Book Description
Martin Kaiser is a legend within the nation’s covert electronic surveillance fraternity. Kaiser built devices that could bring down a head of state or provide blackmail for a government agency to smear a well-known civil rights leader. In Odyssey of an Eavesdropper, he tells his own story — from an abusive childhood in a Pennsylvania coal-mining town to icon status in the black-ops world of U.S. spy operations as the premier producer of electronic surveillance gadgets and dirty tricks, and then his battle for professional and emotional survival, with the FBI bent on his destruction.
Kaiser’s clients included the FBI, CIA, DEA, Secret Service, Army, Navy, and Air Force Intelligence as well as intelligence services of Egypt, Argentina, and Canada. However, after his testimony before the National Wiretap Commission in l975, the FBI embarked on a vendetta against Kaiser, nearly driving him into bankruptcy and resulting in his indictment on charges of illegal wiretapping, conspiracy, and transporting an illegal eavesdropping device across state lines. Acquitted of all charges, and after reinventing himself, Kaiser tells his personal tale while discussing historic moments in U.S. espionage and the future of privacy and surveillance in America.
Customer Reviews:
It's all about me, me, me, me........2006-10-11
Not everyone get into legal problems with the government. Some people who do get into a battle with the government have their own distinctive ideas of what is right and what is wrong, regardless of what the law actually says.
Mr. Kaiser strikes me as being in this group. He's capitalized on it with a book that was optioned for a movie.
Pity is that the story is a tad unbelievable, very focused on Mr. Kaiser and distinctly one-sided. Yes, Kaiser claims to have done a lot of work with the FBI and CIA. Needless to say they're the bad guys and he's the one with the white hat. Actually it seems that neither side was without guilt and the truth would have made this a more compelling book.
In short, all of this is a bit Andy Warhohlish . . . Mr. Kaiser is getting his 15 minutes of fame.
The last chapter ("The Future of Privacy in America -- Or What's Left of It") is a joke. Here's a guy who has made his living ferreting out information and now he claims "[p]rivacy in America these days is an illusion." Well, Mr. Kaiser, "privacy" has always been an illusion. As long as someone else knows something about you, it is not private.
Most of this chapter is an ill-informed attack on law enforcement and a pandering to paranoia. The business, financial, educational, credit and health information on every US citizen is, for better or worse, an open book to those with the knowledge to access the information. To some extent, it has always been this way as anyone who has ever lived in a small town knows. The information age has made it easier, but in reality little has changed.
Overall, this is a mildly entertaining book about one man's troubles that contains a dollop of interesting tech information. Not the worst; not the best.
Jerry
Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity?.......2006-02-06
Our government has many patriotic symbols. For instance, the CIA seal signifies strength, alertness, defense and intelligence. Every color and symbol on the FBI seal also has a special significance, the dominant blue representing justice. When Michael German was an FBI agent and discovered the mishandling of a terror investigation going on in Florida, he reported it to his boss. Instead of using the information for the protection of our country, German was ridiculed and retaliated by the bureau. When Joseph Wilson reacted to the inaccurate sixteen words that President Bush incorporated in his State of the Union address, Wilson's Central Intelligent Agent wife, Valerie Plame, was outed--by who exactly is still being determined. After being with the FBI for twenty-four years, Jane Turner was escorted from her office for complaining about various wrongdoings of her agency. Of course these people knew the risk having this type of career, but it is unlikely that they thought their own government agency, characterized by the heraldry of the aforementioned seal, would be the one to turn against them.
Unlike the previous names, Martin Kaiser III was not an agent but a businessman who had a successful career in electronic surveillance. His clients included the CIA, DEA, Secret Service, Army, Navy, Air Force Intelligence and the FBI. Kaiser's business was lucrative until his 1975 testimony before the House of Representatives proved to nearly ruin his life and career.
In ODYSSEY OF AN EAVESDROPPER: My Life in Electronic Countermeasures and My Battle Against the FBI, (Carroll & Graf, January 10, 2006) Kaiser, along with co-author Robert S. Stokes, details how he was subjected to one court appearance after another with all sorts of harassments in between after he had exposed certain pricing invoice irregularities for his equipment and the services he provided for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After his testimony, FBI agents attempted to get Kaiser to repudiate what he'd said under oath. There was also the sudden appearance of an auditor who interrogated Kaiser, making the timing seem less like a coincidence and more like instigation on someone's behalf. There were also unsuccessful attempts to set Kaiser up for violations of wiretapping.
Due to his knowledge of state-of-the-art gadgets, Kaiser served as a technical adviser for the movies The Conversation and Enemy of the State. That said, this fascinating memoir is filled with details in electronic surveillance that will certainly intrigue James Bond aficionados. However, unlike the resilient Ian Fleming character, even though he was vindicated, Kaiser, who was known in the industry as the Michelangelo of Electronic Surveillance, did suffer damage due to the vendetta against him. Besides having to spend years to clear his reputation, which drastically hurt his career, his family life also took some major hits. His story begs the question, how can this happen when the FBI's motto states: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity?
One of the more alarming elements in Odyssey of an Eavesdropper is the final chapter titled The Future of Privacy in America-Or What's Left of It. Kaiser warns that we need to look more closely at some of the technological wonders that can palliate some of life's everyday annoyances. Perhaps we should be more concerned and less amazed that a security system miles away is able to open a locked car door. And, even though those identification tags that are embedded in clothing can track the shipment, they may also be able to track the person eventually wearing the garment. With these ostensible conveniences, we are rapidly forfeiting our privacy. Granted, we are long past 1984, but Orwell's protagonist, Winston Smith with his fear of Big Brother, is no longer just a cautionary tale. There's really no turning back in today's computer age, and Kaiser's very real account should be the reminder.
Michael German resigned from the FBI in June 2004. Valerie Plame, who recently retired from the CIA, is now a household name. And Jane Turner has taken legal action to make the FBI accountable for its misconduct. Martin Kaiser is now the president of his own electronics company, as well as the author of an extremely relevant memoir, published by Carroll & Graf, which also happened to be the publisher for Joseph Wilson's The Politics of Truth. Bravo for bringing these stories to print, but the questions remain: Is it because of these patriotic symbols that our own court system is hesitant to protect the whistleblowers? If so, will it be only a matter of time when these stories are kept from publication due to so-called lack of patriotism?
The American Revolution continues . . ........2005-12-26
This is a classic American David and Goliath tale of the little guy who dares to confront the FBI and not only survive (at great cost) to tell his story, but also be vindicated by the truth.
Marty Kaiser was-and still is-a legend in the nation's electronic "black ops" community. Once regarded as the "Michaelangelo of Electronic Surveillance," he was the genius go-to guy for U.S. Intelligence services in the late l960s and 1970s. He was the electronics surveillance master who designed and created exotic transmitters the size of a fingernail that the FBI used to bug terrorists, politicians and political enemies, innocent citizens and, among other things, smear a well-known civil rights leader.
Then Kaiser made a huge mistake-he told the truth before a Congressional Committee investigating his main employer, the FBI. The result was a scandal that rocked the Bureau and led to the dismissal or forced retirement of several high ranking FBI officials. The Bureau retaliated by blackballing Kaiser from the Intel community and nearly driving his private company into bankruptcy. Two years later they indicted him on charges of bugging two FBI agents, but he was acquitted. The two agents, with plenty of backing, then filed a civil suit that nearly ruined Kaiser with crushing legal fees and the torment of constant harassment.
Kaiser's story doesn't stop there. He also recounts illegal eavesdropping on American citizens by the NSA, FBI and CIA that's been going on for decades-all before the Patriot Act.
If you care about the high-handed violations of legitimate civil rights in America by those who think they are above our laws, this is a must read. To his credit, Kaiser doesn't demean all the unsung people in the intelligence services who are working hard and doing a good job. He's talking about those hiding in the higher echelons of power making black policy and intimidating anyone who wants to bring them into the light. His story is one of courage and hope, but it's also a sad reminder that the heroic days of the "Untouchables" have been replaced by the dark days of the "Unaccountables."
Excellent Reading,Inspiration for true techies!.......2005-12-26
Excellent reading,Marty has always produced a quality product electronically,and now in print.Reading the story of an icon in the electronic surveillance and electronic countermeasures community was informative and enjoyable.Sometimes we hear little of those working behind the scenes that make a positive difference in todays society.
Two thumbs up!
A True Trailblazer in the Surveillance Business Comes In From the Cold.......2005-11-19
During the Summer of 1966 an electronics genius accidently stumbled into the intelligence business and virtually over night became a legend within the halls of the FBI, CIA, and intelligence agencies all over the globe. This book is the memoirs of Martin L. Kaiser, known also simply as "Marty". His little black boxes has brought down entire governments or administrations, and even almost 40 years in the business his products are as revered and sought after as Holy Relics. For the first time ever an insider who supplied classifed bugs for decades comes in from the cold, and exposes the soft underbelly of corruption within the CIA, NSA, and FBI. Hollywood has even produced two movies about this quiet genius without actually mentioning him by name. But now the governments secrets are out of the bag, and this book lays them bare. The book is filed from cover to cover with explicit details of how the intelligence agencies operate, how they buy their toys, how their little games are played, and what happens to people to expose corruption.
The author also discusses his consulting work for everal movies including "The Conversation" and "Enemy of the State", both of which are based on his life. We also get to share both his joy, and his pain in this book.
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- nothing for tears
- Germany sows the wind ... and reaps the whirlwind
- A Perplexing Book
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Nothing For Tears
Lali Horstmann
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1842122126 |
Book Description
The true story of one family's struggle in the chaos of Germany's defeat in 1945--and one with an ending both heartbreaking and sadly ironic. Toward the end of the war, Lali Horstman and her husband Freddy were living in an elegant 18th-century home, until Allied bombers destroyed the building. The Horstmans grabbed what they could and moved into a small agent's house in the park; it was there Russian agents came one spring night and took Freddy away. Only by chance, two and a half years later, did Lali learn the truth about her husband's fate... "Outstanding"--The Times.
Customer Reviews:
nothing for tears.......2005-06-22
This is an ode to self righteous materialistic whiners. Mrs. Forstmann was more or less uncomplaining-but her husband--what a big baby--and concerned with all the wrong things, to the point where he puts his wife and their servants in danger He seened cared more about the china and linens than he did about her.
The point of the story was about the red menace--but how could they could tell a story of woe, when greater horrors-undescribed in this book- were happening. They had ample opportunity to save themselves, but Freddy was afraid to leave his things and his estate. His china, his linens, his faberge, his trees, which they go on and on about. No concern for the fact that women hanging around were raped by the Russians. Lali F. must have been going through the Stockholm syndrome. She did not want to leave him. At the end, the Russians take him and he is never seen again. She leaves the house (most of which has been looted--so what was the point of hanging around?) and goes to England and dies two years later. They never had any children--is this another testimony to his selfishness and shallow values?
However....this was a "slice of life" and I did respect her, even if she was misguided. It was very informative--and well written and sad. I read all the other books of this genre (Tatiana Metternich, Marie Vassiltchikov, Fey von Hassel...) and if you want to put together the pieces of this puzzle, you must read this book.
Germany sows the wind ... and reaps the whirlwind.......2003-03-06
Like the reader from Brisbane, I found this an interesting yet perplexing book. For details of what it was like to live in a German city and the German countryside under Allied bombings and occupation, this book is fine. But when it comes to being honest about what Germany did to earn the terrible retribution the Allies inflicted upon Germany, the author is ludicrously and eventually, for me, irritatingly silent. Horstmann's Germany is too often just some innocent victim, wondering why all these mean countries (the Allies) were bombing her. Also, the Russians throughoutare refferred to as "Asiatic", "non-European', "oriental" (indeed she calls them everything but out-and-out "non-Aryan"!). The author's tone and attitude throughout the book simply kept reminding me it was Germany, after all, that had started the war, invaded Poland, invaded Russia, and that it was ordinary Poles, Russians, etc., who had to suffer under Germany's maniacal racism and barbarism of the day.
The class-hatred of the author's Prussian Aristocratic family towards the "low-born" Hitler and other Nazis is interesting, but ultimately makes the Prussian high-born look all more feeble for not standing up to him firmly and decisively - if he was such a dumb yob, why did he easily subdue them? Were they on his side through most of the war, until he started to lose? I wondered how much of Horstmann's attitude in this book developed after Germany's defeat, whether she really thought like this during Hitler's days of triumph.
Needless to say, the Jews hardly rate a mention, while the Allied bombings of German cities are deplored as crimes without even a footnote admitting Germany's role in inducing such a response. A lot of detail is given on the horrible, "Old Testament-style wrath" that descended upon the Germans when the Russians arrived, but never does the author admit Germany's own initial barbarism inside occupied Russia following its invasion, nor does she dare to contemplate whether the effects of her country's "mobile killing units" possibly influenced the ordinary Russian soldier's attitude towards Germany - effects which the Russian soldiers would have seen as they pushed the German army back from Stalingrad across those areas where German savagery had been most intense. The author even refers to Polish-Russian slave laborers she sees inside Germany as simply "workers."
I came to this book after reading William Shirer's *the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,* Alan Bullock's *Hitler: A Study in Tyranny,* and Alexander Dallin's *German Rule in Russia*. All three sowed doubt in my mind (to put it mildly) as to post-war German protestations that it had never supported Hitler. Therefore, one of the best reasons to read this book (along with others of its genre, like Bielenberg's *The Past Is Myself* and Marie Vassilitchkov's *Berlin Diaries*) is to become aware how difficult it is for Germans of that era to "come clean" about German atrocities (*Berlin Diaries* was, I thought, the closest to an honest response, with some admitting of the truth, less of the "poor little Nazi Germany" attitude expressed too often in Horstmann.)
I thought this a good book for a description of how Germany reaped the whirlwind; while Shirer, Bullock, Dallin, etc., gave me what was left out - how Germany sowed the wind in the first place.
A Perplexing Book.......2003-02-14
This is the story of a courageous and well educated woman and the death of her world - and of her husband. It is well written and ties in well with other writings about the barbarous behaviour of the Russians when they invaded Germany.
However, Frau Horstmann is lamenting the passing of her class, the Prussian nobility and aristocracy. She draws parallels with the French revolution. She rarely mentions Hitler, though she leaves it quite clear that she regards the Nazis as her social inferiors.
She portrays the Germans as a civilised European nation, unlike the Russians who she describes as "Asians". But hold on....wasn't it the Germans who invaded eastern Europe (not least Russia) with such brutality; and who gassed millions of Jews? Life was hard for the Horstmanns under the Russians. It was a lot harder for the Jews under the Germans. But like Hitler, they hardly get a mention.
As I say, a perplexing book.
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Nothing Can Tear Us Apart
Wyatt, O' Brian Evans
Manufacturer: Wyatt O'Brian Evans
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 061514604X |
Book Description
Nothing Can Tear Us Apart is the groundbreaking new novel from Wyatt O'Brian Evans. In this powerful debut novel, you'll meet Wesley Kelley, a successful gay, black actor and business mogul. Wesley wants and needs a friend and lover to make his world complete, and when he meets Antonio Rios, his new bodyguard, his wishes are answered. But local druglord Ruffkut is incensed when Wesley refuses to join the gangster's evil schemes. Ruffkut moves to rip Wesley and Antonio's budding relationship asunder. Nothing Can Tear Us Apart is a compelling look at the issues and challenges facing gay men of color in today's world.
Product Description
3 First Edition, First Print Dean Koontz Hardcover, with dust jackets. All 3 are like new. Save money on shipping costs!
1) Dragon Tears - 1993
2) Hideaway - 1992
3) Fear Nothing - 1998
Book Description
Refuting the conventional wisdom that the end of the Cold War cleared the way for an era of peace and prosperity led solely by the United States, Charles A. Kupchan contends that the next challenge to America’s might is fast emerging. It comes not from the Islamic world or an ascendant China, but from an integrating Europe that is rising as a counterweight to the United States. Decades of strategic partnership across the Atlantic are giving way to renewed geopolitical competition. The waning of U.S. primacy will be expedited by America’s own ambivalence about remaining the globe’s guardian and by the impact of the digital age on the country’s politics and its role in the world.
By deftly mining the lessons of history to cast light on the present and future, Kupchan explains how America and the world should prepare for the more complex, more unstable road ahead.
Customer Reviews:
Great International Relations Book.......2005-09-04
This is a mandatory reading in order to design the grand strategy of, not only the United States, but any nation that considers itself serious.
Europe ascending? America's walk in the sun is about to ...........2005-06-14
Kupchan was about 2 years ahead of his time in publishing this book. When I say this I don't mean he was right in his predictions, but more that he beat the competition in writing a "Europe is next..." book. With so many text now bearing such titles as "United States of Europe" etc., it is easy to dismiss Kupchan as needless reading.
Although this may be so, his book gains more of its worth in his criticisms of past theorist of "grand strategy" then it is for his dubious prediction of the "next" superpower (the EU). I picked this book up around Christmas/New Years 2002. I was away from school and I had nothing to do, so I thought some light reading was in order.
Kupchan first discusses the "grand strategies" of past years, covering over all the favorites, from Nye, Fukuuyama, and Huntington. Of course, all these visions have something wrong with them and Kupchan points out some token things durring his first chapter. The United State will not have the ability to behave in a 'hegemonic' manner forever, thus, why not shape the world in a manner we would like it to be run when we're old feeble men (and women).
This is essentially Kupchan's theme throughout the entire text. It may very well be a wise course, however, I fail to see how Kupchan can determine accurately, in which manner the US is to lead its declining hegemonic power. It seems a bit absurd to criticize past grand strategies and then toute one yourself.
The grand strategy is really one thing, that is state planning. However, whereas we know state planning of the economy is a bad thing, it seems state planning of politics is not. Many times Kupchan discusses the "confusion" of the Clinton adminstration and then the even greater confusion of the Bush 2nd adminstration. This is all well and good, but confusion presumes that these administrations were behaving in some sort of grand strategic manner.
It would seem more likelly that these administrations behaved on a case by case basis. Kupchan points out how Bush 2nd at one point demanded Israeli withdrawl from the West bank, only to then state some time later that Ariel Sharon was a man of peace (p. 17).
Well, although what precise event Dr. Kupchan is referring to I am unsure, it seems that Bush's second response was prompted by some lack of resolve on the Palestinians side to prevent suicide bombing. This pattern is familiar to anyone who observes middle east politics.
Getting back to the main critique, one should observe that no wonderfully pre-planned grand strategy united the US, USSR, China, UK, and France. Certanily, if one were to ask a political "scientist" of the 1920s or 30s, I doubt he would have envisioned that such a grand alliance of nations would have ever formed.
The same goes for NATO, these institutions were reactions to events (many cases unforseen) and were not engineered institutions. If we look at history of certain planned institutions/agreements, we see that such entities rarely work properly and ultimitly fail. A good example is the Gold Standard/Bretton Woods peg systems. The Gold standard cease to work almost immediatly after it was implemented...,and the Bretton Woods system did not even last 30 years.
It seems that men rarely possess the facaulty to forsee all the possible changes that may occur in 10 year, much less 30 - 40 years. Thus, these grand strategies almost become inconsequential after several years their published.
Anyways, although Kupchan falls into this trap, one should not ignore some of the keen observations he makes in this book. He was one of the first that predicted the tran-atlantic rift would become more or less permenant. He was stating this at a time when Neo-cons were stating the "europeans will fall in line if we push hard enough."
Also, Kupchan's historical deconstruction and analysis is very intresting. Kupchan seems to believe we can use past events in history and sort of "graft" them onto contemporary politics. Although I doubt this is true, it makes for great reading. A wonderful analogy Dr. Kupchan makes is comparing the trans-atlantic rift to the split between Rome and Constantinople. I thought that his historical analogy was at the very least insightful as a paradigm if not in policy use.
Ultimitly, I don't agree with Kupchan's views on Europe (recent events with regards to the EU constitution lays credence to the skeptics), yet I can't say taht the book is horrible, thus, I give it 3/5. Its most certainly better then reading some of the ideological garbage comming out of some authors these days.
Europe`s point of view..........2004-05-19
Prof. Kupchan has a very agreeable style. Most - not all - of his ideas are right. He claims the internet is bad for Democracy in the US. I claim the internet is good for Democracy on a global scale. The internet is positive for transatlantic relations. If this is the end of the American Era just as WW II was the end of the European Era could this be the beginning of the Global Era?! He owes me an answer...
It could be a very ugly world.......2004-01-16
We all know the first, most basic lesson from history - civilizations rise and fall. There are several parameters that will ensure that a powerful nation secures its supremacy for a prolonged period of time - but the key is enlightened leadership. How is it that one of our leading accounting firms whose founder worked to the highest ethical standards fell during the Enron era? How is that just one American President could turn the world's biggest creditor nation into the world's biggest debtor nation in just eight short years. How is it that Japan lost its supremacy in a decade? Surely the answer lies in having enlightened leadership and a system that ensures that a steady succession of enlightened leaders take the helm and are ready in the wings whenever the call arises. Our present system of electing the leader who can blow his own trumpet the loudest has the seeds of self-destruction. My hero in this respect is Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, the Roman General who tilled the land in retirement until the empire was threatened and he was twice called to the dictatorship of Rome in 458 and 439 BC. In 458 BC he defeated the Aequians in a single day, and after entering Rome in triumph and with large spoils returned to his farm. No blowing his own trumpet and holding onto power by this general!
A wise nation does a simple SWOT analysis - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats - and formulates a strategy to ensure that it holds on to power. Kupchan reminds us of Churchill's policy in response to the German threat prior to the First World War when, over much opposition, he brought the British fleet back to defend the homeland. But the British leadership was not so enlightened prior to the Second World War; fortunately Churchill was there waiting in the wings. "The End of the American Era" is primarily about the lessons from history applied to present day America and as you might imagine from the title the author gives a thumbs down on the degree of enlightenment of the American leadership today. The author points out that there are already signs that American preponderance and the stability it breeds are slipping away. American internationalism was at its high-water mark during the last decade but is now on the wane despite that fact that today's problems require a multilateral approach and reliance on international institutions. Terrorism poses a collective threat and requires a collective response. The tragic events of September 2001 served as a wake up call to America, alerting the country that the homeland is no longer inviolable and that the US would be wise to take greater interest in crucial foreign policy issues. The central challenge of the future will be the same as the past - managing relations between contending centers of power. Other concerns will pale in comparison to the dangers that will emerge if America believes that its primacy is here to stay. The US has unparalleled potential to shape what comes next but lacks a grand strategy; America is a great power adrift. Unfortunately, the intellectual initiative and institutional creativity of 1815, 1919 and 1945 are missing in Washington today. In addition, we do not have a clearly identified enemy but a much more elusive enemy in terrorism - an enemy schooled in guerrilla tactics where patience and tact are more useful weapons than military power.
Think tanks turn out work with a short shelf life while universities generate scholarship of little relevance to policy. What should America's new map look like? Is Fukuyama in The End of History right in that liberal democracy is taking the world by storm? Is Samuel Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order right that a struggle among Judeo-Christian, Islamic and Confucian civilizations is in the offing? Is Thomas Friedman in The Lexus and the Olive Tree right that globalization has changed the rules for good? In Kupchan's opinion each vision has its merits but all are wrong. The defining element of the global system is the distribution of power, not democracy, culture, globalization, or anything else. As the US withdraws from multilateral institutions in favor of unilateralism the vacuum will be filled by a new era of geopolitical rivalry. If history is a guide, the end of US primacy will bring with it a more unpredictable and unpleasant world.
It is impossible to predict your opponent's next move in chess, let alone predict moves and counter moves on the international scene. However, Kupchan has presented a convincing argument of how the future might unfold. Homeland security must not stand in the way of efforts to address the more dangerous challenge of the return to rivalry between the world's power centers. All this comes together in the final chapter with the closing sentence "It is now the task of those convinced by the warnings to get on with the difficult, but essential, duty of preparing for the end of the American era." This book has as its prime audience policy makers and decision-makers. Personally, I think every American voter should read this book and understand that voting for the person who blows his trumpet loudest is not going to put the most enlightened leader in the White House and without enlightened leadership we will most certainly see the end of the American era soon. Then it is likely to be a very ugly world.
Possibly one of the silliest things I have ever read.......2003-10-17
Between the book and several reviews here, I'm just astounded. I'll try to take on several matters here:
1) America will never 'fade from the world stage'. She may eventually no longer be the _sole_ superpower, but she will always - always - be _a_ superpower. She will never be 'overshadowed' by another superpower, as no one will be a full-spectrum power in all measures as is America. The European Union does not have the desire to rival America militarily, which is fortunate for it because it does not have the money; those who think even a fully integrated EU could simply 'build a military' to match America in 10 years - or even more - are completely naive as to the actual balance of power. Europe _will_ have a comparable economy in terms of overall GDP once full integrated (beyond even the 2004 expansion), and it _will_ have the ability to project credible military power regionally. On the other hand, it is simply not possible for the EU to build a matching military without a) scrapping most of its social programs and b) spending all that money and more every year for two decades in a massive military buildupng and c) fundamentally reshaping a large portion of its industrial and overall economic capacity to absorb these changes.
2) America has an economy worth nearly 11 trillion dollars. This is not old Britain where a small native population spent a majority of its overall economy maintaining a military deployed around the globe, nor a Spain or other past empire in a time when the global economy was a static pie and the rush was to grab the biggest slice. As America gets richer, others get richer (this is why the current account and trade deficits aren't simply a liability or even necessarily a negative). As others get richer, America gets richer. No other economy comes close to the size of America's. Should China continue growing as it has been, it will not be of a comparable size until 2050. Integrated the entire European continent would be required to 'overshadow' America's economy, and even then you would simply have to gargantuan economies towering over all others.
3) America's military power ridiculously overmatches all others. The EU could integrate its military capabilities and modernize for a decade and not be anywhere near a 'match', though they would then be a military superpower. America's military capacity is not going to fade. It may stop growing the gap between itself and others, but it is not going to fade or fall behind.
4) America's population will continue to balloon. 3 years ago estimates for 2050 were around 400 million. A year ago estimates for 2050 were 500 million. Today, 500 million is increasingly being considered as a possible low-range, with a possible 1 billion Americans by 2100. By sometime after 2050 America will likely surpass even the expanded EU in population. Even at 300 million, America is too massive to 'fade from the world stage'.
In short, America's economy is so massive that it cannot fail to be an economic superpower. The arrival of a basket economy of comparable size in the form of the EU does not change the fact that now instead of one 10+ trillion dollar economy there are two 10+ trillion dollar economies, both of which massively eclipse all others. Budget deficits? Current account deficits? Been there and done that. Even accepting some sort of wrenching economic free-fall to correct both of these, America's economy would still be absolutely massive and roughly comparable to that of the European Union. It could be wrenching for unemployment, and could cause us to see stagnation for several years in terms of GDP growth, but then if that happened we might end up looking like Europe with very slow growth rates and high unemploymeny - yet no one seems to be discounting Europe for already being in such a position.
America's military capability is so overweening that it cannot fail to be a military superpower. The arrival of other credible militaries with the capability to project power regionally and to an extend globally does not mean America is no longer a superpower; the Soviet Union's military capability outstripped the dreams of the EU or the Chinese, yet when it existed there was not a 'sole' military superpower but two.
America's population is already more than large enough to ensure that with its wealth it is a superpower, and that population will continue to balloon as the population in Europe shrinks (the EU population will grow via adding more nations, but that only goes so far).
These simple facts cast a dubious light on any book such as this. No one will 'replace' America as the sole superpower. Other superpowers may rise, but none will 'replace' her or push her aside, she will simply become the largest of a likely handful of such powers. These same simple, basic facts dictate that the EU will become a sort of superpower alongside the U.S. in economic and political terms and to a much lesser degree military terms, and that China will eventually follow suit.
Yet regardless of any of that, America remains. She remains on the world stage, she remains with the largest single economy and one so massive that it's as large as the combined EU economy, she remains with the greatest military power and the greatest ease of paying for that power, she remains with the third largest nation-state population and one which will grow to eclipse that of the combined EU population through the century.
It's very simple, it's very obvious, and the only way to arrive at any other conclusion is by the physical destruction of the United States itself ..
And this is where Kupchan eventually tries to take us in a desperate attempt to avoid the basic realities I've listed above. It's also the same place Kupchan has been trying to take us for three entire decades. Perhaps in another 10 years he can modify his theory a bit for the times and re-publish it again to explain how just annny old time now we're going to 'decline'.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Parameters, published by U.S. Army War College on June 22, 2003. The length of the article is 758 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century. (Book Reviews).
Author: Richard Halloran
Publication:
Parameters (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2003
Publisher: U.S. Army War College
Volume: 33
Issue: 2
Page: 124(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Available October 2003
The perfect gift for your favorite birdwatcher!
Since winter on the Great Plains is often bitterly cold, inhospitable, and colorless, residents of this bleak landscape feed wild birds both to help them survive and to bring life and color to the landscape. This strikingly beautiful addition to Iowa's laminated guidebook series will also bring life and color to everyone who enjoys watching and nurturing winter birds.
Dana Gardner's colorful and accurate paintings show birds in flight, perched, and at appropriate kinds of feeders. Nancy Overcott's text provides common and scientific names for fifty species, from the great horned owl to the red-breasted nuthatch to the white-throated sparrow, as well as average size, distribution, and preferred feeder foods.
Useful for both novice and experienced birdwatchers across the entire Midwest—from the prairies and forests of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin south through Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and northern Oklahoma—Birds at Your Feeder is a durable and beautiful guide to one of nature's favorite winter visitors.
Book Description
Available October 2003
The perfect gift for your favorite birdwatcher!
Since winter on the Great Plains is often bitterly cold, inhospitable, and colorless, residents of this bleak landscape feed wild birds both to help them survive and to bring life and color to the landscape. This strikingly beautiful addition to Iowa's laminated guidebook series will also bring life and color to everyone who enjoys watching and nurturing winter birds.
Dana Gardner's colorful and accurate paintings show birds in flight, perched, and at appropriate kinds of feeders. Nancy Overcott's text provides common and scientific names for fifty species, from the great horned owl to the red-breasted nuthatch to the white-throated sparrow, as well as average size, distribution, and preferred feeder foods.
Useful for both novice and experienced birdwatchers across the entire Midwest—from the prairies and forests of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin south through Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and northern Oklahoma—Birds at Your Feeder is a durable and beautiful guide to one of nature's favorite winter visitors.
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