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The Return Of History And The End Of Dreams (2008)

by Robert Kagan(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

030726923X (ISBN13: 9780307269232)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf Publishing Group

review 1: In this concise piece, Kagan refutes the notion, put forward by a great many academics in the 1990s, that the world would become increasingly harmonious as great powers adapted themselves to a new, global liberal democratic consensus. The hard-power geopolitics of the past, such thinkers argued, would give way to a new geo-economics, as nations plugged themselves into the global economy and concerned themselves more with becoming affluent than with traditional concerns of national pride, honor, and power. The failure of authoritarian systems to reform in the face of economic liberalization, and the persistence of old great-power tensions are what Kagan refers to when he argues that history has "returned". Perhaps to the confoundment of the idealists, centuries-old fault... more lines have not vanished through economic and political integration, but have persisted, and play as strong a role as ever in world politics. China and Russia have embraced "geo-economics" largely on their own terms, and have used their peculiar brands of state capitalism to exert themselves abroad and increase the wealth and influence of the state. This occurs at a time when both powers, feeling degraded by the western world, seek to reestablish themselves as crucial international players and achieve recognition as great powers. In the 1990s, Russia experienced a period of weakness it had not known perhaps since the seventeenth century, as its military and financial complex collapsed, and it found itself struggling to restore order at home while NATO and the European Union closed in on them strategically. Since restoring order within the federation after pacifying Chechnya, Russia has begun to look further abroad, using its oil and gas resources , on which Europe is largely dependent, as levers for reasserting control over the former Soviet republics on its border, or at least for preventing their integration into the Euro-American alliance system. China weathered the international condemnation it suffered after the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, keeping Communist Party rule intact while overseeing massive economic growth, which has in turn fueled a growing and modernizing military. Feeling secure at home, it also has begun looking abroad for opportunities to rollback the American-dominated alliance system of the western Pacific. It hopes to regain control of Taiwan, whose preservation and protection by the United States it considers a source of embarrassment. It also wants to weaken the chain of U.S. allies running in a "V" shape from South Korea and Japan, down to Australia and New Zealand, and northwest to India and Pakistan. There is also, according to Kagan, an emerging coalition (albeit informal and unstructured) between illiberal powers, who despite their cultural differences share the philosophy that they should be able to manage their authoritarian systems without outside interference (i.e. that of the liberal west), and to grow in power and influence without being counteracted by the status-quo liberal powers. An example of this unofficial coalition can be seen in the case of Iran. If the liberal world gangs up on Iran over its nuclear program, the only nations it can turn to for support are those who likewise feel that they are being kept down by the Euro-American-led international community. Kagan's prescription for the United States in this still-divided world derives from a fairly traditional American view of the United States as the indispensable nation. America's offshore presence, he argue, is necessary in East Asia to support Japan, India, Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and others as they counterbalance China's growing strength. America's presence in the Middle East is necessary to counter the forces of Islamic Fundamentalism from destabilizing some of the most critical arteries of the world economy. America needs to strengthen and expand its Cold War ties with Europe, as Russian ambitions threaten some of the newest members of the European community. As the book is short and meant for a general audience, international relations enthusiasts probably won't learn very much from it. It does, however, provide some food for thought, and successfully presses the general notion that in international relations as in life, the more thing change, the more they stay the same.
review 2: Compared to Of Paradise and Power, this one takes a more global view, although the American slant is obvious (and South-America, Canada, and most of Africa are barely mentioned). The author Robert Kagan still sees the world as a kettle that might boil over, and his answer is military power, the fear it causes as a threat and the results it brings if used against others. He seems to be amazingly unable to understand that not everyone wants to live the same kind of lives, that there are several sets of value systems and that that's okay."It is logical, too, that a world of liberal democratic states would gradually produce an international order that reflected those liberal and democratic qualities. This has been the Enlightenment dream since the eighteenth century, when Kant imagined a "Perpetual Peace" consisting of liberal republics and built upon the natural desire of all peoples for peace and material comfort." Pp.103First of all, not everyone desires peace, nor material comfort. Are these people wrong? Are they not allowed to disagree? Who decides that? Secondly, how is diplomacy or any kind of (equal) discourse supposed to be possible, when (at least) one party considers their point of view inevitably evolved and others as something less developed?"Of the many bad options in dealing with this immensely dangerous problem (radical Islamism), the best may be to hasten the process – more modernization, more globalization, faster. This would require greater efforts to support and expand capitalism and the free market in Arab countries, as many have already recommended, as well as efforts to increase public access to the world through television and the Internet." Pp. 101So, to hell with other cultures, they are inferior to the American anyway? And these "solutions" would benefit American businesses, no-one else really. The reality of this passage would be Targets and Wallmarts all over the Middle East instead of locally owned small businesses, and without any kind of workers rights (they don't have those in America so why elsewhere?) By television here, Kagan means American television, not Mexican telenovelas, Bollywood-movies or Al Jazeera news."Finally, the democratic world should continue to promote political liberalization; support human rights, including the empowerment of women; and use it's influence to support a free press and repeated elections that will, if nothing else, continually shift power from the few to the many." Pp. 101-102Yes, it's a beautiful idea. The problem is who gets to define the acceptable levels of these ideals. This book was published in 2008 and oh, what a difference a few years make. Seriously. Human rights? As I write this thousands of Americans are protesting anti-union bills in Wisconsin; in Missouri, State Senator Jane Cunningham want's to put children under 14 to work, during school weeks without work permits (or union protection obviously); sick people are denied health care because of money all over United States. Empowering women? Still no Equal Pay Act; move to restrict abortion rights at the expense of woman's life... sounds good. Free press? Wikileaks, anyone? Also consolidation of media to fewer owners means fewer news make it to the broadcast, when everyone has the same stories. Free elections? Well, Citizens United took care of that one. All in all, if the system of the USA is the best we can come up with, we're in trouble. Maybe it would not be a bad idea to benchmark other systems once in a while. less

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