Description
"Bennis is a first-class political surgeon'This book is a must reading for anyone who cares about international affairs and the relationship between ideals and the reality of power politics." 'Marcus Raskin on Calling the Shots When millions around the world marched to protest the Iraq war and the U.S. drive towards empire, the New York Times dubbed global public opinion "the second super-power." What empowered those protests was their alliance -- if only for a brief moment -- with governments unexpectedly willing to stand up to U.S. pressure, and with the United Nations itself, when it followed its Charter's command to stop "the scourge of war." Bennis tracks the rise of U.S. unilateralism and the doctrine of preemptive war, looking particularly at Iraq and Israel/Palestine, and examines both the potential and the challenges ahead in reclaiming the UN as part of the global peace movement.
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Taking a worldwide and practical approach in agreement with the statement by the New York Times that global popular opinion is the "second superpower," Bennis (Institute for Policy Studies) describes the possibility of "reclaiming" the United Nations as part of an international peace movement as well as the activities and intentions behind the worldwide protest against the Iraq war in 2003. Highly opinionated and firmly in opposition to the latest Bush administration, Bennis describes how individuals, organizations, social movements and states maintained an eight-month period of resistance to the war in Iraq despite the best efforts of the US, focusing on resistance to the military, diplomatic and political elements of empire. She encourages the UN to follow its own charter more closely and seek to save the world from wars, particularly wars of empire. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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