Security First: What Others Say
There seems to be some interest in my new book Security First; frankly it is doing better than several of my other endeavors. But never mind what I think. Here are excerpts from what others say, and links to their full texts.
The New York Sun
By Jean Bethke Elshtain
August 29, 2007
Anything Amitai Etzioni writes is worth reading. Mr. Etzioni specializes in exploring dilemmas such as individual rights versus social obligations, and civil liberties versus security. He never ducks the hard questions
Mr. Etzioni offers a controversial discussion of religious belief systems as he rejects the "clash of civilizations" scenario
No one can accuse Amitai Etzioni of being a cockeyed optimist: He is too tough-minded for that. What is refreshing is the absence of the vitriol and bad faith that is characteristic of so many current discussions of security and foreign policy matters: that alone makes this book worth reading
Ms. Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago and holds the Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom at Georgetown University. Her most recent book is "Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World" (Basic Books).
***
Forget Iran and North Korea—Worry Instead About Russia and Pakistan
The New York Observer
By Matthew Cole
July 23, 2007
[Security First] was clearly written as a policy position for the 2008 Presidential hopefuls (and) he prescribes a new, forward-looking American foreign policy for all 18 candidates from both parties. One of Richard Posner’s top 100 American intellectuals, Mr. Etzioni stresses that he wears neither party’s ideological cloak, and instead seeks a policy that’s at once moral and practical.
Matthew Cole is writing a book about the C.I.A. for Simon & Schuster.
Learning the Hard Lessons from Iraq
Irish Independent
By John Bruton
July 21, 2007
Given the present debate in the US on withdrawal from Iraq, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the continuing determination of the Bush government to foster democracy in the region, this is an important and timely book.
This book is valuable not least because of the hard lessons now being learned in Iraq.
John Bruton, a former Taoiseach, is EU Ambassador to the United States.
***
“An important, must-read book for the rising leadership in the United States, as it prepares for the crucial 2008 elections, a time for a change from the status quo, and for America’s friends around the world.”
—Shuja Nawaz, former Division Chief, International Monetary Fund, former Director, International Atomic Energy Agency, and author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan and Its Army
The Unintended Consequences Of Promoting Democracy Policy
In his latest book, “Security First: For A Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy,” Etzioni argues that the great flaw of post-9/11 — indeed, post-Cold War — American foreign policy has been the single-minded and often simplistic devotion to democracy promotion, as opposed to the more complicated, subtle work of setting the conditions under which democracy might flourish.
Etzioni dispenses with the usual intellectual niceties in formulating the
baseline from which the rest of this “security first” theory arises when he says flatly, “when and where the right to security is violated, all other rights are violated as well.”
Paul McLeary writes for Columbia Journalism Review, Defense Technology International and The Guardian.
I'm interested in your book too Professor Etzioni. But this is rather shameless and inappropriate hawking. You don't even use the space to respond to the reviews. TPM Cafe is not your own private book jacket. If you want to buy an ad, I believe Josh sells the space in the right-hand column for such purposes.
September 7, 2007 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Haven't read this post, can't be bothered to. Can't be bothered to respond. Someone else can volunteer to waste their time.
September 7, 2007 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
TPM Cafe is short on humor, but this was hilarious. I bet in the next installment we'll get Etzioni's fabulous 3rd grade report card.
Unfortunately, Etzioni left out the best part from Matthew Cole's review:
That's a relief!
For those of you who, like me, can't get enough of Etzioni's hilarious self-promotion, the very same exact material can be found here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/7/15055/08254
and here
http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2007/09/07/security-first-what-others-say/
and here
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/9/7/151511/4675
Google is not kind to shameless promoters.
September 7, 2007 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
"But enough about me--let's talk about ME!"
September 7, 2007 8:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I loved this one:
But never mind what I think. Here are excerpts from what others say, and links to their full texts.
Anyone in the business world, or for that matter anyone who has ever been hit up with a sales pitch, will recognize this as one of the most trite and conventional lines in the business - the standard lead-in to testimonials.
In fact, the post and its introductory paragraph are so lame, i wonder if Professor Etzioni produced it himself, or if instead his publisher or agent wrote it for him and posted it under his name.
September 7, 2007 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I sense selective quotations, another sign of a publicist rather than an author engaging in dialog with his readers. For example, we lead with the Sun, founded as a conservative propaganda sheet, and conclude with the Forward's endorsement of "security first," which taken in isolation is either an empty or a scary concept. Empty if it means simply that a leader will have reasonable concern for the continuance of the United States and the safety of its citizens, scary as heck if it means what it sounds like: stop thinking and grab the guns.
John
http://www.haberarts.com/
September 8, 2007 7:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Does management glance at submissions from invited contributors before publishing them? Or are said guests simply handed the keys to the car?
September 8, 2007 8:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
There seems to be some interest in Professor Etzioni's post about people writing about his book. But enough of what I think. Let's see what other people have to say.
WARNING: Just read a couple of more lines, you'll get the joke and then can move on.
On September 8, 2007 - 11:21am AmericanDreamer said:
Does management glance at submissions from invited contributors before publishing them? Or are said guests simply handed the keys to the car?
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On September 8, 2007 - 10:32am jhaber said:
I sense selective quotations, another sign of a publicist rather than an author engaging in dialog with his readers. For example, we lead with the Sun, founded as a conservative propaganda sheet, and conclude with the Forward's endorsement of "security first," which taken in isolation is either an empty or a scary concept. Empty if it means simply that a leader will have reasonable concern for the continuance of the United States and the safety of its citizens, scary as heck if it means what it sounds like: stop thinking and grab the guns.
John
http://www.haberarts.com/
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On September 8, 2007 - 12:06am Dan K said:
Yeah, I loved this one:
But never mind what I think. Here are excerpts from what others say, and links to their full texts.
Anyone in the business world, or for that matter anyone who has ever been hit up with a sales pitch, will recognize this as one of the most trite and conventional lines in the business - the standard lead-in to testimonials.
In fact, the post and its introductory paragraph are so lame, i wonder if Professor Etzioni produced it himself, or if instead his publisher or agent wrote it for him and posted it under his name.
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On September 7, 2007 - 11:26pm DragonflyDC said:
"But enough about me--let's talk about ME!"
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On September 7, 2007 - 8:23pm noblesseoblige said:
TPM Cafe is short on humor, but this was hilarious. I bet in the next installment we'll get Etzioni's fabulous 3rd grade report card.
Unfortunately, Etzioni left out the best part from Matthew Cole's review:
Take heart, conservatives: Mr. Etzioni is not against bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.
That's a relief!
For those of you who, like me, can't get enough of Etzioni's hilarious self-promotion, the very same exact material can be found here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/7/15055/08254
and here
http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2007/09/07/security- first-what-others-say/
and here
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/9/7/151511/4675
Google is not kind to shameless promoters.
Rated 5 by 2 users. see individual ratings
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On September 7, 2007 - 8:06pm Valdron said:
Haven't read this post, can't be bothered to. Can't be bothered to respond. Someone else can volunteer to waste their time.
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On September 7, 2007 - 7:46pm Dan K said:
I'm interested in your book too Professor Etzioni. But this is rather shameless and inappropriate hawking. You don't even use the space to respond to the reviews. TPM Cafe is not your own private book jacket. If you want to buy an ad, I believe Josh sells the space in the right-hand column for such purposes.
thosethingswesay.blogspot.com
September 8, 2007 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was fun! Now let's hear what others are saying about us.
John
http://www.haberarts.com/
September 8, 2007 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hofstadter wanted to write a book that would consist solely of reviews of that very same book.
Maybe Etzioni's next project.
His post above is like putting two mirrors on opposite sides of Etzioni and being treated to an infinitude of Etzionis.
There seems to be some interest in this staggeringly brilliant comment of mine.
But never mind what I think. Here are the ratings by others:
Rated 5 by 2,000,000,000,001 users. see individual ratings.
September 8, 2007 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nobless....whatever, make that 2,000,000,000,002.
But seriously, a few more brilliant posts like this latest from the professor and the readership here will begin to tumble. I hope Josh realizes that this just isn't what we come here to read.
Hoppy in Sacramento
September 8, 2007 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm starting to feel bad about this.
I've been noticing that Etzioni's posts are almost always poorly received. They're frequently ripped to shreds as being poorly thought out, cliche ridden, unimaginative, factually sloppy and inaccurate, full of logical gaps and inconsistencies, and dripping with unsavoury and even toxic subtexts.
Etzioni has received a really rough ride, not the least from myself. It's all justified and correct, but still, I imagine it's painful. It's always unpleasant to think highly of yourself and have your views so easily vivisected and dismissed. This is one of America's top 100 intellectuals, and yet his writings are dissected with the contempt reserved for second rate Rush Limbaugh clones. That's bad enough.
At the same time, the contempt for Etzioni's poorly conceived views wrongly extends to Etzioni himself. He's constantly criticized for his lack of sophistication in internet etiquette, for shameless self promotion, for arrogance, condescension etc. All of which is true. But it does speak to a certain lack of respect and courtesy.
It's as if people are unimpressed with Etzioni's credentials or his writing, and thus become increasingly hostile to his high handed manners. It's reached the stage where he's being mocked freely.
I dunno. Is there a point? It's not like all this gratuitious dissection and punishment is having an effect. I don't think Etzioni's learning anything. So a lot of our posts on him wind up verging on pointless sadism... torturing a poor dumb animal too dense to know what's going on.
I'm starting to have reservations about this whole thing.
The fact that Etzioni is one of America's top 100 intellectuals is not a cause for holding the man to standards of intelligence and reason, for stringently tracking his shabby logic and shabbier facts. Etzioni is what he is, and he's never going to be more than that. We can't condemn a squib for being a squib (note: not a squid, a squib a quivering undifferentiated mass, sort of like a jellyfish without ambition). The notion that he's in the top 100 is like an invitation to open season on Etzioni.
But really, I think it should invite sad contemplation and reflection as to what it says about the nature of America's intellectual elite.
Professor Etzioni, on behalf of myself and others on TPMCafe, you have our apologies. In the future, I'll try not to beat you up as much.
September 9, 2007 8:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Odd. I've always thought of squibs as small, specialized explosive charges, ranging from fasteners that release with a controlled demolitions, to the very light ones that simulate bullet impacts in movie special effects. Occasionally, the term is used for the low-level detonation with a pop of something that was supposed to go boom.
Now, is the implication that Etzioni is a focused explosive with a purpose, or a failed detonation?
Apropos squid, I must point out that I have been most disappointed of late. When I was four or so, I had a floating giant squid as my invisible playmate. Recently, I found yet another depressing bit of information, right along with the demotion of Pluto and St. Christopher: the giant squid (genus Architeuthus isn't the biggest squid. The biggest squid is the colossal squid (genus Mesonychoteuthis). Is nothing sacred anymore?
Walks away muttering, thinking it's a very strange day, and if Etzioni is a form of exploding fried calamari. This probably all comes from spending the last couple of days on a website, a prototype waiting for a real website designer, on electronics and computers for commercial fishing. Yes, there are squid fishermen around here (squiddermen?)
--
Howard
*equal opportunity offense to both extremes*
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" [George Santayana]
September 9, 2007 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your squibs are more dangerous than my squibs.
The worst you can do is step on one of mine and slip. Or mistake it for someone's unfinished jello and eat it.
September 9, 2007 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
A friend, medically required to spend several months on a clear liquid diet, defines jello as a four-letter word. I usually like the stuff.
--
Howard
*equal opportunity offense to both extremes*
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" [George Santayana]
September 9, 2007 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the Harry Potter books, a "Squib" is a person born into a wizard family who has no magical ability.
The implications for Etzioni are disturbing....
September 9, 2007 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I for one would invite Professor Etzioni to a frank discussion of communitarian v. libertarian philosophy.
September 9, 2007 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we all agree to stop mocking the poor idjit?
September 9, 2007 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I wrong? Most of the crit seems to me to address shameless self-promotion. I've repressed my crit 'case if I did something that I was really proud of I might do the same. The second thing as concerns the good Professore
Etzioni is that he rarely engages comments, which I think it a legitimate beef. But as regards the book he is plugging, I would really be interested in how Etzioni sees
Russia figuring into the current foreign policy scheme. I'm on a russia kick right now, so it bothers me that the good professor probably won't address that here.
Neoboho
September 9, 2007 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
~
After scrolling the comments here, for some reason ol' Tom Paine popped into this ol' squid's (Navy terminology) fractured flicker of a brain. Yes. For some reason this thread brought to mind that Tom Paine was pretty much ostracized in his later years upon his return here to the colonies after being unceremoniously run out of England. Not that I'm actually equating the importance, or lack thereof of the good professor's homilies to that of Paine. Common sense dictates I don't.
But there you have it, jolly well don't you.
~OGD~
September 9, 2007 9:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Valdron, your reference to Etzioni as one of America's top 100 intellectuals led me to wonder "according to whom?" and look into it a bit.
Richard Posner, a federal judge and author of many books, wrote a book a few years ago about what he sees as the decline of public intellectuals in the US.
In it, he listed the top 100 US public intellectuals, according to the following method:
"Mr. Posner, in an attempt to quantify the market penetration of intellectuals both living and dead, fed a large assortment of names into his computer, using Google to enumerate Web-page hits, Lexis-Nexis to search popular journals and newspapers, and Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts and Humanities Citation Index to sift through scholarly publications."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CEFDD163BF93AA25752C0A9649C8B63
I would say the method amounts to elevating quantity over quality. It is a dubious measure of influence as well as quality. The list is derived from public mentions from 1995-2000 and therefore is out of date.
BTW he defines a public intellectual as anyone who expresses him or herself in an accessible way on matters of general public concern.
Posner, himself a prolific writer, comes in at number 70 on the list. Number 1 is Henry Kissinger. Number 17 was Bernard Shaw. Remember him? Of CNN anchor fame and poser of the famous 1988 presidential campaign debate question to Michael Dukakis of what his view on the death penalty would be if his wife Kitty were murdered?
Posner himself concludes, according to the article at the link above, that the intellectual markeplace may offer heavy trading, but it often offers very little value.
His top 100 list may say something about what, using his definition and the list he derives from it, "public intellectuals" users of the internet may have been looking at 7-12 years ago, or at least what came up on their screens.
It may mean that many people were looking in the wrong places.
It may mean that these 100 tend to have better publicists than others. (George Will is #3. Is there anyone better at attracting publicity when he wants it than Henry Kissinger?)
It may be a reflection of which individuals and institutions were more entrepreneurial in exploiting the internet technology as it existed at the time.
As a catchy, attention-attracting device it worked pretty well.
The quality of public intellectuals in the US may or may not be inadequate. And it may or may not be in decline. But Posner's 100 list is not any way to help us tell. And so I wouldn't draw any sweeping conclusions about the fact that Etzioni was on it. His name was somewhat in circulation awhile back and, among the names Richard Posner fed into his searches, his name came up more than most.
September 10, 2007 11:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Quite interesting. Thank you.
September 11, 2007 5:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously? This press release is still on the front page? I'd have thought some one would have just taken it down by now and then politely explained to Professor Etzioni (who has gone out of his way to learn the medium and to reply to commenters in separate posts) that this is just not the right forum for this kind of thing.
thosethingswesay.blogspot.com
September 12, 2007 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink