1999: Victory Without War Limited Edition [Board book]

Richard Nixon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1988

America's elder statesman of foreign affairs draws on over 40 years of experience in international politics to examine the crucial challenge facing the world today--world peace. A nationwide bestseller in hardcover.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nixon, who as U.S. president opened diplomatic relations with China, now recommends negotiations with the Soviet Union to forge commercial treaties and reduce the risk of accidental war. He strongly opposes the adoption of protectionist trade measures against Japan. These positions may surprise some readers, but on other issues his hard-line views are more predictable, if one scrutinizes the sweeping Cold War rhetoric carefully. On nuclear armaments, he endorses Reagan's plan for laser-based weapons in space ("Star Wars") and urges "no first-strike vulnerability." He advocates continued support of Nicaragua's contras, covert CIA actions overseas, build-up of nuclear power, more U.S. cruise missiles in Europe, the establishment of U.S. air bases in Saudi Arabia. He blames Africa's poverty on the terrible governments there. This hawkish blueprint of U.S. policy adds little of real substance to current debate. First serial to New York Times Magazine; paperback rights to Pocket Books.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

$19.95. int affairs Former President Nixon provides commentary and suggestions on an area of his great expertise, foreign policy. He begins by chronicling the legacy of the 20th century with its technological progress and wars and argues that the United States should continue to play a central international role. He contends that world peace is inseparable from world power and that real peace is not absence of conflict but living with unending conflictthe natural state of world affairs. He is skeptical of Gorbachev whom he sees as being good at images but as seeking change that will permit the Soviet Union to find hegemony. Still, he cogently argues for a realistic policy toward the Soviets, involving a mix of deterrence, competition, and negotiation. Chapters on the awakening giant (China), the reluctant giant (Japan), and the Third World are insightful. Nixon believes that our system is popular today, and that we should take advantage of it. Highly recommended. Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Board book: 336 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Limited edition (April 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671659928
• ISBN-13: 978-0671659929
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,297,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Read the Book in 2000, April 23, 2000

By 

Lily Alejandria (Nor. California, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1999: Victory Without War Limited Edition (Board book)

Finishing this book 4/23/2000, I found it really interesting. Since it was actually written in 1988, a lot of the information is outdated. But most of it makes sense still. Nixon gave tips, political strategies, and predictions about the next twelve years. And he was right about most of them. This is a really good book, even though it is old. I still learned a lot from it.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT our twenty-first century, August 13, 2007

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1999 - Victory Without War (Hardcover)

I originally bought this book in 1988, when it was brand new, and I whipped it out recently to see just how close President Nixon was in his analysis. Well, right off the bat I could see that he had gotten it wrong.

In 1985, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev assumed power in the Soviet Union, and instituted his policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). It was the fear of those on the political right (and the hope of those on the political left) that Gorby would succeed in breathing life back into the aging monster. In 1988, ex-President Richard Nixon wrote this book, which was dedicated to what the United States would have to do to have victory over a reinvigorated Soviet Union. "If his dramatic domestic reforms are as successful, in the twenty-first century we will confront a more prosperous, productive Soviet Union. It will then be a more formidable opponent, not less, than it is today." (p.26) Well, in point of fact, the Soviet Union could not reinvigorate itself, and it collapsed.

The problem with this book is that it is all about dealing with a reinvigorated Soviet Union, and as such does not have much to say to the real twenty-first century that we actually do face. Checking the index, you will find but one reference to Islamic Fundamentalism, and while the book does discuss America's need to work with China, Japan and Europe, it is so tightly focused on the Soviet Union that what it says just does not apply to our reality.

Therefore, let me just say that, though this book is highly readable, it misses the mark so far that I just cannot imagine what it can say to the modern world. It was a good try Mr. Nixon, but it missed its target.