The Limits of Power
The End of American Exceptionalism
گزارش تخلف
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
June 16, 2008
In this caustic critique of the growing American “penchant for empire” and “sense of entitlement,” Bacevich (The New American Militarism
) examines the citizenry's complicity in the current “economic, political, and military crisis.” A retired army colonel, the author efficiently pillories the recent performance of the armed forces, decrying it as “an expression of domestic dysfunction,” with leaders and misguided strategies ushering the nation into “a global war of no exits and no deadlines.” Arguing that the tendency to blame solely the military or the Bush administration is as illogical as blaming Herbert Hoover for the Great Depression, Bacevich demonstrates how the civilian population is ultimately culpable; in citizens' appetite for unfettered access to resources, they have tacitly condoned the change of “military service from a civic function into an economic enterprise.” Crisp prose, sweeping historical analysis and searing observations on the roots of American decadence elevate this book from mere scolding to an urgent call for rational thinking and measured action, for citizens to wise up and put their house in order.
Narrating a polemical book, which offers a scathing critique of our nation's imperial foreign policy, notably since the end of the Cold War, is like walking on eggs. It's too easy to drift into a sensationalist or dogmatic style, giving the book a tone that it avoids, or to smooth out the inherent criticisms the work presents. In this reading, Eric Conger manages to skirt those problems, offering a narration that is as steady and detached as that of a network news anchor. He reads this depiction of U.S. imperialism with aplomb, making the author's points stand out but without injecting emotion. Conger's narration makes this compact yet essential book about America's place in the world an immensely interesting listen. K.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
دیدگاه کاربران