Customer Review(s)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary
Comment: I purchased this book after seeing an interview with Dr. Bacevich on C-span.
The insight provided by the author reveals the devious and often incompetent strategies and actions of our leaders throughout our history.
Our propensity for using military might rather than diplomacy is outlined and has a much longer history than one might suspect.
It is compelling reading and I am about to buy more of the author's books which I will share with my grandsons.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A tough but limited analysis
Comment: Andrew Bacevich has written a thought-provoking and approachable analysis of America's expansionist policies and their consequences. The book makes the clear-headed case that the long-term solutions to America's (our) military misadventures in the Middle East and elsewhere will come from more cogent and integrated strategies and as importantly from addressing other domestic problems, such as our personal and public indebtedness (our dependence on foreign financing) and our use of energy (our dependence on foreign oil). The take-away message is that we must learn to live within our means, not only in terms of our budgets but also in terms of our foreign and military policy.
Far and away, the strength of the book is the way that it draws historical parallels to show that today's problems have antecedents in decisions made during more "successful" periods of U.S. history. Bacevich is a master at drawing on details of our foreign policy and military history; his insights on these key earlier decisions alone more than justify the price of the book.
The weakness of the analysis is its unremitting negative tone. The politicians and advisors with whom you disagree get skewered, but so do those whom you might admire. Bacevich succeeds in pointing out mistakes, advocates for more comprehensive and realistic analyses of threats and opportunities, but never shows how actual human beings or systems would necessarily come up with better solutions. His eventual message to live within our means and to approach the use of military force more cautiously are consistent with this implied low regard for political decision-making. However, he overlooks some of the risks of caution, which is itself a policy decision.
