Making War to Keep Peace

by Jeane J. Kirkpatrick

When Jeane J. Kirkpatrick died in December 2006, she left behind more than her legacy as a "heroine of conservatives." She had just completed work on this extraordinary survey of American foreign policy in the post–Cold War a bold and revisionist assessment of two decades of American interventions abroad—a troubled period of small successes, tragic failures, and important lessons for our future. Since the end of the Cold War, Kirkpatrick argues, America's relationship with the world has been especially compromised by its mutual distrust with the United Nations, and by continuing uncertainty over U.S. involvement in conflicts among rogue nations overseas. In Making War to Keep Peace , Kirkpatrick offers a tightly observed chronicle of the a period in which the United States has increasingly used force around the world—to mixed and often challenging results. Tracing the course of diplomatic initiatives and armed conflict in Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo, she illuminates the shift from the first Bush administration's ambitious vision of a New World Order to the overambitious nation-building efforts of the Clinton administration. Kirkpatrick offers a strong critique of Clinton's foreign policy, arguing that his administration went beyond Bush's interest in building international consensus and turned it into a risky reliance on the United Nations. But she also questions when, how, and why the United States should resort to military solutions—especially in light of the challenging war in Iraq, about which Kirkpatrick shares her "grave reservations" here for the first time. With the powerful words that have marked her long and distinguished career, Kirkpatrick explores where we have gone wrong—and raises lingering questions about what perils tomorrow might hold.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, History, American History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 2007

About the author

Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick, née Jordan and writing as Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, was an American ambassador and an ardent anticommunist. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign and later in his Cabinet, the longtime Democrat-turned-Republican was nominated as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and became the first woman to hold this position.

She is famous for her "Kirkpatrick Doctrine," which advocated U.S. support of anticommunist governments around the world, including authoritarian dictatorships, if they went along with Washington's aims—believing they could be led into democracy by example. She wrote, "Traditional authoritarian governments are less repressive than revolutionary autocracies."

Kirkpatrick served on Reagan's Cabinet on the National Security Council, Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Defense Policy Review Board, and chaired the Secretary of Defense Commission on Fail Safe and Risk reduction of the Nuclear Command and Control System.

Reviews

[Tommy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very contradictory. America has infinite global duties and responsibilities (more so in Europe than Haiti) but has to stay committed to "collective security" and the United Nations although she also claims it's totally dysfunctional and to slow and if it was left to them hundreds of American lives would of been lost to the revolutionary threat of Grenada. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was totally legal, but also totally wrong on every other level, and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was legally more in the wrong than Bush. She was concerned for "credibility" but America nonetheless would come out ok in the end because America has always been about promoting democracy but you also can't expect most of the world to embrace that since we're in a clash of civilizations so...?

[Michelle Voran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super interesting read. At times, it was hard for me to get through mainly because it was a lot of information that I didn’t know a lot about. However, I learned a lot and came away from it realizing that these are very complex situations with deep history. I knew a very small amount about most of these scenarios only because most of them happened as I was growing up, but it was interesting (and deeply heart breaking) to read more details about the countries, decisions nationally and internationally, and results of those decisions.

[Ewilliams3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dry at times but an interesting review of post cold war American foreign policy until the early phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Kirkpatrick's views on foreign policy strike a clear balance between restraint and engagement that many in Washington would do well to study.

[Urey Patrick]

Fascinating and perceptive review of policy and actions initiated by Presidents Reagan/Bush41/Clinton/Bush43 and the influence, policies and actions of the UN during the same period - emphases on the first Gulf War, Somalia, Haiti, the Balkans and, briefly, Iraq and Afghanistan. Ambassador Kirkpatrick pulls no punches, and the feckless policies of assorted Presidents and UN General Secretaries will trouble you.

[Brian S. Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dry but very informative examination of American interventionism following the conclusion of the Cold War.