Wars of Blood and Faith: The Conflicts That Will Shape the 21st Century

Location: Home » body art - tattoo » General AAS » Wars of Blood and Faith: The Conflicts That Will Shape the 21st Century

Similar Items:

•	Never Quit the Fight
•	Looking For Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World
•	World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism (Vintage)
•	Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
•	Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
In the no-holds-barred tradition that has won him so many fans across the nation and around the world, best-selling author and strategist Ralph Peters confronts the crucial security issues of our time--and the troubled times to come. With his trademark clarity and force, Peters argues that we have left behind the Age of Ideologies to enter a violent period in which ethnicity and religion--blood and faith--will continue to be the source of ferocious rebellions, genocide, and global terrorism. His compelling vision spares neither our foreign policy nor our domestic follies as he ruthlessly outlines what it will take to protect our country against this new breed of enemies.
* We have forgotten what it takes to win wars, leading to tragic, unnecessary failures.
* Too many Americans still refuse to take our enemies seriously, even though terrorists and foreign leaders are bent on inflicting apocalyptic destruction on us.
* Those enemies will use nuclear weapons, if allowed to possess them.
* Religious wars are impossible to prevent--because our enemies desire them.
* The Middle East is headed for greater chaos, and Israel may not survive.
* Civilized approaches to combat no longer work.
* Pop bestsellers have read globalization exactly wrong--it s leading the world to divisive crises of identity, not greater unity.
Despite these challenges, the United States will remain the world s most-successful and greatest power--but the cost will be determined by our willingness to face a new century s brutal realities.
Wars of Blood and Faith continues the ever-popular series of works by Ralph Peters on strategy, conflict, and the military published by Stackpole Books--titles that have not only excited and informed a wide range of readers, but which have profoundly influenced our national security.

Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

You Can Read This More Than Once, and Learn Each Time July 22, 2007
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

Ralph Peters is one of a handful of individuals whose every work I must read. See some others I recommend at the end of this review. Ralph stands alone as a warrior-philosopher who actually walks the trail, reads the sign, and offers up ground truth.

This book is deep look at the nuances and the dangers of what he calls the wars of blood and faith. The introduction is superb, and frames the book by highlighting these core matters:

* Washington has forgotten how to think.
* The age of ideology is over. Ethnic identity will rule.
* Globalization has contradictory effects. Internet spreads hatred and dangerous knowledge (e.g. how to make an improvised explosive device).
* The post-colonial era has begun.
* Women's freedom is the defining issue of our time.
* There is no way to wage a bloodless war.
* The media can now determine the war's outcome. I don't agree with the author on everything, this is one such case. If the government does not lie, the cause is just, and the endeavor is effectively managed, We the People can be steadfast.

A couple of expansions. I recently posted a list of the top ten timeless books at the request of a Stanford '09, and i7 includes Philip Allott's The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State. Deeper in the book the author has an item on Blood Borders, and it tallies perfectly with Allott's erudite view that the Treaty of Westphalia was a huge mistake--instead of creating artificial states (5000 distinct ethnic groups crammed into 189+ artificial political entities) we should have gone instead with Peoples and especially Indigenous Peoples whose lands and resources could not be stolen, only negotiated for peacefully. Had the USA not squandered a half trillion dollars and so many lives and so much good will, a global truth and reconciliation commission, combined with a free cell phone to every woman among the five billion poor (see next paragraph) could conceivably have achieved a peaceful reinvigoration of the planet with liberty and justice for peoples rather than power and wealth for a handful.

The author's views on the importance of women stem from decades of observation and are supported by Michael O'Hanlon's book, A Half Penny on the Federal Dollar: The Future of Development Aid, in which he documents that the single best return on investment for any dollar is in the education of women. They tend to be secular, appreciate sanitation and nutrition and moderation in all things. The men are more sober, responsible, and productive when their women are educated. THIS, not unilateral militarism, virtual colonialism, and predatory immoral capitalism, should be the heart of our foreign policy.

The book is organized into sections I was not expecting but that both make sense, and add to the whole. Part I is 17 short pieces addressing the Twenty-First Century Military. Here the author focuses on the strategic, lambastes Rumsfeld for not listening, and generally overlooks the fact that all our generals and admirals failed to be loyal to the Constitution and instead accepted illegal orders based on lies.

In Part II, Iraq and Its Neighbors, we have 24 pieces. The best piece by far in terms of provocative strategic value is "Blood Borders: How a Better Middle East Would Look." Curiously he does not address Syria or Lebanon, but I expect he will since the Syrians just evacuated Lebanon and Syria and Iran appear to be planning for a pincer movement on Baghdad after they cut the ground supply line from Kuwait.

A handful of pieces, 5 in all, are grouped in Part III, The Home Front. The best two for me were "Our Strategic Intelligence Problem" in which he points out that more money and more technology are NOT going to make us smarter, it is humans with history, culture, language, and eyes on the target that will tease out the nuances no satellite can handle. He also points out how easily our satellites are deceived. I share his anguish in the piece on "Lynching the Marines." I called and emailed the Colonel at HQMC in charge of the defense, and offered a heat stress defense that I had just learned about from a NASA engineer helping firefighters. If the body gets too hot, the brain starts to fry, and irrational behavior is the norm. The Colonel declined to acknowledge. That told me all I needed to know about how the Marines were all too eager to hang their own.

Part V was the most unfamiliar to me, covering Israel and Hezbollah. In 17 pieces, the author, an avowed supporter of Israel, pulls no punches, tarring and feathering the Israelis for being corrupt (selling off their military supplies on the black market (to whom, one wonders, since the only people in the market are terrorists?) confident the US will resupply them) and militarily and politically incompetent. To which I would add economically stupid and morally challenged--Stealing 50% of the water Israel uses to do farming that is under 5% of the GDP is both nuts and short-sighted. See the brief by Chuck Spinney at OSS.Net.

Part V, The World Beyond, is a philosophical tour of the horizon, from water wars and plagues (see my lists for books on each of the ten threats, twelve policies, and eight challengers), to precision knifing of Russia, France, and Europe. Darfur, one of over 15 genocides being ignored right now (Darfur because Sudan pretends to be helping on terrorism and the US does not have the will or the means to be effective there) is touched on.

The book ends marvelously with a piece on "The Return of the Tribes," a piece that emphasizes the role of religion and the exclusivity of cults and specific localized tribes. They don't want to be integrated nor do they want new members.

Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places: 5th Edition (Robert Young Pelton the World's Most Dangerous Places)
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict With a New Introduction by the Author
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

5 out of 5 stars

The shape of things to come... July 18, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful

Ralph Peters is likely the premier observer and commentator on the world's most vexing problems and challenges and this volume is a worthy successor to his previous works. Neither a kibitzer nor a naif, Peters is a veteran, professional soldier, a keen observer, and a no-holds barred critic. There are many who will dispute Peters' views but none can come close to duplicating his depth of knowledge or his informed and insightful views. The world is full of reporters and commentators who will opine from afar and profess to hold all the answers -- Peters won't. He'll express vexation, describe situations and parties to problems, draw from the lessons of history, and propose solutions, alternatives or invite further study of the situation. More to the point, unlike those who propose to set the nation's agenda in either Congress or the media, his opinions are backed by first person experience and exposure -- he's been there, done that. India, Somalia, Bosnia, Tajikistan, Israel, Kurdistan, Iraq -- he's been there, on the ground, living with and listening to those who call these trouble-spots home. For the interested, discerning reader who wishes a more informed and intelligent view of a world in upheaval this work is a must read.

4 out of 5 stars

Great Writing and Tightly Focused August 4, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

"Wars of Blood & Faith" is another of Ralph Peters' collections of previously published columns put into book form. On this note, the book is a let-down because there is little new material that a subscription to the New York Post or a monthly check-in with the Armed Forces Journal website hasn't already posted.

But for his fantastic writing he must be given full credit, and as in his previous collections and works he continues to remain tightly focused on his message that globalization isn't bringing the majority of humanity together but apart--save for the new globalized, corporate aristocracy--, life is essentially a Hobbesian struggle, the plague of corruption is a deadly ill that makes other problems even worse, we need to be geopolitically patient and let China, Hugo Chavez and other rogue or less-liked regimes fail on their own while we as a country build ties with other countries who stand to offer a lot more (political) friendship and common cause than such "stalwart," forward-thinking and democracy-loving allies like Saudi Arabia, and that the large swathe of civilization residing in the Islamic heartlands--save the Israelis--is largely in collapse and a hopeless mess. A major theme of his that does not get treated this time around, the emancipation of women around the world, does not get its own section but is mentioned enough throughout the book for the reader to realize this is one of the author's main ideas for securing a better future for humanity.

The articles and columns are indeed thought-provoking, and some of Mr. Peters' predictions and analyses are coming to light if one pays attention to the news. His observation that the Chinese are not liked in Africa and abroad for their callous business dealings with shady regimes, like Sudan or Zimbabwe, is starting to generate small headlines in the global media. Peters offers different views from a different angle on a variety of issues: from his take on globalization as a socially dividing force, to his gritted-teeth note that the global media is now essentially a combatant in war zones that can indeed effect a battlefield victory or defeat based on activist journalism (First Battle of Fallujah, anyone?) and his belief that Europeans may some day pull out their old tricks of genocide and ethnic cleansing to deal with immigrant populations they don't want to assimilate or want, period. Only one essay can only be described as really out of whack: "Plan B for Iraq." Thought-provoking yes, but the whole side comment about Venezuela was a bit much. The controversial "Blood Borders" essay makes an appearance here as well.

The best feature of the book is the author's optimism, cautious in some areas but there nevertheless. There are parts of the world that offer hope and allies, if we approach these areas from a position of mutual respect. Africa is beginning to stand up for itself, though the going will be slow. Latin America offers plenty of allies, we simply have to let the new Caudillos fail on their own while demonstrating that democracy does work (requires work on our part, too). These are more of the alternative viewpoints that the drones in Washington should take into consideration. Again, a bit of a let-down for lack of new material but a tightly-focused effort and worth the time for the author's writing ability alone.

5 out of 5 stars

Ralph Peters' Latest 'Must Read' Book August 4, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Wars of Blood and Faith contains 78 carefully-selected, hard-hitting articles the author published in 2006-2007 in the New York Post, Armed Forces Journal, USA Today, Washington Monthly, The Weekly Standard, Military Review, RealClearPolitics.com, and Armchair General magazine. Individually, as originally published, each essay provided plenty of food for thought - now, read as a book in this superb collection by publisher Stackpole, it's a real feast!
Peters', today's most insightful, clear-headed strategic thinker, includes a revelatory introductory essay that, alone, is well worth the price of the book. He shatters the mythology so dear to the hearts of America's "ruling elite" that "all men want peace, with its corollary fantasies of bloodless war and a lawyer's faith in negotiations." These through-the-looking-glass assumptions belong to the now-past Age of Ideology, a two hundred year "aberrant period in history ... a time of unaccountable mass delusion, when human beings convinced themselves that individuals could reason out a better architecture for human societies than human collectives could arrive at organically." Peters perceptively reveals that "we have returned to the historical mainstream, abandoning conflicts over artificial systems of social organizations in favor of strife provoked by those ineradicable causes, religion and ethnicity ... the bleeding over political systems is largely finished; we have returned to the historical norm of wars of blood and belief." The age of wars over "isms" (fascism, nationalism, Communism, Nazism, etc.) is over - it's tribe versus tribe in a war to the death. The enemy's preferred strategy is no longer one of winning hearts and minds; that's been replaced by one calling for a knife to the heart and a bullet to the brain. Our leaders' failure to comprehend that represents little more than national suicide.
Yet, don't assume that the sole value of Wars of Blood and Faith lies only in its sorely-needed wake-up call that we must realize our survival depends upon - quite literally -- killing our enemies before they kill us. Peters' prescient, timely and carefully-crafted articles cover the world, explaining in the author's trademark crystal-clear, Hemingway-esque style the myriad of critical security issues that confront America and the West around the globe. Although many of the book's essays address the Iraq War's military and political issues (including its domestic and international fall-out), Peters razor-sharp analysis looks beyond the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan to encompass such far-flung places as China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, Somalia, and Darfur. With continuing worldwide experience in 70 countries, Peters is no stay-at-home "studio pundit" - the book includes first-hand reporting from the front lines in Iraq and Israel's war with Hezbollah. Ralph Peters knows what he's talking about. More important, he's not afraid to "go public" by sharing that unequaled experience with the reading public in his perceptive essays. As a result, Wars of Blood and Faith is a cogent, desperately-needed wake up call to Peters' fellow citizens. Since, as the author notes, our "ruling elite" leaders in Washington seem "afraid to think -- because many of the answers are terrifying," he's taking his case directly to those who elect them. "The goal of the many essays and columns in this book," Peters explains, "is to provoke the complacent, to challenge the (deadly) traditional wisdom, and to encourage Americans to think for themselves." One fervently hopes they will. Clearly, reading Wars of Blood and Faith is a great way to give those complacent brains a much-needed "jump-start." Buy it. Read it. Share it.

3 out of 5 stars

More bravado from the bellicose Lt. Col. Peters (US Army Ret.) October 7, 2007
6 out of 11 found this review helpful

This is Ralph Peters' sequel to "Never Quit The Fight," published in July 2006. It follows the same format as the earlier work and is a compilation of 2-3 page essays written for various (mostly conservative) newspapers, journals, and the like. There are no references or bibliography. There is no index to this 367 page book.

The 80 articles were written from 2006 through 2007, and are arranged according to five themes, 1) The Twenty-First Century Military, 2) Iraq and Its Neighbors, 3) The Home Front, 4) Israel's Struggle and 5) The World Beyond.

Early in the book Peters expounds his central idea, which is repeated in various formulations throughout the work. "The struggles in which we are now engaged, as well as the wars that will haunt our future, are bloody manifestations of a deformed world struggling to return to its natural condition."

I think Peters' idea here bears no relation to the real world. What is the "natural condition" of the world?" "Natural?" As in prehistoric times? This type of theoretical inadequacy renders many of his interpretive concepts questionable.

As it appears later in the essays one wonders if Peters' basic idea is just another way of expressing the old left-liberal boilerplate: The Third World was living in "natural" (Peters calls it "organic') harmony within its environs. The cruel exploiters from the North disrupted this harmony, and when they left they drew "unnatural" boundaries between the tribes and clans. These unnatural boundaries "deformed" the world and caused the violence that now exists between the former "organic" units.

This analysis ignores what historical research has long since proven. Prior to the advance of the white-skinned North (globally speaking) into the dark-skinned South there were bloody dark-skinned tyrants ruling the so-called "organic" social units. These organic units were embroiled in bloody and violent power struggles within and without - fighting against other "organic" units. The problem is not colonial exploitation or lines on a map, but human nature itself. Third world peoples have been exploited by their own tyrannical leaders, both before and after the colonial period.

Yet there are many interesting perceptions in Peters book. He throws so many ideas in the air that some of them are bound to fly. His understanding of the Middle East quagmire and the U.S. role in it is described in starkly realistic terms. As he says on p. 190: "Like plenty of other Americans, I wish we could just be done with the Middle East. Unfortunately, the Middle East is not done with us. And the situation is going to get considerably worse before it shows a hint of getting better."

But mixed with clear perceptions are absolutely muddle-headed notions.

Peters devotes a mere 2 pages to debunk what he calls the "Eurabia" myth. He states on p. 332 "A rash of pop prophets tell us that Muslims in Europe are reproducing so fast and European societies are so weak and listless that , before you know it, the continent will become Eurabia..." Peters' refutation of this "myth" rests on one argument: Europeans have always been the most ferocious and bloodthirsty peoples in history.

But are Europeans still the "ethnic cleansing" murderers they once were? Obviously not. The thinkers that Peters derisively calls "pop prophets" include some very noteworthy intellectuals. They offer convincing proofs that the Europe of the Holocaust is gone.

The most notable of these is Princeton historian Bernard Lewis, the doyen of Middle Eastern history. In July 2004 Lewis told the conservative Hamburg-based daily Die Welt that Europe would be Islamic by the end of this century "at the very latest." Other noteworthy commentators include Mark Steyn ("America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It), Brigitte Gabriel (Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America), Oriana Fallaci (The Force of Reason), Bat Ye'or (Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis), Tony Blankley (The West's Last Chance: Winning The Clash of Civilizations), Bruce Bawer (While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within).

At his best Peters brings clarity and insight to global issues. But his best does not appear often enough here. Too frequently he engages in braggadocio, caterwauling, and wrong-headed egotism. If you're familiar with Peters work and like his style of punditry, this is worth the read. Otherwise I'd steer clear of it.

Powered by Associate-O-Matic