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Hardcover
Published: 1st January 2000
ISBN: 9780813367750
Number Of Pages: 368
As the sole remaining superpower, shouldn't the United States be able to call the tune on establishing a secure world to our liking? While most international strategists conjure up history and theory of international relations from the past to examine such a question, Sy Deitchman, in "On Being a Superpower, " focuses on today's changing conditions and attitudes. He starts by addressing hypothetical situations that keep US international security experts awake at night. What would the United States do, he asks, if, in Saudi Arabia, an armed rebellion by Islamic fundamentalists were about to topple the House of Saud while demanding that the US get out of the Middle East? Would the United States go to war to try stop China's invasion of a democratic Taiwan that declares its independence? Could the US really win such a war against a determined country that has over a billion people and nuclear weapons? If a Central American drug cartel gained de facto control of the Panama canal and turned it into a smuggling lynchpin, what would the United States do?Deitchman examines these and other scenarios and then pictures how the US would likely respond, based on our society's current moral concerns, political rhetoric, and overall world view. After reviewing the challenges the world will present to us and examining the current state of our nation and its armed forces, Deitchman describes the strategy for preserving US security that appears to be emerging without explicit planning. He shows how trends in the armed forces parallel the trends in society, and how our argumentative political system is affecting our ability to build and use military power to support our strategy. Deitchman's synthesis of all these themes shows that the existing trends in the nation and the world are not favorable for our future security. Can they be changed? And if so, how? That's the conundrum readers of this book are invited to ponder.
| Preface | p. ix |
| Fantasy | |
| Scenarios | p. 3 |
| The State of the World | p. 5 |
| A Far East Scenario | p. 10 |
| A Middle East Scenario | p. 17 |
| A Caribbean Scenario | p. 25 |
| Lessons | p. 30 |
| The Evaporation of the U.S.A. | p. 35 |
| Where the World Has Gone | p. 35 |
| The Evolution of USCAN | p. 42 |
| Reality: the Background to National Security | |
| Where Does the World Seem to Be Going? | p. 63 |
| Homogenizing the World | p. 63 |
| New Regional Powers Within Old Geopolitical Contexts | p. 74 |
| Beyond National Boundaries | p. 91 |
| Where Does the Nation Seem to Be Going? | p. 106 |
| The Twentieth-Century American Social Revolution | p. 108 |
| Attitudes | p. 116 |
| Trends | p. 133 |
| Dilemmas | p. 167 |
| Inside the United States | p. 167 |
| Beyond Our Borders | p. 177 |
| The Core of National Security | |
| The Armed Forces | p. 191 |
| The Armed Forces as Society | p. 191 |
| U.S. Armed Forces in the Twentieth Century | p. 198 |
| The Armed Forces Today and Tomorrow | p. 225 |
| A National Strategy? | p. 268 |
| A Strategy Emerging | p. 270 |
| Implementing the Strategy | p. 280 |
| Crafting Armed Forces to Match | p. 283 |
| Using the Armed Forces | p. 301 |
| Counterstrategies | p. 307 |
| The Real World | p. 312 |
| Linkages: Implementing Our Strategy | p. 316 |
| Linkages: The Armed Forces | p. 324 |
| The Real World | p. 328 |
| Bibliography | p. 337 |
| Index | p. 341 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780813367750
ISBN-10: 0813367751
Audience:
Professional
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 368
Published: 1st January 2000
Country of Publication: US
Dimensions (cm): 23.22 x 15.57
x 2.21
Weight (kg): 0.59
Edition Number: 1
Earn 116 Qantas Points
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