2024 the best police department in america review

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“A world in which the leading liberal-democratic nation does not assume its role as world policeman will become a world in which dictatorships contend, or unite, to fill the breach. Americans seeking a return to an isolationist garden of Eden—alone and undisturbed in the world, knowing neither good nor evil—will soon find themselves living within shooting range of global pandemonium.”—From the Introduction

In a brilliant book that will elevate foreign policy in the national conversation, Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Bret Stephens makes a powerful case for American intervention abroad.

In December 2011 the last American soldier left Iraq. “We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq,” boasted President Obama. He was proved devastatingly wrong less than three years later as jihadists seized the Iraqi city of Mosul. The event cast another dark shadow over the future of global order—a shadow, which, Bret Stephens argues, we ignore at our peril.

America in Retreat identifies a profound crisis on the global horizon. As Americans seek to withdraw from the world to tend to domestic problems, America’s adversaries spy opportunity. Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to restore the glory of the czarist empire go effectively unchecked, as do China’s attempts to expand its maritime claims in the South China Sea, as do Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear capabilities. Civil war in Syria displaces millions throughout the Middle East while turbocharging the forces of radical Islam. Long-time allies such as Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, doubting the credibility of American security guarantees, are tempted to freelance their foreign policy, irrespective of U.S. interests.

Deploying his characteristic stylistic flair and intellectual prowess, Stephens argues for American reengagement abroad. He explains how military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan was the right course of action, foolishly executed. He traces the intellectual continuity between anti-interventionist statesmen such as Henry Wallace and Robert Taft in the late 1940s and Barack Obama and Rand Paul today. And he makes an unapologetic case for Pax Americana, “a world in which English is the default language of business, diplomacy, tourism, and technology; in which markets are global, capital is mobile, and trade is increasingly free; in which values of openness and tolerance are, when not the norm, often the aspiration.”

In a terrifying chapter imagining the world of 2019, Stephens shows what could lie in store if Americans continue on their current course. Yet we are not doomed to this future. Stephens makes a passionate rejoinder to those who argue that America is in decline, a process that is often beyond the reach of political cures. Instead, we are in retreat—the result of faulty, but reversible, policy choices. By embracing its historic responsibility as the world’s policeman, America can safeguard not only greater peace in the world but also greater prosperity at home.

At once lively and sobering, America in Retreat offers trenchant analysis of the gravest threat to global order, from a rising star of political commentary. 

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sentinel (November 18, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591846625
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591846628
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.035 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.01 x 9.31 inches
Reviewer: Robert J. Mack
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Foreign Policy Volume of Exceptional Wisdom
Review: If you want to know why the recent actions of countries outside our borders are destructive and why we as a super-power better get our act together before we are totally eclipsed by others who understand and abuse power, then Brett Stephens's exceptional book America in Retreat, published November 2014, is required reading. Stephens is the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary and is the foreign-affairs columnist and the deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal and was an editor of The Jerusalem Post.If you don't give a damn about foreign policy and want to "circle the wagons" and rationalize inaction with the cliché "we need to take care of our own," then you will probably not even consider reading his book. But not gaining the wisdom from Stephens's writing will be at your own peril because you will never understand America's true role in the world, and you will never understand that there is still time for America to recuperate and be the freedom-loving and tyranny fighting champion she has been before but has abandoned and forgotten.Down the road, say 20 years from now, this book will be the sine qua non for understanding foreign policy and geopolitical forces during our present age and for the foreseeable future. Right now, we are way too polarized politically for many people to accept its incisive look at what is wrong with our foreign policy. But the people who want to attain power in America in the next elections had better read and heed its wise counsel.A debt of gratitude is owed to Brett Stephens for taking on this crucial indictment of America's foreign policy and for prescribing a new moral order for the U.S. "to set and enforce basic global norms: a set of basic behavioral expectations. This is quite different from declaring or accepting international `laws' of dubious enforceability." His work is superbly written and what is more important, it is well thought out and jam-packed with wise ideas and insightful recommendations.Kudos to Bret Stephens for a timely history lesson and an astute assessment of geopolitical events with an understanding of human beings and the socio-economic and political forces of our era. Highly, highly recommended.

Reviewer: Kindle Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fine book, but...
Review: Bret Stephens is the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs columnist for the Wall Street Journal, arguably the nation’s most liberal newspaper. I read his column regularly so I was gratified that he published a book on America’s role (or lack of one) in world affairs. Mr. Stephens is a gifted writer and his book is both informative and thought provoking. I don’t agree completely with his premise that the United States cannot afford to shirk its “responsibility” to remain the world’s moral, political and military champion. And I reject outright his proposed solution, that America must assume the role of “world cop” in order to keep tyrants and despots at bay lest their local mischief grow into a threatening international crisis.Stephens presents a cogent history of America’s isolationist tendencies and how such behavior often leads to negative consequences. He goes into considerable detail laying out a compelling case that we are now revisiting scenarios that played out in the 1930s—and most Americans over the age of 35 know that didn’t end well. I agree. We differ strongly on how the United States should use its power and influence to manage an increasingly fractious world. Stephens proposes that the United States become something like a world cop using the “broken windows” theory of law enforcement. Here, in my opinion, Mr. Stephens’ liberal upbringing, education, and lack of military experience lead him astray.Soldiers are not, and should never be, policemen. There is a vast gulf between cops working within a framework of laws and soldiers who, until recent times, operate in a much looser environment that includes state-sanctioned killing. Stephens offers the Syrian civil war as an example of where the United States should have stepped in to stop the misery and slaughter. Really? Rule number one when in a position to dispatch troops to foreign lands: Never, under any circumstances, interfere in a foreign civil war. It is a lose-lose proposition. No matter which side you take, the opposing side will hate you forever. Korea, 1950, a civil war. Outcome: stalemate, over 40,000 US KIA/MIA, and there are still nearly 30,000 US military personnel in-country. Vietnam, mid-1950s onward, a civil war, Outcome: over 60,000 US KIA/MIA, we were soundly defeated and shown the door.In an age where military campaigns are governed by “rules of engagement” written by lawyers ensconced in small windowless cubicles, where are we to find the sort of “cop” that fits Stephens’ criteria? Don’t count on the US military. There just aren’t enough US Marines to police the world. Forget the US Army; it hasn’t won a war since 1945 and has become too bloated to cost-effectively field troops (average cost per year per US soldier in Afghanistan: 2.1 million dollars). Forget the US Air Force; hundred million dollar aircraft dropping $10,000 JDAMs on some Wahhabi jihadist is neither good tactics nor cost-effective policy. Forget the US Navy; it hasn’t changed tactics since 1944 and, like the Air Force, relies more and more on increasingly expensive toys. To his credit, Stephens does address the US military’s irrational quest for expensive high-tech equipment despite little evidence to date that they work to win wars.Make no mistake. Cops are only effective when they are backed up by a sound framework of laws and jurisprudence. That necessary legal infrastructure will not be found in the places where Stephens’ world cops would be stationed or sent. Stephens opines that a strong United States policing the world would deter those bent on aggression, provide a security safety net under our allies, and give us a wider buffer for our own self-protection. Desirable goals, but the devil is in the details. The author suggests we must get better at selecting where to use force. Yeah, right. So the CIA must not only be clairvoyant but unerringly accurate in its assessments. The Joint Chiefs of Staff must remember maxims from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and ignore their historical predilection for ticket punching. Our elected officials must be replaced by something other than failed ambulance chasers, community organizers, and wannabe Caesars. And finally the US public needs to learn (or relearn) what it takes to win wars: killing and destruction on such a scale that the opposing side has but two choices: capitulation or extermination. Fat chance. Americans want to be loved, not feared. As a consequence, all of our institutions are currently geared to attaining a form of international mind-meld, from bribing both our friends and enemies to a kinder, gentler military presence. Such a course will end badly for, if anything, this century has clearly demonstrated America just can’t afford nation building. We need something much more direct and forceful than a cop on a beat.The best chapter in this book? Stephens is in his element when he uses his considerable knowledge of world issues and international affairs to lay out fictional, but plausible, crisis that might erupt around the world. Would-be authors take note: there are great ideas for a book here.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and, despite my reservations about its conclusions, recommend it. Sorry, Mr. Stephens. There is a reason why Americans traditionally seek isolationism. We always get the short end of the stick trying to save someone else’s ass. As Americans living in a fractious world, we don’t need to be loved. We need to be feared.

Reviewer: dennis landry
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Brilliant!
Review: This is a brilliant rendering of where we've been and where we are. The book engages a wide variety of issues impacting on American foreign policy and America's place in the world. Perhaps the best review I could offer is that upon completing the book I immediately began to read it again.In an age of creeping isolationism and fatigue with global conditions Mr. Stephens makes the argument that without us things could be much, much worse. The argument is not only for a degree of engagement but is also an argument for the value of consistency. If your concerned about American foreign policy and America's place in the world READ THIS BOOK!

Reviewer: Seth M. Siegel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Compelling Argument for Engagement
Review: "America in Retreat" is a terrific book. Interesting, well written, well argued, often erudite. For those who love Stephens' weekly column in the Wall Street Journal but wish there were more of it, "America in Retreat" provides Stephens in long form. Most important, the book is a public service. For the many who now acquiesce in the idea of a less-engaged US, Stephens demonstrates that it comes with significant costs. As the national debate about America's role in the world continues, this book is an eloquent argument for engagement and leadership.

Reviewer: rilla irvinevine 467
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is easily one of the most important contributions to the subject of dealing with radical Islam since Bernard Lewis.The lack of a current American strategy put a bee in my bonnet, and I hope that my favorite author might be moved to comment. I have also sent it along to the Hudson Foundation.Why has no one offered to get Turkey in against Assad by instituting a no-fly zone and offering to to cede the failed state of Syria (which once was Turkish) back to Turkey if they dump Assad and recognize an independent non -Turkish Kurdistan?.At one blow you would disrupt an Iranian puppet, create three new buffers to contain Iran (including Iraq by threatening to support the Anbar Sunnis if they choose to re-join Turkey if not fairly treated). The return of some 30K U.S.boots is probably necessary.Arm the Kurds and Israel, do not sign a treaty with Iran, and begin rearming with the intent to create the capability to destroy Iran's nuclear infrastructure if they continue to promote world terrorism.All this should buy the time needed to destabilize the mullahs and get events flowing in na more promising direction.

Reviewer: shufti
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: An essential guide to today's news. But it raises an intriguing question - if Uncle Sam is stepping back from being the World's policeman - why is it wrong for Russian, Chinese and Iranian policemen to step-in and fill the gap? These are not just countries they are influential cultures & civilisations - and they have natural spheres of influence which span across many political borders. Since 1947 and the Truman doctrine Pax Americana has been OK. But perhaps in 2015 it is time for others to step in and keep world order. For example, Putin is a KGB thug but maybe that is exactly what the lunatics in the middle east need to keep them in line.

Reviewer: Steven H MacDowall
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I really like Bret's voice and what he has to says

Reviewer: ASW
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: excellent.