christopherbabcock's review
4.0
Shelving this might be cheating since I only read like 70% of the book, but I also got to hear the author talk as a guest speaker. So that counts for something, right?
Overall, this was a good primer. Most of the arguments weren't particularly new, but somebody in the academic world needed to synthesize it all. As Webber himself acknowledges, some of the logic in here (for instance, about NATO enlargement in the East) is now questionable after the invasion of Ukraine. Other arguments, like the idea of moving past 2% military spending as a benchmark for member nations, sound great on paper but are probably not politically viable in the current system. Nevertheless, this book will get you thinking about the topics at hand.
Overall, this was a good primer. Most of the arguments weren't particularly new, but somebody in the academic world needed to synthesize it all. As Webber himself acknowledges, some of the logic in here (for instance, about NATO enlargement in the East) is now questionable after the invasion of Ukraine. Other arguments, like the idea of moving past 2% military spending as a benchmark for member nations, sound great on paper but are probably not politically viable in the current system. Nevertheless, this book will get you thinking about the topics at hand.
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