The Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America's Power and Purpose

by Tony Zinni, Tony Koltz

Overview

Tony Zinni commands attention on the battlefield, at peace talks, in politics, and across the media spectrum. When he stood up and called for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation in 2006, the media paid attention, and when The Battle for Peace was published, the media—and the American public—applauded its bold new vision of America's role in the world. Widely acclaimed for its clear and practical approach to promoting a more stable and peaceful world through realism and pragmatic cooperation, this book has become even more relevant as we veer dangerously close towards confrontation with Iran. In a new afterword, General Zinni provides additional insight into the war in Iraq, how to deal with Iran, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403976628
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/20/2007
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

General Tony Zinni (Ret.) was Commander in Chief of CENTCOM and special envoy to the Middle East. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline and Charlie Rose, among others. Tony Koltz co-authored Tom Clancy's Into the Storm and Battle Ready, with General Zinni.

Table of Contents

America's Power and Purpose * In the Foxhole * Beyond Checkpoint Charlie * The New Face of War * Colliding Worlds * Stovepipes * Strategy * From Strategy to Foxholes * On the Frontlines of Peace * The Battle for Peace

Editorial Reviews

A warning that deserves serious consideration.” —The New York Times

“[Zinni] is a distinctly non-ideological man in an era when ideology is running rampant both home and abroad.” —Michael Abramowitz, The Washington Post

“Zinni is one of the more interesting men produced by the American military, with a supple mind that quickly adjusted to the new realities brought about by the collapse of the Soviet empire.” —Philip Caputo, New York Times Book Review

“The intellectual complement to Zinni and Clancy's bestselling Battle Ready...This volume provides the former Central Command chief's analysis of America's current global position...Zinni's pragmatic, low key approach merits serious condiseration.” —Publishers Weekly

“Refreshingly contrarian, and perfectly commonsensical.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[Zinni and Koltz] provide a clear analysis and plan for the future of America that challenges all—policy wonks, soldiers, and citizens alike—to rethink how we use our power to influence the global community.” —Library Journal

“Provocative, insightful, and straight-from-the-shoulder blunt.” —William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1997-2001

“Tony Zinni's writing is straightforward and to the point...a primer to guide us in the 21st century. Well done.” —Richard L. Armitage, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, 2001-2005

“Sensible and deserve[s] wide support.” —James Fallows, national correspondent of The Atlantic Monthly, author of National Defense.

From the Publisher

The intellectual complement to Zinni and Clancy's bestselling Battle Ready (2004), a narrative memoir salted with specific policy recommendations, this volume provides the former U.S. Central Command chief's analysis of America's current global position. Zinni begins by asserting that America's status as "the most powerful nation in the history of the planet" has created a de facto empire. The U.S. has no choice: if it fails to take the lead, nothing significant happens. At the same time, Americans must recognize that, in a global age, there can be no zero-sum games: when someone loses, no one wins in any but the shortest term, he argues. The bulk of the book critiques what Zinni describes as the current U.S. emphasis on unilateral action and calls instead for working with others toward the goals of worldwide stability and development. "[N]egotiation, mediation and facilitation" should be our favored approaches, Zinni writes. And the post-Cold War pattern of ad hoc improvisation in foreign affairs should give way to systematic, in-depth planning. While fans of Battle Ready may grow frustrated with the abstractions in this volume, Zinni's pragmatic, low-key approach merits serious consideration. (Apr. 4) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

With the ongoing war in Iraq, we see no shortage of books about U.S. foreign policy and the problems the United States is encountering abroad. Here, Zinni (former commander in chief, U.S. Central Command) and Koltz (coauthor with Zinni and Tom Clancy, Battle Ready) offer Zinni's informed appraisal of the current failings of American policy, followed by his blueprint for change. Drawing heavily from his experiences as a commander and peacekeeper in Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan, Zinni argues that the world has changed significantly since the end of the Cold War and that America's foreign policy has not adjusted to meet the new realities. Zinni favors regional coalitions and increased cooperation among various government and nongovernmental organizations (e.g., the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders) to stabilize America's foreign policy in action. He provides a clear analysis and plan for the future of America that challenges all-policy wonks, soldiers, and citizens alike-to rethink how we use our power to influence the global community. Recommended for public libraries and all foreign policy collections. (Foreword by Tom Clancy not seen.)-Michael C. Miller, Dallas P.L. Psychology Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Retired Marine Corps general Zinni warns of the dangers of spending time in the so-called Arc of Instability-precisely the area where America's course of empire-building has led. It's a time of unintended consequences; battling terrorism produces police statism, insisting on good intentions makes enemies. Zinni (with Koltz, both of them two-time co-authors with Tom Clancy) allows, with admirable candor, that "we are an empire," though, he adds, it is one not of conquest but of influence. Zinni looks at some of the ways in which that influence, which exists side-by-side with an arrogant refusal to learn anything of the world beyond America's borders, sometimes turns out to be a less than good thing; though he's no Smedley Butler, for instance, he wonders whether giving free rein to multinational, indeed transnational, corporations is really wise in a time when state sovereignty is threatened and so much of the world is getting poorer. Zinni offers a blend of anecdote, memoir and policy wonkery to deliver a message that might be distilled thus: If you act in the world, act well, for you must live with the consequences-and, in what strategists call the Zone of Conflict, to live with them for a very long time. Throughout, Zinni clearly disapproves of the Bush administration's unilateralism, and heading his list of prescriptions for building a better world is the care and feeding of international alliances. The real enemy, he concludes, is not insurgent Islam or terrorism but instability, which is just the sort of thing that nation-building and international aid can combat; though "it doesn't take much for unstable societies to fall over the edge," Zinni observes, optimistically, "it doesn'ttake much to keep most of those societies from falling over the edge." The details are a little sketchy. Still, it's worth pondering the well-traveled, culturally aware general's program for restoring at least some of America's good name in the world. Refreshingly contrarian, and perfectly commonsensical. First printing of 100,000

Kirkus Reviews