Donald Kagan: On The Origins of War - and the Preservation of PeaceHardcover: 606 pages
Publisher: Doubleday 1995
ISBN: 0-385-42374-8
"Peace does not preserve itself. "
Donald Kagan researched 5 cases; the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 B.C.), I WW (1914 - 1918), the Second Punic War (218 - 201 B.C.), II WW (1939 - 1945) and the Cuban missile crisis (1962), to study the origins of war - and the tricky business of preserving peace.
Kagan promotes a classic realist, pessimistic belief that war, not peace, is the defining permanent feature of international life. Preservation of peace is the responsibility of the powerful. I would've enjoyed reading more about Kagan's views about justice in international politics; too often preserving stability, status quo, is a mere justification for unjust policies."It is, in fact, a requirement of true realism in the modern world to recognize the inescapable role of what has come to be called ideology but is not very different from what once was called honor. " p. 351Policies blind to the balances of power never work - good intentions do not count. Kagan's sobering account of the II WW and his views on appeasement are interesting. Appeasement is a solid policy option, especially from position of strentgh. On the other hand, appeasement from a position of weakness motivated by fear can be devastating.
"Yet anyone who analyzes the origins of particular wars must also be struck by a sense that many of them were unnecessary." p.566Second Opinion: Richard Bernstein / The New York Times ¶ 1/22/2007 09:01:00 ap.
It was early August when I started my trip, leaving hometown Helsinki for New York via London. This is what happened:Night out in London. NYC, LL Cool J! From Washington D.C. (Abe!) a Greyhound trip across the continent. St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Salt Lake City (interactive Jerusalem), Boise, Portland and finally Eugene, Oregon. University of Oregon. Awesome Anthony B concert at Wow Hall. Semester well spent. West coast. Oregon coast, (Whales!). Canada through Seattle (Talib Kweli). British Columbia, Vancouver, and Victoria on Vancouver island. Road trip down the west coast. Redwood forest! North California. San Francisco, Death Valley, Las Vegas - LA!
Mexico! thru Tijuana, brief stint at northern Baja California, Ensenada. Mexico City! Condesa, Polanco, San Angel. Lucha Libre! Friends! Teotihuacan! Merida on Yucatan peninsula, (cenotes!), Uxmal (pyramids), Chetumal. Cool. Cool! Belize, Belize City, San Pedro island (diving with sharks & sting rays), San Ignacio (cave tubing). Untamed, beautiful Guatemala, Tikal (pyramids), Antigua for New Years, Panajachel! (volcanoes, Lake Atitlan, jobsearch). Back to Mexico: Chiapas (San Cristobal de las Casas, Marcos & zapatistas), San Juan Chamula (church!) - back to Mexico city. New Orleans, New York (Rangers & Jagr).
¶ 1/17/2007 12:44:00 ip.
