catholic Church. Read it while you may, and please buy this new book.

Now this once private collection blossoms in this recent public presentation by the blessed and courageously prophetic Catholic publisher Orbis Books to three times its original length which includes other letters of that time upon the same topic, and rings as loudly now a clarion cry in the barren war torn desert as it did then, as prophetically and true and essential for our human destiny as ever. If anything in this present militarized age we need to read it now more than ever, and remember our former ideals, morality, ethics and human right to peace. As we witness this current dynastic administration in Washington give itself the exclusive decision making power to warfare, and beat nuclear drums to engage North Korea and Iran, etc., we must remember the threat which is ever in our face, a threat which now more than ever threatens the existence of ourselves as a race, and indeed of all of God's Holy Creation.

This new collection courageously published last year by the great Catholic Publishing House Orbis Books begins with a new Foreword, a new Preface and a new introduction. Most invaluably, it prints the original private preface by Father Merton serving as apologia, humbling explaining himself and his strong expressions in these letters for peace, sanity and Christian ethics. Father Merton could be writing today the exact same thing, although even more urgently, had he not been killed in 1968 to prevent his further preaching for peace. Orbis closes the collection with brief bios of each of the letters' recipients, some very familiar to any American Catholic, such as our heroes of the faith Dorothy Day and Catherine De Hueck, or Ethel Kennedy, or Frank Sheed, or Gordon Zahn, while others may have been forgotten in the long passage of time since these letters were written. In particular consider the letter to Muslim mystic Abdul Aziz recommending Saint Basil and responding to al Hujswiri, within today's context.

In Father Merton's Preface, he found it necessary first to emphasize that "The author is not, never was and never will be a Communist" and "detests every type of totalitarian coercion (. . .)" He expresses his "contempt for those who use power to distort the truth or to silence it altogether." We cannot help but think of current administrative policy.

He further states: "The writer is a Catholic, devoted to his Church, to his faith, and to his vocation." Indeed, witnessing Merton's full commitment to the Cistercians, no one can question this axiom. Yet, Father Merton found it necessary to respond to those who found it blessed to urge the nuclear bombing of Moscow (and he foreshadows our great American Catholic Moral Theologian Father Charles Curran in humbling explaining his dissent from certain fallible statements of individual members of the then American hierarchy who called for killing commies for Christ) by basing his cry for peace upon the essence of Christianity right up to the then still recent statements of Popes Pius XXII and Pope John XXIII. He also quotes, to support his right to speak these words, a contemporary (1962) Lenten Pastoral appeal by Cardinal Meyer of Chicago: "If we adopt a policy of hatred, of liquidation of those who oppose us, of unrestrained use of total war, of a spirit of fear and panic, of exaggerated propaganda, of unconditional surrender, or pure nationalism, we have already been overcome by the evil." These words could be, should be, resounding today, as also the Pastoral Letter The Challenge of Peace, the Papal Encyclical Pacem in Terris, etc., etc.

Do you not hear as necessary in these our present times these halting words of Merton, explaining why he has written?

"In actual fact it would seem that during the Cold War, if not during World War II, this country has become frankly a warfare state built on affluence, a power structure in which the interests of big business, the obsessions of the military, and the phobias of political extremists both dominate and dictate our national policy. It also seems that the people of the country are by and large reduced to passivity, confusion, resentment, frustration, thoughtlessness, and ignorance so that they blindly follow any line that is unraveled by the mass media." He goes on to point out the present propaganda we hear that our cause is what is now called to "punish the wrongdoers" by showing how we divide the world into black and white to such a degree that we believe that "we have a divinely given mission to destroy this hellish monster and any steps we take to do so are innocent and even holy." This rings true today in our present warfare, and the fallacious nature of this is courageously revealed by Father Merton's call for peace and ethics.

Let me end with one final quote before you go on to purchase this useful and strong and ever more necessary book. Merton notes "It is a curious fact that those who insist that the only way to peace is the hard nosed and stiff necked way of missile rattling and nuclear threats are developing a mentality that is insensitive to the realities of nuclear war and indifferent to the missiles and menaces of the enemy. Indeed it is counted bravery and patriotism to ignore the realities of the situation or to shrug them off . . ."

Please purchase this substantial study for peace. Please awaken to all the possibilities for peace, and please work very hard in every way and in every place for peace. Thou shalt not kill. Love thy neighbor, and do good to those who harm thee. Do unto others what you want them to do for you! Love thy enemy and do good to those who harm you.

Alternative Nuclear Futures: The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War World

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Alternative Nuclear Futures: The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War World

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons

ASIN: 019829624X

Book Description

A major debate has emerged in recent years, which centres on the future role of nuclear weapons in world politics. Focusing attention to the role of nuclear weapons in the post-cold war world, the book argues that unlike the debates which emerged during the cold war period, the contemporary debate has taken place largely in private, with only limited involvement by the general public. What is also significant is the traditional 'left-wing' versus Establishment divide has also largely disappeared. Furthermore, a growing number of senior military and defence officials and governments allied with the United States, openly advocate the abolition of nuclear weapons. One of the features of the post-cold war debate is that statesman and scholars alike have begun to think the unthinkableDSto consider the possibility of reducing the size of nuclear arsenals, and eventually for abolishing them completely. Contributions from leading academics highlight the key themes that have emerged in this debate. The book aims to generate a wider debate about a subject which, despite the changes that have taken place over the last two decades, continues to be of supreme importance.

The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century

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A brilliant read
Integrated solutions for the enhancement of peace, democracy, and free markets
Virtuous Circle of Free Markets, Democracy and Peace
This is a magnificent book
Bold, and Brilliant

The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century
Michael Mandelbaum
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics

ASIN: 1586482068
Release Date: 2004-01-06

Book Description

One of America's leading foreign policy thinkers provides an "important and compelling" look at today's new power realities Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times

In a time of war and uncertainty, The Ideas That Conquered the World offers a major statement about the fault lines of the twenty-first century, from globalization to terrorism, from great-power conflict to common security. Michael Mandelbaum argues that three ideas dominate the world: peace as the preferred basis for relations between and among countries, democracy as the optimal way to organize political life, and free markets as the indispensable vehicle for the creation of wealth. While not practiced everywhere, they have-for the first time in history-no serious rivals. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the American military excursions into Afghanistan and Iraq that followed have not changed this.

In The Ideas That Conquered the World, Michael Mandelbaum describes the uneven spread over the past two centuries of peace, democracy, and free markets around the world. And he assesses the prospects for these ideas in the years to come, giving particular attention to the United States, which bears the greatest responsibility for protecting and promoting them, and to Russia, China, and the Middle East, where their fate will affect the rest of the world.

Customer Reviews:

A brilliant read.......2006-01-14

Quite a brilliant work, this book is a synopsis of the ideas that have `conquered the world' in the 20th century, ideas that remain a benchmark of America's policies in the world. The first policy is capitalism, the idea of free markets was challenged by Marxism, an ideology that proved itself a nightmare and a destructive, coercive, suppressive influence in the last century. Secondly the author brilliantly demonstrates how democracy was originally encouraged at the Versailles conference following WWI where Woodrow Wilson made `war for democracy' a policy of America. Lastly he examines how `peace' as a virtue of classical liberalism is the pursuit of today's most powerful nations. In previous periods of history powerful nations sued their power destructively in wars of conquest, such as the Romans, the English or Napoleon. Today's American `empire' is not one of war, despite the war in Iraq, but rather of a restrained giant using its power to coerce other nations to follow the methods of democracy, peace and free markets, however the coercive influence of America is not like Rome or England or Communist Russia, or Fascist Germany, rather it is one where power is used selectively, in a clauswitzien sense, only as the last resort of politics. Power organizations such as the Un, the World Bank and the IMF use pressure for democracy to go hand in hand with their loans tot third world nations, while not always successful this policy is slowly bringing democracy, equality, and freedoms to places like Latin America, where in the 1950s almost all countries were dictatorships. The `ideas the conquered the world' also run counter to the theory that human nature is hobbesian, in the sense that we are told by cynics that Islam is not compatible with democracy or that Catholicism is not compatible, these canards have been thrown out by those who seek to bring the American revolution to the world. This is the thesis of this book and the historical synopsis presented, brilliant, interesting and controversial.

Seth J. Frantzman

Integrated solutions for the enhancement of peace, democracy, and free markets.......2005-12-11

On page 398, Mandelbaum provides what I consider the most significant words in his book: "So a world of liberal sovereign states qualifies as the second-best solution, after WORLD GOVERNMENT, to the problems of nuclear war, economic collapse, and global climate change. If not the best of all imaginable solutions, it is the best of all feasible ones."

However, the greater the number of, and the more powerful, the illiberal states are, then the so-called best feasible solution becomes even more infeasible. There must be integrated frameworks or solutions for the enhancement of peace, democracy, and free markets, which happen to work only when they do, and only when they work together.

But how do we get them to work as a triad, not individually ? This is the important question. I believe that the answer lies in any framework that promotes direct genuine people empowerment within each state.

One way is the creation of positive composite institutions, or the transformation of the well-funded international foundations into positive composite institutions, the end-object of which is the promotion of direct people empowerment within the illiberal zones of their own countries, and within the less liberal states in the less-developed world.

It is no longer a question of "what" and "object", but of "how" and "ways and means".

Veredigno Atienza
"Creating Systems of Justice: Philanthropy at the Highest Level"

Virtuous Circle of Free Markets, Democracy and Peace.......2004-05-10

Michael Mandelbaum clearly explains that the liberal theory of history is made up of two tenets:

1. Free markets, through their workings such as constitutionalism, civil society, the rule of law, property-protecting and contract-enforcing state, entrepreneurship, competition and mass consumption, tend to promote democracy and enrich most of their economic agents over time (pg. 11, 234-237, 257, 268-274, 289-295, 313-318, 394). A responsible social safety net, however, is key to stability of free markets (pg. 299-304, 340-341, 402).

2. Democracies are inclined to conduct peaceful foreign policies (pg. 11, 237). Popular sovereignty, constitutionalism, civil society and political habit of compromise are key drivers of peace and minority protection (pg. 249-250, 259, 269). Furthermore, defense dominance and weapon system transparency are built on the recognition that the problem of collective security can only be solved through systemic cooperation nurtured over time (pg. 113-114, 129-131, 231).

The common denominator of free markets, democracy and peace is their focus on the individual (pg. 31). Illiberalism such as Communism and Fascism stresses the strength of the state through group cohesion and solidarity rather than the welfare of individuals (pg. 254, 336).

Before WWI, this set of liberal ideas was not firmly established in the British Empire and the U.S. from which it came. Britain was the most fervent advocate of free trade but was clearly ambivalent about self-government beyond its White Dominions and dismissal of any limit to power projection. The U.S. was protectionist rather than a convert to free trade, was an impire rather than an empire until the 1890s and had not yet granted the benefits of democracy to all its inhabitants in spite of its unequivocal constitution (pg. 33, 87).

At the Conference of Paris in 1919 just after WWI, President Woodrow Wilson could not convince the victorious empires how closely related were the rise of free markets and the devaluation of war. The high price of war to the victors and perhaps more importantly poor salesmanship from President Wilson himself in the U.S. and abroad ultimately led to the rise and dismissal of an emasculated League of Nations and disastrous economic protectionism in the 1930s (pg. 20-24, 359, 363, 393).

The emergence of Fascism and Communism, two new murderous, inefficient rivals to Liberalism, was the bitterest legacy of WWI, the Conference of Paris and subsequent peace conferences (pg. 33, 41, 54-55). Liberalism succeeded in defeating and discrediting Fascism at the end of WWII in 1945 and Communism at the end of the Cold War in 1989 (pg. 253).

The liberal theory of history has found its historical validation for example in the successful conversion of fascist Germany and Japan to Liberalism in the decades after their crushing defeat in 1945. These successful conversions to Liberalism demonstrate which way the lagging peripheral countries should go to ultimately emerge in the limelight (pg. 6, 79-86, 174-181, 279-280).

Mandelbaum also reminds his audience that in the post-cold war era, the core countries have lost much interest in what is going on in the periphery (pg. 96, 198-199). China, Russia and the Middle East are three major exceptions to this loss of interest in the periphery (pg. 7). Core countries legitimately fear that undesirable developments in some peripheral countries, especially failed states, if left unchecked, could have a negative impact in their backyard (pg. 182-187).

The Middle East is of interest to core countries due to its reserves of oil, the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the presence of fearsome terrorist networks on its soil (pg. 97-99, 199-230). Operation Iraqi Freedom is an expression of this interest in the region on behalf of a well-understood Liberalism (pg. 403-412).

China and Russia remain a source of concern to the core countries because they have not yet fully embraced the tenets of Liberalism (pg. 306-307, 390-391). Like Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, Russia and China are not satisfied with their military place in the world today and can become a source of instability tomorrow (pg. 160-174). Furthermore, both countries harbor powerful economic ambitions (pg. 160). The inability of economic socialism to be productive enough and meet the wants and needs of its economic agents behind the military sphere has made a gradual transition to economic liberalism vital to the survival of the Chinese and Russian nomenklatura (pg. 48, 52, 66-67, 99-104, 261-265, 291, 309). No Communist regime in the 20th century came to power through a coup d'etat staged by an impoverished, mobilized and ideologically committed working class (pg. 233).

The current liberal hegemony, which is not per se irreversible, does not make everybody happy. Some of its most determined opponents include Middle Eastern terrorists and the western-inspired anti-globalization movement who do not offer any constructive, workable alternative to Liberalism (pg. 38-39).

The United States, spiritual successor of the British Empire, has a key role to play in the successful spread and survival of this Wilsonian triad (pg. 7, 88, 327, 358, 381-382, 404). The technological, economic, military and cultural leadership of the U.S. requires that Americans bear a higher burden than their fair share in the maintenance and development of Liberalism (pg. 88, 153, 364-365, 389). The harshest critics of the U.S. for example in Europe and Asia should keep this in mind instead of taking it for granted (pg. 153, 363-365, 388-390).

Passing interest in the (most dangerous) failed states is a recipe for disaster (pg. 193-199). In too many places around the world, democracy and capitalism are foreign transplants that must be cultivated long enough to take deep roots (pg. 259-260, 297-298, 311-313, 386-387). Ultimately, with might come not only rights but also responsibilities (pg. 388-389).

This is a magnificent book.......2003-09-21

This is a magnificent book - I can happily recommend it to anyone, regardless of their politics (an all too rare thing these days, as the culture wars spread ever wider). The West ought to remember its roots, and why it is where it is today. A book like this is therefore very timely and well worth reading. Christopher Catherwood, historian, teacher and author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)

Bold, and Brilliant.......2003-09-13

It is rare these days to find a book on world affairs that has an original and provocative thesis and that is also a pleasure to read. Mandelbaum has written just such a volume. His purpose is nothing less than to identify the main forces--markets and democracy--shaping the contemporary world, and he does so by moving effortlessly from the overall claim to real-world examples and back again. The lines of the forest are always in view but there are plenty of trees, and the main argument is made with compelling clarity, conviction, and the occasional bit of humor. Despite Mandelbaum's crystal clear prose, it's apparent that some reviewers (see below) fail to grasp his main points. Fundamentalist Islam as an alternative to liberal democratic capitalism? Just where exactly have people, when given the opportunity to freely elect their leaders, chosen a Taliban-like model? And what have such regimes, when they have grabbed power, brought people except poverty and brutality? As for the absence of capitalism in the Judeo-Christian world in the 7th and 8th centuries (!), one need not have read Karl Polanyi's "Great Transformation" to understand that many complex changes had to unfold before national markets arose; any regular history book should suffice. Modern democracy, too, could not have taken root over a thousand years ago for precisely the same reason. Mandelbaum is not saying that all you need for markets and democracy is the Judeo-Christian ethic; he identifies it as being AMONG the critical factors that promoted their growth. Alas, even the most lucid writer is fated to have his ideas misunderstood. Buy the book; it's terrific.

Nuclear Proliferation after the Cold War (Woodrow Wilson Center Press)

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Nuclear Proliferation after the Cold War (Woodrow Wilson Center Press)

Manufacturer: Woodrow Wilson Center Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Today, former Soviet republics threaten to gain control over nuclear weapons sited on their territories, and reports on North Korea, Pakistan, India, and Iraq reveal current or recent weapon development programs. In this climate, Nuclear Proliferation after the Cold War offers a timely assessment of the prospects for nuclear nonproliferation.

Woodrow Wilson Center Press.

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