American Force - Dangers, Delusions, and Dilemmas in National Security - Richard K. Betts

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Highly recommended for aficionados of foreign-policy and national-security issues. Kirkus Reviews 11/1/11 a lucid and insightful guide to the use of armed force as an instrument of U.S. power. American Conservative 1/12/2012 Betts combines serious thought, common sense, and deep historical knowledge, rather than simply applying abstract theories, and his conclusions are expressed in plain English -- Lawrence D. Freedman Foreign Affairs 1/1/2012 This volume is instructive for policy makers and would be engaging and provocative in the classroom... Recommeded. Choice 7/1/12 American Force deserves to be widely read and debated. -- Scott A. Silverstone H-Diplo Roundtable 11/5/2012 Richard Betts has written an extremely important book that is probably the best critique of the prevalent bipartisan thinking on post-Cold War foreign policy produced to date... [Betts] has already written four or five classics in the field, and this book adds another to that remarkable list. -- Michael O'Hanlon Political Science Quarterly Vol 127, No 4 Betts provides a sobering and bluntly honest critique of US force. He does so through clear writing and argument. -- David Ryan International Affairs Vol 89, No 2 American Force is a well-reasoned and thoughtful critique of the current U.S. national security environment, one that policymakers should not ignore. -- Thomas Meagher H-War 4/1/2013