Reviews

2. The strategically located Mideast lies along the fault lines of empires and civilizations, and is now a major source of the world’s energy. Its social organization is the opposite of institutional. In 1798, Napoleon launched the first European invasion of the Mideast since the crusades to, among other things, dictate the values of the Enlightenment. In Napoleon’s Egypt (2007), Michigan Professor Juan Cole describes what happened when he encountered the uncharted society of Egypt under the Turkish Ottomans. What then occurred was not a “clash of civilizations,” but a complex cycle of occupation and resistance.

In the ensuing struggle, Napoleon wrote that he was continually harassed by “clouds of Arabs, ” the Bedouin. The author, interspersing his narrative with entertaining stories, describes in detail the interactions of the various subgroups and their leaders: the Bedouin tribesmen, peasants, merchants, the clerics of Cairo’s al-Azhar university, and the Ottoman vassals that made up the social ecosystem of 18^th century Egypt, its conflicts and its truces. To begin to understand contemporary events in the Mideast, the reader can then add the continuing issue of modernization.

On 4/1/08, PBS aired an analysis of the current situation in Iraq. Every militia group in the country has been armed. The central

government will not be able to exert its authority if challenged. Everyone is now just waiting, hoping that violence doesn’t break out.

3. What to do about Iraq? What is the reality of Iraq that should inform public opinion and the present debate in Washington? We suggest this 10/05 analysis by Terrill and Crane, of the army, that describes a United States trying to consolidate a fissiparous situation. In the authors’ words, “We can’t stay, we can’t leave, and we can’t fail.”

They write, “A timetable (for withdrawal) is not a strategy for even the most limited form of success in Iraq; it is an excuse for allowing the system to collapse.” Although the establishment of a viable government responsive to local interests is still possible, after reviewing the “dismal” political record of prior U.S. postwar stabilizations, the study suggests that U.S. leadership also “consider what its minimum goals for Iraq are, and ensure that they are met before political pressures from both the Middle East and within the United States become untenable.”

This lengthy study is exceptionally clear, although its message is difficult. It ends with the statement, “U.S. leaders should continually note the courage, commitment, and sacrifice of our troops in the field, while realizing that these same qualities are reasons to safeguard their lives even more carefully. All future wars should have carefully planned exit strategies based on something other than best case planning for the future of the countries involved. In undertaking such plans, the United States must take care to maintain realistic expectations of what it can actually achieve with military intervention, especially with regard to the imposition of market economies and democracy on states we do not fully understand.”

These are the alternatives in Iraq, without the significant involvement of other countries. 

4. The French Revolution of the 18^th century spread the ideals of the Enlightenment throughout Europe, resulting in the anti-Enlightenment movement of the 19^th century. In The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21^st Century, Thomas Friedman (2005) describes the many consequences of globalization.

The two pivotal dates of this book are 11/9/89 when the Berlin Wall fell to “…flatten the alternatives to free-market capitalism and unlock enormous pent–up energies for hundred of millions of people in places like India, Brazil, China, and the former Soviet Union.” With the Internet and new systems of production, they began to seek their own futures, creating an expanded, competitive, and more complex market. On 9/11/01, the backlash against this increasing globalization hit the World Trade Center. Since then, the US. has been exporting fear rather than hope.

America, Friedman writes, is about optimism, “…the idea that every problem has a solution, that tomorrow can be better than yesterday…You can flourish in this flat world, but it does take the right imagination and the right motivation.” This book is a worthwhile read and merits thoughtful consideration.

5. At the dawn of the 21^st century, the United States has become the international arbiter of last resort.

The Peloponnesian War, by Donald Kagan (2002), is practically a guide on how states conflict. It describes the subsequent interaction of personalities, ideologies, and circumstances. It also sets for the requirements for a durable peace. First, the peace treaty must reflect the true military and political situation. Second, the principals must want to make it effective.

This book can pertain to a number of current situations in the Mideast and in East Asia. Mr. Kagan’s book is for those interested in current affairs, economics, and politics. It also describes many sea battles.

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