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Wesley K. Clark

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Don't Wait for the Next War: A Strategy for American Growth and Global Leadership Hardcover – October 7, 2014

by Wesley K. Clark (Author)

4.3 86 ratings

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With the end of the Cold War came not the end of history, but the end of America's sense of its strategic purpose in the world. Then, after a decade of drift, the US was violently dragged back into international conflict. Its armed forces responded magnificently but its leaders' objectives were substantially flawed. We fought the wrong war -- twice -- for reasons that were opaque, and few American citizens understood the cause for which their sons and daughters were fighting and dying.

War is a poor substitute for strategic vision, and decisions made in the heat of imminent conflict are often limited by the emotions of the moment. In Don't Wait for the Next War, Wesley K. Clark, a retired four-star general of the US army and former Democratic candidate for president, presents a compelling argument for continued American global leadership and the basis on which it can succeed -- a new American strategy. America needs both new power and deeper perspective. The platform for American leadership is to use America's energy resources to spark sustainable economic growth, building new strength to deal with pressing domestic issues like the deficit as well as the longer term challenges to US security -- terrorism, cyber threats, the next financial crisis, China's rising power, and climate change.

Such a strategy is not only achievable but essential, and it is urgently needed. This is the true test of American leadership for the next two decades, but it must start now, so America has the power and vision to deal with the acute crises that will inevitably come -- in the Mideast, Europe, or Asia.

Editorial Reviews

Review

On most every count, he delivers an imaginative, tightly argued book that is full of salient detailsClark fills a vacuum in the nation's approach to strategy and shows all of ussoldiers, CEOs, entrepreneurs and politicians alikehow our country can again play to its strengths.” Army Magazine

The issues Clark raises are ones that every concerned (and voting) American ought to consider as we enter the next election cycleThe author writes clearly and keeps policy wonk” language to a minimum.” Library Journal

While Gen. Clark is perhaps best known for his 2004 presidential campaign on the Democratic ticket, his ideal national strategy has significant bipartisan appeal...This book is about much more than foreign or public policy. Gen. Clark tells fascinating tales about meetings with prominent officials from all over the world that offer insight into the strategic goals of other countries...The publishers of "Next War" could not have timed its release any better...You may not agree with Gen. Clark's strategies, but at least he is trying to elevate the national conversation with his fantastic new book.” Seeking Alpha

From the Back Cover

Intellectuals often underestimate books like this. Mr. Clark isn’t a thumb-sucking pundit: He is an extremely ambitious, sharp-elbowed man who has a passionately felt vision for the American future that he aches to put into practice.”Wall Street Journal

For the most part, the author is an upbeat advocate and writer, bringing his can-do military attitude to a set of problems away from the battlefield. Clark is forceful and confident in tone, but he also wisely acknowledges that he has relied on many advisersafter all, he notes, military leadership does not always translate well into running civilian governments, nor does it necessarily equate to effective diplomacy and economics. A clearly written prescription to help Americans alleviate their nation's malaise.”Kirkus Reviews

An exuberant vision for American global leadership that would deemphasize, without diminishing, American military preeminence in favor of an economic-muscle approach that leverages American energy resources.”Booklist

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs; First Edition (October 7, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 161039433X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1610394338
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,740,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,216 in International Diplomacy (Books)
- #2,028 in National & International Security (Books)
- #7,402 in U.S. Political Science

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4.3 86 ratings

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Customers find the book provides insightful and well-researched opinions on strategy. They find it engaging and worth reading, with good writing quality that provokes thought and questions. The author's pragmatic approach is praised as non-partisan and grounded in facts.

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20 customers mention "Insight"20 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and well-researched. They appreciate the pragmatic, non-partisan approach and detailed coverage of various parts of the globe. The book provokes thought and re-analysis of values, making it a comprehensive strategy for success.

"...The amount of information packed into 220 pages is no less than staggering...." Read more

"...He goes into quite a bit of details on almost every part of the Globe, providing just about the right amount of information about various countries..." Read more

"...the state of American politics, however his approach is pragmatic, non-partisan and grounded in the realities of our current political system...." Read more

"...It was somewhat informative and did offer solutions to gigantic social, political, and economic matters, but only in the broadest of terms...." Read more

14 customers mention "Readability"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and worth reading. They say it makes them think and consider issues. Readers appreciate the author's insights and value his experience.

"...It’s pretty plainly said. He gives the reader a crash course in a broad spectrum of American history (mostly over the last 100 years),..." Read more

"...Nothing is surprising in the book, but General Clark does a really good job providing his invaluable perspective and insight into summarizing what..." Read more

"...Great read. Well written and informative. I highly recommend it." Read more

"...This book is a deep read but should be assigned to every high school senior so we can begin to create a generation of people who think about our..." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written with insightful advice from a strategic thinker. They say it's worth reading and that the questions compel them to learn more.

"...reader think, great ones make the reader ask questions, outstanding ones compel the reader to not only learn more, but to leap from learning to..." Read more

"...Great read. Well written and informative. I highly recommend it." Read more

"Very timely. Well written with the insight of one of the best strategic thinkers of all the Army generals that I have known." Read more

"Very worth buying and reading...." Read more

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Kelly A. Flinn
A vitally important road map for a critically needed (and currently absent) new National Strategy
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
There are a few points I’d like to make at the beginning of this, before the actual review …

1) Forget what you think you may know about General Wesley K. Clark. This is not a Democrat writing a book blaming all the country’s ills on Republicans. This is a non-partisan manual of what’s broken, why (blame is spread equally, and in multiple directions), and possible ways to fix it.

2) This is not a platform to launch a presidential, or any other, campaign – and he has stated this rather emphatically during several recent interviews.

3) This should be required reading for everyone over the age of 15, but most especially, anyone involved in government, defense, foreign relations, international law and multinational companies.

4) I would say all of this, whether this was written by Wes Clark, or Colin Powell, or Donald Rumsfeld or Joseph Stalin. It’s the ideas that are vitally important, regardless of who conceived and wrote them.

General Clark’s primary point – that we need a new national strategy – is not a new subject for him. He’s been talking about this for at least the last decade that I know of, and probably far longer. It’s well past time, we started listening.

One of Wes Clark’s great talents is his ability to explain highly complex ideas and problems in a way most can understand, and without insulting someone’s intelligence. The value of that ability should not be underestimated, as it means, in this case, the solutions he’s suggesting can be implemented more quickly because no one has to interpret, or decipher what he’s talking about. It’s pretty plainly said.

He gives the reader a crash course in a broad spectrum of American history (mostly over the last 100 years), to show how we got to where we are now economically, politically, militarily, culturally, and relative to the rest of the world – most especially China – and how our current state impacts our national security and future. Most books stop there. This one doesn't – and it is this that sets it apart.

In the last third of the book, General Clark lays out a framework, to address the five primary challenges facing the U.S., now and in the coming years, he believes (and I agree) can be a new national strategy to move the country forward into full recovery from the Great Recession, regain ground we've lost as the world’s lone super power, and once again be the country our allies, and even our enemies, admire and respect.

The amount of information packed into 220 pages is no less than staggering. Good treatises make the reader think, great ones make the reader ask questions, outstanding ones compel the reader to not only learn more, but to leap from learning to acting on that new-found knowledge. This book has all the ingredients to be outstanding, and absolutely should not be missed!

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Mark D. Schaeffer
Very much worth reading....the feasibility of the solutions are good debating points
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2014
Verified Purchase
The book comes basically in 2 parts - the assessment of the environment / risks, and then solutions. Nothing is surprising in the book, but General Clark does a really good job providing his invaluable perspective and insight into summarizing what's important. He goes into quite a bit of details on almost every part of the Globe, providing just about the right amount of information about various countries, regimes, cultures regions, etc. The details and nuances is where the real meat is.

Then when he switched to the solutions, I had mixed feelings, but it really made me think. At first I thought some of his ideas appeared idealistic and naive. But I kept reading because I have a lot of respect for General Clark. I realized reading between lines that as complex things usually are with world affairs, government and such, there is a certain simplicity in the story that is required to provide a framework, with more complex details and nuances to round it out. Firstly, his solutions centered around fossil fuel energy independence - specifically oil/natural gas for transportation and manufacturing - as we have plenty of coal (and natural gas plus nukes and hydro) for our power grid. His whole premises was predicated on our government taking a more active involvement drilling in this country to produce more oil and natural gas. This would improve our economic standing, which would in turn give us more power in the second part of the strategy which is to take a more active involvement in the economic and education development of many other countries as a strategy to create stability. He provided a lot of detail on that. This would also enable us to have more negotiating power with China, Russia, etc.

The second part of the strategy (economic assistance) made sense, but the first part of the strategy (oil and natural gas production) seemed at first glance to be absurd without some kind of strategy with regards to oil non-fossil fuels and electric vehicles (which require non-fossil electric energy production to be most effective). However, General Clark did bring up towards the end a little more detail on the overall strategy, and this is important - the need to first get our act together with strengthening our economic and world position by taking advantage of fossil fuel production domestically, which would put us in a better position long term for both alternative energy, and economic development. He didn't emphasize this enough, and didn't make that clear up front. Ultimately, most of our problems or any country's problems stems around energy sources. It's easy to overlook this simple fact, and not put it stage center - so General Clark indirectly made that clear.

However, the one key area where he felt completely short, in my opinion, is the feasibly of doing anything that makes sense with a government that has been destroyed by Wall Street & lobbyists, and a media that has been eaten alive by the Internet and a tabloid culture. We have NEVER and probability NEVER will take advantage of any kind of oil / energy "glut" (i.e. low prices). In the early 90's when prices were really low, we simply built a lot of oil sucking SUV's, instead of using that economic "surplus" to invest in long term alternative energy sources (Same with Saudi Arabia, but even worse - it's human nature). Our biggest challenge is not so much knowing WHAT do to, it's HOW to do it with a government that needs campaign finance reform and a media that no longer can afford to produce decent news because of the great unbundling (and dismantling) of the subsidies that stupid TV shows (e.g. Sitcoms) provided to respectable news organizations (News organizations now are scrambling for ratings, just ask Tucker Carlson - even if you hate them, who can blame them as they have to pay their bills). General Clark's ideas are really good, and I wonder who his targeted audience is, because pretty much nobody in the government will or is even capable of executing on any of this effectively. The scariest part is that China is highly capable of doing all these things specifically because they are NOT a democracy. And they will probably do many of these things, but with their own spin and their own objectives which are not subject to public discourse.

So the real challenge is the differences in the governing structures between the US and China, which is driven by that nebulous thing called culture. And that is the conundrum, and General Clark mentioned nothing about that. Which maybe he purposely avoided....

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Ross Hoder
Real-world solutions for maintaining American leadership
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2014
Verified Purchase
Most Americans will agree that our country lacks a clearly defined national strategy. We've witnessed events of the past that brought us together to achieve common goals - yet in many cases those objectives centered around military action or threats to our national security. The collective resolve generated during those times of crisis has historically given way to further division.

In his book, Don't Wait for the Next War, General Clark observes American power at an inflection point - its future standing in the world called into question based on bitter partisanship and gridlock in the face of pressing domestic and foreign policy issues. In order to reverse this inflection point and position ourselves to address the challenges facing our country in the coming decades, he argues that we should establish a set of priorities that define our national strategy - one that guides our policy making decisions over the long term.

General Clark's analysis of historical trends, the current geopolitical landscape and future challenges facing our nation are insightful and thought provoking. Yet he takes it a step further by offering detailed policy recommendations for boosting America's domestic economy while maintaining its position as the world's dominant superpower. His proposal calls for accelerated development of American energy resources coupled with smart regulation and long-term leadership on climate change. This sort of grand bargain might seem far fetched given the state of American politics, however his approach is pragmatic, non-partisan and grounded in the realities of our current political system.

Great read. Well written and informative. I highly recommend it.

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Top reviews from other countries

Bryann Lawyer
Highly recommended.
Reviewed in Canada on October 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
As a long time admirer of Gen.Clark's intellectual prowess and strategic insights, this new book could not have been more timely. It is time for the U.S. to have a National Strategy long term in order for the country to maintain the global leadership and order it brought post-WWII. Highly recommended.

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