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Written from neither a right-wing nor a left-wing perspective, Bacevich is able to transcend typical party-line thinking. He clearly and intelligently delineates the limits of US power, and why we should accept them, stop invading other countries and get our own house in order. Highly recommended.
While author does make some very good points, the book predictably turns into another Bush-bash, so reader beware. The author himself states that "Obama will run the risk of seeing his presidency hijacked. For a short book, I found this very repetitive. The revised Afterward of the book spoke of Obama's "inteligence, vigor, eloquence, cool persona, and compelling personal story." Will he be the one who is able to change the course. Has Obama broken with the traditional blame game and stepped up to the plate to take fiscal, military and political responsiblility for the course of this country. In all fairness, he does state that America's political and military problems stem back from the time that unrealistic expectations were first set going back several presidencies, but the his focus of blame rests primarily with the military policies of George W. Over a year since this book has been written, it appears that they are more focused on their global celebrity, scrambling to getting re-elected, printing money, hiding their heads in the sand, and not on fixing the problems that are escalating at warp speed in their own backyard.
And the likelihood of his making good on his promise of change will diminish accordingly." Interesting that the author was already excusing Obama's lack of success only 4 days into his presidency. If you only have time to read the conclusion, that does sum up the prior 170 pages pretty well - if you are curious, go back and read the rest. Obama will face the prospect of Bush's wars, especially the war in Afghanistan, becoming his own. Bush. Time will tell, but I think his inexperience, coupled with the fact that he has appointed what the author describes as "establishment figures, utterly conventional in their outlook" makes the prognosis rather bleak. Wonder what the author would say at this point in time. I have my own opinion, which I will not share here, but that is the real crux of the question, and what I believe was the author's call to action.
Liberals might enjoy this book for a few pages because Bacevich takes more than a few swipes at conservative icons, not the least, Reagan. But both liberals and conservatives will ultimately be squirming because this isn't really about the old left/right political saws we hear rehashed every four years, but more about the demands the American people place on politicians.In essence, Bacevich draws an appalling picture of the willfully foolish American voter who every political cycle demands that their political candidates lie to them, and keep on lying even when personal experience and plain logic would argue to the contrary. And of course, it's about the politicians who are disgustingly adept at promising that we can have it all, forever, because it is our birthright and because we have unconstrained, unlimited resources.He further explores the use of the over-hyped crisis (does this sound familiar, remember this is a 2007 book) as both a motivator to stimulate the populace to a certain level of hysteria and also as an almost fool-proof mechanism to blind the populace as to the real purposes and concerns.This is not a long book, but it is jam-packed - packed in almost every sentence, Bacevich doesn't waste a lot of paper on trite proverbs but stuffs almost every sentence with multiple meanings and lessons.
The Limits of Power presents the most compelling vision of post WW II US foreign policy I have ever read. Bacevich calls for sustainable policies which require a standing down of imperial aspirations while at the same time arguing for a coherent and rational strategy for national defense. The intellectual economy of the book enables the especially important task of envisioning the place of the defense establishment within foreign policy. It also demonstrates very clearly the link between foreign and domestic policy. It's a terrific book.
We are profligate both as a nation and as individuals. We fight "small wars we cannot afford, not to defend (ourselves) but to assert control over foreign populations." The Bush "preventive war" policy, he says, is "just plain stupid." He suggests that salvation for the American people can only begin when they assert control over their lives, but he sees little chance of this happening. Its irrational and non-responsive policies are leading us into economic and moral bankruptcy.Bacevich describes three sub-crises that feed into our present national crisis: our profligacy crisis, our political crisis and our military crisis. The Limits of Power is one of a number of recent (and not so recent) books with the same underlying theme: our government is no longer a representative democracy. Parker's Here the People Rule and Bomb Power by Gary Wills. The military sub-crisis, according to Bacevich, arises from America's failure to learn from history.
The states of emergency created by these conflicts have led to further migrations of powers.
America spends more than it makes and appears headed towards economic disaster, Americans spend more than they make and, in this way, contribute to their county's economic problems.
It is a valuable read, however, because it presents a convincing argument that our present national policies are leading our country to a "decline and fall." This is an argument we need to take to heart.
It is spinning more and more out of our control.
He concludes on a pessimistic note by quoting Niebuhr, "To the end of history, social orders will probably destroy themselves in the effort to prove that they are indestructible."The Limits of Power proposes no specific advice on how we might go about changing our self-destructive national policies.
Our political crisis has been building since 1940 when power began slipping out of the hands of Congress and into the hands of the presidency.
This migration of powers has led to unnecessary conflicts.
Two other books that are highly relevant for the same reason are Richard D.
My own After Patrick Henry: a 2nd American Revolution focuses on specific political actions that we (the people) have both the right and the power to take - in order to make our government more responsive.
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