Reviews (4)

Interesting but reflects the political ambivalence of Holland
Buruma is a good writer and paces the book very well.There are several pointsof value (exile returns to native land, cross-cultural comment etc.) but for me the most insightful were the snippets from newspaper commentaries that Buruma uses as a preface to each chapter. A mixture of shock and surprise, mixed with dollops of self-criticism.
Raises some important issues
Buruma shows how in the Netherlands, genuine concerns about the behavior of Muslim immigrants often do not get expressed due to concerns about accusations of "Islamophobia."After all, slanders against the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s proved to be extremely damaging to European society.But the author shows that in this case, a few simple truths need to be aired, even if they are unflattering to some people.As Buruma explains, Pim Fortuyn did that.He wanted all Dutch to be part of the Dutch community, not as some sort of fascist exclusivists but inclusivists who asked for loyalty towards common goals.
One of the best books I have read this year....
One of the best books you will read this year. And yes the author being of Dutch birth caught my eye, since my husbands family (DeRoos) are also of Dutch background. And the author having lived here in the states since the mid 1970's is able to give the reader a view of both sides of the issue or cultural differances.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 21st century    2. Assassination    3. Ethnic Politics    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. Ethnic relations    6. Europe    7. Europe - General    8. History    9. Middle East - General    10. Modern - 21st Century    11. Netherlands    12. Peace    13. Politics / Current Events    14. Social Science    15. Sociology    16. Toleration    17. Violence in Society    18. Political Science / Peace   

Reviews (18)

Marriage Lifeline
My husband and I were days away from divorce.We were each given a copy of this book the night before our court appearance by a dear friend. He could see how much pain both of us were in and wanted desperately to help us.He had already attended The Arbinger Institutes training and had read all of their books; most recently, this book.He knew how powerful its message is to the right heart.
A Way Through and a Way Out
Skimming through the more than three dozen testimonials at the front of *The Anatomy of Peace* before going on to read it, I was certain that all the endorsers were guilty of overstatement. Now I can say that no praise is high enough. By reflecting the painful truth about my own "heart at war" that I was blind to, it completely changed how I perceive the ingredients that produce conflict in my own life.
Conflict Resolution
I found this book very insightful, and the various characters and personalities very recognizable.Overall a very good and valuable read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Conflict Resolution    2. Conflict management    3. Interpersonal conflict    4. Peace    5. Personal Growth - General    6. Psychological aspects    7. Psychology    8. Self-Help    9. Spiritual Healing    10. Peace studies    11. Self-Help / Personal Growth / General   

Reviews (18)

Many Wars, Many Rackets
Smedley got it right.I'd also add that there are many wars that serve as rackets, including the War on Drugs and the War on Immigrants, both of which provide all sorts of business for our growing prison industrial complex.
An Entertaining Little Book That Gets a Lot Wrong
Smedley Butler wrote this book after a sudden conversion to pacifism. Unfortunately the rightousness of his conversion comes through with a number of mistatements and twists (or perhaps ignorance given Butler's lack of higher eductaion in national security affairs). Like the "Merchants of Death" hearings by Republican Congressmen in the same time period, a position is staked out, ie. "War is Bad and is Caused by War Profiteers" and seeks to prove it.
Brilliant , Gemof a book
Author a reputed soldier who served in the US Marine Corps,in nutshell, talks abouthorrors of war.Having engaged in lot of close quarter combat General Butler came to despise war.
Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History & Theory - General    3. Industries - General    4. Military Science    5. Peace    6. Political Science    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. War And Peace    10. History / United States / 20th Century    11. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    12. Peace studies    13. Political Science / International Relations   

Subjects:  1. 1973-1993    2. 1993-    3. Arab-Israeli conflict    4. Foreign Relations 1990-    5. International Relations - General    6. Middle East - General    7. Palestine - History    8. Palestinian Arabs    9. Peace    10. Political Science    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics and government    13. Politics/International Relations    14. Reference    15. Political Science / International Relations   

Reviews (1)

A Real Foreign Policy Alternative
George W. Bush has made a hash of American foreign policy, but alternative visions seem in short supply. Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman offer a glimmer of hope, proposing a philosophy of "ethical realism."
Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    2. International Relations - General    3. Peace    4. Political Ethics    5. Political Science    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. U.S. Foreign Relations    9. Political Science / International Relations   

Reviews (7)

A Beautiful Book!
When I first heard about Mattie, it was about five years ago and I guess I didn't really pay too much attention.But I had heard and read enough of his poetry that by the time he passed away my heart was broken.I wished I had payed more attention to what he was doing while he was alive.This book really helped me to fill in the gaps.It is full of his poetry and essays, as well as a history of his life as seen through his email correspondance with Jimmy Carter.I was in tears every time I picked up this book.So I have no problem in giving it the highest rating possable.

HONEST AND LIFE-CHANGING
This book is inspired by a boy who endured more pain than is almost conceivable and yet, Mattie Stepanek rises like the Phoenix from the ashes of his own suffering to genuinely challenge and gently encourage his readers towards the goals of "Thinking gently, speaking gently, and Living gently."
Wow-Motivating and Inspiring-Life, Living, and Peace
The reviewer providing the Onion link obviously has not even read this book.If so, said "reviewer" would know that this book moves well beyond Mattie's powerful and thought provoking Heartsongs and includes Mattie's prose writing, as well as personal emails between Mattie and President Carter that cover topics ranging from life and living to our impact on one another, to this child's overpowering knowledge of his own upcoming death and how he chooses to cope.Readers receive an intimate look at one of our Presidents through the lens of a friend, mentor, and confidant.Also special to this book, and again a strong sign that the Onion reviewer has not read it, is that Mattie lays out a plan for peace.If only President Bush (and mean-spirited people like the Onion reviewer) would read and take Mattie's steps to heart. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Hope    3. Inspiration & Personal Growth    4. Inspirational    5. Inspirational - General    6. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    7. Peace    8. Peace And Peace Movements    9. Poetry    10. Political Science    11. Literary Criticism / Poetry   

Editorial Review

Marines are different: distinct not only from ordinary U.S. citizens but from the ranks of the army, navy, and air force as well. The difference begins with boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, where the history and future of the United States Marine Corps intersect in the training of every new recruit. In Read more

Reviews (152)

Very Interesting Book
An interesting paperback that walks you through boot camp at Paris Island with real recruits. My daughter was about to start boot camp at Paris Island so I was able to see what she should expect. The book keeps track of some of the recruits from start to finish. Some make it through and some don't.

A well-written look at the Marines of the mid-1990's
I enjoyed reading this book and the picture it gives of Marine Corps Boot Camp and Marine Corps culture and what makes it tick.I only wish the author would do an update, a ten-year later kind of work to see what happened to those Marines.That would be interesting.Reading this, it made me think there is a probabably a great need for the Marines far beyond their military role ("The US doessn't need a Marine Corps, it wants one!") simply because the US would not be the same without one.
Making the Corps...The MARINE CORPS
Lots of Good Information for potential recruits or DEPers. There was alot of off-topic stuff on society, and the history of the Marine Corps post Vietnam. Certainly a good read for all forture Marines. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Current Affairs    2. Marine Corps    3. Military    4. Military & War    5. Military - United States    6. Military Science    7. Military life    8. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    9. Politics / Current Events    10. United States.    11. Current Events / Military    12. Warfare & Defence   

Subjects:  1. Arms control    2. Conflict management    3. International Relations - Arms Control    4. International Relations - General    5. Peace    6. Political Science    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Social Psychology    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. War    12. Peace studies    13. Psychology    14. Psychology & Psychiatry / Applied Psychology   

Subjects:  1. International Relations - General    2. International relations    3. Mediation, International    4. Pacific settlement of internat    5. Pacific settlement of international disputes    6. Peace    7. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    8. Political Science    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Peace studies    12. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (9)

Changed my whole view
I first heard about this book from friends who are angry about it, so I figured I wouldn't bother with it. After all, only some seriously ignorant ideologue would think a one-state solution for this conflict could ever work, right? But then one of my uncles, who happens to be a Holocaust survivor, told me to read it and not have preconceptions, and that it had given him hope for the first time in years.
Scholarly and Balanced
Few people are as qualified to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the author of this book. She is a professor of political science with a PhD from the university of Wisconsin with special emphasis on ethnic conflict. Further, Dr. Tilley has had twenty years direct experience with this conflict, including living there for two years. The book, is scholarly, well-documented, and illustrated with maps. It can serve as an excellent background for this conflict, and includes a discussion of the important international actors: the Zionist movement, the Arab States, the United States of America, Europe, and the United Nations.
A VOICE FOR PEACE
This book presents a powerful critique of Zionism which as someone who had a Jewish and Zionist upbringing I found quite painful at times but which I had to acknowledge to be correct.For instance, I queried at the time the author's assertion at the beginning of the book that the ethnic nation state model has been abandoned everywhere else except Israel; but she goes on to explain that though there are many other states based on religious domination, no other state is based officially on the domination of one national group over all other national groups in the state.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Arab-Israeli conflict    2. International Relations - General    3. Middle East - General    4. Peace    5. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    6. Political Science    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    10. Israel    11. Palestine    12. Peace studies    13. Political Science / International Relations   

Editorial Review

Benjamin Netanyahu's primer on pro-Israel politics is an updated version of an earlier book, Read more

Reviews (26)

Rebirth of Jewish Nation in Israel a Miracle! Let Zion Be!
Our Lord chose the Jews. God revealed Himself to them. It cannot be explained in pure logic. After not only reading in the Old Testament many attempts to destroy the Jewish nation, but not only recent recent histories of attempts to destroy the Jews, it ought to be clear:
Israel's right wing and peace
This book reiterates the principles of Zionism without taking into consideration the consequent revision that this ideology has been exposed to ever since it saw light.
A terrific book
This is a brilliant book about the Arab-Israeli conflict.Had people heeded the simple facts it reminds us all of, perhaps the disastrous "Oslo" agreements (and even more disastrous insistence on enforcing only the demands upon Israel, not upon the Arabs) might have been avoided.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 1993-    2. Arab-Israeli conflict    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Far East    5. Foreign Relations    6. General    7. History    8. International Relations - General    9. Israel    10. Peace    11. Political History    12. Politics - Current Events    13. Politics / Current Events    14. Zionism    15. History / Far East    16. International relations    17. Middle East    18. Peace studies    19. Political structure & processes   

Reviews (8)

Excerptfrom the London Review of Books, By Tony Judd
Since its inception the state of Israel has fought a number of wars of choice (the only exception was the Yom Kippur War of 1973). To be sure, these have been presented to the world as wars of necessity or self-defence; but Israel's statesmen and generals have never been under any such illusion. Whether this approach has done Israel much good is debatable (for a clear-headed recent account that describes as a resounding failure his country's strategy of using wars of choice to `redraw' the map of its neighbourhood, see Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy by Shlomo Ben-Ami,[2] a historian and former Israeli foreign minister).

Ramblings By A Pseudo-Intellectual Naive Fool
Ehud Barak, who was willing to compromise, cater and appease the Arabs so much that he not only offered 96% of Judea-Samaria to Arafat at Camp David, but also chose to deliberately betray Israel's only true Arab Ally and Friend, the South Lebanese Army, knowingly chose Shlomo Ben-Ami to be his Foreign Minister in the talks with Arafat. He did so after David Levy balked at Barak's plans to return to the 1967 pre-Six Day War borders. Ben-Ami would be extremely willing, and like Barak willing to give up the Israeli store.
An Honest and Objective History
Shlomo Ben-Ami gives the reader an honest and objective history of the Israeli-Arab tragedy from colonization by the Jewish settlers until the proposed Gaza withdrawal by Sharon. The main point of the book is that as long as Israel is led by the military in deciding it's policies it is doomed since there is no military solution to this crisis. And the more Israel persists in this war like path the more disasters it will experience. Ben-Ami cites Israel's disproportionate military attacks on Arab countries during the 1950's in retalitation to incursions into it's borders as a self-inflicted damaging tactic that Israel uses even up until today to it's own detriment.The 1956 War would prove to the Arab world that Israel could be used as a extension of France and England's colonial interests. He highlights how Golda deferred to the military in the 70's, failed to respond to Sadat's peace overtures and almost lost Israel in the 73 war. Begin shamefully allowed the military to actually co-opt the government and allowed Sharon to dictate policy with the war on Lebanon which Israel was recently forced to flee just as it has from Gaza. With the inept Bush administration's No Mideast Let Israel Do What It Wants Policy I am surprised that Mr. Ben-Ami is so hopeful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1993-    2. Arab-Israeli conflict    3. General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Middle East - General    8. Middle East - History    9. Middle East - Israel    10. Peace    11. War And Peace    12. Zionism    13. History / Israel    14. History, World | Middle Eastern   

Reviews (15)

We have met the enemy and he is us.
The author patiently describes the problem and spells out why it is a problem.In the last chapter, he proposes solutions.Most of our problems center around false beliefs that have been put out by the Muslims and assiduously taught by the academics and the mainstream media.
A winnable war
Serge Trifkovic is fast becoming a leading authority on Islamic militancy and how to respond to it. His The Sword of the Prophet (2002) was an important look at militant Islam. In this sequel volume to that incisive work, Trifkovic continues his hard-hitting analysis coupled with a sober realism about the struggle we are in.
The Threat
Serge Trifkovic's book is clear and concise and not polically correct.The book is divided into five parts and the first four are worthy of five stars, but the last part, "the Solutions" needs more development,should be longe, and in parts questinable implementation may result in a country no one wants to live in either and brings down the overall rating of this otherwise spectacular book.
Read more

Subjects:  1. International Relations (General)    2. International Relations - General    3. Peace    4. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    5. Political Science    6. Political Terrorism    7. Politics - Current Events    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations   

Subjects:  1. Feminism    2. Feminism & Feminist Theory    3. General    4. Peace (Philosophy)    5. Peace And Peace Movements    6. Philosophy    7. Sociology    8. Women in peace    9. Women's Studies - General    10. Peace studies    11. Social Science / General   

Subjects:  1. 1993-    2. Arab-Israeli conflict    3. International Relations - Diplomacy    4. Middle East - Israel    5. Peace    6. Political Science    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Political Science / International Relations / Diplomacy   

Reviews (1)

Fascinating text
R. Scott Appleby's work is a deeply intriguing in-depth study of the role that religious actors presently play in international politics, exploring both positive functions filled and negative.He also outlines ways in which actors might be involved in beneficial capacities in the future.In my reasonably limited experience, this text constitutes perhaps the most even-handed treatment of its subject material, and has served men as a very valuable resource.Recommended highly for students of international politics. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Education - General    2. Comparative Religion    3. International Relations - General    4. Peace    5. Religion    6. Religion - Educational Resources    7. Religious aspects    8. Social Science    9. Social conflict    10. Sociology of Religion    11. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    12. Peace studies    13. Political Science / International Relations    14. Religious conflict   

Subjects:  1. Hinduism    2. International Relations - General    3. Nonviolence    4. Peace    5. Political Science    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Sociology    8. Violence in Society    9. Peace studies   

Reviews (40)

Something to upset everyone
General (ret) Wesley Clark's recollections of events leading up to the 1999 bombing campaign against Serbia truly has something to upset or annoy everyone.