Customer Reviews

At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention

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

 

 

Rieff talks about many bad places. He talks about Rawanda and Bosnia. He eludes to the real truth of the matter but won't go the extra mile and say the obvious. He explains France's involement with Rawanda and how they facilitated the slaughter because of financial interests, and yet the US and UN did little to stop it. He talks about Bosnia and the anomosity between muslim and non-muslim and the NATO and NGO reactions. What Rieff seems to be approaching is a realization that some circumstances simply don't have compromises.

He talks about the increasing use of the word genocide and how it has become diluted. What he does point out is that the UN is just not up to the job. He just doesn't seem to want to say why. He talks around the answer as much as he can. I gather from these writings that the answer goes against his beliefs and dogma. He then goes on to comment about the many great leaders of Africa, even if they are just a little corrupt. He explains that the aid given to Africa was enough for them to get into trouble, but not enough to have real reforms. Rieff explains that the debt is what keeps Africa down, not the corruption. He argues against Globalization. Essentially blaming the globalization and capitalism for the failure of Africa. He just doesn't back it up with his writing.

He carps about the failures of the UN and the international community but has no real answers to help. If you want to hear someone rant about the failures, then attempt to turn those failures into failures of the US, read this book. I will say that it does contain some indepth information about the conflict in Rawanda. It just lacks understanding of humans or economics.

Well written critic for all progressives/thinkers or anyone concerned about the use of force to achieve democratic "peace"