The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World

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An incisive, elegantly written, new book about America s unique role in the world Tom Friedman , The New York Times A brilliant and visionary argument for America s role as an enforcer of peace and order throughout the world and what is likely to happen if we withdraw and focus our attention inward.Recent years have brought deeply disturbing developments around the globe American sentiment seems to be leaning increasingly toward withdrawal in the face of such disarray In this powerful, urgent essay, Robert Kagan elucidates the reasons why American withdrawal would be the worst possible response, based as it is on a fundamental and dangerous misreading of the world Like a jungle that keeps growing back after being cut down, the world has always been full of dangerous actors who, left unchecked, possess the desire and ability to make things worse Kagan makes clear how the realist impulse to recognize our limitations and focus on our failures misunderstands the essential role America has played for decades in keeping the world s worst instability in check A true realism, he argues, is based on the understanding that the historical norm has always been toward chaos that the jungle will grow back, if we let it. Read The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World – kino-fada.fr Robert Kagan is among the most capable apologists for the U.S led liberal international order While the crimes and follies of the post WW2 order weigh heavily on our minds Vietnam, Iraq etc , there are also genuine accomplishments that are less noticed by critics Kagan takes a long view of history to make the case that the last 70 years have in fact been the most peaceful and prosperous in human history He credits the liberal order with mostly keeping allies by persuasion rather than Robert Kagan is among the most capable apologists for the U.S led liberal international order While the crimes and follies of the post WW2 order weigh heavily on our minds Vietnam, Iraq etc , there are also genuine accomplishments that are less noticed by critics Kagan takes a long view of history to make the case that the last 70 years have in fact been the most peaceful and prosperous in human history He credits the liberal order with mostly keeping allies by persuasion rather than coercion, unlike its former Warsaw Bloc adversary Were the U.S to withdraw from the world, he argues, it would fall back into pre 1945 patterns of behavior Those patterns including chronic great medium power conflict, territorial irredentism, authoritarianism as a norm andterrible things that we felt that we had left in a benighted past.Critics of Am...This book is like one of those pharmaceutical commercials you see that portrays the happy, healthy life circumstances of people because they take Brand X pill to treat whatever condition afflicts them and that would otherwise lay them low Meanwhile, the calming voice of a narrator ticks off all the possible side effects from taking the pill What do I mean by this Lets start with a quote from t...In this essay Kagan prosecuted his case with such aplomb that if you have a marginal understanding of geopolitics you might wonder why his position is not the default position The problem or lets say disagreement comes when you have a prior positionI agree with Kagan that America has a big role to play in the global stage but I differ with him on the extent and the methods used A lot of times Kagan seems to be a war monger and stopping short of calling for preemptive strikes The tone was In this essay Kagan prosecuted his case with such aplomb that if you have a marginal understanding of geopolitics you might wonder why his position is not the default position The problem or lets say disagreement comes when you have a prior positionI agree with Kagan that America has a big role to play in the global stage but I differ with him on the extent and the methods used A lot of times Kagan seems to be a war monger and stopping short of calling for preemptive strikes The tone was also a tad be condescending, Kagan talking about countries as if they are kids and America the good baby sitter who saw to it that they grew into good adults All the good in those countries was somehow credited to America and lets not forget the book title that seems to suggest anything unamerican is a thicket deep in the jungle.I could go on and on about my disagreements with Kagan but he had some good points A lot of times he was te...the piece Canadas instinct is to redouble its commitment to old principles rather than to adopt new ones It remains a vocal defender of human rights, which pleases idealists but annoys despots Ms Freeland says that one of her favourite new books is Robert Kagans The Jungle Grows Back America and our Imperilled World, a gift from Germanys foreign minister, Heiko Maas It argues that jungle like chaos is taking over the ordered garden created by the the piece Canada s instinct is to redouble its commitment to old principles rather than to adopt new ones It remains a vocal defender of human rights, which pleases idealists but annoys despots Ms Freeland says that one of her favourite new books is Robert Kagan s The Jungle Grows Back America and our Imperilled World , a gift from Germany s foreign minister, Heiko Maas It argues that jungle like chaos is takin...If nothing in Kagans book surprises or terrifies you, then youve been unhappy for a long time.The Jungle Grows Back teaches and motivates without consoling anyone who believes in any version of world peace It is bad news all around, and Kagan bluntly says that all of us who want a stable world order have to step up and start actually doing something to keep our children and our grandchildren out of harms way.The past seven plus decades of relatively free trade, growing respect for individual If nothing in Kagan s book surprises or terrifies you, then you ve been unhappy for a long time.The Jungle Grows Back teaches and motivates without consoling anyone who believes in any version of world peace It is bad news all around, and Kagan bluntly says that all of us who want a stable world order have to step up and start actually doing something to keep our children and our grandchildren out of harm s way The past seven plus decades of relatively free trade, growing respect for individual rights, and relatively peaceful cooperation among nations the core elements of th...A journalistic writing without methodological framework in defence of the current liberal world order.An extended essay in which Kagan passionately argues that America must continue in its role as the world s policeman After WW II, American economic, military and political power secured a liberal world order In Western Europe and the Far East democracy flourished and the war ravaged economies were rebuilt Although this was achieved in the context of the Cold War, Kagan states that American leadership was planned by leaders like President Truman and Dean Acheson before the confrontations An extended essay in which Kagan passionately argues that America must continue in its role as the world s policeman After WW II, American economic, military and political power secured a liberal world order In Western Europe and the Far East democracy flourished and the war ravaged economies were rebuilt Although this was achieved in the context of the Cold War, Kagan states that American leadership was planned by leaders like President Truman and Dean Acheson before the confrontations with the Soviet Union began in 1946 It was a reaction to the results of American isolationism after WW I To Kagan the most significant event in post WW II was not the fall of the Soviet empire, but the democratization and pacification of Germany and Japan However, the threat of international Communism justified, to many Americans, the enormous cost of defending allies who had by 1989 grown...This essay was fascinating and really disected the outcome of WWII and the lasting world order since At times, some parts seemed to be redundent, but the flow made sense and kept me interested It s also interesting to me that most past presidents haven t necessarily been at either end of the spectrum Most have agreed to the same type of foreign policy, and simply package it ...This is one of that books that I love because it makes me really wonder if maybe a bunch of things I believe are ill founded while bolstering a strain of thought that I think I ve secretly harbored for a long time But I also think the book leaves out a lot Sure, a unipolar world, a US led liberal order, is safer andstable for many or at least for some And, sure, a balance of powers between great powers has a 100% terrible history And a China led illiberal order seems like This is one of that books that I love because it makes me really wonder if maybe a bunch of things I believe are ill founded while bolstering a strain of thought that I think I ve secretly harbored for a long time But I also think the book leaves out a lot Sure, a unipolar world, a US led liberal order, is safer andstable for many or at least for some And, sure, a balance of powers between great powers has a 100% terrible history And a China led illiberal order seems like it would be the worst of the US order, writ large.But there is a part of me that just pushes back and says, There s got to be a better way I think part of that comes from the obvious admission from Kagan that of course the US, as global cop, will have to make choices we can t be everywhere, we can t fix things, so we have to pick where and how much and how long and how hard And all those choices leave a lot of room to f up Which Kagan also admits.I guess it come comes down to the Communism question I.e., communism is great ...What kind of foreign engagement is best for United States in the 21st century It is apparent that many Americans, observing a world that appears to be growing steadilyunsafe, are so gravely dissatisfied with what our foreign aid and seemingly unending military engagements have achieved that they believe we have done enough and that from now on other nations are going to have to pick up the burden of defending themselves without taking advantage of the US.However, citizens are unclear about What kind of foreign engagement is best for United States in the 21st century It is apparent that many Americans, observing a world that appears to be growing steadilyunsafe, are so gravely dissatisfied with what our foreign aid and seemingly unending military engagements have achieved that they believe we have done enough and that from now on other nations are going to have to pick up the burden of defending themselves without taking advantage of the US.However, citizens are unclear about precisely what our future foreign policy should be Gaining PerspectiveThese sentiments are very similar to those that surfaced during and after the Vietnam war And, just like then, I fear that the pendulum of public opinion is swinging too far and ...

The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World
  • 16 July 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 192 pages
  • 0525521658
  • Robert Kagan
  • The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World