Peace works
Subtitle: America's unifying role in a turbulent world
By: Ambassador Rick Barton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 283
ISBN-13: 9781538113004
Subjects: Peace-building; Case studies; Military policy
Description: "Drawing on his lifetime of experience as a diplomat, foreign policy expert, and State Department advisor, Rick Barton grapples with the fact that the U.S. is strategically positioned and morally obligated to defuse international conflicts, but often inadvertently escalates conflicts instead. Guided by the need to find solutions that will yield tangible results, Barton does a deep analysis of our last several interventions and discusses why they failed and how they could have succeeded. He outlines a few key directives in his foreign policy strategy: remain transparent with the American public, act as a catalyzing (not colonizing!) force, and engage local partners. But above all else, he insists that the U.S. must maintain a focus on people. Since a countrys greatest resource is often the ingenuity of its local citizens, it is counterproductive to ignore them while planning an intervention. By anchoring each chapter to a story from a specific conflict zone, Barton is able to discuss opportunities pursued and missed, areas for improvement, and policy recommendations. This balance between storytelling and concrete policy suggestions both humanizes distant stories of foreign crises, and provides going-forward solutions for desperate situations. The book begins and ends in Syria  the ultimate failure of our current approach to foreign policy, and with devastating consequences."--Dust jacket flap.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-268) and index.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgments; title: Introduction; title: Matching threats and resolve; title: Is the world going to hell?; title: Why should we act and when?; title: A new hope in the 90's; title: Bosnia : first lessons; title: Rwanda : open wounds; title: Haiti : from exploitation to participation; title: The crucible of the new century; title: Iraq : the enormity of the task; title: Afghanistan : measuring progress; title: Current and future challenges; title: Syria : what matters most?; title: What might we see in the years ahead; title: A better tomorrow; title: Fulfilling our leadership potential; title: Expanding America's peaceful core; title: Bibliography; title: Index; title: About the author.