Book Description
He called it one of the hardest things he ever did - as difficult as leading the D-Day invasion. When Dwight Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock to integrate Central High School in September 1957, he couldn't know that he was fighting the last great battle of his career...one that would change forever both him and his country. This is the story of how one of America's greatest leaders confronted America's greatest sin. This is the unlikely tale of how Ike became a civil rights president.
Ike's Final Battle represents a revolution in scholarship on Eisenhower and civil rights. Though not uncritical, the book credits his steady personal advance on the issue as well as his accomplishments in the military and as president.
Drawing on thousands of primary documents (including newly released material), Ike's Final Battle builds to its climax at Little Rock - one of the most pivotal events of the civil rights movement. Little Rock is at the epicenter, but the book will also look at the cause, and the aftermath.
* With the 50th Anniversary of Little Rock approaching in 2007, the timing is perfect. This is the last priceless nugget of civil rights history.
* The book draws on thousands of newly released documents, many never before made public.
* This is the first book on the subject in 25 years. It disproves the claim that that Ike didn't care about civil rights.
From The Wall Street Journal
D-Day in Little Rock, A Civil-Rights Showdown
By FRED BARNES, March 8, 2007
In spring 1954, as the Supreme Court was deliberating on Brown v. Board of Education, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Chief Justice Earl Warren to a stag dinner at the White House. He seated Warren at the same table as John W. Davis, the lawyer who had argued against school desegregation before the court. Eisenhower proceeded to tell the chief justice what a "great man" Davis was.
As it happened, Eisenhower had authorized his Justice Department to file an amicus brief in the case opposing Davis and public-school segregation. And he specifically allowed his solicitor general, Lee Rankin, to tell the justices during oral argument that "separate but equal" schools were unconstitutional. Yet he sympathized with the segregated South. "These are not bad people," he told Warren at the dinner. "All they are concerned about is to see that their sweet little girls are not required to sit in school alongside some big, overgrown Negroes." Warren was appalled.
To put it kindly, Eisenhower was ambivalent on civil rights. "Conservative by nature, he hoped that the advance of the civil rights movement would be gradual, allowing time for the South to change," writes Kasey S. Pipes in "Ike's Final Battle." Most of all, Eisenhower didn't want to lead a civil-rights crusade from the White House. "The only crusade he had ever wanted to lead was liberating Europe in World War II," Mr. Pipes says.
But when necessary -- or when steps toward desegregation were relatively painless -- Eisenhower acted. He broke the color barrier in the military by deploying black soldiers alongside whites to win the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. As president, he integrated the schools and movie theaters in Washington, D.C., and federal installations around the country. Most important, he sent U.S. Army troops to Little Rock, Ark., in September 1957 to escort nine black students into Central High School after days of violent protest. It was a defeat from which segregationist forces never recovered.
"Little Rock represented something else as well: the culmination of Eisenhower's own attitude toward racial justice," Mr. Pipes writes. "Ike had enjoyed the luxury of endorsing civil rights in broad terms, knowing full well that much of segregation law was a state and local matter. Little Rock ended that."
Two days after the Army troops arrived in Little Rock, Eisenhower decided to address the nation on prime-time television. This surprised his attorney general, Herbert Brownell, who had been prodding Eisenhower for years to act more boldly on civil rights. The president wrote most of the speech himself, including a passage, suggested by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, arguing that violent opposition to racial integration was weakening America's influence and prestige in the world.
In the speech, Eisenhower lauded the desegregation efforts of other Southern communities and their willingness to comply with federal law. This was a new tack for the president, who had refused to endorse Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court's decision declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional. Nor had he denounced the murder of Emmett Till by racist thugs in Mississippi in 1955, despite pleas by the teenage boy's mother.
"He feared that moralizing from the bully pulpit would raise not only awareness, but also the collective blood pressure of the South," Mr. Pipes writes. "He saw no point in riling an already angry population. . . . To put it bluntly, Eisenhower had little interest in trying to change the minds of millions of Southerners."
But he had learned a lesson from Little Rock. His view had been, as Mr. Pipes puts it, that "segregationists and civil rights advocates were cut from the same cloth." In his dealings with Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus, he learned otherwise.
Faubus betrayed Eisenhower. In the midst of the Little Rock crisis -- as Arkansas's National Guard was blocking the nine black students from Central High -- Faubus had agreed to meet the president in Newport, R.I. At the end of their 20-minute talk, Faubus gave the president the clear impression that he would change the National Guard's orders, requiring it to protect the black students as they entered Central High. But Faubus didn't follow through. Eisenhower felt double-crossed and told Brownell: "You were right. Faubus broke his word." The president then took the next step, dispatching the 101st Airborne.
Mr. Pipes is not a professional historian. He is a public-relations consultant and speechwriter who worked in the Bush White House from 2002 to 2005. But he has written a highly readable and credible account of Eisenhower's struggle with race and civil rights. While sympathetic, he doesn't sugarcoat Eisenhower's qualms about desegregation or excuse his unwillingness to move decisively before Little Rock.
Eisenhower famously regretted his appointment of Earl Warren as chief justice. (Warren served in that role from 1953 to 1969.) Warren confronted Eisenhower about the president's feelings toward him when they flew together to Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965. Eisenhower explained that it was Warren's liberal rulings on national security that had upset him. He didn't mention Brown v. Board of Education, and understandably so: Years earlier Eisenhower had told an aide, privately, that he thought the Brown decision was wrong; by 1965, he had concluded that it was right.
Customer Reviews:
Pipes extracts the true Eisenower regarding civil rights.......2007-07-05
This book is a fast 300 pg. narrative on Eisenhower's nuanced positions regarding civil rights. The nuance is not whether equal rights for African Americans were right vs. wrong, but instead Eisenhower's struggle on how best to protect the rights of these Americans against the prejudice of southern conservatives who controlled the southern states and the relevant committees of the Senate.
Pipes begins with Eisenhower's experiences and contributions to the cause of equal rights in the military and ends in his retirement, with the climax happening 2/3 of the way through the book when Ike sends federal troops to Little Rock, AK to defend the right of African American students to attend a whites-only public school in spite of a bigoted governor who sends the national guard to keep them out. The book finishes with reflections on his contributions looking back from the time of Kennedy and LBJ moving the ball forward even further.
Pipes provides an incredibly fair report on President Eisenhower's policy positions and actions given the frequent opaqueness of his position depending on the situation and the company he was keeping. Many have attempted to paint Ike as a racist political opportunist or a courageous leader of the civil rights movement, with both positions given to hyperbole. Instead, Pipes portrays a man who respects majoritarian positions while realizing in his heart the wrongness of institutionalized bigotry even though Eisenhower, a man of his time, shares some prejudicial beliefs. The struggle for Eisenhower is often how to move the majority to his position without his having to depend on fiery rhetoric to change hearts and minds.
While Eisenhower was never a die-hard politico, he left the GOP with a wonderful legacy inherent in republicanism as a form of government instituted in 1787. Reading this book in 2007 shows how far the current majority of Republicans have mutated away from the principles of republicanism and Eisenhower, mostly due to the Southern Conservative Democrats who emigrated to the party after LBJ signed the Democratic party up to support civil rights as a party platform plank and due to his passing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts being the current majority within the party and their shunting aside traditional Republicans from the North.
Pipes only flaw in the book, so minor it's not worth knocking down a star, is a weak-hearted to attempt to define Eisenhower as a conservative even though all empirical evidence in the book and other studies on Eisenhower provide ample evidence that he was a moderate who "got it" regarding our founding ideal of republicanism that limits government power and that our liberty comes through each of us individually reserving our rights along with Eisenhower's actions following the examples of previous Republican presidents using federal power to protect individual and minority rights (e.g., Madison, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt).
An extensive bibliography, notes, and an index round out this welcome addition to American history shelves........2007-06-10
Written by former Bush White House worker Kasey S. Pipes, Ike's Final Battle: the Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality is the amazing and unlikely true story of how Dwight D. Eisenhower became a civil rights president. Chronicling the landmark desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, which forced a historical confrontation between state and federal authorities and set an engraved precedent that the federal government would intervene for the sake of racial justice if necessary, Ike's Final Battle meticulously recounts events in unfolding detail, with an inset section of black-and-white photographic plates. An extensive bibliography, notes, and an index round out this welcome addition to American history shelves.
Ike's Struggle.......2007-05-29
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! It tells President Eisenhower's story very well, and it kept my interest throughout the narrative.
Pipes' thesis, that Eisenhower went through a significant "struggle within himself" about his belief in civil rights (requiring significant social change) and majority rule (which did not support significant social change at that time), is also well argued. I especially appreciate the honesty in which the author tells Ike's story, including his strengths and weaknesses.
Also, Pipes does an excellent job of noting the number of significant Republican policy makers who were strong advocates of civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s.
While I think everyone will benefit from reading this book, it especially should be read by all Republican office holders and candidates, today.
Outstanding.......2007-04-24
This is a very readable book from an outstanding young author. He gives an insight to Ike that most people don't remember. I can't wait for his next book!
A Good Man's Inner Stuggle .......2007-04-23
This is a very well written, highly engaging book about Eisenhower's inner struggle with racial equality. Generally, historians give President Eisenhower low grades for his handling of civil rights: too slow, too reticent, no vision or leadership. But this was not Ike's way, Kasey Pipes argues. He was a conservative, 19th century man who believed in low-key, incremental progress, in changing people's minds before changing laws. As a military man, he was taught to manage problems, not lead a revolution. The only crusade he was prepared to lead, Pipes says, was the one that liberated Europe.
Ike did boldly effect change where he could: giving African-Americans a combat role during the Battle of the Bulge, desegrating Washington DC as well as military bases in the South. These progressive moves were often made with little fanfare, as Ike believed (probably correctly) publicity would simply stir up a backlash of opposition. However, when the Big Test came at Little Rock, in 1957, he passed with flying colors, sending in the 101st Airborne. Indeed, Pipes observes, Ike's performance at Little Rock compares favorably with President Kennedy's five years later at Ole Miss. (There were no major casualties at Little Rock versus hundreds at Ole Miss).
Pipes, a Republican speechwriter, is a gifted wordsmith, and his first book has a brisk narrative pace. A terrific read.
Book Description
"Let me say that this book is one of the most comprehensive works on the matter that I have ever had the pleasure of reading."
—Timothy N. Cash,
STG Safety & Security Institute
In the same dynamic spirit as the prior edition, the
Second Edition of
Understanding Terrorism:
Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues continues to
provide students with an interesting, accessible and comprehensive exploration of contemporary terrorism. This new edition is completely updated to offer the most recent theories and cases related to terrorist activity and efforts to combat terrorism over the last three years.
New to the Second Edition:
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Offers a new chapter on religious terrorism: Because religious terrorism has become so prominent in the world today, it is important for readers to investigate the different manifestations of religious violence. This new chapter evaluates the historical and modern origins, as well as the quality of religious terrorism to help students develop a contextual perspective on the modern era of religious violence.
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Includes coverage of cutting-edge issues: New material on gender-selective terrorism and the nexus between criminal enterprises and terrorist violence is provided to orient readers to these emerging topics and stimulate critical thinking. A consolidated chapter on ideological terrorism is also included, in which the causes of left-wing and right-wing terrorism are identified, as are the qualities of ideological violence.
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Provides updated pedagogy: Opening Viewpoints begin each chapter to express in human terms the roots and responses to terrorism.
All maps, tables, case studies, and Web exercises have been updated to help students better understand the concepts and issues presented within the text. In addition, more photos are used to help illustrate the violence caused by terrorist activity as well as provide visual context to other areas of the world and different time periods.
Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries!
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Instructor's Resource CD-ROM: provides test questions, maps from the book, and guidance on using Discussion Boxes
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Companion Web site at www.sagepub.com/Martin2Study containts
research articles focusing on terrorism that are useful to instructors and students alike for review and further research
Intended Audience:
This text is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Political Conflict in the fields of Criminal Justice, Political Science, Administration of Justice, Sociology, Public Administration, and Peace Studies; as well as for professionals, such as law enforcement, corporate, or other agency employees.
Customer Reviews:
Gravely Inadequate.......2007-07-29
"Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues," Second Edition, by C. Augustus "Gus" Martin, over 14 Chapters, addresses terrorism from multiple perspectives: the political right and left, state and non-state, religious and secular, criminal and non-criminal. Each chapter is supported by end notes and the book contains an appendix for maps, one for historical examples, and a glossary/index. There is no bibliography.
Chapter 6, "Violence in the Name of Faith: Religious Terrorism," pages 182-217 devotes a section to "Understanding Jihad as a Primary Religious Motive: An Observation and Caveat" which is covered on pages 187-188. Martin makes the following observations:
(1) "One such misunderstanding is the common belief that the concept of "holy war" is an underlying principle of the Islamic Faith. Another misunderstanding is that Muslims are united in supporting jihad. This is simplistic and fundamentally incorrect. Although the term "jihad" is widely presumed in the West to refer exclusively to waging war against nonbelievers, an Islamic jihad is not the equivalent to a Christian Crusade" p. 187.
(2) "It is permissible - and even a duty - to wage war to defend the faith against aggressors. Under this type of jihad warfare is conceptually defensive in nature; in contrast the Christian Crusades were conceptually offensive in nature" p. 188.
"Holy war" is not an underlying principle of Islam, but as a strategic theme within Islam, "jihad" is. Within the Koran, the Haddiths, and the Sunna, less than ten percent of the discussion is on the greater jihad (personal striving) while the remaining 90 percent is on the lesser jihad (warfighting). Martin fails to identify or discuss the combat, combat support and combat service support obligations of jihad contained in Islamic Law (the Koran, the Haddiths, and the Sunna) and clarified in Islamic legal texts such as "Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law" p. 599-605, "The Distinguished Jurist's Primer" (Vol 1 and 2) p. 454-487, and "Riyad-us-Saliheen" p. 976-1016.
Martin states that jihad is defensive while the Crusades were offensive. A reading of the above legal texts gives insight to the term "defensive." In war, unbelievers are offered three alternatives: Conversion, subjugation and payment of the jizya, or war. A refusal to submit is an offensive act and the resulting combat is, from the Islamic perspective, defensive. Martin fails to inform the reader of this key distinction and its implications.
With regard to the Crusades, Martin fails to tell the reader that the First Crusade was a delayed response to Islamic expansion and the capture by Islam of 1/3 of the Christian lands. Islam's strategic offense triggered Christianity's strategic defense: the First Crusade.
Martin states that "The Five Pillars are faith, prayer, zakat (alms or charity), fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the hajj (pilgrimage) to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for those who are able" p. 202. A check of the index fails to reveal a more substantive discussion on zakat that should have told the reader that there are eight categories of disbursement in zakat, three of which support jihad: Those fighting in the way of Allah; those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and travelers needing money. Of these three obligatory categories of disbursement, the most significant is "Those Fighting For Allah" which is defined by "Reliance of the Traveller", p.272, as "Those engaged in Islamic military operations for whom no salary has been allotted in the army roster; Given enough to suffice them for the operation even if affluent of: weapons, mounts, clothing, expenses, and for the duration of the journey, round trip, and the time they spend there. Current interpretation and practice has been to provide expenses in supporting such person's family during this period." Martin fails to explain to the reader that zakat (almsgiving in Islam) is an asymmetrical warfare funding mechanism.
The failure to more fully develop the discussion on jihad outlining the combat, combat support and combat service support obligations Islamic Law imposes on Muslims, the failure to carefully characterize and define the term "defensive" in the context of "defensive jihad", the failure to articulate the offensive expansion triggering the First Crusade, and the failure to fully explain the true nature of zakat (almsgiving) seriously undermine the value of "Understanding Terrorism" as a credible reference.
Terrorism and its history.......2007-07-07
This book is a terrific intro to terrorism and its history, but more than that it really depends on what you hope to achieve by reading this book. If this book has been assigned by a professor, you are on your way to a fundamental understanding of terrorism and its consequences, root causes, etc. If you are reading this book for leisure, with no lecture/seminar accompanying it, then it is a good read but not as worthwhile. I would recommend books by the pre-eminent scholars of terrorism like Bruce Hoffman, and his mentor Walter Lacquer.
An excellent purchase for both college-level reference holdings and for assigned reading for courses on social issues.......2006-05-21
The second updated edition of UNDERSTANDING TERRORISM: CHALLENGES, PERSPECTIVES, AND ISSUES is an excellent purchase for both college-level reference holdings and for assigned reading for college-level courses on social issues. Added here is a new chapter on religious terrorism, reviews of new material on gender terrorism and criminal businesses, updates on pedagogy, and a format which includes test questions, amps from the book, and more on both a CD-ROM and an accompanying web site. Plenty of examples from events around the world pepper surveys which cover the politics, economics, and social foundations of international terrorist experiences.
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch
Good and so-so information.......2005-06-10
Martin's book is a very detailed review, with examples, of alternative motivations and ideological orientation of 20th and 21st century terrorists. The web links and details about terrorist organizations are very good but the later chapters are a bit redundant. It is a fine primer on terrorism but his attempt to create typologies for all manner of information is less-than-successful because categories in later chapters are either overlapping or describe fairly minor points.
Book Description
Over the next half century, the human population, divided by culture and economics and armed with weapons of mass destruction, will expand to nearly 9 billion people. Abrupt climate change may throw the global system into chaos; China will emerge as a superpower; and Islamic terrorism and insurgency will threaten vital American interests. How can we understand these and other global challenges? Harm de Blij has a simple answer: by improving our understanding of the world's geography. In Why Geography Matters, de Blij demonstrates how geography's perspectives yield unique and penetrating insights into the interconnections that mark our shrinking world. Preparing for climate change, averting a cold war with China, defeating terrorism: all of this requires geographic knowledge. De Blij also makes an urgent call to restore geography to America's educational curriculum. He shows how and why the U.S. has become the world's most geographically illiterate society of consequence, and demonstrates the great risk this poses to America's national security. Peppering his writing with anecdotes from his own professional travels, de Blij provides an original treatise that is as engaging as it is eye opening. Casual or professional readers in areas such as education, politics, or national security will find themselves with a stimulating new perspective on geography as it continues to affect our world.
Customer Reviews:
Occasionally insightful, but generally uninspired.......2007-08-29
I would describe this book as the rambling--but occasionally insightful--musings of a thoughtful scholar. Unfortunately, many, if not most, of Blij's arguments are not made from a geographic perspective. For instance, his chapter on the European Union rambles on for page after page about the history of the EU from the European Coal and Steel Community, to the European Economic Community, to the European Community, and, finally, to the European Union. That's not to say that's not and interesting and important history lesson for people who are unfamiliar with EU history, but its not geographic! I was hoping for a book of theories explaining human events using reasoning built on spatial orientations or location. Why Geography Matters had some of that, but Blij could have, in my view, omitted much of the voluminous background information. Doing some would have made his book more concise and allowing his genuine insights to be featured more prominently.
And for what its worth, the book could have used a better editor. For instance, on p.160 it refers to "South Ossetia" as a Russian Republic instead of North Ossetia. I noticed a couple errors like this.
Perhaps, I would be more positive about this book if its last chapter hadn't been the low point. The chapter on Africa had absolutely nothing original to say (AIDS is bad, we need to do more to stop it; colonization and slavery were bad too; Africa has been plagued by bad leadership; etc.).
Important book.......2007-08-28
This is an exceptional and needed introduction to Geography and how it relates to world problems.
What we should have learned in school about the world..........2007-05-27
This is essential reading for anyone who should have a sound foundation of knowledge to back up one's social commentary, but doesn't. Geography can be understood and used to understand our world with great clarity. Everyone who watched Al Gore's movie should read this book if only to know that Harm de Blij has been explaining geographic issues for decades better than nearly anyone.
The US Department of Education needs to buy and issue a copy of this book to every teacher in America.
Very informative reading.......2007-05-13
This is definitely a quality work in the field of Geography with an emphasis on Politics i.e. GeoPolitics. However, it is important to point out a couple of incorrect facts I found while reading this work.
1. On page 190 we have the statement, "On an aircraft carrier off the coast of California, President Bush declared "mission accomplished.", regarding the war in Iraq. If you read the speech that President Bush gave, you will find that he never uttered the words "mission accomplished." The author just regurgitated this line from the biased print media i.e. The NYTimes, Time, Newsweek, etc... Intuitively, if you think about it, George Bush, assigns the mission to the military and after assigning the mission to the military he is not going to turn around and say good "mission accomplished. That is what the military's response, will be, to the President, after they have completed the mission. This is reflected by the fact that the military hung a banner up on the aircraft carrier that said "Mission Accomplished."
2. On pages 193-194 The author states. "The American invasion severly damaged the city, which was for months afterward, and remains as of this writing, without a reliable water supply, power, medical facilities, or schools." It is very true that much of the infrastructure in Iraq is severly damaged, but the author has tried to blame this on American firepower and it is simply not true. The precision guided weapons our U.S. forces utilized were excellent at avoiding collateral damage. The truth is more damning for the Saddam regime. THE INFRASTUCTURE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY 30 PLUS YEARS OF NEGLECT ON THE PART OF THE BAATH PARTY AND NOT AMERICAN MILITARY MIGHT. Also, the military planners who provided for getting the infrastructure back online, after the war, grossly underestimated the level of the existing infrastructure of Iraq, before the U.S. military even set foot inside the country.
Overall I recommend this work, but it cannot be given five stars due to these errors.
Debunking the global warming myth!.......2007-03-08
This is an excellent book based on scientific fact debunking the "global warming" myth.
I highly recommend this book.
Book Description
Showing clearly why traditional leadership strategies are no longer appropriate, this unique, visionary text addresses leadership development for police officers in the 21st Century--with a focus on the leadership competencies required of line police officers in community policing environments. Blending leadership theory with real-world practices (examples, case studies, problems and applications), it explores the full range of leadership competencies--in communications, problem solving, planning, organization, and human relations--and provides concrete examples of both effective and ineffective leadership. A "how to" section in each skills chapter discusses techniques for developing leadership curricula in the skill in police academies, college-level leadership courses, and continuing education programs. The Challenge of Modern Police Leadership. Who Is a Leader? Communication: Key to Interpersonal Relations Problem Solving. Motivation: Key to Success. Planning and Organizing. Actuation and Implementation. The Ethical Leader. For Criminal Justice professionals and practitioners.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book!.......2007-08-01
Excellent book! A must read for progressive line-level officers and aspiring police supervisors and command staff. The only practical book of its kind on the market. Although not red lights and sirens oriented, the book emphasizes ethical leadership skill development for frontline officers as well as police managers.
The book is well cited. The experts cited lend support, credibility, and validity to the authors' position. As stated in the book, the goal is to deploy officers to the field who are self-contained ethical leadership agents capable of demonstrating effective communications, critical thinking and problem solving skills.
I highly recommend the Meese and Ortmeier book.
Dry, boring and over quoted.......2006-11-10
I purchased this book for a sergeant's promotional exam for my Department. While this book does touch on some good issue that are relevent in today's policing world, the authors delivered it in such a dry manner that I could barely sit for more than a half hour at a time reading it.
The authors also constantly use quotes from other researchers and authors, it makes you wonder how much of the information is actually written by them. Most chapters could be written in under three pages, but for some reason the authors over write in an apparent attempt to make the information sound collegial.
Trust me, only purchase this book if it a required one for an exam. Other than that, if you need something other than a ambien to fall asleep, this could work.
Book Description
Ambassador Rockwell A. Schnabel and Francis X. Rocca give readers a compelling and provocative inside look at the people and issues that will decide whether the world's most consequential partnership flourishes or flounders. While alerting readers to the economic and geopolitical challenges posed by a stronger EU, the authors reject the complacency of those who see American unipolarity as a license to neglect our allies, or those who entertain the illusion that we can divide and conquer Europe. This book will make clear why the U.S. must work with the EU--or expect the EU to work against it.
Customer Reviews:
Diplomacy style - read between the lines.......2005-12-31
Interesting and presented in a concise way book. I decided to give a bit more provocative and not a review that will just retell what's in the book. I bought it as I am interested in the topic having worked for the EU at some moments and having generally good knowledge about the EU and how it functions. The book is diplomatically written (by a diplomat) so do it focuses on many topics but do not always expect to find the bare truth behind facts. Instead their "diplomatic package" is presented. Certain statements are definitely something that I cannot agree. According to Schnabel - the "dirigiste" regime (of the EU), means higher prices and fewer choices for companies and consumers at home (p 37). Higher prices - maybe? What about higher product quality that regulations impose?
I happen to live in the USA at the moment and I am permanently shocked by some facts such as the quality of many products/services people buy - from transportation to food quality in the supermarket. (for example I'd say there're 3 types of chicken in the USA - tasteless, more tasteless and most tasteless). Conductor and train driver are communicating by waiving hats on the Long Island Rail Road. Examples are many but that's not the point here.
Somebody probably knows what compositions Americans eat in all the produce and generally food but it's not the consumers, that's for sure. US citizens must become aware that EU regulations actually may have a positive effect even on the quality of products they buy. In the US as it seems the quantity is more important. Recently the US declared that it will continue use a world-wide banned pesticide (methyl bromide) because its farmers "need it".
Would Ronald McDonald have stopped offering plastic toys with unsafe chemicals for children with Happy Meals if the European Commission didn't rule that they are unsafe? (Page 27). Why the Federal Food and Drug Administration didn't do this?
Schnabel says that instead of regulation "we Americans prefer to trash things in court". My question is whether this happens before or AFTER somebody gets a stroke or possibly dies of Merck's Vioxx pill, for example?
Nonetheless, Schnabel misses some facts such as the one then the EU started to make an army of its own that the US actually has warned the EU not to create its own army - something like "we will protect you as in the Cold War era (or maybe not protect but control?)".
Instead throughout the book Schnabel argues that US and EU share "common values" and should work together for shaping world policies. For me all these statements of "common values" are a way too diplomatic and are proven a way too little by the politics of the two big block as of late 90s. Certainly they have their place in main stream media and in diplomatic books. However which are the "common values" of today's EU and US? The capital punishment? Or anything that harms business like CO2 emissions reduction? Consumer protection? The health care? Did I hear "our (American) health care system is the best in world", again? Think twice and research, research.
Finally, overall a good book - in terms of diplomacy style and the concise way it is written.
Europe!!! The Next Superpower;Believe It.......2005-11-02
I just finished reading Amabassador Schnabel's excellent book and realize how little I understood or knew about the EU. Many of us have been a bit overwhelmed by all the China and India growth stories; as a result, I for one, have totally missed the boat on what's happening in Europe. If I had a choice of where to spend the next 20 years in business, I would clearly choose the European Union (even after reading The World is Flat while on a trip to India). Because the US and the EU have "common values" and huge economic power, we together have the opportunity to "shape the world" in the next two decades. After that, we will be forced to share this power with the emerging Asian giants.
I have given the book to my college son to increase his awareness of the EU and its importance to the United States, up to now it's been all China. I think his views may change after reading this book, besides, Europe is a great place for kids his age!!!!
Highly recommended reading and much easier to consume than certain other "World......" books.
An Insider's Guide to the Future of the EU.......2005-10-18
As a US student in global political affairs in Washington, DC, I have spent many hours debating what it means to be considered a "superpower," who rivals the US for the title, and who is essentially the next "superpower." Rockwell Schnabel and Francis X. Rocca's well-researched book sheds light on the existing power dynamics of modern Europe and the EU in global society and what implications this 25 member state holds for our future. With its ever-impressive economic strengths coupled with its cultural and institutional influences, they believe the European Union should be viewed as a force to be reckoned with, but more importantly as a strong ally. Rockwell Schnabel draws from his experiences as a native European citizen and former ambassador to the EU to highlight crucial choices the EU must make if it is to become geopolitically stronger and, in fact, be the next superpower. Long- term decisions regarding a free market economy and Europe's stance towards the US will not only have direct impacts on American businesses, but also on global security. Considering the rising power of nations like China and India, transatlantic cooperation provides an opportunity to unite to achieve our common goals. By pooling vast resources together, the US and EU can have real effects on world hunger, poverty, and disease.
The Next Superpower? unites theoretical concepts with observations to provide insightful, yet critical analysis of global affairs from a US/EU perspective. It is a must read for every student of politics, economics, or business who cares about the future of the US, Europe, and the world.
Required reading for a rational view of modern Europe........2005-10-06
In 2001, $300 billion market-cap Connecticut-based General Electric was moving toward closing a $42 billion deal to acquire New Jersey-based Honeywell. The executives, directors, and shareholders of each company had tendered their approval, as had the regulatory authorities in the United States. But some 3,500 miles away, European bureaucrats sitting in Brussels had other ideas. The threat to the international aerospace industry, they said, was just too great to risk letting these U.S. based companies combine as they had already agreed. And that's where the deal stopped.
Rockwell Schnabel-until a few months ago U.S. Ambassador to the European Union-essentially put U.S. business interests on notice that, like it or not, this is the new reality, and understanding the construct within which European commerce now takes place is critical to success in that very large market. The Next Superpower? is a brief yet highly insightful book that will serve as an indispensable primer to every American businessman trying to comprehend and penetrate the increasingly formidable market that is the European Union. In 188 pages, Schnabel, together with co-author Francis Rocca, takes the reader from the history and economic theories behind the formation of the EU, to what is essentially a How-To guide through its institutions, and those of its member states.
Those looking for an ideologically-charged paper in the vein of either Robert Kagan ("Of Paradise and Power"), or, conversely, Joseph Nye ("The Paradox of American Power"), will be disappointed. While the Ambassador clearly has a firm grasp on these competing views, this is a book that is about the practical realities of getting things done. The comparison, for instance, of the opposing dirigiste tradition of socialist France and the (classical) liberalism of Adam Smith, while worthwhile topics unto themselves, are clearly addressed with the purpose of giving the businessman, politician, and diplomat an historical and cultural framework as they move down what is an irreversible path toward free markets and capitalism in its highest form.
Schnabel, himself raised in the Netherlands-not exactly a hotbed of American-style conservatism-and clearly an admirer of much of the European tradition, has very much perfected the American way of doing business and getting things done. His career path apparently took him from young immigrant, to investment banker, to the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations, to technology fund principal (starting in 1993...not bad timing) and back to public service as EU Ambassador. It would seem that the "revolving door" between public and private sector has, in this case anyway, served the U.S. very well indeed.
Book Description
Today, more than ever before, a threat to one is a threat to all. Threats to international peace and security go far beyond aggression by States and include poverty, deadly infectious disease, environmental degradation, civil war, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and transnational organized crime. This report by 16 of the world's most experienced leaders, commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General, puts forward a bold new vision of collective security that stresses the need for effective, equitable action in preventing and responding to all major threats to international peace and security.
Customer Reviews:
The broader meaning of collective security...........2005-11-15
This book is nothing less than a report made by a High-level Panel on the threats, challenges and change our world faces. This group of experts from different countries was established by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with the idea of using the conclusions presented here to adapt the United Nations to what is happening nowadays, in order to make it more effective.
Among other subjects, this report delves in six kinds of threats that should concern the world. That is, war between States; violence within States (including civil wars and large-scale human rights abuses); poverty, infectious disease and environmental degradation; nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons; terrorism; and transnational organized crime. It also includes and explains policies to prevent them, and should that fail, adequate response to them. What is more, this book has some guidelines for the use of force in such cases, as well as reflections regarding peace enforcemen, peacekeeping capability, and post-conflict peacebuilding. Finally, ways of revitalizing existing institutions are discussed, along with the possibility of creating new institutions to meet evolving challenges.
What does Kofi Annan think about the report the High-level Panel he established produced?. Well, in his own words "This is a report of great range and depth, which sets out a broad framework for collective security, and indeed gives a broader meaning to that concept, appropriate for the new millennium. It suggests not only ways to deal with particular threats, but also new ways of understanding the connections between them, and explains what this implies in terms of shared policies and institutions". Furthermore, the Secretary-General points out that he agrees with the report's core argument that a comprehensive system of collective security that tackles both new and old threats, taking into account that all are interconnected, is essential. As a result, all strategies must be comprehensive, if they are to have a chance of being successful.
In my opinion, "A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility" is perfect reading material for those interested in International Relations, and also for people who are merely curious regarding what some experts whose job is to try to understand the new tendencies think about them. After all, this is a problem that concerns us all...
Before ending this review, I would like to highlight the fact that a free copy of this report is available in the UN's website, in case you want to browse it before buying this book, something I recommend you to do.
Belen Alcat
Book Description
Like its predecessor, Managing Global Chaos, this comprehensive volume explores the sources of contemporary conflict and the vast array of possible responses to it. Fifty of the most influential and innovative analysts of international affairs present multiple perspectives on how best to prevent, manage, or resolve conflicts around the world.
Four new themes emerge in this volume: the return of geopolitics; the recognition that differenct societies require different peacemaking strategies; the pull and tub between conflict management and post-conflict governance issues, such as democratization; and the understanding that creating a sustainable peace is as difficult as making peace in the first place.
Book Description
"Nobody approaches the objectivity and precision of Bush and O'Hanlon when it comes to analysis of the military and political dimensions of the Taiwan issue. This is one challenge that U.S. policymakers and military strategists cannot afford to get wrong, and scholars cannot afford to ignore."
- Michael Green, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs National Security Council
The Showdown to Come
In 1995, during a heated discussion about that year's Taiwan crisis, a Chinese general remarked to a U.S. diplomat, "In the end, you care more about Los Angeles than you do about Taipei." In a single sentence, he both questioned the level of America's commitment to a longtime ally and threatened massive, perhaps nuclear, retaliation should the United States intervene militarily on Taiwan's behalf. In the end, President Clinton sent two aircraft carriers to the region, and China ceased its military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. A decade later, however, China is much stronger, both economically and militarily, and it holds a significant amount of America's national debt. If another Taiwan crisis should occur-as it almost certainly will-would China back down?
In A War Like No Other, you'll discover how little it would take to transform the close cooperation and friendly rivalry between the United States and the People's Republic of China into the first-ever shooting war between two nuclear powers. This chilling look into one possible future offers thoughtful advice to both governments on how to reduce the chances of such a nightmare actually occurring. Two Brookings Institution scholars offer specific prescriptions on how the two nations can improve communications, especially in times of crisis; avoid risky behavior, even when provoked; and, above all, remember which buttons not to push.
Book Description
France is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, roughly half of whom are French citizens. While the nation has successfully integrated waves of immigrants in the past, this new influx poses a variety of daunting challenges, particularly when viewed against the backdrop of growing Islamic fundamentalism worldwide. Because of the size of its Muslim population and its universalist definition of citizenship, France provides a good test case for the encounter between Islam and the West. Peaceful and successful integration of Muslims into Western societies is more critical than ever before. In this book, Jonathan Laurence and Justin Vaisse offer extensive and original insights into how such integration can be fostered in a diverse, secular democracy.
Many in France view the growing role of Muslims in their society with a jaundiced eye, as do others elsewhere, suspecting that new Muslim political and religious networks are a threat to European rule of law and the French way of life. Not surprisingly, however, the reality of the situation is far too complicated to be captured by slogans and slurs. Integrating Islam examines the complex reality of Muslim integration in France-its successes, failures, and future challenges.
Laurence and Vaisse paint a comprehensive and nuanced portrait of the French Muslim experience, from intermarriage rates to socioeconomic benchmarks. They pay special attention to public policies enacted by recent French governments to encourage integration and discourage extremism--for example the controversial 2004 banning of headscarves in public schools and the establishment of the new French Council of the Muslim Religion. Despite the serious problems that exist, the authors foresee the emergence of a religion and a population that feel at home in, and at peace with, French society--a "French Islam" to replace "Islam in France."
Customer Reviews:
A Balanced And Well-Informed Survey--Don't Judge It On The Book Cover.......2006-12-30
Any book that bears the title "Integrating Islam" in the context of French politics is bound to elicit strong reactions. It is therefore important to dispel any misperceptions that these two words might elicit. First, this book is neither an apology nor a criticism of Islam. In fact, it is not a book about Islam as such, and the authors distance themselves from an approach that would treat Islam as a global issue within the context of a clash of civilizations. Although Laurence and Vaisse make reference to what they call "globalized Islam", they focus on the situation of Muslims in France and emphasize their diversity in terms of national origin, cultural values, social norms, secular orientation or voting patterns. For them, Islam is not an abstract notion, hanging in the air like a crescent shining over the Parisian sky (as the unfortunate book cover would suggest.) Islam is what people make of it --Muslims and non-Muslims, proponents and critics alike.
Second, the word "integrating" in the book's title is as much a description of what Muslims are doing as it is of the political imperative guiding French policymakers in recent years. Integration is sometimes understood as an injunction addressed to Muslims to leave their cultural identity at the door and conform to French mores. This notion of integration is now rejected by a significant number of French Muslims, who expect to be recognized as full citizens. As the brother of Zacarias Moussaoui (himself a moderate Muslim and by no means a terrorist) puts it in his book quoted by the authors: "Throughout our childhood, our ears were beaten with this word. At first, we just didn't understand what it was about. We were born here, on this land, in this country. We've grown up there. So what then is the meaning of our `integration'?"
Let me state at the outset that I appreciated this book. I recommend it to any reader interested by the political and social situation in Europe and that wants to have access to a comprehensive survey on the place of Islam in contemporary France. Considering the bias and misperceptions on the issue in the American media, this publication is a very welcome event and certainly deserves a large echo. In particular, the authors set the record straight on some issues that have received a large press coverage in the US: the French response to terrorism, the urban riots of November 2005, the ban on headscarves in schools, anti-Semitism among French Muslims, the courting of the Muslim vote by French politicians, etc. On each of these issues, they take a balanced perspective, correcting the most egregious misperceptions and prejudices about France and its Muslim population without shying away from pointing shortcomings and contradictions in French policies toward Islam.
The minor squibbles that I have with this book should therefore not be seen as a criticism of the authors' achievement, but rather as a measure of the subjective distance between the actual book and the imaginary one which I would have liked to read, or better to write. I guess most of the following remarks boil down to the fact that the book is about politics and have its backing in political science, whereas I am more interested by the sociological side and wish a similar survey could be written from an anthropological perspective.
First, I found the human dimension missing, as the book largely leaves aside the trajectories and life events experienced by Muslims in France. How does it feel growing up a Muslim in contemporary French society? What leads some French people to convert to Islam, and how do their friends and family react to such decision? Why do some second- or third-generation immigrants raised in a secular environment revert to the faith of their ancestors, and how does their Islam differ from the one practiced in their country of origin? How do their experience and beliefs compare to the ones of born-again Christians or orthodox Jews? How do women who take on the veil frame their decision, and how do they explain it to those who might object to such demeanor? How was the public gaze and opinion of the French citizenry affected by events such as the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States or the French urban riots of November 2005? These questions find only limited answers in the book, and it is a pity that the only life stories of Muslims rendered in detail are those of French Jihadists, hardly representative cases as the authors themselves point out.
Second, the knowledge base exploited by the authors is rather thin. This is due in part to the underdevelopment of social science in France and to the taboo that has long prevented French researchers to gather data on specific communities or ethnic groups. As a result, the surveys that do exist on attitude and behaviors of French Muslims are quoted extensively by the authors, without any note of caution about their methodological limitations. On the other hand, broadening the scope of relevant sources could have compensated for the paucity of statistical studies addressing the issue, and there is a trove of first-hand materials such as novels and testimonies or anthropological studies that the authors could have used to their advantage. Indeed, the authors show a bit of complacency when they praise the quality of the expertise on the Muslim world in French academia. It could be argued that the underdevelopment of ethnic studies in France owes a large part to the limitations imposed by French academics who did not keep abreast of developments in French society.
Third, the reader sometimes wishes that the authors would take a stand on some contemporary debates. In many cases, the authors present the different sides of the argument, pinpoint discrepancies or contradictions, but fall short of drawing their reasoning to its logical conclusion. To be true, issues such as the ban on headscarves in public schools or the creation of a representative council dealing with practical issues associated with the Islamic faith are hotly debated issues, in France and abroad, and one of the merit of the book is to show that there are no easy answers. This is where a comparative perspective is especially helpful, as the challenges confronted by France find echoes in many other European countries. But addressing the broader European challenge may be the subject of another volume.
A book to be grateful for.......2006-08-31
Laurence and Vaisse have written a very sane set of analyses of Islam in France. The book is rigorously based on solid data and well conceived historical research. They also support their work with interviews with important participants in the processes they describe. Absolutely every one interested in the integration of Islam into Europe would do well to read this fine work.
Now I want to reserve the reviewer's prerogatives of a side note. The first part of the book presents of French Muslims based on survey research and an analysis of secondary material compiled by the governments of France and the US. The body of the work is largely attuned to the evolution of French institutions, both of the government and of the Muslim communities. Now someone needs to find a way to apply the same rigour and rationality to the problem placing the subaltern populations of the banlieu in the framework of French life a bit more fully than I believe is now possible. That will be another book written in another day. Whatever it looks like, it will surely build on the base established here by Laurence and Vaisse.
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