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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. That plan, as set forth in detail in this book, revolves around five progressive imperatives for national security: * First, we must marshal all of America's manifold strengths, starting with our military power but going well beyond it, for the struggle ahead. * Second, we must rebuild America's alliances, because democratic solidarity is one of our greatest strategic assets. * Third, we must champion liberal democracy in deed, not just in rhetoric, because a freer world is a safer world. * Fourth, we must renew U.S. leadership in the international economy and rise to the challenge of global competition. * Fifth, we must summon from the American people a new spirit of national unity and service. In sum, the progressive strategy detailed in this book takes advantage of all of our country's strengths, not just the big stick of military power. It seeks to unite, not polarize and divide, our people. It links the defense of liberty abroad with a new determination to press progressive reforms at home. It calls on all Americans-not just our men and women in uniform-to share the burden of prevailing in what is likely to be a long, arduous and costly struggle. Published in cooperation with the Progressive Policy Institute
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
18 people want to read
About the author
Graham Allison
21 books170 followersLibrarian Note: Also writes under the name Graham T. Allison.
Graham Allison is Director of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the bestselling author of Destined for War: America, China, and Thucydides's Trap (2017); Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World (2013); Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe (2004); and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971, 1999). Founding dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, Dr. Allison has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and advised the secretaries of defense under every president from Reagan to Obama. He has twice been awarded the Department of Defense's highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Medal, and serves on the Advisory boards of the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense.
Graham Allison is Director of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the bestselling author of Destined for War: America, China, and Thucydides's Trap (2017); Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World (2013); Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe (2004); and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971, 1999). Founding dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, Dr. Allison has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and advised the secretaries of defense under every president from Reagan to Obama. He has twice been awarded the Department of Defense's highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Medal, and serves on the Advisory boards of the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 5, 2020
With All Our Might outlines a new progressive foreign policy specifically towards the Middle East. Democrats must clearly state our goals: peace and democracy. Long-accused of having no coherent foreign policy, this collection of essays by progressive foreign policy experts presents a cogent analysis of the fronts on which progressives can stake a claim to a responsible and bold foreign policy. Renewed us leadership, a strong military, using all our foreign policy tools to proactively prevent conflicts, defeat those that emerge, and rebuild after conflicts end, supporting local democratic forces, fostering middle eastern economic growth and encouraging liberal reform.
August 21, 2014
This is the centrist Democratic response to the Bush Administration’s war in Iraq and the general fight against violent Islamic extremism. It seeks to provide a positive program given that the authors view the Bush policy as too unilateral and militarized and the Democratic left as too anti-military and anti-interventionist.
The various pieces contain many fine ideas. Some are very comprehensive but unrealistic – the author writes as if their issue is the most important and almost all other U.S. efforts should be subsumed to achieve the goal. These are good talking points and ideas but they must be inserted into the competing priorities of government (or even of the other authors!). Examples include Daniel Benjamin’s piece on a smarter war on terror and Graham Allison’s plan to prevent nuclear terrorism.
Other chapters deal with a range of issues: restructuring the U.S. military to focus more on preventing conflict (but its more about pre-emption than improving the conditions that cause conflict); solving the Pakistan problem (an unstable government with links to terrorist groups and possessing nuclear weapons); including Europe and working with them (and the possibility of adding Israel to NATO – provocative!); reforming the UN to focus on inter- and intra-state security when things are really bad inside a country (and also expanding NATO to essentially make it a global security organization almost on par with the UN); and boilerplate Democratic ideas on how to improve the economy and energy efficiency.
Highlights:
- Edward Gresser’s chapter on Middle Eastern economies has a lot of interesting things to say and is probably onto something. He does a good job of providing some facts on the economic performance of the Middle Eastern regimes and how that may contribute to the problems in the area and the problems it exports. Whether the neo-liberal economic formula he prescribes for the solution would work is another issue (e.g., will entrenched interests within the Middle East and outside of it endure the dislocations his approach would cause?).
Lowlights:
- When talking about reforming the Middle East and bringing democracy to it, Ken Pollack tries to say it should come from within the countries but then goes on about what the West should do. When talking about solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he has a pretty big blind spot – there is nothing Israel can do to improve the situation, it’s all on the back of the Palestinians. Does he consider the Israeli settlements as one possible avenue for change?
- The chapter on reconciling Democrats with the military includes a strange swipe at protests. The author may be right that military personnel may look askance at anti-war protests but her implication that they are illegitimate is a dangerous idea.
Overall an interesting read of centrist ideas that have some relevance in terms of recent developments in Iraq but it’s unclear what impact they had on the Obama Administration which is essentially taking a step back from overseas adventures and following a semi-realist approach to foreign policy.
The various pieces contain many fine ideas. Some are very comprehensive but unrealistic – the author writes as if their issue is the most important and almost all other U.S. efforts should be subsumed to achieve the goal. These are good talking points and ideas but they must be inserted into the competing priorities of government (or even of the other authors!). Examples include Daniel Benjamin’s piece on a smarter war on terror and Graham Allison’s plan to prevent nuclear terrorism.
Other chapters deal with a range of issues: restructuring the U.S. military to focus more on preventing conflict (but its more about pre-emption than improving the conditions that cause conflict); solving the Pakistan problem (an unstable government with links to terrorist groups and possessing nuclear weapons); including Europe and working with them (and the possibility of adding Israel to NATO – provocative!); reforming the UN to focus on inter- and intra-state security when things are really bad inside a country (and also expanding NATO to essentially make it a global security organization almost on par with the UN); and boilerplate Democratic ideas on how to improve the economy and energy efficiency.
Highlights:
- Edward Gresser’s chapter on Middle Eastern economies has a lot of interesting things to say and is probably onto something. He does a good job of providing some facts on the economic performance of the Middle Eastern regimes and how that may contribute to the problems in the area and the problems it exports. Whether the neo-liberal economic formula he prescribes for the solution would work is another issue (e.g., will entrenched interests within the Middle East and outside of it endure the dislocations his approach would cause?).
Lowlights:
- When talking about reforming the Middle East and bringing democracy to it, Ken Pollack tries to say it should come from within the countries but then goes on about what the West should do. When talking about solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he has a pretty big blind spot – there is nothing Israel can do to improve the situation, it’s all on the back of the Palestinians. Does he consider the Israeli settlements as one possible avenue for change?
- The chapter on reconciling Democrats with the military includes a strange swipe at protests. The author may be right that military personnel may look askance at anti-war protests but her implication that they are illegitimate is a dangerous idea.
Overall an interesting read of centrist ideas that have some relevance in terms of recent developments in Iraq but it’s unclear what impact they had on the Obama Administration which is essentially taking a step back from overseas adventures and following a semi-realist approach to foreign policy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews