Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy |
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Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy
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by Benjamin R. Barber
Sales Rank: 558428
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Discount: 15 %
List Price: $13.95
$11.86
At Amazon
on 4-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 224 pages
Published by: W. W. Norton & Company; New Ed edition October 18, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0393325784
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393325782
Book Dimensions:
13.1 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
Weighs: 9.6 ounces
Product Review
The attacks of September 11, 2001 struck fear into the hearts of Americans. Despite being the world's lone superpower and despite being possessed of an unprecedented share of the world's wealth, Americans learned they were vulnerable to terrorists who operated with neither country nor army. In response, the Bush administration began a "war on terrorism," invading countries which it suspected of harboring terrorists or having the desire to harm American interests in the future. But America asserting itself by preemptively waging war is both wrongheaded and dangerous, according to Benjamin R. Barber. In Fear's Empire, he suggests that unilateral military action perpetuates an image of America as an aggressive force that operates outside the accepted precepts of international Law and policy. This could lead to less support from other countries in fighting a shadowy enemy and, because it perpetuates the image of America as self-righteous aggressor, could lead to generations of increased terrorism while contributing to a bunker mentality of fear back at home. But Barber does more than say what's wrong; he offers a detailed plan for a more conscientious foreign policy alternative. He draws a distinction between Pax Americana the strategy of preventive war which the United States used in Afghanistan and Iraq and Lex Humana or "preventive democracy," a strategy in which democracy is developed as a means of establishing a lasting peace around the world by encouraging a practical self-determination. Barber draws important distinctions: simply demanding that other countries adopt America's laws and processes will not work and exporting America's consumer driven economic lifestyle would be nothing short of disastrous. But by extending the notion of the social contract to the world, helping countries establish their own democratic societies, and using democracy as a model for nations to work together, Barber argues, peace could be established and fear's empire finally defeated. Barber's writing is intellectual without being pedantic and passionate without being unnecessarily shrill or partisan. Such an approach is welcome in a political climate where the loudest shouters tend to get the most notice. --John Moe
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
The logic of preventative war, argues this assertive critique of the Bush administration's supposedly new foreign policy, isn't so fundamentally different from the cold war doctrine of deterrence: both amount to fighting fear with fear. What is different, however, is the world. In an increasingly interdependent world with no check on American power, where destruction is assuredly unilateral, friends and enemies alike read displays of power not as deterrence but as dominance--an ultimately counterproductive strategy since resentment further fuels terrorism. Barber's thesis is a tightly presented, if essentially familiar, pragmatic argument in favor of "preventative democracy" and multilateralism, backed up by his previous book Jihad vs. McWorld (1995) on exporting democracy versus exporting capitalism; a host of New York Times editorials; and Bob Woodward's Bush at War [BKL D 15 02]. It's embellished and made unique, however, by its examination of the myths of moral confidence presented in, for example, Melville's thoroughly American characters Billy Budd and Amasa Delano. Fresh-faced innocence, argues Barber, doesn't look convincing when worn by an angry, frightened giant. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy (Hardcover)
This book was welcome follow-up to Benjamin Barber's famous book Jihad vs. McWorld and in it he expands on the themes of already established in that book. In many ways the first book foretold the present foreign policy challenges faced by the 'North'and the 'Sout'h'. However, unlike harsher dialectics proposed by Samuel Huntington and more recently Richard perle in his draconian solution to world problems featured in the lamentable but unequivocably harsh "An End To Evil", Barber does not speak in terms of black or white. His approach is well reasoned, and differs in tone even from other alternative, or so called 'liberal' texts that criticize America's current foreign policy approach. Barber writes with reason and suggests that rather than exporting democracy and markets, the more priviliged world under America's leadership should be engaged in the building of citizens and civil society first, for it is on that basis that lasting democracies are built. I found the book became more interesting and engaging in the second half where the argument against the idea of a preventive war, turns into an argument against the éxport'of democracy for the creation of the right structures and circumstances that help to build and sustain democracy in the developing world. This is an important work that should be read by all those who wish to understand - reasonably and without hyperbole - the dangers of America's current foreign policy
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Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy
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Price: $11.86
Updated on 4-19-2008.
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