The
Limits of Power
The End of American Exceptionalism
Andrew J.
Bacevich
New York: Metropolitan Books
Copyright © 2008 by
Andrew J. Bacevich
224 pages
ISBN-10: 0805088156
ISBN-13:
978-0805088151
Notes & Index
Bill
Moyers, on his Bill Moyers Journal, said:
“The
limits of American power have never been more vividly on display.
That's the subject of my conversation this week with Andrew J.
Bacevich. Here is a public thinker who has been able to find an
audience across the political spectrum, from The Nation or The
American Conservative magazines, lecturing to college classes or
testifying before Confess. [To read or view the two part, highly
enlightening, conversation between Bill Moyers and Andrew Bacevich,
click HERE]
“Bacevich
speaks truth to power, no matter who's in power, which may be why
those of both the left and right listen to him.”
Moyers'
interview of Bacevich on his August 15, 2008 program began with:
“It's been a long time since I've read a book in which I
highlighted practically every third sentence. So, it took me a while
to read, what is in fact, a rather short book. You began with a quote
from the Bible, the Book of Second Kings, chapter 20, verse one. 'Set
thine house in order.'”
I,
like Bill Moyers, underlined a lot, and I mean a lot, of the
sentences in this book. From the beginning to end this work
challenges our thinking about our nation and the relation of our
nation to the rest of the world, with particular attention to the
post 9/11 dynamics.
Andrew
J. Bacevich is a professor of history and international relations at
Boston University. He retired from the United States Army with the
rank of colonel. In addition to his
former book, The New American Militarism, his
writings have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic
Monthly, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and
The Wall Street Journal.
What
was particularly compelling to me in this work was Bacevich's weaving
of the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr's writings into his analysis of
the current reliance of the United States on the military to maintain
our status as a superpower. The interjection of Niebuhr not only
demonstrates the prophetic vision of this renowned theologian, but
brings the events of the current day into extreme focus for any
pastor.
To
note that this work challenges our current conceptions is an
understatement. Bacevich says in his Introduction: “Certain of our
own benign intentions, we reflexively assign responsibility for war
to others, typically malignant Hitler-like figures inexplicably bent
on denying us the peace that is our fondest wish.
“This
book challenges that supposition. It argues that the actions of
Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, however malevolent, cannot
explain why the United States today finds itself enmeshed in
seemingly never-ending conflict.”
Andrew
Bacevich notes that Reinhold Niebuhr was not encumbered by illusions
concerning the nature of man, the possibilities of politics, or the
pliability of history. He further notes that “realism and humility
formed the core of his worldview, each infused with a deeply felt
Christian sensibility.... The enemy of realism is hubris, which in
Niebuhr's day, and in our own, finds expression in an outsized
confidence in the efficacy of American power as an instrument to
reshape the global order.”
The
Limits of Power is a book that
evokes reflection, compels introspection, and matures a desire to
approach the challenges of the 21st
century from a more encompassing strategy.
This
is one book about war and the folly of war, written by a warrior,
that drives me to my knees.
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