Real Security

Fülszöveg

$4.95 The political aréna rings with heated arguments ábout nuclear superiority and nuclear parity, with political accusations about American decline and American weakness, and with calls for a more aggressive stance against the USSR. In Real Security, Richárd Barnet shows how the Reagan world view was sold and why the Kissinger-Nixon détente collapsed. It may be considered the first major salvo fired against the Reagan-Haig military buildup and pugnacious attitűdé abroad. Real Security argues persuasively that nuclear superiority, even if it were achievable, would not assure world peace. America is no longer Number One in quite the same way it once was, and Americans' perceptions of their nation's power have changed. Our ambassadors are kidnapped or murdered, our embassies sacked, and our diplomats held hostage. There is a widespread view that the decline of American power is attributable to our flagging efforts in the arms race. Alarmist speeches about the "present danger" suggest... Tovább

Fülszöveg

$4.95 The political aréna rings with heated arguments ábout nuclear superiority and nuclear parity, with political accusations about American decline and American weakness, and with calls for a more aggressive stance against the USSR. In Real Security, Richárd Barnet shows how the Reagan world view was sold and why the Kissinger-Nixon détente collapsed. It may be considered the first major salvo fired against the Reagan-Haig military buildup and pugnacious attitűdé abroad. Real Security argues persuasively that nuclear superiority, even if it were achievable, would not assure world peace. America is no longer Number One in quite the same way it once was, and Americans' perceptions of their nation's power have changed. Our ambassadors are kidnapped or murdered, our embassies sacked, and our diplomats held hostage. There is a widespread view that the decline of American power is attributable to our flagging efforts in the arms race. Alarmist speeches about the "present danger" suggest that if only the United States would spend more on the military and use military power more aggressively, the decline in power could be reversed. The debate about national security has degenerated into a numbers game. We test reality to see if we are more secure by counting all sorts of things. What does it all mean? One must, to an extent, look at numbers. But the larger questions-and the factors that will bring about real political security- have to do with the nature of military power. In the era of nuclear war, there are no winners. What is a practical alternative for the 1980s to a national security strategy based on an escaláting arms race? Barnet makes the case that arms limitation agreements can create a positive political climate. He argues that nothing would restore American power and influence more than a dramatic reduction of our dependence on foreign oil and a management of our inflation that would not tear the country apart. We can help create a political climate in which aggression can be contained. The real danger, in a dark and turbulent time, is that we may scare ourselves into impotence, and perhaps oblivion. Vissza