Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws: America's Search for a New Foreign Policy

by Michael T. Klare

Overview

In this incisive examination of our national security policy, Michael Klare suggests that the Pentagon in effect established a new class of enemies when the Cold War came to an -unpredictable and hostile states in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Klare argues that the containment of these rising Third World powers-Iraq, Iran, Libya, and North Korea, especially-became the centerpiece of American military policy and the justification for near-Cold War levels of military sping.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466806016
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	04/30/1996
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	292
File size:	570 KB

About the Author

Michael Klare is the author of books including Resource Wars, Blood and Oil, Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet and The Race for What's Left. A regular contributor to Harper's, Foreign Affairs, and the Los Angeles Times, he is the defense analyst for The Nation and the director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst.

Michael T. Klare is the author of more than fifteen books, including Resource Wars and Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet. A contributor to Current History, Foreign Affairs, and the Los Angeles Times, he is the defense correspondent for The Nation and the director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

Klare (American Arms Supermarket) explains how the Pentagon filled the void left by the receding Soviet threat with a policy aimed at dealing with "rogue states'' such as North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria-a policy apparently validated by Operation Desert Storm. He warns, however, that Washington's current demonization of Third World "rogues'' risks military overreaction to future crises that might otherwise be resolved diplomatically. He reviews the military potential of developing countries presently bent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, arguing that the existing U.S. approach to nonproliferation will probably not achieve the desired result. The U.S., he argues, must move beyond prophylactic methods and adopt a comprehensive approach. An informative survey of the reconfiguration of U.S. defense policy in the post-Cold War world.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Klare, a defense correspondent for the Nation, has taken on the great post-Cold War dilemma: with the collapse of the Soviet Union, what should U.S. national security strategy be? Drawing on policy guidance documents in the public domain-including the Defense Department's Annual Report to Congress, The National Military Strategy of the U.S., and The Gulf War Final Report-and the writings of key military and security thinkers, he outlines a shift toward a new class of enemies, "rogues" like Iraq, Iran, Libya, and North Korea. This shift is "largely irrelevant to the large spectrum of global security risks," which Klare identifies as the future threat of "global chaos." He wants the U.S. military to discard the "two-war strategy" and adopt "a more realistic posture." Alas, the devil is in the details, and none are forthcoming here. For academic and larger public libraries.-John Yurechko, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.

Library Journal

Well-known political analyst Klare presents a timely critical analysis of Pentagon strategy in the post-Cold War era and shows how the Pentagon's planners have created a new agenda that will justify Cold War levels of spending. He reveals how "rogue states" and "nuclear outlaws" like North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Libya have been made new targets, and how the US Armed Forces are being reshaped to fight against these enemies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[Klare's] book is a needed reminder that all is not well in the Pentagon.” —Zachary Karabell, The Boston Globe

From the Publisher