Politics Books

An excellent, if somewhat dated book. And here in the South Pacific - complete with its coups and mutinies now - Luttwak seems downright wrong in a number of respects. Perhaps our region is different from 60s Africa. Still, an immensely readable and frighteningly enjoyable book

Edward Luttwak's first and finest work, Coup d'Etat is the product of the close study of how dozens of governments around the world were successfully overthrown.

By examining the successful and failed strategies and tactics of those who staged the coups, Luttwak synthesizes a step-by-step guide to oust a regime and install a replacement. The political technology he develops, like military hardware, is value-neutral - like a firearm, anyone can employ it for ends good or evil.

As long as there are tyrannical regimes, there will always be a need for good people to be able to stage or sponsor successful coups d'etat. This volume is a practical handbook of immense value to the planning, execution, and long-term success of a regime change. Likewise, it provides a real-world aid to devise defensive means of protecting a government against a coup d'etat.

Advances in information technology since the book was written enter new variables into the formula, but Luttwak's basic concept remains fundamentally sound. As long as there will be coups d'etat, there will be a need for students and policymakers to study and master this book.

Perhaps my impression is wrong but it seems to me that there have not been as many coup d'etats in the past decade as there were in the fifties and sixties. Nonetheless the subject remains one of perennial interest. Luttwalk here provides a kind of step-by- step guidebook for any would be coup-ist. He teaches that , "the coup d'etat uses precisely those parts of the state apparatus which are the prime target of revolutionary war: the armed forces, the police and the security agencies. The technique of the coup s the technique of judo : the planners of the coup infiltrate and subvert a small critical part of the security apparatus, which they then use with surgical precisionto displace the political leadership from its control of the rest of the state bureaucracy"
Luttwalk in this book describes and details the intelligence techniques required before the coup, the military techniques required during it and the propaganda techniques required to provide it with legitimacy afterwards..
He says it has no ideology behind it.
This is a compact richly informative work which makes use a variety of examples to establish its principal points.

With Coup d'Etats continuously occurring all over the world, this book is more relevant than ever in dealing with the subject. For example, using the framework developed in this book, it is easy to understand why the many recent coup attempts in Venezuela have failed (both by Chavez and the more recent one against him). Every time there is a coup I find myself referring back to the book in order to determine if there were any telltale signs to predict whether the coup will be successful or not.

His basic framework involves timing, media control and popular support, and government organizational structure. With these factors in mind, the author examines a large number of coups, both successful and failed. The inner stories of many of these coups is fascinating by itself, yet the author does a good job of telling the tale while drawing the main lessons from it.

I ran into this book at the age of 12. When I realized how much fun this book could be (a few years later) it had disappeared from the local library. Looking for years at many university libraries, later I found out that even when it was listed it turned out to be stolen!
Bought it on-line, read it and enjoyed it. Nice for an intercontinental flight and beyond.

This book is simply one few books that actually captures the war from the free side of Beirut. Unlike Robert Fisk's book, that is completely biased depiction of the war spinning everything on the anti-palestinian movement of the time, and to be more specific the christians of the free areas. This book shows what the Lebanese had to go through to maintain their survival in Lebanon and not leave it to be annexed by the Palestinians who somehow fought a battle in the wrong direction. Instead of fighting Israel they ended up fighting the Lebanese. Western reporters including fisk were obviously fooled by everything was going on. Fisk's book was accurate in depicting the details of the war, but was not accurate at all in depicting the political and nationalistic side of the war.

Barbara Newman reveals a whole new side of the war fought by the Lebanese. How they chose to fight each other at times instead of the real enemy. How Bachir Gemayel was betrayed by his own men, his own rabid dogs to be more specific. It is a great book that gives one of the greatest political leaders Lebanon was to see , a humanist side, one of the sides that few people knew, and certainly not the evil savage picture depicted by Al-Jazeer's account of the war, by Fisk and many western reporters who barely mingled with the Free Lebanese politicians.

A superb piece of work. Only someone with "inside" information could have written a book with so much details, showing unfortunately dirty (local, regional and international) politics. Politics that killed, probably what was known to be as one of the best places to live in. It is sad and ironic to see world powers leave such a country to disintegrate and die leaving it at the mercy of its meddling and envious neighbours.

A superb piece of work. Only someone with "inside" information could have written a book with so much details, showing unfortunately dirty (local, regional and international) politics. Politics that killed, probably what was known to be as one of the best places to live in. It is sad and ironic to see world powers leave such a country to disintegrate and die leaving it at the mercy of its meddling and envious neighbours.

Imagine that a foreigner to Lebanon knows more about it than the Lebanese themselves. It's a great history book, and one would have to read it to really know what was happening in Lebanon.

When I started reading this book, I thought it was just another fairy tale written by a reporter who was seeking fame and fortune. I was wrong. the events in this book are acurate, and the story in all is very intense. I congradulate miss Neman for her honesty and courage. I would love to meet and share some stories with her one day since I grew up in the Covenant's home town... No matter what was said about Shiek Basshir, and no matter what he had done, HE WAS TRULY THE ONLY HOPE LEBANON HAD..

Mr. Kiesling is of course famous for his notable letter of resignation at the beginning of the latest Iraq adventure after which he left a 20 year career as a diplomat. Hearing the backstory of his departure alone would have been interesting enough reading. But, surprisingly, that story is only the introduction to the real book.

Diplomacy Lessons ends up being a tour-de-force about the modern craft of international affairs, a book that transmits both the soul of the profession and the technical details that make up getting along in a world transformed by globalization. Befitting the archaeogical background of its author, the book delves into international relations with a much more sweeping view, starting with Greek democracy and projecting into the future. Diplomacy Lessons goes beyond the shallow headlines of our news sources into what's really going on - not just back room details, but simple stuff like "Hey, there are reactionary nationalists in EVERY country." You get the immediate sense that this is the backstory you need in order to understand current events.

Not that it's an easy read. Probably to the reader's benefit, the book has not been overly edited to meet mass appeal. The text can be quite dense at times, and the organization can seem a bit haphazard. Then again, to leave much out would detract from the value it provides.

The author also adds choice phrases that can only come from a man never again considering a career in federal government such as "the flies gathered in swarms like defense contractors." Who knows if a big publishing house would have let such zingers go - but it adds to the color.

If you follow the news AT ALL, then BUY THIS BOOK.

I recieved this book as a Christmas present. It is certainly the kind of book I'm fond of reading. This was no exception. As a career diplomat, Kiesling sees the importance of projecting American inflence, but as the subtitle suggest he is "realistic" is how far this influence can go. However, his presenation gets repetitive in places and is needlessly wordy. For example, he included, as an appendix, his letter of resignation. You can see in the personal document that his natural writing style is rather verbose. Some of that style made it way into this book. Still an important addition to the bookshelf library. Four stars.

Kiesling's cogently and convincingly presented lessons are a useful read for anybody who takes an interest in foreign policy, but all our politicians, of BOTH parties, ought to read it. Unfortunately, very few of them will.

This is the BEST BOOK I have ever read on real world diplomacy. The combination of his feet on the ground experience and clear eyed view of American diplomacy is most powerful. I started writing down pithy, pertinent quotations as I read it through the second time, but I filled up too many notebook pages. Perhaps it will be best to read it yet again! Here are a few: "A politician who obeys the dictates of a hostile superpower is toast." "..local nationalism and resistance to outsiders trumps the call of ideology or religion." "Someone whose ego has been sandblasted by the humiliations of learning a language successfully from scratch as an adult is bettter at risking the reciprocal vulnerability required for relationship building."

I bought this book after seeing Mr. Kiesling speak about it in a bookshop on PBS. I was impressed by his sincerity and knew, from the chaos of our involvement in Iraq and elsewhere, that his insight was needed. As a career diplomat, he's seen first-hand how diplomacy has been shunted aside in favor of blundering military might. He isn't just defending his own field, however, since he demonstrates how arrogance actually loses ground for the U.S., both by making us more of a target and destroying our credibility with potential friends. While he's on-target as far as he goes, Mr. Kiesling stops a bit short in his criticism of the Bush administration. He sees it as incompetent but basically well-meaning, rather hastily dismissing any ulterior motives. I suppose this is due to residual loyalty, but the more credible doubts about the administration's motives should eventually be attended to.

I became aware of this book from footnotes of another book I recently read. Mr. Kwitney also wrote the Introduction to "The Hoffa Wars" which was authored by his friend Dan Moldea.

"Endless Enemies" was printed in 1984, but remains very relevant to U.S. foreign policy yet today.
The fiascoes examined in this book are a matter of history repeating itself today, only with some new characters in the cast.

"The corruption of foreigners cannot be accomplished without the corruption of Americans." That quote from page 94 all too often accurately depicts the results of foreign policy.

Jonathan Kwitney exposes how Exxon, Mobil, and British Petroleum(Known than as Anglo-Iranian Oil) in collusion affected the overthrow of Iran's Premier in 1953 and what the motive really was. He got ahold of "journalist" Kenneth Love's correspondence with Allen Dulles regarding his involvement in the action.

He examines the power and influence of major oil companies dating back to pre-WWII agreements between Exxon and I.G.Farben. He details how oil companies in particular have set the agenda for U.S policy abroad often at the expanse of the taxpayer. That brought to mind the secret meetings between Cheney and the energy companies early in Bush's first term.

I found his investigating of the heroin sources and C.I.A.(Air America) transportation of it fascinating.

He used the Dulles brothers as prime examples of the allegiances of international businesses, large law firms like Sullivan & Cromwell, and the C.I.A. in setting foreign policy and covert actions.

"Endless Enemies" is a revealing, critical look at U.S. foreign policy in several countries covering many administrations. This is one of the more impressive books on the subject, I would put it in the same league as Chalmers Johnson's books. It's great as a history of this subject.

This book was published in 1984, and it's no longer in print, although there are plenty of used copies available. It deserves at least one new review every year. It appears as though I will be the first for 2008.

I agree with the first Amazon reviewer of this book (Marion Delgado in 2002) that reading it will increase your IQ significantly in any discussion of world events. That is even truer today than it was when the book was first published. It's that good. If there were only one book I would make required reading for every United States citizen, this would be the book. It has the advantage of being written and published before the occurrence of the absurdly extreme political polarization of our two party system. That's not to say that republicans and democrats weren't quarreling in 1984, they were. But they're not quarrelling today, they're demonizing their opponents and expressing desires to execute them for treason. That's a big change in just 25 years.

Unfortunately, this book demonstrates clearly and succinctly why today the United States is in extreme decline, and why it is probably too late to effect much reversal of fortune. Mr. Kwitny's concept of the United States is essentially the same one I learned growing up - that our country is fundamentally sound and noble, that it is fundamentally free and open, that it is fundamentally a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. Our strength and nobility derive from the fact that our government and culture are based on basic principles of freedom and democracy as stated in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And from that basic concept, Mr. Kwitny demonstrates, with astonishing insight, understanding and documentation, how the US has almost systematically deviated from those principles since the Second World War with regard to foreign policy, substituting instead an extreme fear and hatred of communism. This displacement of our basic principles in favor of a shortsighted (indeed blind) conflict-by-conflict struggle against a largely mythologized enemy (the USSR), has slowly converted the world neighborhood into a very distrusting and sometimes even hostile planet. Our values, principles and way of life, rather than being well served by this deviation, have been severely damaged, with direct consequences (both political and economic) to the American people. Our foreign policy has been a total failure not only in terms of the harm it has done to the rest of the world, but also equally in terms of the harm we have done to ourselves. And world events since the time of first publication have shown dramatically how true that was then, and still is today.

What is frightening however, is that Mr. Kwitny showed us all this in 1984, when it still appeared possible to mend our ways and find our way back to our founding principles. Since then, US foreign policy has evolved from awful to terrifying. The evils perpetrated then as a result of a culturally ignorant, misguided and narrow-minded government, are being perpetrated today by willful greed, lust for power, and a completely conscious disrespect (bordering on contempt) for the very principles that Mr. Kwitny (and millions of Americans) hold out as our only hope.

The world today was eminently foreseeable in 1984. "Endless Enemies" saw it all too clearly, even predicting (unknowingly) very specific world events that actually unfolded (Afghanistan > the mujahadeen > 9/11). I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone with one caveat - reading it may induce a profound sense of loss, sadness and nostalgia for an American zeitgeist that was still present in 1984. The world that "Endless Enemies" warned us was coming if we did not rectify our foreign policy is upon us. But I don't think Mr. Kwitny is shaking his finger at us from the far side of the grave and mumbling "I told you so". I think he is weeping, as many Americans are, for the great light and hope in the world that has been extinguished.

One of the best books written about the true nature of US foreign policy. BUT if you are going to buy it get the first printing of the hardcover edition. The Rockefeller family got a judge to act as post publication editor and force the removal of a number of sections related to their activities in Iran in later editions.

As indicated in the other reviews, this book is superb. Do try to get the original Congdon & Weed print.

I met Kwitny at a book signing for the Penguin version. He explained why the book had a rather large number of blank pages. In 1953, Kennett Love was the New York Times's man in Tehran during the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of Mossadegh. Preparing for the book, Kwitny had obtained Love's notes on the event, which were archived at Princeton under the control of a former CIA officer. In his notes, Love had somewhat gleefully described his friendly advice to an anti-Mossadegh tank crew that was sitting on its collective thumbs at the height of the attack on Mossadegh's compound. Love also recounted his cooperation in distributing anti-Mossadegh "firmans" on the street.

Love sued Kwitny and the publisher for infringement of copyright. The Penguin edition came out during the lawsuit, and one condition was that any references to Love would be whited out. Kwitny had some remainders of the original edition, and for $10, I was able to get one from him. Kwitny made no mention of involvement by the Rockefellers, but this of course does not mean that they might not have been operating behind the scenes. The lawsuit was finally settled in Kwitny's favor, but I think by then Congdon & Weed had gone belly-up.
Somebody needs to reprint the original version.

I hate not being able to finish a book.

Jonathan Kwitny, a former NYT reporter, describes in excruciating detail U.S. foreign policy disasters in Zaire, Angola, Iran, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Cuba, The Philippines, China, Lebanon, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Ethiopia and elsewhere -- and frankly after a couple hundred pages of this I was simply too dispirited to continue reading.

I'm probably naive or idealistic or both, but I want to believe my country stands for the principles expounded in our Declaration of Independence. Reading this exhaustive, carefully-researched, emotionally-detached and factual account to the contrary turned out to be painful and destructive to my civic pride.

Kwitny's book, written at the end of Reagan's first term, makes it clear that economic meddling has been going on at least since WWII, and so I guess it should come as no surprise that it's in full swing again, as detailed by John Perkins' "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." Stephen Kinzer's "All The Shah's Men" tells more of the story of Iran (which is heavily censored here due to lawsuits at the time of publishing).

One lesson taken from this book is that it's not just the conservative Republican administrations which have sent troops to further the economic interests of financial contributors. Apparently ALL politics is infected with the virus of economic imperialism -- a sad truth I'd rather not have learned.

Nat Hentoff is one of the few writers who has not been selective in his defense of the First Amendment--the only absolute, no-exceptions law in the United States. As a result, he has been castigated by both the Left and the Right, depending on whose right to free speech is endangered.



He performs an invaluable public service when he exposes the inherent hypocrisy of groups claiming that their First Amendement rights are being disrespected. Evangelical Christians wring their hands ad nauseam and wail about how the ACLU would make it illegal for someone to sit under a tree riding the Bible. Even worse than the sheer idiocy of this prediction is the fact that the same evangelical Christian would happily take away my right to sit under the adjacent tree reading HUSTLER. Although it revolts me, I know that someone else can ride the city bus reading MEIN KAMPF and be 100% within their rights.



I encourage anyone who wants to keep the future of free expression alive--either as a consumer or as a creator, or both--to read FREE SPEECH FOR ME, BUT NOT FOR THEE. Hentoff spoke of his own brushes with it when, during his days as a VILLAGE VOICE commentator, he was censored

I first read this in college in the mid-1990's when a professor assigned it. It made me think and question about what it means when we say we protect freedom of speech. To truly protect that right, that means you have to allow speech even when you don't like or disagree with what is being said. Fast forward to the last 4 years. Americans of all people are responding to speech they don't like with death threats -- makes me wonder why we are so scared of others having a difference of opinion.

This is one of the most important books of our time. Hentoff is a passionate believer in free speech who recognizes that if speech is truly to be free, he must protect the expression even of ideas he abhors. He catalogs with equal regret the efforts of both the right and the left to censor speech they don't like. While being sympathetic to those who object to allowing bigots, racists, pornographers, atheists, and others of many stripes the right to lay out ideas that one group or another finds repugnant, he makes both an intellectual and an emotional case for allowing everyone to have their say, no matter how much this may offend some. He points out that suppressing speech doesn't get rid of the underlying thought, but merely drives it underground and gives it the benefit of martyrdom. His corrective to bad speech is good speech: those who believe in their ideas should not try to censor other views, but should openly confront and refute them with opposing ideas.

His prescription can be hard to accept at times, but the case he makes is persuasive that in the end, liberty of speech is the best guarantee of a free society and of the ability for that society to work through the all viewpoints to reach agreement on which opinions are social desirable and which are not.

Democracy and freedom are hard masters, but they are worth it.

Hentoff deals with the subject of free speech in the most objective manner I've seen. As a writer for the Village Voice, he could not be accused of being a right-winger, so criticism of the hypocrisy of the left is very credible. I've always thought it ironic that the left portrays itself as having a lock on being open-minded, yet it is all too happy to restrict speech that presents a contrary point of view.

Hentoff gives many examples, including some of his own, where both sides of the political spectrum attempt to censor the speech of the other. He discusses everything from efforts on college campuses to prevent non politically correct subjects from being discussed to censorship he faced while writing his columns.

Great book for people to read on both sides of the political spectrum. Perhaps it could move more people on both sides to actually listen to opposing points of view rather than trying to prevent the discussion. We have to understand that the 1st Amendment was not designed to protect speech we agree with--their would be no need for such protection. Being offended is really not a constitutional reason to preclude speech (in my view as well as Hentoff's).

Hentoff, one of the foremost free speech advocates, presents stories, many involving his own experiences, of individual examples of censorship initiatives from both the 'left' and 'right'. He doesn't really present a comprehensive philosophical case, but rather provides concrete examples of the necessity for rigorous protection of free speech.

I've read all the reviews of Schmidt's efforts on matter of European Integration. And here's what I think: She is destined to embrace the English model and the English model, I'm convinced, will embrace her. The two will be as one. They will be a European Union far more robust than anything concocted in Brussels. So I, for one, would like to celebrate that true union of politics and passion and hoist a glass to Schmidt and this English Model!

I've read all the reviews of Schmidt's efforts on matter of European Integration. And here's what I think. She is destined to embrace the English model and the English model, I'm convinced will embrace her. They will be as one. A European Union far more robust than anything concocted in Brussels. So I, for one, would like to celebrate that true union of politics and passion and hoist a glass to Schmidt and this English Model!

As I see it, the English model must be (and no doubt is, in Schmidt's extraordinary hands) smart, generous, and prone to displays of great good humor. The English model must display the kind of maganimous spirit that say, one brother-in-law might display to another brother-in-law if the latter brother-in-law were, say, a writer needing a place to stay in England.

I've read through the review string, and I must ask about the referenced English model. Please tell me more. I know of course of Schmidt's work on French models and German models and the energy she devoted to the models of Italy and America. Before I endorse this new effort, I think we should know more.

I agree with most of what the earlier reviewer stated. Schmidt is definitely 5-star material. But her most recent efforts have in point of fact focused almost exclusively on the English Model, and with amazing results.

I ordered the book for a class I'm taking. I find the book to be very interesting and it keeps my interest. Key points that I need to know are included in the text. Excellently written.

The book's content is precise, to the point and not repetitive in hard to understand grammer. The context was really reliable for the course I am currently taking. The chapters are not long and drawn out yet the examples the author uses are up-to-date, on point and target. I truly liked this book because it is a great read outside of higher education.

Kim Klein is a nationally known expert in the area of fundraising, and demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of fundraising in the book. She presents the information in an easy to understand format, and shares her expertise in a motivational manner. I highly recommend this book, even if you have been in fundraising for a number of years.

This is a must read for any staff member of a small not for profit organization. It's a bit freeky how she knows so much about my group, and then cuts to the chase on how to address the problems identified.

I love this book. It's been around for a while in one form or another. Currently it is in its 5th revision. And with each revision the author has refined it. As a result, it is very well written and outlined. It is also really good because the author is a fundraising practitioner and teaches what she does. She really knows her stuff when it comes to fundraising. At least that's the impression I get from reading her book.

Fundraising at a nonprofit, whether large or small, is basically a profit center. It's a business! This book treats it as a business and has the feel of a startup guide for that business. As a SCORE volunteer believe me when I say this book has the feel of a startup guide; I've read my fair share of startup guides for for-profits and counseled enough wanta-be entrepreneurs on how to start a business. This book is a startup guide.

So how is this book a startup guide? Well, it advocates preparing a written fundraising plan BEFORE you put together your fundraising office and start raising funds. It describes a "fundraising framework" that you must understand before you can prepare a sound and successful plan. Then it tells you about time-tested strategies for acquiring and keeping donors - the strategies that will enable your nonprofit to build a foundation or base of donors from which all successful fundraising will emanate. And next it tells you about the time-tested strategies for upgrading donors so they will (or can be expected to) give larger gifts as time moves forward. There are also sections that explain how to setup and manage a fundraising office, and how to prepare a budget and write a fundraising plan.

The book could have stopped there. That's all that a startup really needs to know and do to be successful at raising sufficient funds to provide its services and distribute its products. However, the author tells us more. She talks about feasibility studies and capital campaigns. And she talks about actually being a professional fundraiser, and about special or unique circumstances where traditional fundraising methods don't always work well.

I really have only one problem with this book. I would like it so much better if the author would change its title to something like - A Fundraising Startup Guide: The Nuts and Bolts to Building a Successful Fundraising Profit Center. I realize the author's background is in helping cash-strapped nonprofits that advocate social change, and that this book was initially created to help her help those organizations (and herself). But the book is not merely about nonprofits that advocate social change. And I wish the title would properly reflect what the book covers. 5 stars!

As far as I'm concerned, this book does an excellent job detailing China's foreign policy. From relations with the West to African affairs, Nathan and Ross are able to concisely explain the importance of each relationship and the dangers confronting China. Furthermore, they also touch on the internal security concerns that the Chinese government must confront. This is a great book to read for people interested in China's foreign policy and what impacts it has on the world.

This book should be mandatory reading for anybody interested in China, or in world politics. Nathan and Ross explain China's place in the international political arena, both froom Chinese perspective and from western point of view.

Excellent!

Nathan and Ross have constructed an excellent book discussing the vulnerability of China. The book goes into great depth discussing issues such as: Taiwanese independence, nuclear proliferation, the strength of the chinese military, the necessity of U.S. intervention in Asia, the relationships existing between China and Japan or the two Koreas, Tibetan freedom, technological exchange with Pakistan. Ultimately, Nathan and Ross conclude that China is a weak and vulnerable country that is more concerned with maintaining its borders and internal stability than initiated a policy of imperialism. This book is a great edition for any student of Asian Politics. Easy to read.

Andrew J. Nathan and Robert S. Ross's THE GREAT WALL AND THE EMPTY FORTRESS is a clearly and tightly written presentation of Chinese foreign policy and defense issues. It is as reliable in its treatment of aspects of the pre-modern Chinese state and society that impinged on the course of modern Chinese affairs as it is authoritative (and well documented) in its analysis of the contemporary Chinese situation. With books on contemporary Chinese affairs, one must be concerned with material becoming dated, but though this book is some four years old in content, nearly its entirety is nevertheless very relevant. Its treatment of Chinese-Taiwan relations, for instance, is still on the mark. Since the book was written before the restoration of Hong Kong to China, the reader will not be able to glean anything new about that situation here. However that may be, this book remains as "must reading" for any student of contemporary China. The reader will happily discover that the style is eminently readable.

National security is a term we're used to hearing in the United States, but with rare exception "security threats" are in fact threats to America's vast informal empire abroad (military bases, troop deployments, the security of client regimes and business interests). As Ross and Nathan ably show, this is emphatically not the case for China. Even though "China is stronger today and its borders more secure than at any other time in the last 150 years", it continues to face a bewildering array of vulnerabilities -- from internal unrest to border insecurity to economic instability.

This book is a good corrective to the growing right-wing trend of playing up the "China threat". Ross and Nathan make clear that China's goals are not particularly ambitious and their capabilities so limited that even if the sinister cabal of Communists plotting against America's beneficent reign were real, it would be hard pressed to act out its evil intentions. Chapter 8, in particular, demolishes the idea that China's military will any time soon provide a real challenge to Japan, much less the USA.

Despite the great service Ross and Nathan provide in refuting the containment school's arguments, this book also has basic problems. Because it is a survey, the authors can only superficially treat each of the many issues raised. They do a good job of integrating history and current events, and the book should be quite useful for those mostly unfamiliar with its topics, but for those with more detailed knowledge it will often by unsatisfying.

Second, the authors use the national security paradigm to orient their analysis, but seem unaware of the drawbacks to such an approach. "National" security indulges the false idea that all groups and individuals within a nation can share the same interests and that national leaders act, fundamentally, on behalf of the whole population. In reality security policies generally hurt the interests of some groups while advancing those of others, and China's leaders act to perpetuate their own power and the power of the Communist Party, and to protect the interests of the increasingly influential business elite. The authors' inability to consider such matters leads them to seriously downplay the ruling class's increasing economic exploitation of workers and its violent domination of ethnically non-Han peoples in East Turkestan/Xinjiang, Tibet/Xizang, and Inner Mongolia.

And finally, the authors approach the subject from the perspective of the engagement school, which has both strengths (discussed above) and very serious weaknesses. Proponents of engagement are ideologically incapable of seeing that the current global economic system is based on inequality, exploitation, and the denial of people's basic needs (food, health care, shelter) and that it is upheld by American military domination of other people. Ross and Nathan's ultimate recommendation, then, is that China be safely integrated into this system -- not because doing so will help the Chinese people, but because doing so removes a threat to the safe operation of a fundamentally unjust world order.

Heart of a Victim is one of those stories that you start and can't put it down. The author's bravery, bewilderment and utter disbelief of all that she is subjected to comes through with each turn of the page. You root for her, you scream for her to 'get out' and yet, you're pulled into her conflict and understand how she begins to question her own sanity. It is a relief to get to the end and have the resolution, and thank God she had the strength of will to pursue the truth.

As the truth unravels in horrible, disgusting, documented detail in court, you are as relieved as the writer must have been to find that she really did see what she saw, really did hear what she heard, and wasn't the least mentally unbalanced, but that the situation was as bad and even worse than her most feared imaginings.

Guts, honesty and faith in Christ pulls her through three years of unmitigated hell. A must read for anyone that has ever dealt with or may ever have to deal with a deranged, narcissitic personality, male or female.

L.A. Johnson
Nebraska USA (11/26/2002) We read about deranged people in the newspapers, or watch such horror stories on TV, but most of us are lucky enough not to live such nightmares first hand. The author of this true story reveals in straightforward, conversational style her front row seat on a man's madness and perversions. Rosy Latur was a lonely widow, unworldly and open hearted. She enjoyed laughing and having fun, loved her family and friends, and did her best to walk a Christian walk. She lived well, in a lovely home, and had enough money set aside to live comfortably. Sympathy for a down and out Konn Rodent soon turned to love, on Rosy's part at least. Konn is aptly named. A more deranged con artist has seldom been described in my recollection. The reader wonders very early on why on God's green earth a woman with as much going for her as Rosy would stay with such a maniac. The answer she provides is simple. Rosy loved him with all her heart, and was totally devoted to the man. As her nightmare life unfolds, and her heart and spirit sicken, the reader hopes for a happy ending to her story. Alas, that doesn't happen. Konn drains her dry of everything. Physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially, Konn leaves her in his wake like a wild tornado run amuck. He strips her pride, her hope, and leaves her nothing. The only thing that means anything to Konn is pornography and self-indulgent sexual fantasies. As his horrid world reveals itself, Rosy is at first in denial, and then shock. The husband who has no romantic interest in her lavishes himself on prostitutes and strippers. Untold thousands of dollars are spent on his perversions, while Rosy stands by hopeless to prevent it. Heart of a Victim in Harm's Way is a daunting first hand account of how pornography can kill the addict's personality and spirit. It's a sad story, made even sadder because Konn Rodent doesn't have to pay the piper in the end. Rosy pays, as do the friends and family who love her, but Konn goes on his merry way to brutalize and ruin other unsuspecting women. Personally, I don't know where Ms. Latur found the courage to survive and tell her story. I wish she would have included pictures of Konn Rodent in her book. Or maybe even posted him on the front cover for all the world to see, along with a sign saying "WARNING! If you see this man, beware.".

deb
SOUTH DAKOTA (4/10/2003) THIS WAS AND EXCELLENT BOOK, I READ IT TWICE IN THREE DAYS. I WAS RIVERTED BY THE STORY.I THINK ALL WOMEN SHOULD READ THIS BOOK,YOU WILL LEARN A HUGE LESSON IN IT. AND IT IS TRUE LOVE IS BLINDING.

DEBB
Illinois (4/10/2003) This is an excellent book.Having dealt with a somewhat, though not quite extreme, situation, it really hits the heart! I know there are thousands of women out there that would understand everything Rosy endured, and thousands more who wish they had the courage to get out too. If they read this book, it might give them the little piece of encouragement they need!

DEBB
Illinois (4/10/2003) This is an excellent book.Having dealt with a somewhat, though not quite extreme, situation, it really hits the heart! I know there are thousands of women out there that would understand everything Rosy endured, and thousands more who wish they had the courage to get out too. If they read this book, it might give them the little piece of encouragement they need!

I couldn't put this book down. Every page, every line tells the truth behind the Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian conflict. All wars are complex and difficult to comprehend but Mr. Cohen helps us understand what happened just a few years ago. An accurate and eye-opening account. Some of the atrocities committed are so heinous, so vile as to bring us right back to images of the Third Reich. This is a very important work by a man who knows what he is talking about.

this is the book to read. Its absolutely fantastic. Roger Cohen has a very sharp pen. For me its not just enough to read the book myself, I want to buy other copies and give to friends.

After a few hundred pages, when your ability to read about another Balkans family and their plight begins to wane, Cohen presents some new detail in an individual life that forces you to refocus on how the war crushed people so much like Americans and so very European that the "ancient hatreds" argument becomes sickening. To read about a 16-year-old girl's Tom Cruise poster and her death by shelling is to realize how much the West failed. Compelling, brutal, depressing, and vital reading.

A big, passionate book by the New York Times correspondent, who has tried to pack everything into it: the Bosnian experience of the war (told through several family histories), the Western response and UN policy, and the historical background. Cohen argues well against the `ethnic hatreds' doctrine, but tends to substitute World War II hatreds instead. However, his analysis of UN failure, including evidence drawn from minutes of a high-level meeting held before the fall of Srebrenica, will be of lasting importance

The destruction of Yugoslavia is not the easiest of subjects to fully comprehend. Cohen's informative and excellently written narrative is the best place to start. Cohen does more than just describe the events, he attempts to get beneath the surface to understand the psychology behind the unspeakable atrocities committed during the various wars. The trajedy of Yugoslavia cannot be understood without a recounting of the atrocities committed there during World War II, atrocities that largely went unpunished. All of this and more are recounted by Cohen in his very readable account. It is must reading for anyone interested in recent European history.