The art of peace : engaging a complex world / Juliana Geran Pilon.

Author
Pilon, Juliana Geran [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
New Brunswick (U.S.A.) : Transaction Publishers, [2016]
Description
xxvii, 385 pages ; 24 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks JZ1480 .P57 2016 Browse related items Request

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    Subject(s)
    Summary note
    Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, believed that the acme of leadership consists in figuring out how to subdue the enemy with the least amount of fighting--a fact that America's Founders also understood, and practiced with astonishing success. For it to work, however, a people must possess both the ability and the willingness to use all available instruments of power in peace as much as in war. US foreign policy has increasingly neglected the instruments of civilian power and become overly dependent on lethal solutions to conflict. The steep rise in unconventional conflict has increased the need for diplomatic and other non-hardpower tools of statecraft. The United States can no longer afford to sit on the proverbial three-legged national security stool ("military, diplomacy, development"), where one leg is a lot longer than either of the other two, almost forgetting altogether the fourth leg--information, especially strategic communication and public diplomacy. The United States isn't so much becoming militarized as decivilianized. According to Sun Tzu, self-knowledge is as important as knowledge of one's enemy: "if you know neither yourself nor the enemy, you will succumb in every battle." Alarmingly, the United States is deficient on both counts. And though we can stand to lose a few battles, the stakes of losing the war itself in this age of nuclear proliferation are too high to contemplate -- Provided by publisher.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-370) and index.
    Contents
    • I. Sun Tzu's acme of skill
    • Opposites detract
    • The art of information
    • Shaking the invisible hand
    • Leadership
    • II. The founders' art of peace
    • Sovereignty and self-government
    • Influencing
    • Diplomacy and commerce
    • A brave new world
    • III. Strategic deficit disorder
    • American self-ignorance
    • Intelligence deficit
    • Soft power for softies
    • One-hand clapping
    • Communication-challenged
    • IV. Rebalancing to win the peace
    • Strategic dialogue
    • Development engagement
    • Peace-building reboot
    • Exceptionalism as Realpolitik
    • Conclusion: medicine for a sick world.
    ISBN
    • 9781412864237 ((hardcover))
    • 1412864232 ((hardcover))
    • 9781412864442 ((pbk.))
    • 1412864445 ((pbk.))
    LCCN
    2016024677
    OCLC
    952387583
    Other standard number
    • 40026717220
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