The Shield and the Cloak
The Security of the Commons
-
- $19.99
-
- $19.99
Publisher Description
Gary Hart has long been one of the nation's foremost experts on national security, combining a deep knowledge of national security policy with first-hand experience of the political realities that influence how America safeguards itself and its interests. In his new book, Hart outlines the fundamental changes with which America must grapple when confronting the current terrorist threat--a threat with no state and no geographic home-base and thus no real target for the world's largest and most sophisticated military force. Hart argues for a security of the commons, emphasizing that the new security will require a shield for the homeland as well as a cloak of non-military security, including security of income, community, environment, and energy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former Senator Hart argues in this treatise the future of national security that 9/11 was an "opportunity to redefine America's role in the world," but one the U.S. is misusing "by waging preemptive warfare in the Middle East and thus possibly increasing the threat." Hart proposes the military abandon traditional notions of warfare ("Fast fighters, giant carriers, monster tanks, big missiles") in favor of increasing the number of special forces units that can be deployed quickly and quietly against insurgents whose organization is akin to "cancerous cells." Hart would have the National Guard, no longer required as an invasion and occupation force, recast as a "homeland security shield." This is an accessible and stimulating read for those interested in national security, politics and terrorism.
