With All Our Might: A Progressive Strategy for Defeating Jihadism and Defending Liberty

This book outlines a new strategy that applies the organizing principles of progressive internationalism-national strength, free enterprise, liberal democracy, U.S. leadership for collective security-to the new challenge of defeating Islamist extremism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0742551997
• ISBN13: 9780742551992
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.5" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

First Class Effort, Missing Some Big Pieces

Editing original 8 July 2006 review to add useful links below. This is a first class effort, a really superb collection of contributions by world class professionals, and one of the most thoughtful selections of topics made better by a really excellent presentation--easy to read, good font size, right amount of white space. The book falls prey to the Administration's premise that terrorism/jihadism are the greatest threat to America. That is not the case. A more balanced assessment of high level threats is provided by the High Level Threat Panel (including LtGen Dr. Brent Scowcroft) of the United Nations, which lists the following (note that terrorism is 9th): poverty, infectuous disease, environmental degradation, inter-state war, civil war, genocide, other atrocities (e.g. trade in women and children, kidnapping for body parts or slavery), proliferation, terrorism, and transnational organized crime. Never-the-less, it is a five-star effort in its structure and content. Two of the articles I found especially compelling: Graham Allison's discussion of "Preventing Nuclear Terrorism," and the joint effort of James R. Blaker and Steven J. Nider, "Fighting Unconventional Wars." Their concept of three forces for the future, one to prevent (USSTRATCOM), one to defeat (USSOCOM), and one to rebuild (USNORTHCOM with the National Guard in the forefront) is very good thinking. It is a useful variant to the four force concepts that have been discussed in Joint Forces Quarterly and elsewhere, to wit, a Big War Force (STRATCOM), a Small War Force (SOCOM), a Peace Force (State under Colin Powell or Tony Zinni), and a Mind Force (STRATCOM today, I prefer an independent Open Source Agency committed to Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, with $3B a year to spend). I would add to these two author's excellent views that we also need to change Title 10 to give the regional Commanders-in-Chief (or Combatant Commanders) inter-agency planning and operational oversight authority, and the force structure and budget authority needed to meet their operational needs, and as part of that, re-direct at least one Assistant Secretary to serve with each CINC/COCOM. The book points out that the jihadist creed is spreading and we are losing the war of ideas, not only overseas, but at home where the public does not understand the situation in compelling terms. The book specifically focuses on the importance of leading by example, but does not address in detail the fact that our budgets and behavior are completely inconsistent with our avowed objectives. The book does not address education and citizenship qua civic commitment as major sources of national power, and it avoids discussing the important roles that intelligence and information sharing can play, perhaps worthy of a book on its own. While the book describes itself as a series of planks for progressive internationalism against conservative unilateralism, I would as a moderate Republican of conservative