5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why isn't anyone else talking about this?, May 3, 2002
This review is from: Against All Terrors: This People's Next Defense (Paperback)
Philip Gold gave an evening lecture at my campus a few months ago, and it was incredible! The lecture hall was packed and everyone sat in rapt attention for his explanation of the terrorist mindset. I don't think there's anyone in the public square today that has such an illuminating perspective as Philip Gold, a former Georgetown professor and Marine, on the issues that will define our future -- terrorism, culture wars and the transformation of the military. But about the book...
For its small size (good reading on the bus), Against All Terrors is packed full of useful information on the history of defense transformation, the shift in geopolitical conflict after the collapse of the Soviet Union and still how misunderstood this new war on terrorism and the terrorism mindset is. His description of the "Wars of the Ways" -- the defining struggle of the 21st century between the bastions of modernity (i.e., the U.S.) and those who hate modernity or can't get in (i.e., the Arab world) -- is fascinating and a different way of seeing things than just the "Islam is the problem" explanation. Philip Gold seems to be articulating a position that almost no one else is, at least in the mass media -- that our defenses don't just need better technology and funding, but a total re-thinking of everything, including doctrines, missions, relationships between each military branch and how we relate to cultures where the military has a presence. Many other commentators just say we need to massively fund the military to make up for the Clinton under-funding or that we're already too involved in the world and losing our freedoms at home. But I think this well-nuanced book strikes a good balance between the need to "let others [in the world] be strong," as Gold says, and the need for a leading American role much of the time, because we're the only power that can do certain massive duties around the world. Highly recommended, especially for readers who wouldn't normally be interested in national defense, foreign policy and inter-cultural conflict.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The War of the Ways, October 24, 2002
This review is from: Against All Terrors: This People's Next Defense (Paperback)
This slim book may look like just another of the countless titles cranked out by terrorism and foreign policy experts in the wake of the September 11 attacks, designed to explain it all to us laymen. But it's not. It's really quite a bit more -- and quite a bit better -- than that. I recommend it highly.
As Philip Gold notes in his preface, the idea for this book actually was planted long before the War on Terrorism began. It was intended as a primer on the "complexities of twenty-first century defense" (p. 10), and in response to a defense contractor's sneer that all the American people need to know about national defense is "spend money." Well written, non-jargony, and easily accessible, "Against All Terrors" is a great way for the reasonably intelligent citizen to get up to speed on the challenges and opportunities facing our defense apparatus, and how those shape, and are shaped by, the new war.
The book itself is divided into four sections. In the first, "The War of the Ways," Gold argues that the world has left the era of ideologically-driven conflict, and entered one of protracted struggle between modern, liberal (in the sense of *free*) cultures, and those who reject modernity and liberalism. In the second section, Gold takes us through the Wasted Nineties, in which the systemic problems within America's fighting forces (as they used to be known) became both obvious and debilitating. The third section lays out Gold's vision for an effective twenty-first century fighting force.
The final section, also titled "Against All Terrors," looks beyond the military to the question of whether the American people have within them- (our-) selves the necessary sprit and resolve to win the War of the Ways. This thoughtful, eloquent, and historically informed chapter demonstrates that "the American spirit" in fact runs far deeper, and more meaningfully, than the rah-rah flag-waving and Love-It-or-Leave-It patriotism of some recent books (Sean Hannity's comes to mind).
The "Readings and Browsings" appendix is also quite good.
I particularly enjoyed Gold's tracings of the history of the Defense Department, the military and naval services, and the rise of inter-service rivalries. His principle that "systems proliferate, effects converge" (p. 55) is a valuable teaching tool. And his discussion of "transformation" -- the military reform doctrine that's already morphed from cutting-edge theory to buzzword to cliché -- and its sister, "revolution in military affairs" or RMA, cuts through all the Pentagonese to lay out what the idea really means for the services and for the country.
In all, Gold's book is a fast but thought-provoking read. Far more than those weighty tomes produced by Establishment think-tanks and refugees from the Clinton administration and the New York Times op-ed page, "Against All Terrors" is a book any citizen concerned about our nation's defense and the new war can and probably should read with profit.
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