One of the original architects of America's postwar foreign policy, notable for a lifetime of public service, Ambassador Paul Nitze brings to his new book the full flowering of his skill as a political theorist and practitioner. Among the great diplomats of his era, Nitze is perhaps unique in his insistence upon the equal importance of sound abstract principles combined with action. "Tension between opposites" is the key to harmony, he states. Pragmatically, he sees this pattern in the problems posed, for instance, by the individual versus society, the East versus the West, power versus responsibility. Successful judgments, successful decisions derive from striving to reach a harmony in this tension between opposites.What makes Nitze's book so valuable and readable are his personal insights, concrete and anecdotal, on the major international matters of the postwar era: George Kennan and the West's containment policy, Soviet arms policy, the roles of Truman, James Forrestal, Will Clayton, Dean Acheson, and George Marshall. Nitze's forthrightness is a pleasure - his shrewd and affectionate tribute to George Shultz's wisdom and decency is typical, as well as his evident closeness to such giants as George Marshall and Dean Acheson, a closeness that was unaffected when he differed with them. Looking forward, he offers a framework for the United States and its Western allies to deal with the Serbian tyrant Milosevic, and in conclusion, he brilliantly identifies the future problems America must prepare to confront.Tension Between Opposites will find its place on the shelves next to the Indispensable works on international affairs of Charles Bohlen, Dean Acheson, and George Kennan. Read Less