India and Pakistan will be among the most important countries in the twenty-first century. In Avoiding Armageddon; Bruce Riedel clearly explains the challenge and the importance of successfully managing America's affairs with these two emerging powers and their toxic relationship.Born from the British Raj; the two nations share a common heritage; but they are different in many important ways. India is already the world's largest democracy and will soon become the planet's most populous nation. Pakistan; soon to be the fifth most populous country; has a troubled history of military coups; dictators; and harboring terrorists such as Osama bin Laden.The longtime rivals are nuclear powers; with tested weapons. They have fought four wars with each other and have gone to the brink of war several times. Meanwhile; U.S. presidents since Franklin Roosevelt have been increasingly involved in the region's affairs. In the past two decades alone; the White House has intervened several times to prevent nuclear confrontation on the subcontinent. South Asia clearly is critical to American national security; and the volatile relationship between India and Pakistan is the crucial factor determining whether the region can ever be safe and stable.Based on extensive research and Riedel's role in advising four U.S. presidents on the region; Avoiding Armageddon reviews the history of American diplomacy in South Asia; the crises that have flared in recent years; and the prospects for future crisis. Riedel provides an in-depth look at the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008; the worst terrorist outrage since 9/11; and he concludes with authoritative analysis on what the future is likely to hold for America and the South Asia puzzle as well as recommendations on how Washington should proceed.
#1130628 in Books NYU Press 2006-11-01 2006-11-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.94 x .77 x 6.02l; .98 #File Name: 081479940X323 pages
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Irish in the Civil WarBy Patrick YoungThe Irish are a problem for Civil War historians. Irish filled the ranks of the Union Army; and Irish units like the Irish Brigade were well known for their bravery. Yet the Irish drank deeply of the Democratic brew of racism: They consistently opposed the Lincoln administration during the war; and they erupted in insurrection and race riots at the imposition of the draft.In The Harp and the Eagle; historian Susannah Ural Bruce tries to place the Irish army volunteer in the context of an Irish community that came to reject the Union war effort. She depicts an Irish soldiery that joins the Union Army as much for what their service will mean to Ireland as for any devotion to the United States. The Irish soldier may have seen himself more as an ally of the Union Army than as a member of it; in her view.While the book is engaging and covers new ground; it has too great a focus on Irish volunteers serving in identifiably Irish units. Only one in five Irish in the army was a member of a unit like the Irish Brigade. Most Irishmen served in mixed units that included native-born as well as immigrants from other countries. Unlike those who joined the Irish Brigade; these men may not have prioritized their Irishness over their Americaness. But we can't tell from Bruce; because she uses the Irish Brigade experience as a proxy for Irish American soldiers.That shortcoming aside; the book does a fine job of examining the politics of Irish New York and Boston at the outbreak of hostilities. These were new communities whose character had only been formed in the decade before the outbreak of the war. The Irish were collectively the poorest and most marginalized group of white people in America. Their communal leaders were new to America themselves and often guessed wrong about the future course of American politics. Those leaders devoted as much time to plotting the armed liberation of Ireland as to the development of their own communities in America; and the demands of Irish nationalism slowed assimilation and derailed economic advancement.Irish immigrants arriving in America faced violent discrimination; and that led many Irish to interpret the actions of the government through a lens of distrust. The Republican Party included many anti-immigrant Know Nothings; and the Irish assumed that President Lincoln was cut from the same cloth. When an Irish unit bled on a battlefield or an Irish officer did not get a promotion; many Irish saw the secret hand of the Know Nothings behind it.While no American press would ever be as quick to charge prejudice as the Irish American press of the 1860s (whether they had the evidence of discrimination or not) not all the allegations of discrimination were baseless.The destructive war for the Union chewed up the young men whom Irish families relied on for economic survival. The wives and orphans of soldiers who were killed at Antietam and Gettysburg were abandoned by widows' aid societies that only helped Protestants. Dead soldiers' destitute parents in Ireland were left to starve when the remittances sent by their sons were cut off by a bullet; and when the federal government refused to pay survivor benefits to family members living outside the US. This led to a feeling of abandonment by the Irish; who saw their sacrifices disregarded by the native born.Professional historians are only recently addressing the experiences of immigrants in 19th century America and Ural Bruce's contribution to this project helps give focus to a desperate community thrust into an apocalyptic situation.13 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Irish Democrats; Irish Nationalism; Fenians?By General Phil SheridanMs. Bruce breaks the "Irish Brigade" stranglehold on the Irish-American Civil War experience--which is very important. She describes Irish experience; in the 23rd and 90 Illinois; 10th Ohio; 116th and 69th Pennsylvania. However she doesn't connect all the dots. The 69th Pennsylvania elected Welshman Joshua T. Owen as colonel not because he was a fellow European; but because he was a Democratic politician. I feel the role of the Democratic party in helping form these units is very underplayed throughout the book---perhaps because 2006 Irish-Americans are assimilated Republicans today?Irish nationalism is also truely ignored. Although not every Irish-American was a Fenian; she emasculates the role of Irish nationalism.For instance she emphasizes the key role of Colonel Dennis O'Kane of the 69th Pennsylvania at the battle of Gettysburg; explaining that he was born; raised; and married in County Derry before moving to Philadelphia. Before Pickett's Charge O'Kane called on the officers and men of the regiment to defend "the soil of our native state" and didn't mention Ireland--a key point in her thesis. However she doesn't mention that O'Kane was a Philadelphia delegate to the great 1855 prewar Irish convention of Irish societies held in New York City. O'Kane was for peaceful; electoral removal of the British Empire--not a Fenian; but still an Irish Nationalist! By the way Ms. Bruce; C company--color company of the 69th Pennsylvania carrying the USA colors and regimental Irish flag--was called the EMMETT GUARDS--named not in honor of the famous American clown---but the Irish Patriot Robert Emmet; hung by the British government 20 September 1803.All in all; her book is well researched and breaks new ground; I found her writing style superior to most academics. Worth Buying.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Harp and the EagleBy Donna BenichasaThis book was bought as a gift for a friend who was born in Ireland. She found this book very interesting.
