War and Politics Books

Eric Hobsbawn knows what the G. W. Bush administration should learn. The USA is not the only nation on planet earth!

Our past dominance may be a thing of the past - and we need to learn to live with it. Nation building and first strike thinking will lead us into more wars that we will not win and should not fight.

Hobsbawn does us a great service with this supurb work.

Author of Mr. NewHeart (New Heart): Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond and "The Face of War" to be released in 2010.

After the tragedy of 9/11 the USA got an outpouring of sympathy and support from the citizens and governments of nations all over the world. Seven years later, the USA has achieved virtual pariah status around the world. They hate us now. What happened?

Hobsbawm is an eminent British historian now living in his 10th decade. He has seen the 20th Century unfold. This collection of essays was taken from speeches he has made since 2001. They go a long way toward explaining how the Bush administration squandered the good will once felt toward us.

Bottom line: our aggressive and immoral attacks on other nations poisoned viewpoints around the world. The US is seen as a rogue nation bent on imperial rule and domination of weaker countries.

We are hated now.

This is a captivating book about Palestine with immense detail. Written with superb academic prowess by Tom Segev, we get a detailed look at the history of the country/region known in modern times as Palestine. Highly recommended for those looking for an objective look at the area.

It takes skill to teach history through engaging personal narratives. Segev did exactly that, and I enjoyed the book thoroughly as a result. I picked it up because I am very interested in the Isael-Palestine issue and wanted an introduction. Segev's book answered all the factual questions I had, and more. I understand, however, that this is a controversial book -- for portraying the British as being more sympathetic than perhaps they actually were and for creating the appearance of equivalence between violence on the Palestinian side and violence on the Israeli side. I can't comment on the validity of these criticisms. I should say, however, that his book has left me as committed to Israeli as I ever was...

This is the book that helped me try to start following Jesus again, helped me to believe in God again, and helped give me the courage and inspiration to suggest the idea of a Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship.

I can without doubt say that this book has tremendously influenced my life and I am grateful for the biblical, theological, and Jesus centered approach that Yoder provides.

John Howard Yoder's collection of essays in "The Original Revolution" approaches the topic of religious pacifism on many fronts. It is a disjointed grouping, a fact which Yoder readily admits in his introduction, but it thereby allows for a fuller treatment of his convictions.

OVERVIEW: The book is divided into two sections. The first deals with Biblical perspectives of war and peace. From the political options which the inauguration of Jesus' kingdom might have taken to Yoder's discussion of the continuity of the Bible's teachings on war from the Old Testament to the New, this section remains firmly rooted in the Biblical witness and delves deeply into the world of the text.
The second section then deals with the ramifications of the first. Once the church has accepted a nonresistant Jesus, what will she do with him? Yoder suggests that we should proudly claim the position of Jesus, not because it is efficacious, but because it is obedient to Jesus' witness. The claim that "Jesus is Lord" is also the claim that "we are not." As such, it is no longer our place to see that history works out in the way we see fit (the self-conception of Christianity since Constantine), but rather simple obedience to Jesus, and thereby, a forceful proclamation of his gospel, his revolution.

"The Original Revolution" provides a vision of Yoder's view on pacifism, from its origin to its manifestation. It challenged my traditional views on war and led to greater reflection on the claim not only of Jesus' teaching, but also of his life.

"Origins of Southern Radicalism..." traces the evolution of Upstate South Carolina from a frontier of subsistance farms to a cotton and slave dependent society preceding the civil war. It reflects the economic situation (supported by a surprising amount of data), the development of trading, merchants and towns, the religious sentiments of the time, and how the mixture of cotton, money, society and externally ineffective religious conviction led to disharmony and war. If anyone wants a clear window into the conditions and issues that led to our Nation's worst horrors, read this book.

"Origins" is academic in nature, and a "slow read". But, it needs to be in order to accurately document what was going in the decades leading up to the civil war. The book is built on primary evidence, and is as unfiltered a flow of facts and events as is possible. The author shows no Northern/Southern bias - just reveals the facts of the times. More than any of the numerous books I have read on the civil war, this one answers the biggest questions: "How was this tragedy of slavery perpetuated and how did this horrible war happen?"

There is a lesson here for all future generations concerned about human rights and the failure of politics to achieve favorable outcomes.

As an insatiable devourer of antebellum studies, I heartily concur with Mr. Diffey's comments below concerning this astute, if somewhat textually dense, socio-political analysis the Old South. Only W. J. Cash's seminal "Mind of the South"; the superbly myth-busting "The Southern Agrarians" by Conkin; Blassingame's somber and sobering "The Slave Community"; and Wyatt-Brown's indispensable capstone study "Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South" are in the same league, in my estimation.

As a systems analyst, moreover, I'd like to share my appreciation for a valuable lesson this book offers to anyone attempting to construct or evaluate a "factor analysis" of historical events, or any other complex dynamics.

There's a principle in cognitive/systems theory to the effect that the all-too-finite human mind can contain only so many discrete concepts at once -- the number is classically stated as "seven, plus or minus two". Look at any random batch of examples of visually displayed information, for example, and you'll find yourself boggling over any of them with more than 7-9 boxes, symbols, or whatever, to be considered as an integrated whole.

Ford's book is instructive because he posits about seven factors (as I recall, plus or minus one), as each being necessary for the rise of the uniquely radical tenor of South Carolinian politics in the antebellum era. He reviews other analyst's attempts to do with various combinations of three or four of these factors (the one-party system, Calhoun's overwhelming personality, etc.), but manages to argue convincingly that no less than the whole lot were crucial -- the absence of any one of them would have vitiated the collective dynamic which led to the South Carolinians' intransigence, even by the other Southern states' standards, and their initiatory secession.

The appreciative reader has to at once salute Mr. Ford on his masterly delineation of the key factors and their interactions, and wonder whether anyone could pull off a convincing resolution of a complex issue employing very many more factors than those required here.

In any case, the book is both a tour-de-force in the art and science of reducing amorphous data to concrete elements of an overall pattern, and a potentially sobering object lesson as to the outer limits of intelligibility/communicability confronting anyone considering the pursuit of a similar objective.

P.S. "The Japanese Mind", by the dauntingly accomplished R. C. Christopher, achieves a correspondingly complex feat with regard to Japanese culture, and is highly recommended -- as are "Fragile Glory" by Bernstein, for anyone wanting to understand the dual (and dueling) nations of France and Paris, and Luigi Barzini's "The Italians", for similar gratification on that national/cultural front. On the U.S. socio-cultural scene, do read Aldrich's "Old Money: The Mythology of Wealth In America", for all that's essential to and fascinating about this rarefied, hyper-enfranchised psychosocial stratum....

Excellent scientifical work, tells the whole story on how modern Greece became what is today. If you haven't read anything on MG till now, start by reading this one.

The only way to understand modern greek history is to provide the social and political background of the civil war which took place in the maountainous regions of Northern Greece.David close examines this and gives us a unique portrait of a divided country.Historiography must rely on such works. In conclusion , a total masterpiece.

Mr. Brin brings a balanced and insightful perspective to the issues surrounding the official reaction to Katrina and, to a lesser extent, to 9/11. Such an approach is rare. Even more rare, he treats with respect the professionals who put their lives at risk for the rest of the population while at the same time exposing dangerous trends among some of that group's leadership. Instead of presenting a partisian picture and instead of slinging mud, he speaks frankly about the problems and opportunities facing the professional groups and the average citizens.

A responsive and responsible citizenry is the foundation of a democracy, especially in these times of increased peril. Mr. Brin turns a uniquely American light on these issues with a view toward making things better.

Mr. Brin makes a compelling argument for citizen power in the face of official disarray. He also exposes how an "effective" official response can stymie the purpose and ability of well-meaning citizens. Definitely not the sort of thing you've had drilled into your head since you were a child. Well worth a read.

Out Of Step , by Soth African liberal opposition politician Jack Bloom , consists of two sections -Life Story of a Politician outlines Jack Bloom's life and his career as an opposition politician opposing first the Apartheid National Party government and later the Marxist ANC government.
It gives quite a good account of liberal politics in South Africa from 1981 to today. He also deals with issues such as HIV/AIDS and morality , as well his frustration with the Marxist dogma force fed to Social Studies students at Wits University , by a coterie of mouldy , old-style , hard-line Communist professors and lecturers who still dominate the 'humanities' at that university , as with most universities around the world. He comments that he would rather have anyone in charge of government rather than the Social Studies Department at Wits University.
Outlining his student days at Wits University , he speaks of the 'dependancy theory' used as an explanation for Third world poverty , as well as the rantings about 'imperialism and colonialism'.
Bloom recalls : "My response was that there should be a free spirit of enquiry in all academic disciplines and it was not my fault that the subjects I chose were dominated by an intense political correctness. Instead of a well-rounded exposure in two years of Industrial Psychology , I recieved instead the equivalent of Marxism I and II"
Having myself attended courses in the Social Studies at Wits , I can vouch for the truth in what Bloom says.
There is indeed not a free enquiry at this university but an indoctrination in doctrinaire Marxist-Leninist dogma , that would be identical to that approved by the Soviet government prior to Gorbachev's refoprm process that began in 1985 , from the reverential quotes of Lenin to the worship of Stalinist icons like Antonio Gramsci.
The most fascinating part of the book is Part 2 'Politics and Religion in a World of War' , which tackles the new anti-Semitism in the form of hysterical and venomous anti-Zionism , Islamic intolerance and persecution of minorities-dhimmnitude , the war on terror and ultimately the clash of civilizations between the Judeo-Christian West and the Islamic-Marxist Axis.
The first chapter in this section deals with the Conference Against Racism in Durban , in the apt description of Professor Irwin Cotler " The conference against racism that became a racist conference".
At this hideous anti-Israel hate fest , the Left demonstrated their common cause with Radical Islam ,
by embracing hateful anti-Zionist propaganda , and feverishly supporting the genocidal Program against Israel.

This evil festival of terror and hate in Durban 2001 , was the lowest point in human history , since the Nazi holocaust , and may a stain of shame always stay by the names of those who organized and facilitated this event. It is shocking to read what actually transpired at this event where anti-Semitic literature like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion where sold , terrorism against Israeli women and children where glorified and the dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the regimes of Iran , Syria, North Korea , Zimbabwe , Cuba , Iran and Venezuela where lauded. Groups who are genuinely opressed such as the Tibetans , Kurds , Berbers and Nilotic Blacks of South Sudan were totally dismissed , and attacks on Jews and Israel were the central feature.
In an e mail sent to editor of the Sunday Independent , John Battersby , one of South Africa's numerous leftwing ideologue elite and an Israel-basher of note , Bloom in protesting the media's prejudice and unbalanced reporting wrote : 'It appears to me that Jews are fair game for anything these days . and what better than to use other Jews (most of whom are half-Jews , atheists , married out of the faith or otherwise estranged from the general community , hence the odd term of "Jewish descent".) as the battering ram. This is sadly an old syndrome. Tibet can be brutally occupied , millions can die in Sudan , the indigenopus Berbers are opressed in North Africa by Arab imperialists , thousands die in Kashmir and south Phillipines and so on , but only Jews are picked on.There are 22 Arab states with Islam as state religion , supressing all manner of indigenous nationalities and other religions , but it is only the Jewish state , which is ceaselessly criticised for defebding itself against enemies who openly deny her right to exist"
Like Alan Dershowitz , Bloom outlines how the Palestinian strategy of deliberately targeting Israeli women , children and the elderly cannot be compared to the Israeli policy of strictly targeting combatants , even though Arab civillians may sometimes be killed in the crossfire, often because they are deliberately used as human shields by the Palestinian terrorists. How spurious is the repetition of statistics that more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed in the recent war , when an analysis of the facts reveals that the majority of Arabs killed and injured have been armed combatants and the number of Israeli women and children killed and injured is well in excess of the number of Palestinian women and children killed and injured-as many as three times more according to one study.
He refers to the appaling media double standards , illustrated by never condemmning or even reporting the miriad of cases where Israeli women and children have been shot in cold-blood by Arab terrorists.
In 2004 a pregnant Jewish mother and her four terrified small daughters where shot dead at point blank range one by one , by the type of Arab terrorists that Kushner et al admire.
A ten-month-old Jewish baby, Shalhevet Pass, was shot in her father's arms by an Arab sniper in 2001.
That same year, two boys, four- and five-years old, where shot dead together with their mother as she read them a bedtime story, in a left-wing kibbutz, by Arab terrorists.
Bloom aptly quotes pro-Israel Christian Lebanese activist Brigitte Gabriel " Once upon a time there was a special place in the lower depths of hell for anyone who would intentionally murder a child. Now the intentional murder of Israeli children is legitimised as Palestinian 'armed struggle'. However , once such behaviour is legitimised against Israel , it is legitimnised everywhere in the world , constrained by nothing more than the subjective belief of people who would wrap themselves in dynamite and nails for the purpose of killing children in the name of God"
Bloom also highlights the peril of international terror and defends the strong stand taken by President Bush against terror , including the removal of Saddam Hussein which was greeted by such mindless hysteria across the world .Bloom outlines always the hypocrisy of the Islamic-Left Axis.
No aspect of the Middle East conflict , and the World War IV we are now experiencing , escapes Bloom';s analysis, including the shameful and hypocritical animus against Israel and the West , that is the dominant view in SA , in government ,the media , academia and civil society.
He takes on 'anti-Jewish Jews' who find their identity in hatred of Israel and her people and support for Arab terror.He speaks of the anti-Israel campagn of hate by hard-core Stalinist Cabinet Minister Ronnie Kasrils. Kasrils is clearly obsessed with a relentless hatred against Israel and her people
His positions attempt to delegitimize Israel's very existance , as well as being an apologist for Arab terror against Jews in Israel , lacking any compassion for Jewish women and children murdered by the Palestinian terrorists in Israel.
Out Of Step raises many questions. Why do Leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East, simultaneously siding with some of the world's worst dictatorships? And why do Left-wing ideologues, if they are so opposed to imperialism, interpret the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.?


Bloom compares the truly multi-cultural spread and vibrant democracy of Israel to the true Apartheid practised in Islamic States in Arab countries , which is known as dhimmnitude , outlining the shocking reality and history of dhimmnitude , how Islamic societies have persecuted Jews and Chrisitians and still do today.

This book has not been well received by South Africa's leftwing establishment but perhaps this says more about the hard Left's refusal to engage other views , or to confront it's own prejudices , rather than anything about the book itself.

Jack Bloom has been involved in South African politics for the past couple of decades. And he describes many of his experiences in that field. As a supporter of human rights, he has been an opponent of apartheid and an opponent of anti-Semitism.

Just as the Dreyfus trial opened the eyes of many people in France, the "World Conference against Racism" (that itself turned out to be a "festival of hate") in Durban in 2001 opened the eyes of many South Africans, including Bloom. As he says, the conference "made a big impact on me. It was a shock to see such raw hatred of Jews." It was "my own personal wakeup call" after which he did "whatever I could to counter the threatened repeat genocide against the Jews." The author also reminds us that such attacks on human rights may start with the Jews, but they do not end with the Jews.

I've read a huge number of books about Zionism, and I've noticed that many of them are simply propaganda against human rights. Bloom has "a simple test to ascertain the degree of prejudice of authors in this field." He simply checks for references to the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Since the Mufti was so central in precluding any Arab accommodation of liberated Jews in the Levant, it shows enormous prejudice to practically ignore him or whitewash his acts in a book about Zionism.

Bloom makes a number of other excellent points. Yes, there were some expulsions of Arabs by Israeli forces in 1948. But these "accounted for only 5 to 10 percent of the total Arab exodus, the result of ad-hoc military decisions during the war." Nowadays, some anti-Zionists try to pretend that there were "widespread massacres and a planned expulsion," but that, quite properly, "would have been dismissed as ridiculous at the time."

Some people claim that the Jews did not own much of the Levant prior to 1948. But Bloom explains that the reason is that most (over 70 percent) of it was State land, held by the British mandate (and prior to that by the Ottoman Sultinate). And he also reminds us that most of the roughly one million Jews in Arab lands were forced out starting in the 1940s (about 25,000 now remain), and that they lost a large amount of land themselves (which he estimates at five times as much land as all of Israel).

The author points out that UN resolution 242 is "endlessly misquoted by the media." That's true. And, as he says, "the propaganda onslaught against Israel has been so intense that the most basic facts are routinely disregarded even by many who should know better." He discusses the racism of Levantine Arab society, and the projection of many who accuse the Jews of genocide, racism, imperialism, and so on: these are "remarkably descriptive" of the behavior of those making such accusations.

Some folks complain that more Arabs than Jews have died in the latest Arab aggression against Israel. Of course, that is like complaining that more felons have died than policemen. I'd hate to be in a society in which all the police were slaughtered! Bloom explains that if one looks at noncombatant deaths, a clearer picture emerges: from September 2000 through May 2004, 280 Israeli noncombatant females were killed as opposed to 91 (noncombatant) Levantine Arab females.

Bloom mentions that there is an aspect in which the Arab slaughter of innocents is even worse than the German one of the 1940s. In the 1940s, there was relatively little open boasting of the deaths of civilians, while much of Arab society reveres suicide bombers. Meanwhile, some non-Arabs volunteer to be used as "human shields" against Israel, even though Bloom explains that the use of human shields is actually a war crime! Many in the media also support the aggression against Israel: the author mentions that "the Independent Group's Robert Fisk should have been fired long ago if facts and integrity meant anything in journalism." The word "fisking" now is used to mean "the selection of evidence solely in order to boost preconceptions and prejudices."

As for Muslim organizations, we've seen fatwas against Salman Rushdie. But no fatwa calling for the killing of bin Laden (or, I bet, for Arafat).

There is much more of great value in this book, but I'll finish this review with a couple of comments he makes that I liked. The first is from John Stuart Mill: "Give a man the secure possession of a bleak rock, and he will turn it into a garden; give him a nine year's lease of a garden, and he will convert it into a desert."

The other is from Shimon Peres. He told of a teacher who asked: "When does the night end and the day begin?" One student said it was when you could see a sheep and a goat and distinguish between them. Another student said it was when you could see an olive tree and a fig tree and see the difference between them. The teacher said it was when you could see a woman and a man (rich or poor, black or white) and tell the woman "you are my sister" and tell the man "you are my brother."

This is a superb book, and I highly recommend it.

Simon P Newman's Parades And The Politics Of The Street focuses on festivities and political connections in early American history, considering how parades were involved in drawing together people of different social levels, and how they influenced politics and opinions about popular leadership. This title would be useful for the college-level course on early American history as supplemental reading.

Simon Newman has given a vivid, fresh and accessible vision of life in early-European America. I'd never given a moment's thought to these matters of public demonstration...A must-read for anyone even remotely interested in colonial, social, even labor history.

John Richardson's *Paradise Poisoned* is an important, timely, and groundbreaking book. The product of more than 18 years of work, it is a carefully researched account of Sri Lanka's fall from a beautiful island paradise and international development "success story", to a headline-grabbing example of a nation torn apart by terrorism and deadly civil conflict.

Drawing both on an innovative methodology and his long-standing work in the fields of international development and conflict, Professor Richardson demonstrates how Sri Lanka's tragic story clearly exposes a world-wide issue that has long been hiding in plain sight--that international development programs, conflict, and terrorism are intimately linked, and often in very negative ways. This is obviously a highly important and policy-relevant finding that is rarely discussed or analyzed in a rigorous manner--the only other book I can recall is Peter Uvin's work on Rwanda (Aiding Violence, 1998). Other important authors, like Mary Anderson (Do No Harm, 1999) offer valuable advice to practitioners on how to reduce conflict in the field, but Richardson and Uvin's more structural analyses expose how contemporary international development policies, put in place by well-meaning leaders and the international community, can be a factor that leads to deadly conflict in the first place.

The book has many lessons, but for me the most important is this profound critique of contemporary development wisdom, and Richardson's carefully documented case study makes it impossible to ignore his findings, or write them off as a simplistic superficial analysis based on preconceived conclusions. Quite the contrary, Richardson's approach is highly sophisticated, and his innovative systems methodology enables him to clarify how deadly conflict arises not from a single cause, but from a complex interaction of a number of critical factors that, acting together, help to explain the fall of Sri Lanka from apparent success to disastrous failure.

The practical policy lessons to be drawn are many, and reach well beyond the Sri Lanka case. Perhaps the most important lesson is that development policies need to be examined with an additional lens that clarifies the ways in which well-intended programs can exacerbate this complex set of factors that undo the development goals and lead to violent and persistent conflict and terrorism. Professor Richardson's useful book goes a long way in this direction by pointing out some of the most critical reference points for this new perspective. It is essential reading, both as a cautionary tale, and as an important source for anyone concerned with discovering specific ways to improve international development policy and reduce global violence.

Steven Arnold, University of Washington (formerly Director, International Development Program, American University)

John Richardson's *Paradise Poisoned* is far and away the most comprehensive study of civil violence in Sri Lanka ever undertaken. In its narrative sweep, mastery of detail, conceptual acuity and analytic range, it will never be surpassed. Indeed, no other study of civil violence anywhere rivals Richardson's in these several respects.

For those of us who have seen Sri Lanka from the inside, Richardson's large claim is beyond challenge: the country's descent into violence had no single overriding cause. Richardson assembled vast amounts of data (helpfully displayed in innumerable graphs and tables) on every conceivable contributing cause. His background in the analysis of dynamic systems gave him the best imaginable tools for mapping tangled developments over many decades. His conclusions are always compelling, strikingly so when he catalogs the beneficiaries of violent conflict.

One by one, the ten imperatives Richardson puts forward for preventing civil violence in developing societies may seem like common sense. His exhaustive, fully integrated study of the Sri Lankan experience massively substantiates every one of them. Taken together and taken seriously, they are represent our best chance for a better, safer world.

Nicholas Onuf
Professor Emeritus
Florida International University

Stephen F. Szabo presents a balanced if subjective look at the factors leading to the rift between Washington and Berlin over Iraq. He adroitly portrays how Sept. 11, 2001, was the shotgun in the marriage between U.S. conservative nationalists (Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney) and neo-conservatives (Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearl). The neo-cons seek to ensure American security by spreading democracy to every inch of the globe. Szabo ably profiles the historical and cultural circumstances that contributed to the German perception that Bush is a greater threat to world peace than Saddam Hussein. He also uncovers the underlying geopolitical fault lines causing the diplomatic temblors that are rattling the dishware on both sides of the Atlantic. His book is an excellent tactical portrayal of how a vital, longstanding diplomatic relationship can disappear virtually overnight. We strongly recommend this volume to any serious student of international relations, the Atlantic Alliance and the Bush Administration, particularly in regard to its response to 9/11.

Parting Ways: The Crisis in German-American Relations is the first in-depth examination of the German-American relationship written since the recent invasion of Iraq. While America's tensions with France over the war has held a higher profile, America's relationship with Germany suffered severe deterioration. Professor of European studies Stephen F. Szabo suggests that the clash between Germany and the U.S. regarding policy in Iraq reflects even greater changes shaping the relationships between the two nations, as the U.S.-German relationship loses strategic importance in the post-cold war era, a new German identity rises within Germany, and the U.S. foreign policy serves the will of what is arguably the most ideological administration since the mid-twentieth century. A meticulous, in-depth study of the cutting-edge political climate, paying special attention to the legacies of the Holocaust on the German psyche - both the older and the younger generations. A "must-read" for anyone closely researching German-American relations, written in detail yet using terminology highly accessible to the lay reader.