America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq

Book Description

A nearly 50-year review of U.S. efforts to transform defeated and broken enemies into democratic and prosperous allies.

Customer Reviews:

very informative.......2007-05-17

This book was a great piece of writing for anyone that is interested in learning about how the U.S. helps rebuild nations. It was very useful for research that I was conducting.

America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq.......2007-02-21

great background history to today's strategic events in Middle East

Good Background on Democratic Nation-Building.......2006-07-21

This is one of the portfolio of books exploring what it takes to create successful democratic nation-building--From German to Iraq (as the subtitle notes). It is also one of the better volumes among such works.

The RAND report goes into considerable detail, providing an operational definition of democratic nation building by looking at the commonalities in seven such interventions (Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan). The report seeks to establish those factors associated with success or failure. Among those linked to success were the use of force "to underpin a process of democratization" (Page 1), occupation, peace enforcement, stabilization, and reconstruction. Success is (Page 2) ". . .the ability to promote an enduring transfer of democratic institutions."

The RAND report suggests a number of prerequisites, including military presence over time by the occupying country, international police presence over time, reducing postconflict combat-related deaths, timing of elections, dealing with refugees and internally displaced persons, initial external assistance, external per capita assistance, external assistance as a meaningful percentage of GDP, and changes in per capita GDP. This obviously entails a commitment to provide substantial resources to the redevelopment effort, to be willing to invest considerable time to nation building, to make sure that appropriate security arrangements are made. In short, the process cannot successfully be done quickly or "on the cheap."

Unhappily, the conclusions of this book--if accurate--surely raise questions about the ultimate success of the American involvement in Iraq.

For the interested reader and the expert.......2004-08-11

This is one kind of pre-war analysis for post-war Iraq that the Bush administration is accused of ignoring. (Iraq-specific background is the other.) Indeed, the back cover attributes to CPA head Paul Bremer, "...a marvelous how-to manual...I have kept a copy handy...since my arrival in Baghdad."

The book uses seven case studies in search of lessons for post-conflict reconstruction: Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Each case study examines the challenges (security, humanitarian, civil admin, democratization, and reconstruction), the U.S. and international roles, what happened, and lessons learned.

Overall conclusions include: of the many variables, the level of effort in time, manpower and money is perhaps most important; security must precede reform; political reform needs to be "legitimized" by economic growth; there are tradeoffs between multilateral and unilateral efforts; and having good neighbors helps.

These conclusions are not earth-shattering, but the comparative effort is useful in itself and the lessons ought to have been helpful in Iraq. Compare this book with Orr's Winning the Peace (CSIS, 2004).

Excellent Policy Analysis with Congenital Defect.......2003-11-04

This book present an excellent policy analysis of USA-led enforced democratization. Based on historic-comparative study of seven such cases (Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosova and Afghanistan), striking policy recommendations are derived on military and police presence over time, humanitarian help, economic reconstruction, building of civil society, holding of elections and more, as as to maximize success in democratization. In all these respects the book is outstanding, in terms of method and substance alike, as is to be expected from a RAND Corporation study. However, the book also demonstrates a widespread cultural blinder of USA policy thinking, namely underrating of cultural factors and over-optimism in respect to making the world democratic. Paradigmatic is the following statement, put forth without any reservations (on page 204) "democracy is transferable to non-Western...societies", followed by a definite statement that "there is no reason why Iraq cannot be democratized and establish democratic institutions and a pluralist polity". Little wonder that this frame of thinking, as applied in the book to Iraq, failed to foresee, at least as a contingency, what is now happening there, the idea of persistent and increasingly effective armed resistance against USA and other Western "democratizisers" after "victory" not being taken serious enough. If what is probably the best strategic Think Tank in the USA suffers from such misunderstanding of realities that do not fit into Western perceptions of "the other", there is much that USA policy makers and policy planners have to learn so as to enable the leading country of the West to fulfill is increasingly crucial role as the leading guardian of Western civilization and security.

Understanding the CISG in the USA: A Compact Guide to the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

Average customer rating:

Understanding the CISG in the USA: A Compact Guide to the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
Joseph Lookofsky
Manufacturer: Kluwer Law International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Commercial | Business | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 9041122974

Book Description

The Convention for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) establishes substantive new rules for international contracts. This book fills the need for a compact, yet informative, guide to the CISG. By comparison and contrast to the UCC, the author explains the CISG in terms familiar to American lawyers.

Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation

Average customer rating:

One informative and great read.
Very Insighful
Timely and informative
There's a World Out There We Don't Know About
I learned a LOT from this book...

Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation
Joseph Hallinan
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Law Enforcement | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

The Society of Captives: A Study of a Maximum Security Prison (Princeton Classic Editions)
Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice
Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America's Prisons (Prentice Hall Paperback)
Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor
The Killing of Bonnie Garland: A Question of Justice

ASIN: 0812968441
Release Date: 2003-07-08

Amazon.com

Imagine a prison built "not because it was needed but because it was wanted--by politicians who thought it would bring them votes, by voters who hoped it would bring them jobs, and by a corrections establishment that no longer believed in correction." In exploring America's prison system--a system that holds more inmates than any other country in the world--Joseph Hallinan discovered that crime was big business. Further, he writes, "Few people complain. Prisons are tremendous public works projects, throwing off money as a wet dog throws off water."

In Going up the River, Hallinan comprehensively chronicles America's prisons, investigating how prison authority has passed from hard-nosed wardens to the federal court system, a change that simultaneously improved the treatment of prisoners while making inmate rehabilitation and safety more difficult to attain. He also addresses the prison boom: facilities quickly built for economic reasons, resulting in poor prison conditions and a system "so lucrative its founders have become rich men." This immense financial gain is ironically juxtaposed with the fact that most people view prisons as a terrible waste of money.

Hallinan also relays the stories of current wardens, guards, inmates, and even townspeople living in the shadow of a prison. He also focuses on the many challenges prisoners face, including gangs, fighting, and rape, as well as the sensitivity of controversial issues such as conjugal visits. The book makes obvious that America's prison system is in disarray, though neither the source nor the solution can be easily isolated. Hallinan does not offer answers or personal opinions; instead, he presents all angles and leaves the reader to consideration. --Jacque Holthusen

Book Description

The American prison system has grown tenfold in thirty years, while crime rates have been relatively flat: 2 million people are behind bars on any given day, more prisoners than in any other country in the world — half a million more than in Communist China, and the largest prison expansion the world has ever known. In Going Up The River, Joseph Hallinan gets to the heart of America’s biggest growth industry, a self-perpetuating prison-industrial complex that has become entrenched without public awareness, much less voter consent. He answers, in an extraordinary way, the essential question: What, in human terms, is the price we pay? He has looked for answers to that question in every corner of the “prison nation,” a world far off the media grid — the America of struggling towns and cities left behind by the information age and desperate for jobs and money. Hallinan shows why the more prisons we build, the more prisoners we create, placating everyone at the expense of the voiceless prisoners, who together make up one of the largest migrations in our nation’s history.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

One informative and great read........2007-07-28

Joseph Hallinan's book manages to be even handed in examining the prison culture and industry in our nation. Instead of taking a tempting tangent into the sociopolitical realm, Hallinan for the most part stays true to his investigative roots. While some of the material may not be new to those that have studied criminology or sociology, there is enough meat in the book to satisfy those in that arena. Hallian does a difficult task of informing the uninitiated as well as giving those within the aforementioned disciples something to chew on. With respect to building our way (prisons) as a means for a more effective criminal justice system, we may very well be beyond the point of no return. Hallinan's book only underscores the pandering and lack of true political will that has led to our prison nation.

Very Insighful.......2007-03-11

This is a very well written, insightful text on our "prison industrial complex." As a corrections professional, I am quite skeptical of the constant onslaught of prison-bashing books, citing the various incompetencies and underlying corruption inherent in many departments of correction. Hallinen's writing style makes for an easy read, almost like reading a novel. The book is full of personal interest stories and minimizes the use of statistics. I recommend this book to anyone interested in corrections, and certainly to policy-makers at the state level.

Timely and informative.......2006-11-02

Reads like a novel. As the United States becomes more and more of a prison nation, exporting the culture of incarceration around the globe, prison studies should become a bonafide topic of study in colleges and even high schools, and this inside glimpse should be one of the assigned readings.

There's a World Out There We Don't Know About.......2006-06-20

To me this book is sort of a Prisons 101 type book. For those of us who , fortunately, don't know much about the current prison system in the US it is very eye opening. For instance, I had no idea how many private prisons there are and how they have become an industry. We have reached the point that there are many people in the US with a vested economic interest in locking up more of 'em and keeping 'em there. Also, the author visits several prisons in small white rural towns with mostly black and Hispanic prisoners. Here again the prisons are about jobs in the community rather than rehabilitating prisoners ( Great line in the book, someone says rehabilitation doesn't work because you cannot rehabilitate someone who has never been habilitated ).

I was somewhat disappointed that the author, after having documented a lot of real world situations, didn't have any more suggestions for improving the whole mess. The book just sort of ended with the author saying he saw only a couple of approaches that boded well for the future. Left me somewhat depressed with it all.

I learned a LOT from this book..........2005-11-09

Fascinating book about the history, the sociology, conditions, traditions, etc. on US prisons. Very, very interesting. The author is a self-professed 'prison buff.'

I learned an awful lot from this book. I didn't realize how big of an industry prison actually is. Inmates make everything from the stereotypical license plate to clothing for regular people! Industries sometimes fight to have their business put in a prison. Food and toiletry industries, among others, compete for the prisons' business. And I was completely not aware of the fact that there are PRIVATE prisons in the US. Private prisons, not run by the state or the government, prisons that are there to make people money. Convicts are now a business. Amazing what this world has come to.

Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations

Average customer rating:

Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations
Michael W. Doyle , and Nicholas Sambanis
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

At War's End: Building Peace after Civil Conflict
The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power
The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations (Vintage)
The United Nations, Peace and Security: From Collective Security to the Responsibility to Protect
Contemporary Conflict Resolution, 2nd edition

ASIN: 069112275X

Book Description

Making War and Building Peace examines how well United Nations peacekeeping missions work after civil war. Statistically analyzing all civil wars since 1945, the book compares peace processes that had UN involvement to those that didn't. Michael Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis argue that each mission must be designed to fit the conflict, with the right authority and adequate resources. UN missions can be effective by supporting new actors committed to the peace, building governing institutions, and monitoring and policing implementation of peace settlements. But the UN is not good at intervening in ongoing wars. If the conflict is controlled by spoilers or if the parties are not ready to make peace, the UN cannot play an effective enforcement role. It can, however, offer its technical expertise in multidimensional peacekeeping operations that follow enforcement missions undertaken by states or regional organizations such as NATO. Finding that UN missions are most effective in the first few years after the end of war, and that economic development is the best way to decrease the risk of new fighting in the long run, the authors also argue that the UN's role in launching development projects after civil war should be expanded.

A Century of International Adjudication - The Rule of Law and its Limits

Average customer rating:

A Century of International Adjudication - The Rule of Law and its Limits
Jean Allain
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Air & Space | Specialties | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Reference | Law Practice | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 9067041254

Book Description

Jean Allain analyzes the first century of the evolution of international adjudication as a permanent fixture of the international society. Allain demonstrates the various limitations to effective adjudication through a case-study approach that examines specific international courts. He reveals that the rule of law can be effectively implemented internationally if states so desire, and maintains that their intransigence, over the last century, has limited the rule of law on the international level.

Neutrality and International Sanctions: Sweden, Switzerland, and Collective Security

Average customer rating:

Neutrality and International Sanctions: Sweden, Switzerland, and Collective Security
John F.L. Ross
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Law | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

Reference | Law | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0275933490

Book Description

Ross here presents a comparative historical study of European neutrality policy with special reference to the problem posed to neutral countries by the imposition of international collective sanctions. The study takes the form of an extended and detailed comparative examination of Swedish and Swiss responses to the League of Nation's embargo against Italy in 1935-36 and the United Nation's sanctions against Rhodesia in 1965-79. Through this analysis, the author explores how and why Swedish and Swiss policies toward sanctions have differed over time and what these differences reveal about neutrality policy in general, particularly in relation to collective security actions taken by international organizations. An ideal supplemental text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in comparative politics, international relations, and international organization, this volume will also be of significant benefit to policymakers interested in reviewing past sanctions cases as a guidepost for determining the feasibility of similar operations in the future. The book is distinguished by its broad historical approach and by its close comparison of the two countries--not only in terms of their sanctions policies but also in terms of their domestic political structures and individual overall formulations of neutrality policy. Ross demonstrates that despite the many background similarities between Sweden and Switzerland, the two states have differed substantially in their responses to sanctions operations. He analyzes the reasons for these differences, challenging traditionally held views that characterize Sweden's policies as changeable and Switzerland's as consistent. Finally, Ross identifies seven explanatory factors, derived from the four case studies, which can be used to determine how other source states--both neutral and non-neutral--might respond to future cases of sanctions.

The Beast on the East River: The UN Threat to America's Sovereignty and Security

Average customer rating:

Emerging Suprapower
BEAST ON THE EAST RIVER a must read for every American
Shelby
Find a better book
Awesome

The Beast on the East River: The UN Threat to America's Sovereignty and Security
Nathan Tabor
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World
The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion
Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror
Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America

ASIN: 1595550534

Book Description

In his debut book, rising conservative voice Nathan Tabor offers a frightening expose of the United Nations' global power grab and its ruthless attempt to control U.S. education, law, gun ownership, taxation, and population control.

Customer Reviews:

Emerging Suprapower.......2007-10-21

"Beast on the East River" is a thought-provoking book for anyone who appreciates their constitutional freedoms guaranteed by American national sovereignty. "Beast" examines the progressive steps the UN and its agencies have already taken, which threaten US sovereignty and ultimately the personal freedoms of every American citizen. It describes the rise of an unaccountable World Court capable of nabbing any individual; the largest land grab in the history of man, through the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST); and the gradual shift of power to forces unfriendly to the United States. It is alarming. A must-read for every American citizen.

BEAST ON THE EAST RIVER a must read for every American.......2007-09-10

I ordered Nathon Tabor's BEAST ON THE EAST RIVER when I found myself embroiled in a fight to stop World Heritage Site designation of White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico's Otero County. I didn't know much more about the U.N. than what I read in the news; and most of that was unfavorable. I was uneasy about having the U.N. as a neighbor to White Sands Missile Range and Holloman AFB, as well as to Alamogordo, NM and Otero County, NM. I became involved with other residents opposed to the WHS designation in our county. As I researched the U.N., Tabor's book surfaced. The BEAST ON THE EAST RIVER gave us understanding on how UNESCO works and gave us direction in exposing the diminishing creeping effects of WHS buffer zones and pooling American sovereignty with international law. Many thanks to Nathon Tabor for writing this book. I'll buy him lunch if he ever comes to Alamogordo.

Bruce in Alamogordo, NM.

Shelby.......2007-05-13

Thought provoking and ties into the "Left Behind Series" regarding one ruler of the world. I had a hard time putting the book down. I would recommend that everybody read this book.

Find a better book.......2007-01-15

At risk of someone rating this comment "unhelpful" (the horror!) I will make one thing clear: I am familiar with the argument that Nathan Tabor presents in this book. I even considered buying it until I saw Mr. Tabor on C-SPAN. After watching him for half an hour, it immediately became clear that he really does have "the intellect of a 9th grader," as another review puts it.

Don't get me wrong, there is a case to be made against the United Nations--it is often a weak, feckless body that puts state sovereignty ahead of human rights. No organization that gives so much credence to serial abusers like Russia and China can be taken seriously all of the time. Nevertheless, Mr. Tabor's arguments are stale and superficial.

He spent most of his time on the program I was watching railing against World Heritage Sites, a program that declares certain cultural icons landmarks, and seeks to protect them from modification. (There are about a dozen such sites in the United States, including the Everglades.) Then he went down a war path about the UN campaign to control the trade of small arms to African dictators. He claims the UN wants to take away the firearms of American gun owners, essentially scrapping the second amendment. He does not present any evidence to support this view, and from what I've read in major newspapers, there's little evidence he could present anyway. (To those who disagree, I ask you this: If the UN wanted to take away our guns, how could they do so? They're too weak.)

There are better books for learning about the UN, regardless of your current opinion of the organization. Paranoid crap like this just gets in the way of real debate.

Awesome.......2006-12-28

With the risk being labeled a "raging right-wing paranoid with the intellect of a 9th grader", I want to publicly say this book is great. Shockingly honest and upfront, Nathan tells it how it is. You can take the facts and make your own opinion. I have found nothing in the book to be false or misleading. It is a very captivating read leaving you wondering what you can do to help keep the US a sovereign nation.

Read it, you won't regret it.

Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms: Making Kyoto Work

Average customer rating:

Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms: Making Kyoto Work

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

Environmental & Natural Resources Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Environmental & Natural Resources Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Climate Trading: Development of Greenhouse Gas Markets (Finance and Capital Markets)
Carbon Finance: The Financial Implications of Climate Change (Wiley Finance)

ASIN: 0199279616

Book Description

The first protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in Kyoto in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. It is a unique international law instrument which sets legally binding targets for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. The targets are unprecedented in an environmental agreement and will involve substantial financial commitment in virtually all industrialized country parties to the protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is also the first international agreement to include economic instruments which are designed to involve private sector entities and assist parties to meet their targets. These economic instruments, known as the Kyoto or flexible mechanisms, are Joint Implementation (JI), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and International Emissions Trading. The Kyoto Protocol defined these mechanisms but did not set out the details necessary for their operation. After protracted negotiations, detailed rules were finalized at the Seventh Session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties held in Marrakech in 2001. The Marrakech Accords run to almost 250 pages but still leave many important practical issues unaddressed. As the 2008-2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol draws close more and more projects under CDM and JI are being developed to take advantage of the Kyoto mechanisms and the key issues and problems are now becoming more apparent. Drawing on the emerging body of expertise in this complex area, this book conveys a knowledge of what is becoming known as 'Carbon Finance'. It thereby aims to contribute to the development of the market for carbon emission reductions - one of the objectives of the Kyoto mechanisms.

The Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices

Average customer rating:

An admirable effort, but not engaging
Callous disregard of the vistims
Not proven

The Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices
Elazar Barkan
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Human Rights | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence
Breaking the Cycles of Hatred: Memory, Law, and Repair
Taking Responsibility for the Past: Reparation and Historical Injustice
Unspeakable Truths: Facing the Challenges of Truth Commissions
When Sorry Isn't Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (Critical American Series)

ASIN: 0801868076

Book Description

How do nations and aggrieved parties, in the wake of heinous crimes and horrible injustices, make amends in a positive way to acknowledge wrong-doings and redefine future interactions? How does the growing practice of making restitution restore a sense of morality and enhance prospects for world peace? Where has restitution worked and where has it not?

Since the end of World War II, the victims of historical injustices and crimes against humanity have increasingly turned to restitution, financial and otherwise, as a means of remedying past suffering. In The Guilt of Nations, Elazar Barkan offers a sweeping look at the idea of restitution and its impact on the concept of human rights and the practice of both national and international politics. Through in-depth explorations of reparation demands for a wide variety of past wrongs -- the Holocaust; Japanese enslavement of "comfort women" in Korea and the Philippines; the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor; German art in Russian museums and Nazi gold in Swiss banks; the oppression of indigenous peoples in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. mainland, and Hawaii; and the enduring legacy of slavery and institutional racism among African Americans -- Barkan confronts the difficulties in determining victims and assigning blame in the aftermath of such events, understanding what might justly be restored through restitutions, and assessing how these morally and politically charged acknowledgments of guilt can redefine national histories and identities.

Customer Reviews:

An admirable effort, but not engaging.......2001-11-05

I hesitate to write a review of this book because I am reluctant to critique a very noble and dilligent effort by Barkan to document reparations movements and issues from throughout the world; I can only imagine the time and effort it took to write this. It's very well documented, and I cited it in my research. I just didn't find it very engaging personally, but that doesn't mean that others won't find it meaningful.

Callous disregard of the vistims.......2001-03-09

"Those who love to feel guilty will applaud the book." How cynical! I'd have let it pass if it weren't for the "17 of 20 people (who) found the following review (by Derek Parker) helpful." Parker, like most white Australians, is totally into denial that the genocide started by invaders 213 years ago is the one and only cause for the abject state of the indigenous peoples who have not ceded sovereignty. Nine out of 10 were wiped out by slaughter, starvation, disease and dispersal from their lands. Massacres were still happening within the life spans of present-day parents and grandparents. Indigenous Australians live 20 years less on average than other people in the country. I could bore you with endless statistics testifying to the continuing devastation of Australia's First Peoples through the ongoing white war on them: deprival of education, health care, jobs, 20 times the normal imprisonment rate, etc., etc. What Parker obviously doesn't like is that the tyranny of distance no longer works and White Australia's crimes are more and more in the world spotlight, including in this book. Australia is getting plenty of stick in international bodies for not living up to human rights agreements it has signed up to. The issue is if not the biggest, then one of the biggest on the national agenda. Parker and his camp would be yelling loudest if present-day Germans were to shirk their responsibility for restitution to the Jews. Yet to him Australian perpetrators are sacrosanct. Parker alleges that "Barkan acts as if there are no difficult questions at all" in regard to the Aborigines, and "Largely, he accepts the claims put forward by the wronged group, dismissing contrary arguments." I would like Parker to back his claims that Barkan's "selection of evidence seems so one-sided as to almost be misleading" and that he's made a "number of straightforward errors." In my view, Barkan, as a non-Australian, has a remarkably accurate take on our country. "He seems to assume that the fact that someone has been wronged makes anything they say automatically correct." - Barkan does not. To speak of a "victim/victimiser methodology" is callous disregard of the pain our indigenous people still suffer and a vicious panning of those who empathize with them. "There are important issues of human dignity here." - You bet! Yet the Australian government is refusing to allow various United Nations human rights sub-bodies into the country to investigate. "How much responsibility can be placed on the shoulders of people who might well have been ignorant, or even born after, the wrongdoing?" - So we don't attone or restitute in any way once our parents and grandparents are no more? Tough luck for those suffering among us if our ancestors wronged theirs? If we're living off the fat of an invasion, and those invaded still suffer the after-effects? "The case he discusses where, in Australia in the 1960s, half-caste Aboriginal children were removed from their families and placed in (white) foster homes is a case in point. It now seems wrong, but at the time was done with benevolent intent." - The stealing of children went on for more than a hundred years. The plan was to "breed the colour out" of the indigenous people, not some benevolent intent. How can removing children from extended families by force ever be benevolent? Merely on the pretext that a traditional lifestyle did not fit in with the growing white settler population's idea of how one had to live? "Historical injustice deserves a great book." - and a better review than Mr. Parker's. "The Guilt of Nations" is good stuff. Hopefully it will reach many readers and put Australia's deniers on notice that more and more of the world is watching.

Not proven.......2000-07-07

Barkan has to be commended, at least, for taking on a huge subject: the attempts of groups, seen increasingly over the past quarter-century, who have been the victims of government policies and wrongdoing to seek recognition and redress. The Guilt of Nations has introductory and concluding sections that thoughtfully discuss the issues involved, trying to establish a general framework. Philosophically and practically, it's a tough subject. There is, in liberal societies, an ongoing tension between individual and group rights, and limits on government resources. The particular circumstances of the wrongdoing also have to be examined. Barkan, as a means of illustrating the problems, looks at the post-war restitution by Germany to Jews; and, in a concluding section, examines the difficulty of compensating Black Americans for slavery. These parts of the book are well-considered and well-argued. The problem of The Guilt of Nations lies with the case studies that make up the middle section of the book, especially in the chapters dealing with indigenous groups. Here, Barkan acts as if there are no difficult questions at all. Largely, he accepts the claims put forward by the wronged group, dismissing contrary arguments. Indeed, in the chapter on Aboriginal issues in Australia ( a subject this reviewer happens to know something about ) his selection of evidence seems so one-sided as to almost be misleading. There is (in this same chapter) a number of straightforward errors that make one wonder whether his agenda is not more important to Barkan (who is an academic historian) than the facts. He seems to assume that the fact that someone has been wronged makes anything they say automatically correct. This is not to say that victims should be blamed for what might have happened to them: it is to say that human events can be much more complicated than a victim/victimiser methodology. This is a great pity, because there are important issues of human dignity here. The cases of the "comfort women" used by the Japanese army in World War II and the internment of Japanese-Americans by the US government in 1942 are undeniably affecting, especially insofar as a recognition of the wrong done to them was more important to those involved than monetary compensation. Yet Barkan, in what seems to be a rush to condemn the perpetrators (as he refers to those he doesn't like) seems to miss a crucial dilemma: how much responsibility can be placed on the shoulders of people who might well have been ignorant, or even born after, the wrongdoing? (Actually, Barkan does mention this question. But he doesn't answer it in a meaningful form; he sort of assumes it away.) There is another question he skips around: to what extent can the morality of 2000 being applied to quite different social circumstances? True, there are cases where evil is so obvious as to have no defence in circumstances; equally, there are cases where what now seems wrong seemed right, even necessary, at the time. The case he discusses where, in Australia in the 1960s, half-caste Aboriginal children were removed from their families and placed in (white) foster homes is a case in point. It now seems wrong, but at the time was done with benevolent intent. It might have been wrong, but it cannot be called evil if evil requires intent. But Barkan fails to makes such a distinction, and does not even seem interested in trying. Historical injustice deserves a great book. The Guilt of Nations isn't it. Parts of it have interesting things to say, but it veers between seriousness and silliness. Those who love to feel guilty will applaud the book. The rest of us will, and should, treat it with caution.

A Different Kind of War: The UN Sanctions Regime in Iraq

Average customer rating:

A real look at what went wrong

A Different Kind of War: The UN Sanctions Regime in Iraq
Hans. C. Von Sponeck
Manufacturer: Berghahn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
Interventions (City Lights Open Media)
The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East

ASIN: 1845452224

Customer Reviews:

A real look at what went wrong.......2007-03-19

Hans Von Sponeck was the last UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator in Iraq under the Oil for Food Program before the US invasion. the job of coordinator is, under any circumstances, a thankless one and Von Sponeck ultimately resigned. Written by a competent career development assistance adminsistrator for the UN Development Programme, A Different Kind of War is a highly thoughtful appraisal of what Von Sponeck saw and, more importantly, what he learned. He describes the management problems of a poltical program with multiple and, ironically, uncoordinated parts. but more importantly, he questions the efficacy (and the morality) of using sanctions as a means for enforcing political decisions in the complex multilateral environment of the 21st century. The book should be required reading for anyone concerned with the future role of the UN -- as both the Security Council as the intergovernmental decision-maker and the international public sector as the implementor of those pollicies.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books