Customer Reviews

Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Margaret Thatcher's place in history is already firmly established. She earned her place in history's pantheon of great leaders in large part through her unprecedented 3 consecutive electoral victories and the years in office they allowed her to serve, and she continues to closely follow and study global politics as a respected former stateswoman. She is as competent to write on world politics as any leader currently in office, and more qualified than many, whether they currently serve or have served in the past.

Lady Thatcher does not mince words, spin ideas, nor does she change her beliefs to suit the mood of the day. In this book she takes many positions that are not fashionable, politically correct, and will not be welcomed by many in or out of office. She presents her case on dozens of issues and offers summaries of what she believes should be done. I would very much enjoy a rebuttal as competent as her presentation; I doubt very much that I would be swayed. I had the privilege of attending one of her speeches, and if you find her persuasive via her writing, she is extraordinary in person.

That are many topics that deserve close focus, but I enjoyed her extended discussion of what she terms, "euro-land". I may be wrong, but I feel she equates the usefulness and future of The European Union to be as fictional as another land, that of Disney. Disney deals in fantasy, governments should not. The union is also referred to as a form of United States Of Europe; this fiction is dismembered by Lady Thatcher in great detail, and with arguments of more substance than those who advocate the union. She believes that it is inevitable that the program will fail, and that history will record it as one of the greatest follies attempted in history.

Globalism and the concepts of global citizenship are dead on arrival by any rational measure. The European Union is doomed for the same reasons. The world is not populated by homogenous people, language, laws, customs, beliefs, morals, systems of government, or common national interests. And this list is just a small sample. Members who issue the Euro give up a fundamental element of their sovereignty, their right to issue legal tender and manage their economies. The citizens are subject to the laws of their nation, and again this is compromised when a supra-authority like euro-land government develops. Defenders cite the tradition of international law, the miserable record of international law and courts preempts any such defense.

Lady Thatcher also points out the aspirations to produce a military force from the members of the union. Most of these aspirations, which are no more than still born fantasies, are often put forward by two of the members, Germany and France. It's amazing how short memories are. I am not suggesting that Germany has any desire to go to war once again, but it is historical fact that as a nation (now fully reunited) they have not worked and played well with their neighbors. France has routinely been run over or has run away from a German advance. Perhaps France is attempting to make friends with the bully that has historically damaged them so badly. They have a history of collaboration with their nation's enemies; they even round up their own citizens and deport them when told to do so by an occupier. Germany will dominate any union; France will be used as is convenient. The arrogance that is often a hallmark of France is almost laughable to read when they state their intention of creating a union to rival The United States not only economically, but to be independent militarily. As the book provides the facts about military strength and spending at present, and the ability of members to spend, the idea of a military group independent of NATO is simply absurd.

Lady Thatcher virtually walks the reader around the globe on the dozens of trips she has made since leaving office. Her observations are not drawn from reflection in her home, but from first hand experience. How many present or former leaders have stood at mass graves in the former Yugoslavia as bodies were being exhumed? She has, and these first hand on-site experiences give her the authoritative knowledge to comment and suggest. She also maintains relationships with nearly all of the heads of state she interacted with as Prime Minister and many that took office after she departed.

The book is dedicated to President Ronald Reagan, "To whom the world owes so much". The special relationship she had with President Reagan, and the good fortune the world had from these two people in occupying office together for many years, has literally written some of the greatest events of the 20th Century.

I said that she reminded me of another Prime Minister of England. My reasons for saying this grow from her candor, her absolute core beliefs, and her willingness to state what the truth is when it is so unpopular to do so. She rightfully has no time for the nonsense that is political correctness. And even though when he was asked about the likelihood of a woman as Prime Minister he thought the idea was so absurd he barely answered, I believe that were he alive, Prime Minister Churchill would have been a supporter and admirer of Prime Minister Thatcher.

This is a primer and a prescription for US and British foreign policy. It is one of the best books I've ever read. It reaches me and is in synch with how I view the world, albeit from a more professional, seasoned point of view.
In a very real sense this book is aimed at America. It is brimming with enlightened pragmatism and compassionate realism. It fairly drips with levelheaded wisdom, running off of every page beginning with the first page of the Introduction. Thatcher takes an unassuming, almost motherly, perhaps too forgiving view of how the West let its guard down in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
She is unabashedly anti-communist and a devotee of President Ronald Reagan. She considers him to have been "the supreme architect of the West's Cold War victory" (10). In fact, she dedicated her book to him, "To whom the world owes so much." She believes "that Ronald Reagan and I spoke the same language (in every sense)" (7).
She has a deep love of America -- a connection -- what she calls "a certain idea of America" (20). This stems from her "consciousness of the underlying commonalities of the 'English-speaking world' and of its values" as well as the uniqueness of America and the English roots of that uniqueness. There is "an important truth about America -- namely that it is the most reliable force for freedom in the world, because the entrenched values of freedom are what make sense of its whole existence" (23). She quotes often and liberally from the Declaration of Independence.
Juxtaposed against this love for, and belief in, America is an overarching unilateralism and a resistance to political correctness. In this vein, she advises against making coalition-building a hard prerequisite. It depends on the situation, with America's best interests always paramount.
She has a wonderfully easy, fluid style -- erudite without being ostentatious. She summarizes at the end of most sections with bulletized recommendations. These succinctly capture the framework of her worldview. Borne of experience, they are clear enough to serve the amateur strategist as well as the seasoned diplomat. She shares her view of the world by taking us on a tour through regions, countries, hot spots, and individuals, with penetrating analysis and personal anecdotes.
We find, for example, that "China is one of two countries [to] have radically benefited in terms of the global power and importance from the end of the Cold War" (160), but the leadership in Beijing is fighting a delaying action. China is moving towards economic modernization, pulled inexorably by globalization. White it is a long way from becoming, and might never become, a Western-style democracy, it will become "at least a country whose population enjoy most of the benefits of freedom" (176). We will see a rising middle class, and the process will be facilitated by China's membership in the World Trade Organization. This can be seen in the experience of Hong Kong since transition. To maintain Hong Kong's economic vibrancy, Beijing cannot apply "coercive political measures." The reunification of Hong Kong, it seems to me, may prove to be the turning point, or at least acceleration, to a real "great leap forward."
Her insights are deep and broad, covering the spectrum of historical, political, military, and economic considerations; in each case, from the international level to the local. She has a fundamental faith in democracy and capitalism, but with an acceptance and understanding of the strength and benefits of cultural diversity as democracy and capitalism are practiced in different corners of the globe. She abhors communism, no matter what its nationality, with its totalitarian nature setting it apart from authoritarian regimes.
Her views on Europe are particularly interesting, and she goes into quite some detail about them. (Here she speaks primarily to Britain, not the US.) She sees the European Union as virtually inevitable, the idea being swept along with the currents of globalization, but she is very much against it. She's against surrendering British sovereignty. Moreover, she believes the EU will collapse of its own bureaucratic weight. In fact, there's nary any aspect of it that she thinks will work -- not its political cohesiveness, not a common currency, not its joint Rapid Reaction Force, etc. This is because the union is contrived -- an artificial construct of disparate elements with few if any common bonds.
Her path would be to negotiate a special framework for Britain within the EU -- one that would maintain (or restore) its sovereignty and control over its trade policy. If it cannot negotiate an acceptable set of membership conditions, Britain should "be prepared, if it became necessary, to unilaterally withdraw from EU membership" (402).
It would seem, of course, that the latter is what will come to pass if Prime Minister Tony Blair were to follow her advice since granting such special considerations -- special treatment -- would prove to be the undoing of the EU. (I suppose one could argue that the EU would do whatever it takes to keep Britain in, including a longer transition for Britain even it if meant a longer transition for other member nations, especially if she's correct that the EU needs Britain more than Britain needs the EU (397).)
One alternative to the EU, she suggests, is that Britain join NAFTA (which she would re-christen the North Atlantic Free Trade Area). Interesting thought. She's convinced it would be good for all involved. Anyway, her views and recommended actions reflect her faith in free market capitalism, which, in turn, reflects her faith in the collective intelligence and ingenuity of people.
Thatcher is a Reaganite, through and through, and like President Reagan accomplished during his administration, her book makes one feel good about America. Left-wingers likely will find much to criticize in it, but most of us will find much to cheer. A resounding five stars.

Margaret Thatcher gives us a book about the difficult political decisions facing leaders of Western nations.

I was most impressed with Margaret Thatcher's obvious obsession with always doing what seems morally right and justified, at the risk of becoming rather unpopular in the process. Nowhere is this more evident than in her defense of Chilean General/Senator Pinochet, at a time when it is certainly politically incorrect to openly show any support for this man, despite his undeniable roll in bringing economic and political stability to Chile.

Whether one agrees or not with Margaret Thatcher's views, it is clear to me she is a person of integrity, and does not express views aimed at winning any popularity contests.

I suspect that at the very least, people will find her book provides some good conversation topics, some challenging ideas, and some reflection on the complex dinamics of the political, ethical, and foreign relations decisions facing us in the immediate years ahead of us.

I must admit that during her service as Prime Minister Ms. Thatcher and I found ourselves at odds on many issues. However this perspective and world view has been one of the most enlightening accounts that it has been my pleasure to read.

This is a segmented book in terms of examining various areas of the world and how they exist and relate to Britain and America. It is readily accessible to both the general reader and academic. Her insights into the character and motivations of the leaders of the past twenty years are irreplaceable and her sense of humor is exhibited throughout the account.

The section that I found most interesting concerned Asia and in particular the situation which exists in China. President Nixon is often credited with having the most perfect insight into that still relatively closed society, but Ms. Thatcher has definitely exceeded him here. As she has so deftly exceeded in her analysis of so many nations and cultures. This is not and I repeat not a partisan account. It is clear-eyed and to the point. She does bring some of her perspectives to this, but this is not about politics, the Cold War or East versus West.

I would commend this one to anyone interested in foreign affairs. In fact it is the best book I have read about the current world situation. It is chock full of maps and easy to read reports.

And if I were teaching a course in current world history this would be my text. Ms. Thatcher is an untapped resource in world affairs and I hope she continues to write. She has so much to offer.

Margaret Thatcher will surely go down in history as one of the great and enduring world leaders of the second half of the twentieth century . In this, likely her last book, Thatcher attempts the creation of a primer for the American and British statesman. The book is broad and sweeping and eminently readable as Thatcher covers every region on earth and presents her views of the appropriate approach for the United States and Britain in its relations with foreign powers. She also devotes a considerable number of words to her unmitigated hostility to the European Union that she considers negative in every conceivable way. In her prescriptions for Britain she accepts those facts she regards as irreversible and, thus, her recommendations are clearly plausible and deserve to be considered seriously. One does not have to agree with each and every pronouncement to appreciate the soundness of Thatcher's basic approach and to admire her refusal to bend her views to the popular.

In her introduction, Thatcher distinguishes "statecraft" from "statesmanship" with the former containing an emphasis on "activity rather than rhetoric, strategy not just diplomacy." In the age of globalism, Thatcher is scornful of those statesman who see the world as they would like it to be rather than as it is. Thatcher's pronouncements in this book are too broad to cover in this review but here is a sampling: She regards the United States as the only true global super power. Thatcher is strongly against "internationalism", the tendency of states to subsume their sovereignty in favor of international organizations. She is remarkably hostile to the European Union and its efforts to create a super-state to rival the United States. She opposes the "euro" and argues that the subordination of national sovereignty to an organization she regards as a bullying anti-democratic bureaucracy to be a recipe for future disaster. Thatcher would tie Britain to the economic and political fortunes of the United States, even proposing that Britain join NAFTA. I think she is right to be suspicious of this organization. Its dominant powers France and Germany certainly seek to use the Union to create a major rival to the United States. The French would like to challenge American military dominance, the Germans, economic. Thatcher believes this to be against Brtitish and American interests.

Thatcher is properly hostile to such international entities as the world criminal court. She regards the court as a vehicle to subvert the superior legal systems of the U.S. and Britain and sees such international organizations being used to hurt the interests of the West. She notes the dangerous precedent set by the case of Pinochet, where Spain demanded his extradition for alleged crimes committed in Chile. Finally, Thatcher rails against "do-goodism" which assails common sense. She cites as one of many examples of myopic western diplomacy, the arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia which had the effect of allowing the Serbs, who controlled the Yugoslav military, to maintain a vast superiority. This, of course, had the effect of encouraging Serbian aggression, the opposite of the intended effect. Thatcher's solution would have been to fully supply the Bosnian resisters of Serbian aggression. This would have either deterred the aggression or at the very least forced the Serbs to the negotiation table. That this is not seen by the diplomats of the West is very troubling.

Most of Thatcher's arguments seem similarly logical. Unlike those of the left, Thatcher never goes in for messianic visions of a perfect world. Instead she applauds those nations who improve economically, politically and socially, while condemning those she regards as rogues or bad actors.

I would have given this book five stars if Lady Thatcher stuck to issues of international relations. Unfortunately too much of the book is bogged down in her defense of capitalism and her assault on what she regards as socialism. I certainly agree with her that the system of free enterprise continues to be under basic assault by much of the dominant powers of the world, the U.S. excepted. But her attack on the regulatory power of the state is overwrought and she goes too far. One can agree that the system of free enterprise is just and appropriate and still believe that its inevitable inequities can be corrected by government action. In any event, this is not a book about capitalism, but about statecraft. Thatcher should save her philosophy of economics for another book.

Nevertheless, Lady Thatcher is an impressive thinker with consistency and logic often on her side. The key to statecraft is not to place the entire world into a single system but to know what situations require the carrot and which require the stick. I do not see this wisdom in existence in either the American State Department or the British Foreign Ministry. I certainly do not see it in the nations of Western Europe who foolishly often stand in opposition to American efforts to secure tranquility around the world.. Thatcher would promote the growth of free markets everywhere. She would confront bad regimes and reward good regimes. She would seek to deter aggression through the credible threat of force, not through endless talk, appeasement and unenforceable treaties. You can quibble with her over the details. After observing the world over the past twenty years, however, I have come to the conclusion that Thatcher's approach to the world is by and large the correct one. Anyone with an open mind will enjoy and appreciate this book. Filled with her personal observations and anecdotes, always readable and lively, this excellent book is must reading for anyone interested in the subject of international affairs.

Margaret Thatcher clearly shows why she is so highly regarded worldwide by conservatives and authentic liberals, but vilified by leftists (who have nothing in common with real liberalism except for the hijacking of its name).

Her understanding and observations concerning the political, economic, and military problems the world will face in the near future are very insightful. Whether you admire, dislike, or are indifferent toward her, you will be impressed by her integrity and willingness to state these problems and their often politically-incorrect solutions.

She writes in the same manner that she lead; that is, by principle and example. She is concerned only with what is right and totally unconcerned with whether or not it is popular. Rest assured that Mrs. Thatcher never took an opinion poll before making an important decision.

It is obvious why she was such a great leader and why this book is such an important contribution to the study of international affairs and I highly recommend it.

Lady Thatcher stated her purpose in writing clearly. "I wanted to write one more book - and I wanted it to be about the future. In this age of spin-doctors and sound bites, the ever-present danger is that leaders will follow fashion and not their instincts and beliefs. That was not how the West won the Cold War, nor how we created the basis for today's freedom and prosperity. If we wish to make our achievements secure for our children and grandchildren, the West must stay vigilant and strong. In this book it will be my purpose to show how that can - and must - be done."

Lady Margaret Thatcher will never speak in public again. The former Prime Minister had suffered a number of minor strokes in recent months. She will continue to write articles and express views on current issues. "STATECRAFT" is of interest to anyone living and able to think about our world and human relationships as affected by politics. Mz. Thatcher had as much affect as anyone individually ever has today. She worked with those who are "figurehead" leaders like Ronald Reagan of the USA and quite the opposite of herself and of ideologue and ideological leader Mr. Gorbachev in Russia.

Thatcher has concerns that events of her tenure in office in the 1980's will not meet the realities of the affects that her intended policies actually made in time and gel with the consequences of her policy and party leadership's intentions. All politicians would have these concerns and produce apologetics.

History is never actually "re-written." Policies of parties, nations, and individuals are all subject to revelation, documentation and assessment of the results. It is as simple as Herodotus being the parent of either `lies' or `history." The difference between intent of policy, history, truth, falsehood, and blatant lies for xenophobic gain by nations and their leaders is history. Thatcher certainly fits this mold. Get a look at Europe, the Euro-Parliament, and European mentality through her able eyes.

Mikhail Gorbachev failed spectacularly in his stated objective of saving communism and the Soviet Union. Gorbachev also declared that there had been any "victor" in the "Cold War" a controversies concerning the "main actors," suits former "B" film actor and 60 Second Sound Byte specialist Reagan, but not Thatcher. The roles of Europeans in the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union other than Helmut Kohl and Thatcher are all now subject to re-assessment. Thatcher can actually can read, write, and think.

Thatcher's concerns are relevant to George Santayana's concerns for history per-se. The recent past is Thatcher's concern. Misinterpreting could result in all concerned: "...learning the wrong lessons, and could result in adopting the wrong responses" for future events and plans. Sophistry, intelligence are evident in Mz. Thatcher's fine writing. Her statecraft lies in defining the state of Europe outside the EU. Look at Europe for what it is through Thatcher's fine-tuned perspective and first-hand experience characterize Britain's relations with Europe and the options now available.

Thatcher minces no words. Her last living days mean much to her. Admire her passion for life? Thatcher knows that the attempt to form a united Europe is flawed to certain fatality. Europe does not have or want a common language, culture and values at all. "It is also flawed because the United States was forged in the 18th century and transformed into a truly federal system in the 19th century through events, and above all through necessities and the outcomes of war." Lady Thatcher is correct: "By contrast, Europe is the result of plans. It is, in fact a classical Utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damages is in doubt." Nothing could be more factual and true. European "intellectuals" are worse than improbably oxymoronic castrated chickens having a weenie roast and barbecue with the Internet, technology, and everything positive in modern learning and civilization. I know a European who actually opened a website favoring the mythos of "Babel," like the Italian schools of painters did in the time of Hendrick van Cleve, Louis de Cailley and the minor Flemish painter Abel Grimmer in the 14th and 15th centuries! Imagine quoting Grimmer as saying that language was integral to culture exactly when your continent needed the opposite to survive at all! Even `love-making' is deemed culturally based on this website. It certainly is anachronistic, Luddite in nature, and 100% contradictory to Lady Thatcher, the success of America, and reality at large.

Lady Thatcher created more than a memoir here. It is a book about truth in the forest of bankrupt European culture, and a junk food world of garbage Internet sites wasting bandwidth with Luddite imbeciles barking one-liners or 60 second praises for obscurity as poor Europe sinks, and its: "...inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damages is in doubt."

For those interested in ideas backed by multiple precise reasons, this is a book to read. Margaret Thatcher clearly shows the depth of her intellect in this book. The subject is the world, its future, and her thoughts on how to handle the rough seas ahead. I didn't always agree with her conclusions, but I admired her ability and willingness to back each of her points with a matrix of considerations. Most people want to pontificate bland decrees which are presumed to stand on their own (because the pontificator deigns to speak), but Mrs. Thatcher (I am not a monarchist nor admirer of titled gentry) cares enough to not only proclaim what she believes, but to provide her ideas with a foundation of ideas.

I found it fascinating while reading this book, to compare the challenges and ultimately our victory during the Cold War and the current War on Terrorism. In both cases the clash is one of ideologies, and once again we find the freedom loving West, which respects the rights of the Individual, up against an enemy that doesn't respect freedom, nor give a [care]about the individual. Once again we find ourselves up against a clash of cultures and styles. The lessons learned from the Cold War should be remembered and reapplied. Strength is what frightens these militant hoodlums, since at heart they are nothing but a mobster mafia using fear to keep their puppets in line.

Lady Thatcher is clear in her prose, at times witty; and objective in her statements. Her thesis boils down to this: it is freedom of association, the right to own property and to stake a claim in the product of one's efforts that are supreme, and that is what makes the West morally superior. Eliminating the State is not required, when people are free to act of their own free will.

At the same time, let us not make the mistakes of the Nixon/Ford/Carter era, which is to appease these militants in hopes that kindness will warm their chilly hearts. Their aim is to enslave, torture and to kill us. We as individual citizens, have a right to protection from these villians. And our States must make that very, very, clear.

In this brilliant book, Thatcher discusses the state of the world at the start of the 21st century and the way forward, drawing on her considerable experience and keen insights. Chapter One: cold war reflections, touches on many subjects from the information revolution to the victory of the West in the cold war. Chapter Two looks at the American achievement including the concept of a unipolar world, military preparedness, defence technologies and missile defence.

Chapter Three deals with Russia, the legacy of communism, the role of the IMF, the failed economic reforms, the country's relations with its former Soviet colonies and what remains of its military power. Part One of Chapter Four explains why Asia, with half of the world's population and a third of all dry land, matters so much. Part Two deals with the Tigers: Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia, whilst Part Three is devoted to Japan. The next chapter, Asian Giants, deals with China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong) and India.

In Chapter Six, rogue states, religion and terrorism are discussed, with particular reference to North Korea, Islam, Iraq, Syria, Lybia and Iran. In Chapter Seven, Thatcher discusses human rights, genocide, the Yugoslavia and Rwanda criminal tribunals, the international criminal court and European court of human rights.

Chapter Eight investigates the Balkan wars whilst Chapter Nine is devoted to the European Union. Thatcher investigates the roots of the European idea, the European economic and social model, the pensions crisis, the common agricultural policy, the Euro currency as a means towards a superstate and the bureaucratic, anti-democratic nature of the EU.

Thatcher warns against the creeping loss of sovereignty to unaccountable EU bureaucrats who have only contempt for democracy. The next chapter looks at the current situation of the UK by investigating all the options of how her country might extricate itself from this mess. She advises Britain to stick to the Pound and to renegotiate the structure of the EU.

The last chapter strikes a devastating blow to the critics of capitalism by illustrating how well the free economies have been performing as opposed to the shackled economies of the remaining authoritarian regimes. She also dissects the absurdities of the global warming scare and discusses globalism and its enemies.

The postscript deals with accountability and the Magna Carta in a delightful description of Thatcher and her husband's visit to the memorial at Runnymede. She concludes the book with the observation that the political culture of the English-speaking peoples has given the world the ideas that power should be limited, force should not overrule justice plus the conviction that individuals have an absolute moral worth.

There are 20 full color potgraphs, 13 maps and 8 tables that enhances this highly readable and illuminating text. Bibliographic references are scattered throughout and the book concludes with a thorough index.

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage

Margaret Thatcher, Volume 1: The Grocer's Daughter