Logistics, the movement of forces to battlefields, their supply, and on-going support, is critical to military success. Although this principle is theoretically accepted, the importance of being well-prepared to rapidly transport troops and supplies to distant crisis points has not been complemented, as Menarchik shows, by adequate lift capabilities. The author uses the six-month buildup to Desert Storm as proof that the United States needs to increase the priority of logistics in strategy and improve its strategic transport capabilities, especially "surge" strategic lift. Current transport capabilities will not be positioned or structured to respond effectively to the contingencies associated with America's growing responsibilities, given the realities of the New World Order.
The peril is not preeminently to the nation's purse; it is to its soul. The danger is not so much that we will fail to protect our interests, it is that we will betray our historic ideals . . . . . There is no assumption made here that the nation has always lived up to its deals; it did, however, always look up to them. We believe that it needs to do so again.--from the IntroductionIn THE IMPERIAL TEMPTATION, two eminent foreign policy experts warn that America has made a Faustian bargain in its quest for the leadership of a new world order. In its attempts to address the challenges posed by new global realities, the Bush administration, so argues THE IMPERIAL TEMPTATION, has betrayed the fundamental ideals on which this country was founded.Criticizing the all-out military assault on Iraq as a disproportionate and inhumane response to the crisis, Tucker and Hendrickson argue that President Bush seized on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to crystallize its vision of a new world order that would reclaim America's position of world leadership. But, in choosing to wage war against Iraq when another alternative was available, the authors write, Bush made the use of force the centerpiece of his vision of world order. As a result, America has fastened on a formula that allows us to go to war with far greater precipitancy that we otherwise might while simultaneously allowing us to walk away from the ruin we create without feeling a commensurate sense of responsibility. By leaving Iraq in chaos, America has succumbed to an imperial temptation without discharging the classic duties of imperial rule.THE IMPERIAL TEMPTATION makes an important--and what is sure to be viewed as controversial--contribution to the national debate over the future of U.S. foreign policy and offers a revealing examination of the classic ideas underlying American diplomacy and their relation to the nation's historic purpose.
Will current strategic planning give the United States the sort of military capabilities needed to counter threats likely in the future? Using first-hand experience at the Pentagon and an Army background, Lieutenant Colonel Peters outlines serious problems, offers fresh insights into the defense planning process, surveys the global security environment in this post-Cold War era, and makes suggestions for developing an optimal force structure for the year 2000. This risk and consequences assessment, alongside case studies of the Gulf War and other situations, shows the inner workings of the Defense Department and departs from recent literature on military reform.
This book presents confrontation as the key theme of the post-cold war world. It argues that the world could be changed dramatically for the better if people and governments were to adopt a new way of thinking and dealing with conflict that takes us beyond confrontation. The examples of war, international economics, environmental decay, and racial conflict show that in today's interdependent world, the problems we face are interdependent too. The central tenet is that it is almost always more pragmatic to act cooperatively. Most important, the book shows that cooperative problem solving is not mere "pie in the sky" idealism.
In the aftermath of the Cold War era, a new world order is being created at an extraordinary pace. Europe is becoming a more unified power, Germany is assuming a central role within that power, NATO is looking for a new mission, the former Soviet Union has ceased to be a superpower threat, and the United States is going through its own superpower adjustments. As these dramatic shifts occur, a crucial question for world stability is the future relationship between the United States and Europe. This volume brings together some of the best-informed and most-experienced international personalities to interpret the repercussions of these twists of the European kaleidoscope. They assess the impact the changes will have on future political, economic, trade, financial, industrial, and security developments, and above all, on U.S.-European relations.
Globalization presents a paradox in light of the tendency toward regionalization in world trade and investment, and the emergence of the three economic super blocs--the Asia-Pacific Rim, North America, and the European Economic Community. The Third World countries and regions in Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere are left out of the action. This work states the fundamental problems that face Africa, draws the attention of the world policy makers to the problems, and proposes answers and solutions.
This is a study of the relative decline of the American presidency in a period when the role of the United States as a world leader is diminishing. Michael Genovese examines the strategies used by presidents Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Bush, and how political and economic circumstance affected their performances. This analysis points also to the ways presidents must govern to be successful in a new era. This short text is intended for students of the presidency and political leadership.