5 comments about The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries.

1. You don't have to go far into this "diary" to discover it's a highly interesting and possibly questionable account of the times but an account that has been not only excised of any substance but of any objectivity too. Therefore it fails as a diary and becomes a very monochrome and monotone account of.......well what? Campbell was well know in Fleet Street as a partial leaker of government business. That is the way the system works. If you were in favour by printing favourable things about "Nu" Labour then you got his highly coloured stories. Woe betide you if you printed the truth, locked out of the circle of knowledge you were left with crumbs from the table. And so "Nu" Labour set out with Campbell to control the press, sometime sucessful, sometimes with spectacular failure (Honours for money). Whatever Campbells truth is, it is his own and he should be left to it and his own fantacies!



2. mr campbell wrote every thing about sir tony blair in the period from 1994-2003 you will feel you are working & living in 10 downing street or in the labour party -before they became in power in 1997- really good job . iam waiting for mr blair diaraes which i heard that it will be released in 2008 to have the complete view about the most powerful british prime minester since margret tatcher



3. Until Tony Blair himself publishes his account of his time in office, this has to be the next best thing. Although most of the daily entries are short, it conveys the mood. Sunday morning confabs to determine the appropriate response to a breaking story, speechwriting on airplanes, careful feeding of information to journalists, it is all here. I found myself thinking " *that's* how they did it".
   
   There are also many amusing/bizarre anecdotes such as Campbell walking in on Mo Mowlan in the bath.
   
   The Diana parts felt set up to me. We hear about how she wanted to meet Campbell, then they met, she asks for him later, and then of course her crash and death. His affection for her seems somewhat overblown, and it says something of his reputation that I found myself believing his portrayal in "The Queen", coldly feeding the "People's Princess" line to Blair, more than his own diaries. The cartoonish version of Campbell as the arch spin doctor is now a cultural fixture of its own, turning up not only in "The Queen" but in books like "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen". I wonder what Campbell must think about that.
   
   Ambition and rivaly are never far from the surface. When describing Blair's lengths football header session with Kevin Keegan, Campbell is careful to note that it was easier than it seemed, since "of course a professional like Keegan can head the ball towards a target in the same way most of us can throw it, so it wasn't that difficult."
   
   I found it amusing that Campbell goes out of his way not to to use the word "spin". I expect that he became thoroughly sick of hearing that word.
   
   Note that this is "Extracts from" Alastair Campbell's diaries. The really secret stuff is, well, secret.



4. This book was returned due to its poor quality. There was simply no way I could present this book as a gift due to the cut of the pages. Please improve your product standards.



5. Whereas the recently released diaries of President Reagan were an approachable exercise in easy readability that never excluded facts and anecdotes about the personages of the age, this diary is truly for hard-core political aficionados only. I can read almost anything, and even I had trouble getting through The Blair Years. What's wrong here? Well, the typeface was poorly chosen, the writing style was distancing at best, and even the entries themselves were printed too closely together and should have been better designed. In the end everything about this work serves to put a reader off.
   
   For every interesting piece about, say, dinner with Princess Diana (who served Mr. Campbell tea), the Queen's bored reaction to the Millennium celebrations, or juicy details on Bill Clinton's personal opinion of then-President elect Bush, there are scores of entries that cover minutia so densely recorded that I truly think this is a book that will be of greatest value to a graduate student studying foreign affairs, or a future historian who wishes to research the Blair years. The average reader hoping to get a backstage pass to politics as undertaken at 10 Downing Street will probably do better looking elsewhere.
   
   While Campbell is comprehensive, he is not (at least as evidenced here) gifted with those talents that make for an engrossing reading experience.

5 comments about From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations.

1. Mr. Etzioni contends that the world is too rough of a place for nation states. That we need world government to contend with this evil entity called the internet. This treasonous book is a must read for every concerned citizen (probably about thirty total). Mr Etzioni comes from the infamous Council on Foreign Relations. This organization houses most of our political elite. It is responsible for a lot of our foreign policy. This isn't just some nut that wrote a book. This is the direction we are heading. Are you ready to give up your freedom for the New World Order? I'm not. Read this book and learn their strategies. Like how they substitute communitarianism for communism.



2. You could buy Mr. Lackey's ridiculous harangue of Professor Etzioni's "From Empire to Community" or you could consider the glowing assessments by the likes of former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Harvard Kennedy School ex-Dean Joseph Nye, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission Lee Hamilton. Best bet would be to read Etzioni's book yourself. If you do, you'll find a reasonable and perceptive yet accessible account of the foremost international problem facing the United States and how best to deal with it by one of the world's leading scholars, public figures and commentators. Professor Etzioni applies his powerful communitarian thinking to the emerging threat of terrorism and presents thoughtful alternatives to the "bring 'em on" approach that has alienated the U.S. from most of the world and won countless converts to extremist causes. Etzioni's book does not answer all the difficult questions before us. It does open the door for dialogue and mutual understanding among civilizations, and this is an infinitely saner and safer course than that offered by Samuel P. Huntington and others.



3. Etzioni's new book is in effect two books that contradict one another, each with a challenging and novel thesis. The first part argues that Western ideas about rights, autonomy and free markets are merely half of the moral narrative that ought to guide the development of a core of globally shared values. The other half, which the East brings to the table, are concerns for the common good, responsibility and community. He recognizes that these are far from alien concepts to the West, but especially when the USA "exports" values it neglects these "Eastern" values, as well, in recent history, at home. The thesis of an East West value synthesis is worth exploring in face of the arrogance of the West, claiming to have The Truth and treating others as heathens (Bush talks about crusades) and-- the East sense that the common good should guide all. A systensis of East West values does seem to have promise.
   In contrast in part 2 From Empire to COMMUNITY , Etzioni makes a case for Western, at least U.S.A. domination. He points out that the U.S.A. has established, after 9/11, a global anti- terrorists police agency, supported by most nations of the world either out of self interest, or a sense that such a agency is needed, is legtimate, or because of American pressure. Etzioni key point is that although born out of might, such an agency make lay the foundation for a global state that can provide for more goods than fighting terrorists (E.g. humanitarian interventions) and a state it may gradually become more democratic. He points out that historical nations born out of force, such as Germany and the UK, became more democratic over time. An even more challenging thesis than the first one.
   Thus while the first half deals with moral values, the second is much more grounded in real politics. While the first half plays down the role of the West, the second part is playing it up. One may wish that the true Etzioni stand up but one cannot deny the novelty and possible merit of both abutments.



4. Professor Amitai Etzioni's most recent book, "From Empire to Community", offers a thought-provoking commentary on global socio-political trends. The wholistic analytical prism through which Professor Etzioni assesses today's realities and extrapolates to a world in closer harmony breaks through traditional academic silos. Will our world ultimately realize a "legitimate global architecture", as Professor Eztioni suggests? Who knows? But that may not be the point. Rather, the value of this book resides more with its challenge to the reader to consider potentially logical implications of a world in which east-west cultures and values may be coming closer together more than we have understood.
   Professor Etzioni conjectures that the world is migrating toward a security-driven global authority, and submits a rather convincing body of evidence in support of this hypothesis. The trend toward political unification in Europe, and the longstanding "sphere of influence" geographical driver of national foreign policy renders it difficult to dismiss this argument out of hand.
   Certainly our global connectivity includes communications, capital markets, health, environment, and safety. Professor Etzioni submits that a higher and enduring global political order may emerge from such centripetal forces.
   Professor Etzioni's extensive global life experiences, substantive underpinnings and keen mind are consistently in evidence throughout "From Empire to Community". Although one may cite countervailing trends, empirical data and opposing arguments to those submitted by the author, this reader finds high levels of satisfaction resulting from joining Professor Etzioni on his analytical journey. In short, "From Empire to Community" is a must read for those who appreciate a 360 degree commentary on our highly complex socio, political, cultural and
   economic enviroment from one of our foremost global thinkers.
   
   Stewart E. Sutin, Ph.D.
   President
   Community College of Allegheny County



5. This book applies communitarian thinking, and Etzioni's widely recognized insight into organizational behavior and political science to pressing modern international problems.
   
   For those who may not have had exposure to the word "communitarian", it refers to a line of thinking that embraces both rights and personal responsibilities simultaneously, not just one or the other. It seeks to address the question of how to create a better and more moral society, yet while resorting to neither big government nor to libertarian disregard for order and fairness. Societal problems should be solved by individuals and communities whenever possible (thus the word 'communitarian') and yet society should also not shrink from intervening through government when necessary.
   
   As such, communitarian thinking has been indentifed with the 'moderate' or 'centrist' policies of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, and has compared to the writing of "third way" thinkers such as Anthony Giddens. Communitarian thinkers have publicly praised communitarian initiatives of both Democratic and Republican administrations. This communitarian orientation integrally grounds the author's substantial contributions in international relations

5 comments about The Islamic Threat : Myth or Reality? (Third Edition).

1. I read this book for a book review I had to do for a history of Islam course. Altogether, it was a great book, though probably not for the "average" reader. Esposito is a scholar, thus he writes like one. Anyone who hasn't already gotten a few academic books under their belt might find a few of his more complex concepts a bit difficult to follow. He goes into great detail, but also assumes a lot of knowledge on the part of the reader. Nevertheless, the points presented in the book are important for everyone to understand. As Esposito says, if you TRULY want to understand Islam and modern Muslims, you MUST be willing to delve into the complexities of history. It may be hard work, but if you want to know the truth behind the stereotypes, you have to be willing to learn a lot!



2. Despite an automatic "us against them" response many of us may have to this topic, this erudite presentation should not be discounted and is all the more important to study.
   
   It is unfortunate that many Christians and Jews feel negatively toward Islam. To be fair, it is unfortunate the Islam emerged as a teaching meaning to supercede Christianity. However, Christianity seems to have begun and has largely remains convinced of itself as a one true way. Perhaps from all this, folks from all sides will learn the dangers of placing authority in supernatural claims.
   
   But given that Christianity, Judaism and Islam exist as they are, it seems helpful that John Esposito has been able to make it clearer just how Islam does exist these days. Answers are by no means easy or simple nor is it constructive to just try to write off a strawman Islam.
   
   Esposito has presented so much information on the various forms and usages of Islam today that it would be too much to ask him to expand his early sections on the history of Islam. Nevertheless readers unconvinced somehow here as to the contributions of Islam may want to also read books focused on Islam's history. Reading the Quran also can't hurt. It may seem repititive but it does present powerful images that may explain to doubters Islam's appeal.
   
   People exploit religions, People use religions to exploit other people. This hardly is confined to Islam nor is Islam hardly confined to such activity. For roughly 1 billion people Islam provides help: Esposito's contribution herein is making it overwhelmingly clear how many various forms that help has taken and how many of these forms are constructive.



3. Firstly I should say that this review pertains more directly to the writing style and content of Esposito's text rather than a wider discussion of his thesis on the nature of militant Islam -- those looking for such an analysis may wish to consult other Amazon reviews for this book.
   
   As with many writers on the subject, Esposito couches his discussion of contempory events by tracing their historical developments: indeed he devotes some two-thirds of the text to this end. Laudable and necessary though this approach is, I was stuck by the considerable unevenness of the structure: as can be discerned from a glance at the contents page, the chapters range from a modest 20 pages to an unwieldy 80 pages (within a 280 page text) with arbitrary sub- and sub-sub- divisions dotted throughout. Whilst this system can work effectively for certain writers, to my mind this approach causes Esposito to treat his subject matter in an similarly uneven style, allowing, for example, considerable discussion to one nation's history, little to another, or none to yet another, somewhat irrespective of what importance in the Islamic revivalist story might have been fairly attributed to that country back in in the mid to late 1990s. Developments in Palestine--relations between Hamas, Fatah and the US in particular--are glossed over, almost as an afterthought, in the concluding pages of the text.
   
   Equally, general readers wishing to digest 'The Islamic Threat' cover to cover, rather than by chapter or sub-chapter as an academic gloss, will slowly become frustrated by Esposito's continual use of repeated miniture lists and translations of Arabic phrases. Clearly the term 'jihad', for example, should be translated the upon its first use, but surely not on the fifth or tenth use also.
   
   I do not wish to be unfair to Esposito. He is undoubtedly a leading authority in his field, and attempts to offer an sober analysis of Islamic-Western relations in a time where it has conceivably never been of greater importance. My feeling, and I'm sure that of many others who have read 'The Islamic Threat' is that a fourth edition is sorely needed to correct both sometimes painful editorial clunkiness and, of course, bring his analysis into line with developments since the 1999 edition.



4. Esposito does a fanatastic job showing how Islam really is a religion of peace: once everybody's Muslim, that is. Till then, pass the ammo. And since peace is the ultimate goal, we have no choice but to classify it as a peaceful religion. (Pol Pot was also a man of peace in this way.)
   
   Another strength of Esposito's book is the way it proves how what we persist in seeing as a threat should instead be greeted as a welcome boon.
   
   After all, once we've all converted, we'll likely be much happier. There'll be no more interfaith disagreements, no uppity women, no Israel, no public controversies, no music, art, sculpture, dance, or bickering political parties.
   
   Nor will there be any debates about education, art, philosophy, history, or anything else. And since there will be no further need to read books, our pious brows will never be furrowed in painful cogitation.
   
   Our lives will be led in blissful confidence that God loves us, we're 100% right, we're going to Heaven, and that by everybody bowing to a rock five times a day we will have attained the absolute summit of human achievement.
   
   So what threat?



5. For the average Western reader living in a media-saturated environment, analysis of complex issues is generally sidestepped to make way for an endless barrage of the much more palatable (and profitable) sound bites. The problem with broad and shallow treatments of historically complex conflicts is the unsatisfyingly easy stock ideas that the viewers are furnished with, leaving little room for measured analysis and even-handed conclusions. Esposito's book, "The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?" sets up a detailed and well-reasoned historical foundation for understanding the conflicts that have arisen between two very different cultures in a stimulating contrast to Western news channel synopses of Islam's role in current events.
   
   "The Islamic Threat" was, for me, a breath of fresh air that takes a hot-button issue and presents it in a fair, even manner. He doesn't avoid stereotypes, but faces them head on as he carefully presents his research. Esposito first places Islam and all of its sects and movements in historical context, and then goes on to systematically address some very sensitive topics with diplomacy and aplomb. By the time the reader has reached the chapters entitled "Islamic Organizations: Soldiers of God" and "Islam and the West: A Clash of Civilizations", s/he is primed for an unbiased academic treatment of issues ranging from Nationalism, Jihad, terrorism, secularism, Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses", military rule, socialism, colonialism, and revolution. For this reason I concluded that the structure of the book was well planned. It would seem to me that even some of the more radical viewpoints may have been tempered by Esposito's levelheaded analyses. Once the reader has the historical and religious knowledge to draw on, the common Western stereotypes and biases regarding Islam seem instantly less plausible.
   
   Since he tackles European colonialism in as fair a fashion as he explains the historical contexts of Jihad, he removes the "good guy/bad guy" associations that are all too familiar in East/West perceptions. He draws important parallels between the Eurocentric image of "the Jew" that has so disastrously affected the common era, and the misinformed fear-based assumptions about the Muslim world that pervade even the most liberal, "open-minded" circles. (Esposito, 43) He also points out that Muslims have a equally legitimate claim to the Judeo-Christian heritage as co-founders of the monotheistic tradition, and yet in many Western communities Muslims are suspiciously regarded as "other". (Esposito, 238)
   
   "The Islamic Threat" directly discusses the Western share of responsibility in igniting some of the conflict between cultures. Esposito unveils the complexity of American and European interventionist foreign policy, and shines a beacon on some of the mistakes our government has made by fostering a "double standard in its promotion and protection of democracy and human rights". (Esposito, 272) Furthermore, he goes on to criticize the overuse of sensational terminology such as "Islamic Fundamentalism" since it promotes a "tendency to equate violence and terrorism with Islam". (Esposito, 286) The danger of this, as Esposito goes on to explain, is the adoption of the myopic misperception that Muslims are constantly agitating for random violence against innocent Westerners, when we take an altogether innocent view of our own constant invasion, interference, and patronizing application of Western ideals on the rest of the world. We so often forget the epidemic violence of Christian history, even within this century. Esposito illustrates the reality of Islam - a peaceful faith with millions of true believers who fade into the background at the mention of the latest [Islamic] "threat".
   
   It's true that the third edition reads like a draft in places, but I attribute that to the "absentminded professor" syndrome more than carelessness or, god forbid, lack of knowledge. I would recommend an expansion of the post 9-11 chapters, but overall "The Islamic Threat" is a brilliant examination of a pressing question.

No comments about Get Your War On: The Definitive Account of the War on Terror, 2001-2008.

5 comments about The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis.

1. Daniel's review is spot on. Jafarzadeh and the NCRI are not to be trusted by anyone. If you take a cursory look into the Mujahedin e Khalq (MEK), you will see that they are little more than Marxist cultists devoted to the idiotic notion that the two incompetents named Masoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi will someday take over leadership of Iran (some of their imbecile members have even immolated themselves in protest at the mere detention of their leaders). Furthermore, they are TERRORISTS as defined by the United States, Canada and the EU, putting them is the same category as Hezbollah and Hamas. It is interesting that this book is even permitted to be sold since it is written by someone affiliated with a terrorist organization.
   
   Jafarzadeh is an MEK mouthpiece whose ONLY interest is the promotion of his group to power in a regime change situation in Iran. Like Daniel said, he is an Ahmad Chalabi (Though I daresay that Ahmad Chalabi and his cronies would likely be more competent administrators than the cultists of the MEK). This is the most important thing to remember though: Jafarzadeh and the MEK have virtually zero support amongst Iranians ever since they fought alongside the Iraqis in the Iran-Iraq war and killed Iranian soldiers. People who are knowledgeable about Iran know that Iranians are a very nationalistic bunch, and they will never forgive the MEK's despicable treachery. I suspect that Americans would feel the same way if a group of their compatriots had fought with the North Koreans during the Korean War and were responsible for killing American soldiers.
   
   I am no fan of the current regime in Iran, or Ahmadinejad, but if arm chair generals advocating war with Iran are stupid enough to believe Jafarzadeh's and the MEK's exaggerations, they will see that it will result in disaster for the US, Iran and the world at large. This is a dangerous book.



2. This book is one of the best book about nuclear crisis in Iran.
   I told all my Iranian and American friends to read this book.
   Mr. jafarzadeh is one of the best terrorit expert and brought Iran's nuclear program to the world Attention in 2002.



3. The book clearly shows how the mullas in Iran try to dominate all the region specially Islamic countries like Iraq, Libnon and Palestion. It explains if this regime won't replaced with a democratic regime, the world will have a dark future.



4. The Iran Threat by Alireza Jafarzadeh offers an extensive political history of modern Iran with a special emphasis on why it poses a threat to the Western world. In particular, this book offers detailed information on Iran's uranium enrichment activities and a deluge of facts corroborating why Iran's activites are surely not for peaceful purposes. This book also details the structure of the government of Iran, a brief history of the Iranian Revolution and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's professed infatuation with the ideals of the Iranian Revolution. In terms of presenting a large amount of facts against Iran, there is much value to gain in reading this book.
   
   This book is written by the very terrorism expert who blew the whistle on Iran's underground uranium enrichment program back in 2002. The author is an Iranian exile, a Middle Eastern affairs analyst and a Fox News Foreign Affairs Analyst. He is also the president of Strategic Policy Consulting Inc. in Washington D.C. and is also the former media director for the Washington D.C. office of the parliament-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI). This guy is probably one of the foremost experts on what is happening in Iran.
   
   The author details many important points regarding the Islamic Republic including:
   * The Iranian Revolution of 1979 and how Ayatollah Khomeini converted Iran into a brutally fanatical theocracy.
   * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's shadowy rise to power, his regular meetings with Ayatollah Khomeini as a student and his connection with the student organization that helped orchestrate the 1979 hostage crisis.
   * The oppressive, anti-Western reforms of the Ahmadinejad regime.
   * The stated radical and globally ambitious ideology of the Iranian mullahs.
   * Iran's role in the Iraqi insurgency.
   * The history and present capability of Iran's Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Nuclear Weapons Capability.
   * The extensive measures Iran has made to defend their underground enrichment facilities (e.g., spreading them out, placing them deep underground, strategically positioning anti-aircraft technology).
   
   Jafarzadeh also offers his opinion on what policy actions should be taken against Iran. Despite making a few decent observations. Jafarzadeh does identify that the current theocratic regime must go and that it is "beyond negotiation". He promotes "regime change", specifically meaning handing over the keys of Iran to the NCRI. According to their platform on their website, the NCRI stands for the separation of Church and State, capitalism, private investment, human and minority rights, free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and democratic elections. This sounds like a considerable improvement over the current Iranian regime. However, the NCRI's leadership is intertwined with that of the militant group MEK, which has several cultish/irrational aspects. Thus, Jafarzadeh's proposed solution seems unfortunately more pragmatic than principled.
   
   Another significant concern of mine is that, although this work is dense with citations, the author often attributes vital information to "his sources", which makes it difficult to accept this information as truth. However, we also must recognize the reality of the author's situation, as he is probably not able to safely reveal all of his sources at the time of his writing. These vague attributions are not too frequent, and when they are made, the allegations are consistent with the overall character of the Iranian regime. As a whole, I think the factual content of this book is pretty sound.
   
   In summary, I highly recommend this book for its factual content, especially to those with strong interests in foreign policy who are seeking a deeper understanding of the threat that Iran poses.



5. This is a spirited, urgent and sage call for sanity in approaching the emerging Iran problem from a Fox News Middle East analyst, and ex-patriot. While not always the most balanced of renditions, the author's background makes him well positioned to have a firm grasp on the meaning of the history of the region, a sordid history that he clearly believes has led to the present international crisis over Iran's emerging nuclear capability. And while he speaks from the platform offered up to him by the hard right end of the U.S. political spectrum, he is by no means just a "parrot" of the Fox News party line.
   
   His main points are all well-developed and worth serious reflection. They are that: (1) the larger threat, the unanticipated rise of an undemocratic Islamic revolution with Iran emerging as the regional hegemon, is in the main a U.S creation; (2) far from restoring stability to the region, invading Iraq, has actually tipped the balance of power in the direction of the radical and reactionary Mullahs; (3) sitting on its enormous oil reserves (and away from the limelight of the American media) Iran, unlike the U.S. and Israel, has been busy building enduring international economic alliances with the emerging powers of Asia; in particular real politics with with Russia, China, and India are likely to bear fruit; (4) U.S. short-sighted policies in the region, have come back to haunt us, long-term -- now boxing us and our erstwhile ally, Israel, as well as the moderate forces within Iran, into a narrow set of unpalatable and ultimately self-defeating options; and (5) that while pre-emptively taking out Iran's embryonic nuclear program seems to be the only robust (but not entirely sensible) option remaining for the U.S. or for Israel, it is far from cost free, but is one likely to end in an international debacle of the likes of the fiasco in Iraq; (6) however, allowing Iran to develop its nuclear weapons, is even a far worse option; and (7) that whatever happens, time and the forces of history seem to be on Iran's side.
   
   The author makes no bones about identifying the ultimate sources of the current crisis as the long term damaging effects of the CIA overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iran, that of Mossadeq, and the fact that the international community "winked" at the development of Israel's own nuclear weapons, resulting in a dramatic increase in insecurity in the region and a failure to develop a nuclear weapons free zone that may have been able to stem the tide of nuclear weapons' development in the Middle East.
   
   He carefully points out that it was the overthrow of that Mossadeq government that led to our support of the hero of the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Allatollah Khominei, the same hero that we had to later denounce, and who later also denounced us as "the Great Satan," and who is now responsible for the current very unpopular regime that is on the verge of testing its first nuclear weapon.
   
   Although ambivalent about what will and will not work -- all options have serious "down sides" -- the author still, if only instinctively opts for a non-confrontational approach. As part of the conclusions, State Department Arms control Czar, Robert G. Joseph's seven reasons why Iran should not be allowed to develop the bomb are quoted, but Joseph too offers only anemic suggestions on what to do.
   
   There is a great deal here to chew on, much insider history on the ebbing-and-flowing on internal Iranian politics and the book is well documented enough to serve as not only food for thought for the casual reader, but also as good reference material for experts doing research on nuclear weapons issues in the region.
   
   Four stars

3 comments about Memoirs of an Italian Terrorist.

1. This book takes on a lot of issues, some of them with sensitivty that would surprise certain readers more accustomed to looking at 'terrorists' as something other than people. And this is the books main draw. As some sort of scathing indictment of the oppression of life under capitalism, as a revolutionary call to arms for today's generation...this book fails. But not that Giorgio even tries. This is also not a detailed analysis of the 'years of lead' in Italy or any time thereafter; This is not a critique of society. No, it's somthing much more personal, something deeper.

   It's a look into the mind of a young man driven by moral decency to take up arms, a stirring account of one giving up everything dear to fight for what is just and right.

   So if you're looking for the latter rather than the former, this is your book.

   A must read for anyone who would blindly brush social revolutionaries off as 'misguided youngsters' or anything of that nature.




2. With all the chatter about terrorism, this little book fills a gap with its unique insight into the mind of a terrorist. Written by an unnamed young man who joins a terrorist cell in Italy, this book neither glamorizes the life of a terrorist, nor does it condemn it.
   For anyone who wants to try to understand what might motivate someone to become a terrorist, this book is approachable. Since the author is a European, readers might find it easier to identify with him.



3. This is a riveting and chilling true-life account of the Red Brigades and one of its members. I couldn't put it down. I also recommend The Cyclops Hammer. It is also about the Red Brigades, but is fiction. However, it blends fiction with historic fact. It's a must-read for anyone interested in this group.

5 comments about Anti-Americanism.

1. Translated from french, this is a well written, thoughtful review of how the rest of the world- especially the french and europeans- views America and why. I found the contradictions in their thinking especially interesting.Revel's opinion of the challenges from radical Islam might confirm your worst fears, as it does mine.
   
   If you, like me, ever wonder why we're so resented when we have been so genereous with our treasure and lives, you will find this explanation human, frustrating, and even funny and sad.



2. I echo the reviews of most others. This book was great. Revel doesn't make excuses for America's weaknesses, he simply points out that Europeans should not make excuses for theirs either. The majority of the worlds problems, he states, stem from inadequacy of European foreign policy in centuries past. We cannot simply presume that there was no turmoil in the world until 1776 and the appearance of some new country in western hemisphere.
   Revel expertly points to the hypocrisy of other French authors when they are all too willing to buy into the weaknesses of the United States while ignoring their own problems. French society is the focus of this book in terms of its anti-Americanism, but the entire study could easily be applied to any other country.



3. I read this book some months ago, here in Brazil.Living in a country where anti-americanism is govern's politic, I must congratulate the author of this book.Being nationalism out of fashion today, the new crook's last refuge is anti-americanism.
   The big problem of this book, is to be made for european, not brazilian or any other reality.Even so, this book is a classic, about anti-americanism.



4. I read this book about 3 years ago and recently was discussing it which prompted me to reread it.
   
   This is a good book and worth the read but do not expect an unbiased equivocation on the roots of anti-Americanism. The author who is obviously very well versed on American foreign policy artfully cites critiques of those who attack the United States and is sufficiently deconstructive and too the point most of the time. The reason for the 3 star review is Mr. Revel essentially turned what started out as an excellent book into a cheerleading manual bogged down with repeated themes and ridiculing attack.
   
   To me the way he blatantly ignores some of the more popular criticisms of American foreign policy hurt is argument. I simply feel his attempts at convincing could have been better if he rounded his argument more fully and was at least slightly even handed, or tried to give the impression of being unbiased. The book ends up reading more like propaganda than an honest critique.



5. Yes. As others have noted, it was a best seller in France. Revel has since died and I'm sorry I never had to chance to see or hear him on television. The book takes the oft-repeated criticisms by his fellow citizens and punctures them for their hypocrisy, or misunderstanding, or willful misrepresentations, as appropriate. We know with the election of Sarkozy who had, prior to the election, made clear his desire for close French-American relations, and his subsequent win that it was simply not true that all French despise us. Yes. They value their culture and want to protect it; but as Revel points out much of the criticism is based upon their own disappointments and a desire for protection of self-image. He writes in an interesting way, using ridicule and sarcasm in an amusing way.
   
   He also lays waste to the oft-heard accusation that only recently have the French begun to hate us and that it's because of the Iraq war. He makes it clear that anti-Americanism started after the 2nd World War and increased "ten fold" during the Viet Nam war, which he points out was a "direct offshoot of European colonial expansion" specifically the French Indochina War, a war during which she asked for and sometimes received American help. France then handed...via the Geneva Accords....the North of Vietnam to the Communists. He also correctly points out that much of the heft behind anti-Americanism in Europe, generally, comes from the Socialists who detest the huge success of our capitalism.
   
   A good read.

1 comments about Where Is God?: Earthquake, Terrorism, Barbarity, And Hope.

1. The Reverend Father Jon Sobrino suffered the agonizing yet somewhat anticipated martydom of his dear friend, His Eminence, the Blessed Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who was massacred in 1980 at the Offertory of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in his small hospital chapel in San Salvador when a US trained and supported sniper entered the chapel and shot him through the heart while the Archbishop elevated the host and wine in the Offertory, offering up as well his own life. The Reverend Father Sobrino reflects as theologian, companion and friend upon the significance of this martyrdom for Our Faith in Archbishop Romero: Memories and Reflections.
   
   At the end of that bloody decade in El Salvador, the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino's entire Jesuit community in San Salvador's University of Central America, was martyred and massacred, including the great and very Reverend theologian and Catholic Priest, Father Ellacuria, professor of theology and author of several influential works such as Freedom Made Flesh: The Mission of Christ and His Church and Mysterium Liberations: Fundamental Concepts of Liberation Theology. Several introductory texts are available to make accessible the often highly academic and specialized writings of the Reverend Father Ellacuria, including the noted The Ground Beneath The Cross: The Theology Of Ignacio Ellacuria (Moral Traditions) and Love That Produces Hope: The Thought Of Ignacio Ellacuria as well the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino's own studies of his close companion and guide in Catholic and Jesuit community, such as Systematic Theology: Perspectives from Liberation Theology (Readings from Mysterium Liberationis) and the post-martydom, poignant and perceptive Cartas a Ellacuría (1989-2004).
   
   The Reverend Father Jon Sobrino missed his own martyrdom that evening in his Community in San Salvador when US supplied and directed military forces enterd that holy ground to murder everyone present, including the cook and her daughter, as the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino was felicitously absent from town despite his expected arrival. The Reverend Father Jon Sobrino records this history in his work Companions of Jesus: The Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador.
   
   Thus the Reverend Father Sobrino, having passed through the agonizing fires of survivor's syndrome, finds hope in such devastating and total loss of community and of the Blessed Archbishop Romero, a hope which lies alone in Our Faith and Love of Jesus Christ. As a trained and academic theologian and prolific writer of Catholic theology, the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino discovered most unwillingly that he must apply the theory of our Faith to his own life, and thus discover the strength to carry on alone in the pilgrim mission of our evangelizing Church which liberates us from the horrors of relentless death and martyrdom and gives us live. "Oh, Death, where is thy victory? Oh, Death, where is thy sting?" NON MORIAR SED VIVAM reads joyously Psalm 117: I shall not die but live and praise the name of the Lord.
   
   The Reverend Father Jon Sobrino thus "tried like gold in the furnace" and purified and strengthened in this very dark night of death, finds the hope of the Resurrection, and shares that hope with all of us in this landmark work of our true Faith in Jesus Christ and the hope He gave us after Calvary.
   
   For truly the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino has passed through a passion and suffering few of us can even imagine: the total and absolute destruction of the finest priests of his local Catholic Church, and countless holy poor in the surrounding mountains, all by a genocidal and oppressive US policy which funded and supplied and directed the far right wing military groups which martyred his prayer community, without cause and against justice. This same military and terrorist regime through its blood stained political ARENA party remains in power in El SAlvador, with unquestioning support from the USA, with the CAFTA agreement which is privatizing the natural resources of El Salvador and selling them to private US interests, which recently brutally suppressed the San Salvadoran street vendors so common throughout Latin America, as they do not give kick backs to ARENA. Meanwhile through CAFTA the ARENA party imports US grain, putting the local farmers out of work, furthering the remorseless and killing injustice against which the Blessed Archbishop preached, which even the recent papal exhortation Sacramentum caritatis decries as an unjust economic structure leaving the vast majority destitute, structures which the Eucharist itself compels us to alter.
   
   We cannot imagine the agony through which the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino passes each day inexorably, yet rather than writing of this great pain and endless personal suffering this great Catholic theologian here writes of his hope and Faith in Jesus Christ, a universal and transcendental Hope, a hope which all believers may come to find even or especially when confronted with devastating situations of natural and man-made disasters such as earthquake, terrorism, and barbarism.
   
   Examining each of these disasters, including earthquakes we are not permitted to be aware of here in the USA, from a theological viewpoint, applying theory to very harsh realities, the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino, suffering his own profound and desperate tragedies, brings us with him to the point of Hope. Let us gratefully and respectfully and joyfully join the Reverend Father Sobrino in our Pilgrimage to Hope and to Peace in Jesus Christ as he guides us upon this spiritual path which he himself is required to walk. We have heard the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Here may we find solace and hope even in that incompehensible phenomenon, through the skilled, scholarly and experienced preaching of the Reverend Father Jon Sobrino, well grounded in the reality of Our Faith and our cardinal virtues, as we anticipate reading His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's own reflection on Hope in Saved in Hope: Spe Salvi.

No comments about Meltdown.

1 comments about The War at Home: The Domestic Costs of Bush's Militarism.

1. "The War at Home" by Frances Fox Piven is a sharp indictment of the Bush administration's neoconservative agenda. Cloaked in the righteousness of war, Ms. Piven argues that extremist elements within the Republican Party skilfully exploited the public's fears in order to further a radical domestic agenda. By demonstrating that this behavior flies in the face of history -- where war has often been a catalyst for increasing democratic rights at home -- Ms. Pivens believes the political Right has opened an opportunity for the Left to successfully challenge the status quo.
   
   The heart of Ms. Pivens' thesis is that the apparent irrationality of the Bush administration's foreign policy and the Iraq War in particular can be partly explained by the political advantage it has gained for Republicans at home. From exorbitant no-bid contracts for reconstruction in Iraq to huge outlays for defense and homeland security to a panoply of corporate tax cuts and deregulation, the war has proven to be a boon for corporate America. On the other hand, Ms. Pivens details how a host of social programs such welfare, meal assitance, unemployment insurance, health insurance and after school programs have been quietly cut or underfunded, thereby making the lives of many ordinary Americans more difficult than before.
   
   Interestingly, Ms. Pivens discusses differences within the Republican Party constituency to highlight some of the contradictions created by the Bush administration's policies. For example, deregulation is a key issue for the tobacco and gun industries, but increased spending on homeland security has significantly increased the regulatory function of government. Similarly, the mostly wealthy anti-tax crowd cannot help but be alarmed by the explosive growth of the federal deficit and the threat this may pose to the long-term health of the economy. The author suggests that the rallying effect created by the September 11 attacks cannot persist in holding these factions together and that fissures within the Republican base will soon become exposed.
   
   Of course, at the time of her writing in mid-2004 Ms. Pivens was hopeful that the people might reject Bush's bid for reelection. However, she anticipated the possibility that the Republican political machine might unabashedly exploit the public's fear of terrorism and propagandize a handful of deeply-flawed social initiatives in order to win, a prediction that sadly proved to be true. Yet, in my sole criticism of this book, she does not articulate a Leftist or Democratic agenda that might counterpose the far-Right Republican agenda. In my opinion, the Democrats must bear responsibility for its failure to oppose the war and to articulate a credible vision for America which has created a void that the Republicans have been only too happy to fill.
   
   Still, I think this book does a superb job of illuminating the highly destructive course that the Bush administration and its neoconservative policies have charted for our country. I highly recommend this enlightening and empowering book to everyone.