Customer Reviews

New Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy

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Have you ever been part of an ongoing conversation that had settled into two predictable sides and then someone new comes in and has points to make that are so different than what was presently being discussed? Either the conversation will absorb these new points and shift direction or the ideas will be rejected as too foreign and the points will never even be considered.

Ralph Peters is a former colonel in the Army and an intelligence officer who is now an author of books of various types and a columnist. What he offers in this very interesting book is so different than the debate you will see, hear, and read in the popular media that it might be quite disconcerting. However, keep reading and get through the book and consider what he has to say. You might reject every point he makes and will still be better off having read and thought about what he has to say because it will sharpen your own beliefs and encourage you to dig more deeply into the material relating to what the author offers us in these pages.

Mr. Peters says that America has a future as great as its past if it is willing to be intelligent, flexible, and fresh in its approaches to the complexities in the present world. He advocates moving away from our traditional ties to Europe because of their ossification and inwardness. They are too corrupt to do anything but to continue their decay. Instead, Peters advocates that America turn to building positive relations with South America and Africa, to work on influencing the non-Arab Muslims in Asia and India, and to rely on positive economic development with these groups rather than sheer military force.

The author says that in the present War on Terror, which must be fought, we have not been fierce enough. We need to break the enemy and destroy him until he sues for peace. If all we want is to fight to bring them to the table to talk our enemy wins because not losing is enough to achieve their aims.

Mr. Peters has no use for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He also thinks that the Air Force has been far too influential in military planning. We spend far too much on its projects that contribute almost nothing to our ability to actually wage war. The expensive weapons have to stay too far above the battlefield to provide the true air support needed to aid the men on the ground. Peters holds to the doctrine that war is awful and bloody and must be won by men driving the enemy from the field through violence and slaughter. It is ugly, but it is what war is about. To this end he advocates the abolition of the Air Force and to divide its assets between the Navy and the Army and to revive the Army Air Corps.

Mr. Peters wants America to succeed, prosper, and add to its glory in the world. Whether or not he has the right prescription is up to you.

This is a very different kind of discussion, but quite interesting and very much worth reading.

Ralph Peters is more compelling than Tom Friedman, goes deeper than Robert Kaplan, runs the numbers as well as Clyde Prestowitz, and runs as many risks as Robert Young Pelton. All of these men are among the best and the brightest of our generation. Ralph Peters is first among these equals.

New Glory is most devastating in its professional appreciation of the crash of Islamic civilization and the hollowness of Europe, with Germany and France coming in for special scorn. While Peters is acutely sensitive to the mistakes that France and Germany have made with immigration--allowing millions to immigrate without enfranchising them or assuring their loyalty as citizens--he tends to overlook the same faults in the US and the UK, and this is my only criticism: patriot that he is, he tends to downplay US errors and misbehavior. Having said that, I would also say there is no finer observer of reality outside the US than Ralph Peters.

Like his earlier book, Beyond Terror, Peters again excels with gifted turns of phrase that sound like pure poetry. Peters is not just a grand strategist equal to the likes of Scowcroft or Brzezinski (while less diplomatic than they), he is a gifted orator and his book reads as if one were in the Greek Senate listening to Socrates hold forth.

Especially strong in this book is the author's focus on Africa and Latin America as area rich with potential that the Americans are ignoring. Instead of obsessing on assassinating Chavez, as moronic an idea as there ever was, we should be focusing on how to include Africa and Latin America in our free trade zone, along with India and Japan.

Peters jumps into the intellectual stratosphere when he takes on the issue of bad borders, the cancerous heritage of colonialism. I would recommend that the book by Philip Allott, "Health of Nations," and also the book by Jed Babbin, "Inside the Asylum" (on the UN) be read along with this book. I would add Mark Palmer's book on "The Real Axis of Evil" as well, about the 44 dictators we support. Taken together, perhaps adding Joe Nye's book on "Understanding International Conflicts" to have a really fine grasp of current challenges.

Peters, author of a novel about treasonous defense contractors, comes out in the open with his sharp criticism of the military-industrial complex, pointing out that they are among the worst enemies of our national defense. Their corruption, legalized by a Congress all too eager to take its standard 2.5% to 5% "cut" on delivered pork, diverts tens of billions of dollars from education, infrastructure, border control, public health, and other sources of national power. When added to light-weight decision-making at the very top, where we go to war and waste thousands of lives and over $187 billion dollars on a war that was both unnecessary and pathologically in favor of Iranian ambitions against Iraq, one can quickly see that General Eisenhower and General Smedley Butler ("war is a Racket") were both correct--we are our own worst enemy. Peters concludes his real-world damnation of contractors by summing up the many problems that occurred in Iraq when contractors failed to deliver to US troops the ammunition, food, and water, as they were contracted to do. I myself heard of units that lost 30 to 40 pounds per man after months on a diet of water and *one* Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) per day.

Peters draws his book to a close with compelling thoughts down two distinct lines. First, he clearly favors a policy of carefully identifying and then killing those who will not heed any other means of peaceful coexistence. As with the author of "Civilization and It's Enemies," he reminds us that liberty comes at the price of regular shedding of blood. It is not free.

Peters' second line is the most interesting to me. He is scathingly on target when he labels US intelligence professionals to be uniformly timid and bureaucratic in nature, part of the problem, not part of the solution. He goes on to dissect how we fail to listen to foreign cultures, and fail to understand what is in the minds of the very people we are trying to reach. Finally, he concludes that education, not guns, are the heart of power. Consistent with the findings of the Defense Science Board in their reports on "Strategic Communication" (July 2004) and "Transition to and From Hostilities" (December 2004), Peters recognizes that open source information in all languages must be gathered, read, understood, analyzed, and acted upon, before we can possible communicate any message to anyone. He would agree with those who say "forget about the message, deliver the tools for truth--the Internet, education, translation software, information sharing devices--and get out of the way: the people will educate themselves, and in educating themselves, will be inoculated against terrorism."

In passing, Peters points out that the US Navy and US Air Force have largely fallen into irrelevance because of their obsession with big expensive systems that are useless most of the time, and he notes that a larger Army, and a sustained Marine Corps, remain the true core of American national power.

This book is a "tour d'force" to use a term of phrase in a language Peters churlishly suggests is used only by waiters and dictators. I myself find much that is good in France and Germany and the UK, but overall, I agree with Peters when he says that Europe is a failing civilization, following Islam into chaos, and that Africa, Latin America, and South Asia (Indian Ocean) are the future. Interestingly, Peters sees no conflict with China brewing--they are too dependent on US consumption.

Ralph Peters has a bit of Mark Twain in him -- a love of words, the ability to turn a startingly clear-eyed phrase, and a 'pen warmed in hell' for the targets of his wrath. Read the book for the prose, for the insights, and for the unblinkng forthrightness of his analyses. You may not agree with his every point, but you cannot help but catch your breath at the sweep and depth of his commentary on world affairs and the forces driving them today.

Peters will be sure to have every big gun inside the beltway after him for this one, his non-partisan bite on all things hypocritical and plain wrong-headed is that sharp. Don't settle for a second-hand critique of his book, however. It deserves to be read for itself and not translated to the public by those who would care to put their own slant on what is an outstanding original.

I have been a fan of Ralph Peters writing for years and he does not dissapoint with his latest effort, NEW GLORY. Ralph Peters is a national treasure. Unlike so many of the "experts" in academia and the media (as typified by the Publishers Weekly reviewer above - anonymus, it figures) Ralph Peters has walked the walk. He consistantly travels alone to places our diplomats fear to tread and comes back with fresh and insightful views on the world.
A lot of the book deals with his analysis of the war on terror and as a veteran of both ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan and IRAQI FREEDOM I can tell you that his criticisms of what went awry in both campaigns are spot on. He is also devestating in his commentary in reference to the "anti war left". Ralph Peters only true loyalty is to the United States and the soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who serve. If you want to learn why we are where we are in the current conflict and what we must do to win it, this is the book for you.
Ralph Peters also provides witty, scathing analysis of our European "Allies" and the Islamic world. What makes this book (indeed, most of Peter's writings) so good is that in addition to everything else, parts of it are downright funny. (Like hearing the theme to "Exodus" in the muzak of a gulf arab hotel).
One of the most interesting parts of the book was his take on Africa. Unlike many of our sterile international studies community (who parrot each other), Ralph Peters takes an unexpected position when he refuses to write Africa off as a basket case. His hopeful analysis for this troubled contenint was perhaps the most surprising thing in this book.
All in all, a great read. I reccomend this book highly. Reading Ralph Peters works has always been educational and entertaining, never more so than with this latest effort.

I tell people the reason I'm so ugly is becuase I spend my nights reading books like NEW GLORY instead of getting my rest. Well, who needs sleep when we've got commentary like this on world affairs? Those who've read Mr. Peters' essays will not be disappointed here. NEW GLORY is Ralph Peters at his lucid, succinct, devastating best. Think-tankers, bureaucrats, leftists and neocons alike, and all the armchair dilettantes who infest the airwaves will not like this book because Mr. Peters pillories them mercilessly. Those people will feel threatened by Mr. Peters' ideas on what's wrong with our military and foreign policies and how to correct them. That is because they are the product of many years' actual experience as a soldier and world traveler, not academia or the E-Ring of the Pentagon or any of those other ivory towers where eggheads seek refuge from reality. One wonders if the hard, practical and cogent advice he gives here will have any effect on our current leadership. I doubt it, they're too deep into the swamp they've made of affairs. But I think the true value of a book like NEW GLORY is that it's aimed at the dynamic young men and women who will compose the next generation of leaders, capable young people who do know a hawk from a handsaw. If I'm right there is a new glory waiting us and Mr. Peters is its prophet.

In the mid-1990's, Ralph Peters published repeated articles in military scholarly journals and relentlessly prowled the corridors of war colleges preaching a message that many did not choose to hear at the time--that the United States military would soon face enemies whose ruthlessness and rejection of the rules of warfare would pose a threat to our military and nation that few would be prepared to meet. He was right then, and he is equally on the mark in "New Glory," in which he brilliantly analyzes the challenges and threats we now face in the Global War on Terror, in Iraq, and at home, where our country is most vulnerable to self-defeat, while reminding readers that America today has the opportunity to play a transforming role in the world. Readers should expect bold, even brash, statements, devoid of the anesthesia of the politically correct, a prodigious knowledge of history and use of its lessons to buttress Peters' case, and many unforgettable moments when Peters' powerful logic drives home a point with Krauthammerlike precision, usually an insight that the reader would like to have thought of himself. A unique contribution by one of our few original thinkers.

It seems inevitable that this exceptionally timely and insightful work will be excoriated and the author decried by a predictable segment of society. That this does not lessen but rather increase the impact of this volume is only natural. With over 24 years on America's front lines I have "been there, done that," in far too many instances, living and working throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa and can attest to the incisive veracity of Peters' observations. My younger brother has spent the last 23 years with the State Department serving everywhere from Africa to Kabul and throughout Europe and he too, having seen war and politics "up close and personal" shares these views. Doubtless "New Glory" will be denounced as shortsighted or exclusionary but nothing could be further from the truth and one should look closely at the qualifications and experience of those who so blithely offer such criticisms. Peters' book, much to the contrary, while blunt and uncompromising, shines light on a future path for U.S. foreign policy which is both selfless and constructive. The author sees not only the flaws in today's great powers but also identifies the great potential, ignored by current world leadership, among the masses in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, the Indian sub-continent and beyond. In the great tradition of Fitzroy MacLean and Mark Twain the words of the well-traveled and scrupulously observant Peters should be required reading for those who would understand and appreciate an evolving planet.

No book on U.S. strategic thought-or current events-is a more compelling outline of the national security and political-military issues of urgency today. There is no more important task for Americans-as-world-leaders today than being resolved in our minds first, and in our actions second, and this book will lead you more surely to a sense of belief in your own thoughts. This is not a work in which there will be a debate about "what the author meant"; Ralph Peters is downright courageous in telling you what he believes, and you will not agree with everything that he says. But when you pick up New Glory, as any Ralph Peters book-always eminently readable and provocative-you will be treated like an adult. Right, left, those with profitable political agendas, and shallow-thinkers in general will invent offense with Peters' tough appraisals. However, those who don't subscribe to infotainment as their main source of knowledge or resist being challenged with critical thinking will be re-reading, dog-earing, and highlighting the heck out of New Glory. To be sure, Peters delivers scathing critique of traditional partners, he details shortcomings and deficiencies of allies, politically-activated interest groups, the military-political-industrial complex, national and international leaders, and others, but he stays on course with his two pillars of master strategy for the U.S.: our national interests including those of our allies and human rights. He champions human rights in a way that we have not seen before, correctly identifying them as "human revolutions' in women's rights, racial integration, family development, religious tolerance, and so on. Long in the business of shaping current military thought, he expands his visions of future war while defining needed changes in military culture and getting beyond "the myth of bloodless, high-tech war". Peters' forecasts of the security potentials in Africa, new partnerships with previously unconsidered countries and even old adversaries, and useful developments in multinational security venues give us part of the essential roadmap to building the kind of secure future that America and the world needs.
On the day that I finished reading New Glory, Taliban elements in Afghanistan killed innocent civilians as a protest to upcoming elections; in Iraq, suicide bombers yet again killed policemen who were going about the simple, civic service of directing traffic, and I horrified myself by realizing that I found none of this qualified as news. Surely, the world deserves something better than general hand wringing, political-finger pointing, or worse, acceptance. Compelling, centered, tough: New Glory will generate in you a decisive understanding of a strategy that points ahead.

Read Ralph Peters' stunningly lucid new book with a pen in your hand: you will be underlining and highlighting constantly, as you move from one key point to the next. Peters has poured his heart, soul, and a lifetime of observation into New Glory, and it shows. He has a turn of phrase and facility with the English language that can only be the product of decades of dedicated writing. Couple his language skills with his biting commentary, frank appraisal, brilliant analysis, and extraordinary vision and you have a timeless work that ought to be in the hands of policy makers and voters everywhere.
Buy this book immediately - then buy another to send to a good friend. He will thank you for it.

In a word ..AWESOME. For understanding the world today, this is the one. This is the author.

The most incisive and insightful analysis ---of today's real (geo) politik --on the planet ! Incredibly well researched and substantiated.

This author is to foreign policy/world affairs what Jim Morrison and the Doors were to rock and roll in 1967. Spot on.

Peters makes sense... of the seemingly senseless state of affairs in these topsy- turvy times . His observations and ideas are based historically, militarily, in literature and in art and are contextually tied in to the explosive change we are living. His words and ideas are a bell in the fog of the news ...and not so news.

In this authoritative tome, Peters is as profound as Emerson (another brilliant Ralph) and as radical as Marx (I'd prefer to compare his radicalism to that of Adam Smith but Smith's radicalism is under appreciated by most of us)

He thinks 3 billion women ought to have a say in this world , and sooner rather than later. And he posits the consequences for you. Here's a shocker, there ARE positions --other than suicide bomber-available.

He argues that featherbedding dictators (and religious pretenders) of failed and failing societies --depriving their own people of basic human rights--deserve less. And he posits that too. Come to think of it, he posits a whole lot better than most people you'll hear today.

But beware: this is not a book for the faint of mind, you may have to let go of some conventions and biases you didn't even know you held (such as tacit support for latent post colonialist influences). Stay open minded and be ready to learn. He also challenges the 'white bread world' and cocoonish notion of friendlies on all fronts.

For 30 years this brilliant analyst has been training and making a study of world affairs and he has tempered that study in the crucible of extensive travel, and on- site observation. He knows whereof he speaks. And he thinks through the consequences.

Get it, it's important.