Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025 [Hardcover]

Mark Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

In Breaking the Real Axis of Evil, ambassador Mark Palmer has the gumption to argue what diplomats and political leaders dare not speak: that global peace will not be achieved until democracies replace the world's remaining dictatorships. We know that these dictators are at the root of terrorism and war. Under their stony gaze, millions have gone to their deaths, a great tidal wave of refugees has swept across the planet, and nations have been driven into poverty, famine, and despair. Drawing on over 25 years of extensive diplomatic experience, Ambassador Palmer asks us to embrace a bold vision of a world made safe by democracy. This is the story of the last 46 dictators, the strategy and tactics to oust them, and the need to empower the people of every nation to control their own destinies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The only problem with President Bush's axis of evil label is that it doesn't extend far enough, argues Palmer, in this primer to promoting democracy around the world. Palmer outlines an arc of dictators, running west from North Korea to China, Syria and Algeria and then south to Angola. Palmer (who accepts a tripartite division of the world into free, partly free and not free countries) has little stomach for either diplomatic efforts in the name of realpolitik, which he believes pacifies dictators, or widespread boycotts, which he believes punish entire nations for the misdeeds of a few in government. Palmer, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary when communism collapsed more than a decade ago, builds on his experiences there to provide a list of what government, diplomats, nongovernmental organizations and the media can do to unseat dictators. He supports a broad-based approach, including a corporate fund to supply prodemocracy groups, a U.N. center to promote democracy, and a focus on the Middle East and China. He's also not shy about promoting U.S. military involvement, both covert and otherwise, if necessary. But Palmer avoids the vexing issues, such as whether U.S. involvement has always been wielded judiciously and why so much of the world resents American power. As a result, while action-oriented American patriots will find a lot to like in this book, others-no matter what their political stripe-may find it simplistic.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Ambassador Palmer is 'Mr. Human Rights.' This can be the Age of Democracy if we heed the lessons of his book. (Max Kampelman )

Open societies provide only the basis for a more peaceful, prosperous world. Mark Palmer is at the cutting edge of change in the right direction. (George Soros )

Mark Palmer's vision of a 100% democratic world is bold and important. I urge anyone interested in supporting the struggle of Chinese, Arab, African, and Cuban democrats to read this book! (Bill Richardson )

During and after the three world wars (two hot, one cold) of the twentieth century we and our allies have freed much of the world. Mark Palmer shows us how to finish the job. Bravo. (R. James Woolsey )

I watched Ambassador Palmer in action in Budapest as he helped galvanize and even march with Hungarian democrats. I recommend his book to my colleagues in the Congress and in democratic parliaments around the world. (Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi )

Ambassador Mark Palmer's democracy manifesto is a radical blueprint for democratic change everywhere dictators oppress their people, and an impassioned call for a foreign policy true to America's founding principles. (Senator John McCain )

Mark Palmer's prescription for the "End of Dicatatorships" is a fundamental contribution to the debate about the world's future. He has extensively researched what works in dumping dictators peacefully, looked at each of the remaining rogue regimes and developed a new foreign policy paradigm. (Professor Francis Fukuyama )

The only problem with President Bush's axis of evil label is that it doesn't extend far enough, argues Palmer, in this primer to promoting democracy around the world. Palmer, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary when communism collapsed more than a decade ago, builds on his experience there to provide a list of what government, diplomats, non-governmental organizations and the media can do to unseat dictators. (Publishers Weekly )

This work offers a welcome alternative to some of the mailed-fist policies of today. (Library Journal )

One of the best but least noticed books among all tomes addressing the quest for peace in the post-September 11 era. . . . An invaluable foreign policy guide. (The Wall Street Journal )

Palmer makes an excellent case that the spirit is strong and that it must be sustained with international help. (The World Today )

If the United States under George W. Bush (or his successors) is to be an affective agitator for democracy worldwide, then Mark Palmer's Breaking the Real Axis of Evil must become required reading for U.S. diplomats-in-training at the Foreign Service Institute, and ought to be read at think tanks, universities, and national-security establishments throughout the democratic world. (The Journal Of Democracy )

If the United States under George W. Bush (or his successors) is to be an affective agitator for democracy worldwide, then Mark Palmer's Breaking the Real Axis of Evil must become required reading for U.S. diplomats-in-training at the Foreign Service Institute, and ought to be read at think tanks, universities, and national-security establishments throughout the democratic world. (The Journal Of Democracy )

Palmer, former U.S. ambassador to Hungary, argues that global peace cannot be achieved until democracies replace the world's last remaining dictators. (Bi-Monthly )

Palmer provides a practical handbook for how to put into effect a pro-democratic foreign policy for a U.S. government that is so minded. (Middle East Quarterly )

...should be required reading for every member of Congress and recommended for every citizen (Tammy Drennan Chattanooga Times Free Press )

...a wonderful book—a moral and intellectual tour de force. (Book Review Digest )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742532542
• ISBN-13: 978-0742532540
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,540,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Single Most Important Work of the Century for American Moral Diplomacy, November 30, 2003

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025 (Hardcover)

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links and new comment,

New Comment: In my view, this is the single most important work of the century with respect to American moral diplomacy. I note with concern that under Bush-Cheney "Failed States" have increased from 75 in 2005 to 177 in 2007. We've lost our mind, and our morals, as a Nation.

Ambassador Mark Palmer puts to rest all those generally unfair stereotypes of Foreign Service Officers as "cookie pushing" softies who fall in love with their host countries and blame America for any flaws in the bi-lateral relationship. With this book he provides an inspiring model for precisely what every Foreign Service Officer should aspire: to understand, to articulate, and then to implement very great goals that serve democracy and help extend the bounty of the American way of life--moral capitalism and shared wealth--to every corner of the world.

This is a detailed and practical book, not just visionary. It is useful and inspiring, not just a personal view. It is also a damning indictment of fifty years of US White House and Congressional politics, where in the name of anti-communism and cheap oil America--regardless of which party has been in power, has been willing to consort with the most despotic, ruthless, murderous regimes in the history of mankind. Still alive today and still very much "friends" of the U.S. Government are dictators that think nothing of murdering millions.

There has been some improvement, offset by an increase in partly free countries. From 69 countries not free at all in 1972 we now have 47. From 38 countries partly free in 1972 we now have 56, many of those remnants of the former Soviet Union. Free countries have nearly doubled from 43 to 89, but free and poor is quite a different thing from free and prosperous.

The level of detail and also of brevity in this book is quite satisfying. On the one hand, Ambassador Palmer provides ample and well-documented discussion of the state of the world, on the other he does not belabor the matter--his one to two-paragraph summative descriptions of each of the dictatorships is just enough, just right.

He distinguishes between Personalistic Dictatorships (20, now less Hussein in Iraq); Monarch Dictators (7, with Saudi Arabia being the first in class); Military Dictators (5, with US allies Sudan and Pakistan and 1 and 2 respectively); Communist Dictators (5); Dominant-Party Dictators (7); and lastly, Theocratic Dictators (1, Iran).

Ambassador Palmer makes several important points with this book, and I summarize them here: 1) conventional wisdom of the past has been flawed--we should not have sacrificed our ideals for convenience; 2) dictatorships produce inordinate amounts of collateral damage that threatens the West, from genocide and mass migrations to disease, famine, and crime; 3) there is a business case to be made for ending U.S. support for dictatorships, in that business can profit more from stable democratic regimes over the long-term; and lastly, 4) that the U.S. should sanction dictators, not their peoples, and we can begin by denying them and all their cronies visas for shopping expeditions in the US.

The book has an action agenda that is worthy, but much more important is the clear and present policy that Ambassador Palmer advocates, one that is consistent with American ideals as well as universal recognition of human rights. Ambassador Palmer's work, on the one hand, shows how hypocritical and unethical past Administrations have been--both Democratic and Republican--and on the other, he provides a clear basis for getting us back on track.

I agree with his proposition that we should have a new Undersecretary for Democracy, with two Assistant Secretaries, one responsible for voluntary democratic transitions, the other for dealing with recalcitrant dictators. Such an expansion of the Department of State would work well with a similar change in the Pentagon, with a new Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Operations and Complex Emergencies, my own idea.

This is a very fine book, and if it helps future Foreign Service Officers to understand that diplomacy is not just about "getting along" but about making very significant changes in the world at large, then Ambassador Palmer's work will be of lasting value to us all.

Also recommended, with reviews:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik

Forthcoming on Amazon in February and also free at OSS.Net/CIB:
COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace, edited by Mark Tovey with a Foreword by Yochai Benkler and an Afterword by the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada. I have high hopes for all of us finally getting it right (Winston Churchill: "The Americans always do the right thing, they just try everything else first.") Now is our time to get it right. We can start by electing Senator Barack Obama as our forward-thinking always listening open-minded President.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE SANEST BUT SADLY UNNOTICED BOOK ON FOREIGN POLICY, June 23, 2004

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025 (Hardcover)

By turns brilliant argument and gritty guide, this book is an inspired field treatise on the Whys and Hows of replacing tyranny with democracy -- the sooner the better and, where possible, without violence.

We've seen a gush of books denouncing the current Bush administration etc, but Palmer's work stands out by making scores of PRACTICAL suggestions. His case studies range from Chile to the Philippines and make a lot of sense. For instance, his suggestions on handling the sensitive issue of Falun Gong in China are not only smart, they would also be a cinch to implement.

I highly recommend this educated and accessible read for matters that affect us all.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A concise, thoughtful guide for freedom and peace, January 9, 2004

By 

Dr. Rodney Myers (Tulsa, Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025 (Hardcover)

Ambassador Palmer has provided the reader with a lucid, non-partisan therapeutic regime for an ailing world. War, terrorism, poverty, famine, torture, and other human rights abuses, by and large, result from the actions of about forty-five dictators who control roughly one third of the world's population. The removal of these tyrants through peaceful means and their replacement with responsible democratic governments is the most cogent approach to ending most of these abuses across the globe. Although the author strongly advocates the peaceful removal of tyrants where possible, he does acknowledge the need for military force in some instances. This is an important work and should become the cornerstone of US foreign policy for the next twenty-one years (or as long as it takes).