There seems to be some interest in my new book Security First; frankly it is doing better than several of my other endeavors. But never mind what I think. Here are excerpts from what others say, and links to their full texts.
Liberty and Security For All?
The New York Sun
By Jean Bethke Elshtain
August 29, 2007
Anything Amitai Etzioni writes is worth reading. Mr. Etzioni specializes in exploring dilemmas such as individuals rights versus social obligations, and civil liberties versus security. He never ducks the hard questions.
Mr. Etzioni offers a controversial discussion of religious belief systems as he rejects the "clash of civilizations" scenario.
No one can accuses Amitai Etzion of being a cockeyed optimist: He is too tough-minded for that. What is refreshing is the absence of the vitriol and bad faith that is characteristic of so many current discussions of security and foreign policy matters: that alone makes this book worth reading.
Ms. Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago and holds the Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom at Georgetown University. Her most recent book is "Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World" (Basic Books).
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Forget Iran and North Korea - Worry Instead About Russia and Pakistan
The New York Observer
By Matthew Cole
July 23, 2007
[Security First] was clearly written as a policy position for the 2008 Presidential hopefuls (and) he prescribes a new, forward-looking American foreign policy for all 18 candidates from both parties. One of Richard Posner's top 100 American intellectuals, Mr. Etzioni stresses that he wears neither party's ideological cloak, and instead seeks a policy that's at once moral and practical.
Matthew Cole is writing a book about the C.I.A. for Simon & Schuster.
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Learning the Hard Lessons from Iraq
Irish Independent
By John Bruton
July 21, 2007
Given the present debate in the US on withdrawal from Iraq, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the continuing determination of the Bush government to foster democracy in the region, this is an important and timely book.
This book is valuable not least because of the hard lessons now being learned in Iraq.
John Bruton, a former Taoiseach, is EU Ambassador to the United States.
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"An important, must-read book for the rising leadership in the United States, as it prepares for the crucial 2008 elections, time for a change in the status quo, and for America's friends around the world."
-Shuja Nawaz, former Division Chief, International Monetary Fund, former Director, International Atomic Energy Agency, and author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan and Its Army
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The Unintended Consequences Of Promoting Democracy Policy
The Jewish Daily Forward
By Paul McLeary
August 22, 2007
In his latest book, "Security First: For A Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy," Etzioni argues that the great flaw of post-9/11 - indeed, post-Cold War - American foreign policy has been the single-minded and often simplistic devotion to democracy promotion, as opposed to the more complicated, subtle work of setting the conditions under which democracy might flourish.
Etzioni dispense with the usual intellectual niceties in formulating the baseline from which the rest of this "security first" theory arises when he says flatly, "when and where the right to security is violated, all other rights are violated as well."
Paul McLeary writes for Columbia Journalism Review, Defense Technology International and The Guardian.
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