nwhyte's review
5.0
http://nhw.livejournal.com/756897.html[return][return]Cooper is in the rare position of being a practitioner who has taken the time to write it all down, and tell us what he is doing; and it makes sense to me in a way that the likes of Fukuyama and Chomsky simply don't.[return][return]His is the sort of writing that helps me understand a) what is going on in the world politically and also b) what I can to to try and change things. Cooper divides the world into three categories: pre-modern, where chaos reigns; modern, where the ideals of the Treaty of Westphalia stil operate; and post-modern, as typified by the European Union and Japan, where interdependence has replaced the desire for independence. The USA, of course, is in a peculiar place, as a state which is the most powerful in the world and yet stuck between modern and post-modern paradigms. It's a flexible typology.[return][return]How can the diplomat from country X seek to influence the behaviour of country Y? Cooper is blunt:[return][return]"...states have at their disposal three main instruments of influence: words, money and force. They can persuade, they can bribe or they can coerce."[return][return]...followed by several impressive pages on the pros and cons of economic sanctions and military action, leading to the conclusion that unless you can change the mind-set of the people you want to influence, deploying cash and weapons to reinforce your case is probably a waste of time.[return][return]There's lots of good stuff here, about power, domestic imperative, economic motives, and the clash of civiliastions (in more or less that order of priorities). All stuff that I felt I knew, but needed to have someone set down in written form. One particular point that leapt off the page at me: his observations on international protectorates, as in Bosnia and Kosovo, which depend on international cooperation and the voluntary acquiescence of the locals in question: "...not as efficient as traditional imperialism... Nevertheless, in a postmodern era... nothing else will work."[return][return]The only slightly less-than-excellent part of the book is the twenty-page coda on the virtues of a Europe-wide armaments policy. In a work which is otherwise devoted to grand strategy it seemed odd to have so much prominence given to a single point. Admittedly, it is an important point, and I have myself witnessed Cooper convincing a senior politician of the rightness of his views on this one. Indeed, if one considers the book as a collection of three different essays, it probably works OK; it's just that the first 150 pages work so well as an organic whole that the last 20 stand out rather.[return][return]In conclusion - very strongly recommended, if you want to find out what is really going on in the world rather than take refuge in the romantic fantasies either of the Left or the Right.
atsundarsingh's review
3.0
A clear, lucid and unflinching summary of what it will take for Europe to try to be a power-player in 21st century global politics while still maintaining balance. Helpful to the modern student of IR in moving past the Cold War framework of conflict, and into the modern era.
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