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A review by socraticgadfly
Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race by Richard Rhodes
5.0
Richard Rhodes moves from more general nuclear weapons issues of "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and "Dark Sun" to here take a skeptical and insightful look at details of arms negotiations issues in specific. Since the biggest deals took place after Gorbachev became Soviet leader, and he was a new leader for that country, Rhodes begins by giving an autobiographical sketch of him. Since Reagan was the U.S. president who had the most direct dealings with him, and set the floor for Bush Senior, he gets a sketch, too.
Unfortunately, we just get a thumbnail of Richard Perle. The "Prince of Darkness," Rhodes shows, earned his nickname long before the Project for a New American Century and the invasion of Iraq. Rhodes documents well how Perle, and other neoconservatives, not only wanted to wreck arms-reduction deals with Gorbachev, but went out of their way to present false options, distort or even straight-out lie about evidence and more. (Rhodes spells out one case where a still-unknown Reagan Administration person at Reykjavik told a direct lie about a Soviet position on an issue.) Arguably, such service to ideology before country comes close to the spirit, if not the letter, of treason. And, so, it's no wonder that many people claim Rhodes demonizes Reagan (a Reagan of myth), hates America, etc. Nothing's farther from the truth.
In fact, Rhodes loves America enough to wonder, at the end of the book, just how much we, as well as the Soviets, LOST due to the Cold War. Eisenhower already noted this in his "military-industrial complex" warnings. He notes that, while not as militarized as the USSR, American could fairly be described as militarized to some degree. And, though he doesn't move beyond the end of the Cold War, by noting that Dick Cheney refused to think of a "peace dividend" through cutting defense spending at the end of the Cold War, Rhodes leaves the reader to realize that is still true today.
In reality, this is more a 4-star than a 5-star book, but, as on Amazon, it needs a 5-star rating to offset the types of reviews that do everything but mention "Comrade Rhodes."
Unfortunately, we just get a thumbnail of Richard Perle. The "Prince of Darkness," Rhodes shows, earned his nickname long before the Project for a New American Century and the invasion of Iraq. Rhodes documents well how Perle, and other neoconservatives, not only wanted to wreck arms-reduction deals with Gorbachev, but went out of their way to present false options, distort or even straight-out lie about evidence and more. (Rhodes spells out one case where a still-unknown Reagan Administration person at Reykjavik told a direct lie about a Soviet position on an issue.) Arguably, such service to ideology before country comes close to the spirit, if not the letter, of treason. And, so, it's no wonder that many people claim Rhodes demonizes Reagan (a Reagan of myth), hates America, etc. Nothing's farther from the truth.
In fact, Rhodes loves America enough to wonder, at the end of the book, just how much we, as well as the Soviets, LOST due to the Cold War. Eisenhower already noted this in his "military-industrial complex" warnings. He notes that, while not as militarized as the USSR, American could fairly be described as militarized to some degree. And, though he doesn't move beyond the end of the Cold War, by noting that Dick Cheney refused to think of a "peace dividend" through cutting defense spending at the end of the Cold War, Rhodes leaves the reader to realize that is still true today.
In reality, this is more a 4-star than a 5-star book, but, as on Amazon, it needs a 5-star rating to offset the types of reviews that do everything but mention "Comrade Rhodes."