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I hadn't looked at Gaddis' author page before. What a prolific writer!

OK, the Kennan biography just went up a notch in his already high ranking in my TBR (in 2012!) list.

by John Lewis Gaddis (no photo)

Indeed, Bea. The follow are still standard works in the international relations field:

John Lewis Gaddis

Thirteen Days in October (Cuban Missile Crisis)

There are some great articles and photos in this edition:



BY MICHAEL DOBBS, RACHEL DOBBS | OCTOBER 8, 2012 - Foreign Policy magazine

The Myth that Screwed up 50 Years of U.S. Foreign Policy

Let me pose a question concerning Cuba...........do you think it is time to lift the embargo. Is it still relevant or has it become overkill?

More terrific articles, slideshows, etc on the Cuban Missile Crisis:



Source: Foreign Policy Magazine

"To commemorate this event, Foreign Policy is tweeting the Cuban missile crisis in real time, chronicling the days, hours, and minutes when the world stood on the brink of nuclear destruction. Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once noted that history is "lived forward" but "understood backward." Join us as we retell the story of the Cuban missile crisis as it was actually experienced by John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro -- forward rather than backward, in all its cliff-hanging excitement and unpredictability. Michael Dobbs, a Foreign Policy blogger and author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War, will draw topical lessons from the gravest national security crisis of the Cold War. How much does a president know when he makes decisions that could affect the lives of millions? Does he control events, or do events control him? Could we be faced with an Iranian missile crisis in October 2012? Is there a way back from the brink?"

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War (Vintage) [Paperback]

by Michael Dobbs

Synopsis:

In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis. In his hour-by-hour chronicle of those near-fatal days, Dobbs reveals some startling new incidents that illustrate how close we came to Armageddon.

Here, for the first time, are gripping accounts of Khrushchev’s plan to destroy the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo; the accidental overflight of the Soviet Union by an American spy plane; the movement of Soviet nuclear warheads around Cuba during the tensest days of the crisis; the activities of CIA agents inside Cuba; and the crash landing of an American F-106 jet with a live nuclear weapon on board.

Dobbs takes us inside the White House and the Kremlin as Kennedy and Khrushchev—rational, intelligent men separated by an ocean of ideological suspicion—agonize over the possibility of war. He shows how these two leaders recognized the terrifying realities of the nuclear age while Castro—never swayed by conventional political considerations—demonstrated the messianic ambition of a man selected by history for a unique mission. As the story unfolds, Dobbs brings us onto the decks of American ships patrolling Cuba; inside sweltering Soviet submarines and missile units as they ready their warheads; and onto the streets of Miami, where anti-Castro exiles plot the dictator’s overthrow.

Based on exhaustive new research and told in breathtaking prose, here is a riveting account of history’s most dangerous hours, full of lessons for our time.

For those of you who would like to try your hand at the FP contest on the same subject - here are the rules: (you have until end of day today - October 15 - 2012 - and the submission is in the form of an email)

This is the best book I read so far on the missile crisis. Not to be missed:

Michael Dobbs

Good to know and he is the blogger.

It was 50 years ago as the saying goes "in the blink of an eye".

Yes it is amazing isn't it.

Jill wrote: "Let me pose a question concerning Cuba...........do you think it is time to lift the embargo. Is it still relevant or has it become overkill?"

The whole policy is dated - the world has evolved tremendously since 1960 but the US is currently unable to create a new consensus around a new policy.

Jill wrote: "Let me pose a question concerning Cuba...........do you think it is time to lift the embargo. Is it still relevant or has it become overkill?"

Personally, I say lift it. The world has seen that Communism failed for the most part. But I don't think much will change, maybe some lifting in certain areas, but we might have to wait for the death of the Castro brothers.

Daniel - old habits I am afraid die hard.

Bryan, good point.

Anyone read this?

by George C. Herring

Thank you for the add Jerome - do you want to add a synopsis for folks.

Clinton's Remarks at the Symposium on Genocide Prevention, July 2012

Source: Council on Foreign Relations

Jerome, I have not read the book, but I bought it for my library. I heard good things.

From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776

George C. Herring

Synopsis

A finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, this prize-winning and critically acclaimed history uses foreign relations as the lens through which to tell the story of America's dramatic rise from thirteen disparate colonies huddled along the Atlantic coast to the world's greatest superpower.

George C. Herring tells a story of stunning successes and sometimes tragic failures, captured in a fast-paced narrative that illuminates the central importance of foreign relations to the existence and survival of the nation, and highlights its ongoing impact on the lives of ordinary citizens. He shows how policymakers defined American interests broadly to include territorial expansion, access to growing markets, and the spread of an "American way" of life. And Herring does all this in a story rich in human drama and filled with epic events. Statesmen such as Benjamin Franklin and Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman and Dean Acheson played key roles in America's rise to world power. But America's expansion as a nation also owes much to the adventurers and explorers, the sea captains, merchants and captains of industry, the missionaries and diplomats, who discovered or charted new lands, developed new avenues of commerce, and established and defended the nation's interests in foreign lands. From Colony to Superpower captures all this as it tells the dramatic story of America's emergence as superpower--its birth in revolution, its troubled present, and its uncertain future.

Thanks Bryan for the synopsis.

Great synopsis, Bryan. I had the good fortunes to hear Dr. Herring speak and sign my copy. Dr. Herring does an excellent job framing the the role of foreign relations in the formation of our beloved republic. His work has a place of honor in my American history collection.

I have read Dr. Herring's book and I recommend it wholeheartedly. It is very cleanly organized, so it's easy to come back to it and read about one particular time period. It's also pretty objective, although towards the end he makes no secret of the fact that he wasn't a fan of President Bush.

I've finally managed to acquire a copy of Herring's book.
(And thanks, Bryan).

Happy reading :-)

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

by Daron AcemoÄŸlu

Synopsis

Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?

Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are?

Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence?

Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions—with no end in sight. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories.

Based on fifteen years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including:

- China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West?
- Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority?
- What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More
philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions?

Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.

Thanks all for the posts and adds.

Foreign Affairs Focus: Fareed Zakaria on U.S. Competitiveness
Gideon Rose and Fareed Zakaria
March 14, 2013

Editor Gideon Rose interviews Foreign Affairs author Fareed Zakaria about the policies and investments that prepare a nation for the future. Zakaria explains how, despite political infighting and short-term thinking in Washington, the United States' exceptional higher education institutions and democratic system will allow it to remain globally competitive.

Click here to read Zakaria's latest Foreign Affairs piece, "Can America Be Fixed?" (January/February 2013).



Rose, Gideon, and Fareed Zakaria. "Foreign Affairs Focus: Fareed Zakaria on U.S. Competitiveness." Foreign Affairs. 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2013. .

What is the big deal about the Sequester?

This should help:

The Sequester: Three Things to Know
Speaker: Robert Kahn, Steven A. Tananbaum Senior Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations
March 8, 2013

Christopher, interesting article, Do you think that the Chinese Government is behind the Chinese hackers; is that the main premise behind the article and how to stop them. Or if these hackers are from China - why isn't the Chinese government able to curtail their activities I guess is another question.

Do you think that? I thought the media seemed to lay the blame on Israel for that one.

I agree.

Doubtful I agree.

Have you read Against All EnemiesRichard A. Clarke

He has some interesting insights at the end of the book about Cyberwar as the future of warfare, and talks a little bit about the First steps that were taking place on his way out to build a US presence on that front of warfare.

Christopher interesting point about western governments preferring quick, small-scale interventions. Why do you think that is? Is it a response to the difficulties of a struggle like Iraq, or does it have some connection to the political atmosphere is middle east/Africa.

It just sees to me like sometimes the short term involvement idea sometimes creates more problems than it fixes. You are right those are certainly the reasons that make the short term conflict so attractive, but its the style that will create a breading ground for discontent and a vacuum of influence and power. Short term conflicts = short term solutions.

Thanks for the Cyber war book that looks very interesting. Im still trying to figure out exactly the art of referencing books and author with picture but I will keep trying!

Quinn wrote: "Have you read Against All EnemiesRichard A. Clarke

He has some interesting insights at the end of the book about Cyberwar as the future of warfare, and talks a little bit about the First steps tha..."

Quinn, don't forget proper citations, That is one of our rules and guidelines. Look at message 134 - Christopher has it right. Could you please edit your post and then I will delete this one.

You got the author's link right (smile) but you need to just practice and then it only takes 2 seconds.

Look at the Help Desk folder and the Mechanics of the Board thread.

That does look interesting - thank you Christopher.

I agree - why don't they take care of global warming and then the ice caps will take care of themselves and freeze back up (wonder how long it would take to reverse what has already occurred).

No and it is odd but I almost feel hopeless about it.

It is all about risk management and we do not have a clear picture of the real levels of risks involved related to individual potential projects.

Daniel a good point but doing anything to reduce the factors that are contributing to this terrible situation would be a step in the right direction. I do not think we can wait and wait until continents lose land or worse or our planet overheats to the point we cannot live on it. Then it would be too late.

in 1973 I remember reading THE LIMITS TO GROWTH while attending en economic developemnt course. The title described the subject which is still relevant today. Our economy is based on permanent continuous growth but is that sustainable? We might find out when it is too late as humans usually do.

Very true Daniel. The philosophy of permanent continuous growth is flawed when there are always going to be factors limiting that ability.

Obviously, that was what the book was about (smile). What did you think of the hypotheses of the book?

Thank you for mentioning the above - don't forget we have rules for citations and they are not optional. A good practice is to go back and edit 146 and get the citation right (you can add it at the bottom of the post) and then I can delete this help note.

by Donella H. Meadows (no photo)

As a young university student it opened my eyes and I became aware that we do understand only in part some of the effects of human actions on our environment. Our ability to measure collateral damages and risks is limited and our obvious cases of abuse has created the need for Greenpeace and Wikileaks and other similar organizations because businesses and governements have a vested interest in maintaining a status quo. Short term is the focus of decision makers, we have become short sighted.

We have Daniel and I think in many instances the companies are not going to do anything unless it is mandated because it would cost money or make them change what they are doing.

If you look at the power of lobbies, the almost unlimited funding available to support chosen pro business candidates in the US it is obvious that the balance of power is tilted in favour of kicking the can down the down...let the next generation handle the problems that we have created. Sustainable development is a slogan not a matter of fact. But the US society has always been divided on many major issues, so that is nothing new.

For sure and the Supreme Court has made it more difficult controlling this.

Daniel, I thoroughly enjoy your posts but you must try to add the citations. I deleted your post and sent it to you so that you can repost with the citation. You can check out the Help Desk Folder and the Mechanics of the Board thread in that folder if you need additional help. But I know that I have asked you to do some edits at least three times.

If you haven't seen this yet it is absolutely worth your time...gave me shivers.

Amazing Quinn. Thank you for the post.

Also came across this article this morning that has some interesting insight into how we deal with seemingly senseless violence in the terrorism era.



Thought it was pretty interesting.

Article makes some very good points Quinn - thank you.

Some great books on that list. I will have to add them to other appropriate threads. Great post

John Mueller I think is "very wrong". The deaths that are caused by chemical weapons are in most ways much more indiscriminate than conventional weapons.

They can wipe out mass population areas whether it includes armed militants or innocent civilians. It is like arguing that the gassing of civilians in World War II was no more evil than the tanks that the Germans used.

Using poisonous gas has been used by evil regimes for ethnic cleansing for decades at the very least. The deaths suffered by the poor World War I trench fighters was even more ghastly because of its use and what happened to the Kurds when Saddam and Chemical Ali wiped out 180,000 innocent civilians is horrendous.

I feel strongly about this issue but I think the issue that is difficult for Americans is that we do not want to get involved with another foreign war. We had at least three with the two Bushes and god only knows we do not need a third Bush with that mind set in 2014.

And we just wound down in both Afghanistan and Iraq and we are all breathing a sigh of relief. But if the UN put together a multinational force and did something about it - most Americans would support this I feel but being the "disciplinarian" of the world and ruining our economy further does not set well.

So I think the dilemma is probably that on one hand we do care- we care a lot - (and as a civilized people we should care about this kind of warfare) - but then as Jefferson said beware of foreign entanglements.

It is hard to extract yourself once you are in and we have already spread ourselves too thin all over the world. We seem to have a war and then never go home entirely.

Maybe everyone is hoping that the Assad family will go up in a puff of smoke and I doubt that this will happen - when Russia has a port right in Syria. If Russia is not on board - I know that nothing will happen.

Also Mueller's thinking seems to me to be conflicted - first he is arguing that it is not much different than conventional warfare which I disagree with but then he ends with the premise that after the other wars related to 9/11 - we do not have the stomach for this. So I disagree with the first hypothesis and semi agree with his second. But that does not make the first one right nor does it mean that the world should still sit idly by. Frankly when dictators act up and get away with this sort of behavior it sets a pattern of behavior for all of them whether it be Syria or North Korea or Iran or any other location with a despotic government.

FDR was against getting into a world war but he helped England and then finally Pearl Harbor removed any choice in the matter. But there was a lot wrong with what happened to certain ethnic and religious groups during World War II and there was reluctance I think to get involved. This reluctance is well understood by despots and evil leaders.

We studied World War I in this group and some of the hazards of chemical warfare and the horrendous painful deaths. I thought it was horrendous then and I think the same way now. Nobody would want a loved one to suffer such a fate nor should they even want to inflict it on an enemy.

President Obama is a good guy - I absolutely feel that - but his decision making is like that of a Professor trying to see all of the angles while analyzing, confirming, reanalyzing, documenting and going around in circles - we will be in the next millenium before he finally decides to do something for those poor people. And what has made it much more complicated is Al Qaeda's involvement. Who wants to supply anything to them.

It is a shame that a bright light is not being directed on that conflict because Assad has proven to be no better than his father and maybe a bit worse. Obama does not want to have boots on the ground and if you had a son or daughter in the military - I am sure that you would feel similarly.

I think that is one reason as you have agreed that NK is so bold.