Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century

by Robert S. McNamara and James G. Blight

Book Overview

With Wilson's Ghost, Robert S. McNamara and James G. Blight deliver an impassioned plea and a decisive and multi-faceted program for making the 21st century a more peaceful century than the last. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the war that has followed, have made their argument even more imperative. In a provocative synthesis of the pragmatic, historical, and philosophical arguments for avoiding war and achieving a sustainable...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586481436
• ISBN13: 9781586481438
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Need for Active Citizenship

The book is a pretty easy read and relies to a great extent on Blight's writing. However the main point that the authors make--that we must deploy strategic empathy and that this empathy can only be developed through our citizenry taking the time and effort to educate themselves on the cultures and histories of those who would seek to harm us--is invaluable. It goes to show that in a real democracy (or some form thereof) it is incumbent on the citizens to do the heavy lifting and keep ourselves informed. Not doing this will perpetuate the sort of disaster that the Iraq War has been. It's all too easy for those with an agenda to take advantage of an ignorant and fearful population and send us into a war that has no relation to the original event and which is fought at such great cost. This is McNamara's lesson from Vietnam and it is the one we failed to learn after 9-11.

Studying the means of avoiding war and sustaining peace

The collaborative effort of Robert S. McNamara (educator, businessman, and Secretary of Defense to Presidents Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson), and James G. Blight (Professor of International Relations, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University), Wilson's Ghost: Reducing The Risk Of Conflict, Killing, And Catastrophe In The 21st Century is a clear, hard look at the twentieth century as being the bloodiest era in the whole of human history, with over 160 million people worldwide as victims of wars and other armed conflicts. Studying the means of avoiding war and sustaining peace, and presenting a plan to realize Woodrow Wilson's dream of a peaceful planet, McNamara and Blight cogently set forth a radical means to reducing the bloodshed and progressing toward a more enlightened future. Wilson's Ghost is very highly recommended reading and a welcome addition to personal reading lists and academic Peace Studies reference collections.

Heed Proverbs 20: 29!

In this short book, former Defense Secretary, Robert S. McNamara, and Brown University Professor James G. Blight provide a blueprint for future American foreign policy designed to avoid the carnage of the 20th century that left an estimated 160 million people dead. Using the metaphor of America being haunted by the ghost of President Woodrow Wilson, whose warnings were ignored after World War I (WWI), they, like Wilson, warn that the failure to insure harmonious international relations will cause a war of apocalyptic proportions. They propose a five-step program that includes: Only multinational interventions by the U.S. Full reconciliation with Russia and China Restructuring the U.N. Defining, deterring and punishing war crimes The total elimination of nuclear weapons worldwideWhat can a long dead president from a bygone era, the architect of America's failed policy in Vietnam, and/or a professor from academia contribute to real-world decision makers today? The Holy Bible says in the book of Proverbs, Chapter 20, Verse 29, "The glory of young men is their strength; of old men, their experience." The strong, young men of Wilson's day did not listen to him. As he predicted, a second world war, more deadly and destructive than the first, was the result. Wilson's warnings are more poignant today than after WWI. In 1919, the world had the capability of destroying continents. We now have the capability to destroy all life on this planet. McNamara and Blight, offer a plan to reduce the chance of genocide and nuclear holocaust. Given the explosive nature of international conflicts today, the proposals of these wise, old, men deserve serious consideration if mankind is to survive.

Enlightening international solutions.

Mr. McNamara and Mr. Blight present the 21st century's threemajor international problems to be solved if we are to have anearth to live on. It is amazing how close we live with the possible daily nuclear destruction of our planet. This book shows the arroganceAmerica possesses in its international operations and what we must do to combat it.I am not so sure what is being proposed by these two is in the realmof reality. They have provided the road map for peace, but I know of no nation or people that are politically ready to follow it. I'm surethe ignorance of the world's people will lead to a nuclear holocostand the dawn of a new race of homosapiens. This is an excellentread and recommended for those of you interested in internationaloperations.

Strategic Context for Understanding 11 Sep Attack on America

Of all the books I have read or reviewed in the past two years, this is the only one that comes close to addressing the bitter truth about the fundamental disconnect between our perception of ourselves as "the beacon of truth", and the rest of the world's perception of us as "interventionist, exploitative, unilateralist, hegemonic, and hypocritical." Those that would seek to understand just how long our Dark Ages will last would do well to start with this book while also buying a copy of the map of "World Conflict and Human Rights Map 2000" available from the PIOOM Project at Leiden University. Beyond that, selected portions of the Shultz et al book on "Security Studies for the 21st Century", where detailed comments are made about both knowledge gaps among our policymakers and non-traditional threats, are recommended.There is no question but that the Attack on America of 11 September 2001 has awakened and even frightened the American public. It has elicited conventional assurances from other nation states. What most Americans do not understand, what this book makes brilliantly clear, is that two thirds of the rest of the world is glad it happened. I quote from page 52: "...at least two-thirds of the world's people--Chinese, Russians, Indians, Arabs, Muslims, and Africans--see the United States as the single greatest threat to their societies. They do not regard America as a military threat but as a menace to their integrity, autonomy, prosperity and freedom of action." Whether one agrees with their depiction of two-thirds or not (or whether they see the Attack as a well-deserved bloody nose or an atrocity beyond the pale), the fact is that the authors paint--together with the PIOOM map--a compelling picture of billions--not millions but billions--of impoverished dispossessed people suffering from failed states, crime, slavery, starvation, water shortages--and an abundance of media as well as propaganda showing the US fat and happy and living the consumer society dream on the backs of these billions.Of all the policy people I have followed over the years, Robert McNamara and Bill Colby are the two that have in my view matured and broadened the most after leaving the halls of power. The deep insights that I find throughout this book-a partnership expert between McNamara with the global reality and power game insights, James Blight with the scholarly underpinnings-are extraordinarily applicable to the challenges that we face in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 Attack on America. In particular, their dissection of the United Nations-what works and what does not-and their recommendations for future initiatives that are multilateralist and focused on the prevention and amelioration of the root conditions that are spawning our terrorist challenges, are vital reading for policymakers, diplomats, warriors, and financial magnates.I am very concerned by any effort to militarize our response to the terrorist challenge-this is a long war that r