Customer Reviews

With All Our Might: A Progressive Strategy for Defeating Jihadism and Defending Liberty

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Editing original 8 July 2006 review to add useful links below.

This is a first class effort, a really superb collection of contributions by world class professionals, and one of the most thoughtful selections of topics made better by a really excellent presentation--easy to read, good font size, right amount of white space.

The book falls prey to the Administration's premise that terrorism/jihadism are the greatest threat to America. That is not the case. A more balanced assessment of high level threats is provided by the High Level Threat Panel (including LtGen Dr. Brent Scowcroft) of the United Nations, which lists the following (note that terrorism is 9th): poverty, infectuous disease, environmental degradation, inter-state war, civil war, genocide, other atrocities (e.g. trade in women and children, kidnapping for body parts or slavery), proliferation, terrorism, and transnational organized crime.

Never-the-less, it is a five-star effort in its structure and content. Two of the articles I found especially compelling: Graham Allison's discussion of "Preventing Nuclear Terrorism," and the joint effort of James R. Blaker and Steven J. Nider, "Fighting Unconventional Wars." Their concept of three forces for the future, one to prevent (USSTRATCOM), one to defeat (USSOCOM), and one to rebuild (USNORTHCOM with the National Guard in the forefront) is very good thinking. It is a useful variant to the four force concepts that have been discussed in Joint Forces Quarterly and elsewhere, to wit, a Big War Force (STRATCOM), a Small War Force (SOCOM), a Peace Force (State under Colin Powell or Tony Zinni), and a Mind Force (STRATCOM today, I prefer an independent Open Source Agency committed to Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, with $3B a year to spend). I would add to these two author's excellent views that we also need to change Title 10 to give the regional Commanders-in-Chief (or Combatant Commanders) inter-agency planning and operational oversight authority, and the force structure and budget authority needed to meet their operational needs, and as part of that, re-direct at least one Assistant Secretary to serve with each CINC/COCOM.

The book points out that the jihadist creed is spreading and we are losing the war of ideas, not only overseas, but at home where the public does not understand the situation in compelling terms. The book specifically focuses on the importance of leading by example, but does not address in detail the fact that our budgets and behavior are completely inconsistent with our avowed objectives.

The book does not address education and citizenship qua civic commitment as major sources of national power, and it avoids discussing the important roles that intelligence and information sharing can play, perhaps worthy of a book on its own.

While the book describes itself as a series of planks for progressive internationalism against conservative unilateralism, I would as a moderate Republican of conservative (balanced budget) bent, suggest that the opposite to progressive internationalism is imperialist or militant unilateralism.

Thankfully, the book has an index. Overall, a very fine contribution to the literature.

While America Sleeps: How Islam, Immigration and Indoctrination Are Destroying America From Within
While America Sleeps: Self-Delusion, Military Weakness, and the Threat to Peace Today
The Search for Security: A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency

To say there is absolutely no value contained within the pages of "With All Our Might" would be dishonest, which is why I gave this book 2 stars. It will be evident to the politically savvy that this book contains the same ideas that propelled the neoconservatives to the forefront of American politics with disastrous results. But then again, most don't know that the neconservatives are the offspring of the Democratic party, and have their roots in the policies of the "Scoop Jackson" Democrats.

Let this book be a warning to those who think that neoconservatism is present only within the ranks of the GOP. It appears there are still some "neocons" left within the ranks of the Democratic party as well.