Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War [Hardcover]

Simon Serfaty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2007

The commencement of war in Iraq in 2003 was met with a variety of reactions around the globe. In Architects of Delusion, Simon Serfaty presents a historical analysis of how and why the decision to wage war was endorsed by some of America's main European allies, especially Britain, and opposed by others, especially France and Germany.

Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, and Gerhard Schroeder were, Serfaty argues, the architects of one of the most serious crises in postwar transatlantic relations. These four heads of state were the victims not only of their personal delusions but also of those of the nations they led. They all played the hand that their countries had dealt them—the forceful hand of a righteous America, the principled acquiescence of a faithful Britain, the determined intransigence of a quarrelsome France, and the ambiguous "new way" of a recast Germany.

Serfaty's deft interweaving of the political histories and cultures of the four countries and the personalities of their leaders transcends the Europe-bashing debate sparked by the Iraq invasion. He contends that not one of these four leaders was entirely right or entirely wrong in his approach to the others or to the issues, before and during the war. For the resulting wounds to heal, though, and for the continuity of transatlantic relations, he reminds us that the United States and France must end their estrangement, France and Britain must resolve their differences, Germany must carry its weight relative to both France and Britain, and the United States must exert the same visionary leadership for the twenty-first century that it showed during its rise to preeminence in the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A masterful analysis of America and Europe: insightful, trenchant, brilliantly conceived, and elegantly written. Drawing his lessons from America's post-World War II engagement with allies in Europe, Simon Serfaty has captured with chilling precision the dilemmas and symmetries that will dominate America's and Europe's security concerns in this generation."—General Wesley K. Clark

"Simon Serfaty shows why America has more to fear from a weak Europe than a strong Europe. This powerful account of leadership failure in four countries explains not only how Iraq split the West but what a new set of leaders must do to repair the damage."—Joseph S. Nye, Jr., author of Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics

"This is an impressive work of policy analysis and scholarship. Serfaty's knowledge of politics and personalities in the four capitals he considers is extensive. The interpretations of interactions among them are subtle. And there is a fine sense of historical background as well as today's global context."—Michael Brenner, University of Pittsburgh

About the Author

Simon Serfaty is Senior Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Graduate Program in International Studies at Old Dominion University as well as Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy and Senior Adviser to the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (November 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081224060X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812240603
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,216,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Researched and Written, November 24, 2009

By 

Jazz It Up Baby - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War (Hardcover)

As Michael Rubin explained in the Fafll 2009 edition of the Middle East Quarterly, Serfaty, a professor of U.S. foreign policy at Old Dominion University, asks why in 2003, the United States and Great Britain chose war with Iraq while France and Germany resisted it. Chapters separately examine each country as Serfaty tries to explain how distinct French, German, British, and U.S. narratives formed and shaped their leaders' decisions.

While an interesting analytical exercise, Architects of Delusion is poorly researched and written. Serfaty makes little effort to survey French and German language sources or to interview French or German political figures as he seeks to explain the formation of the decisions made by those countries. Lapses are many: For example, in his chapter about French history in the run-up to Iraq, Serfaty mentions neither the multi-billion and sanctions-busting Franco-Iraqi trade, French president Jacques Chirac's long personal history with Saddam Hussein, nor France's unique history in Iraq. Nor should the reader expect to find here mention of French sponsorship of Iraq's own Osirak nuclear reactor. The German chapter is as deficient: There is little discussion of how internal German politics--for example, the rise of the Green Party and coalition formation--shaped Berlin's position. Discussion of U.S. policymaking occurs at the 30,000 foot level; there is little detail and only sporadic but tangential references to writings by Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and vanity references to Serfaty's own works, causing much of the narrative to be un-sourced and grounded in little more than Serfaty's own opinion.

Serfaty's poor writing is just as handicapping. Sentences are run on, word choice is awkward, and structure confusing as the author indulges a fondness for tangents with an excessive use of parentheses. University of Pennsylvania Press appears to have conducted little editing before publishing. It is a shame that Architects flops, because serious study of the European approach to Iraq remains a vital missing piece in the narrative of the 2003 war in that country.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and somewhat discomforting, May 3, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War (Hardcover)

The United States led invasion of Iraq has provoked a great variety of reactions from around the globe. But what was the true reason behind these reactions - are they really looking out for their country's best interests, or is it something far more petty? "Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War" is an examination of these responses with a focus on the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Germany. The results that Serfaty presents are intriguing and somewhat discomforting. "Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War" is a must have for any student of current events and for community library international studies shelves.