The book is divided into two parts: the factors influencing the start of a civil war and how to prevent the civil war from occurring. I thought the first section was well done and interesting. The second section didn’t live up to the promise of the first.
Although WWII was supposed to end armed conflict, it clearly did not. The wars have become civil wars affecting individual countries. One of the main reasons for conflict described by the author is factionalism. In this concept political ideology is replaced by ethnic and religious identity. The identification with ones own group and the perceived injustice from other groups is a tinderbox for conflict. Clearly, some of these problems are identifiable in the US today as well as in other countries.
The second half of the book was more problematic. Here the author’s political views seem to intrude on the argument. She believes that gun control, more control by the federal government as opposed to the states, and limits of free speech on social media will ameliorate the situation. From my observation, the current administration is trying these ideas, but we seem to be veering toward more violence rather than less. This may be due to a lack of understanding of the real causes of the current dissatisfaction. The white middle class, justifiably in my view, feels marginalized. Whenever a group feels put down, there is a tendency to hate those in other groups that appear to be getting more perks. Therefore, while this book has an interesting premise, I believe it is basically a political rather than a scholarly document.
I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.
No comments:
Post a Comment