Choice 评论

These 19 short articles lambast the prospect of expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) as unnecessary, costly, provocative to Russia, dangerous to security and stability, and likely to entangle the US in Central European squabbles. Taken from a 1997 Cato Institute conference, readers will not be surprised to see recurrent themes of isolationism, "America First" skepticism about any US alliance activity that might involve military intervention, and libertarianism. The authors are well known, articulate, and passionate about the cause of narrowing American national interests and keeping American leadership from expanding the membership and role of a putatively obsolete defense/deterrent alliance. Authors include Cato libertarians; ex-Reagan, Nixon, and Department of State staffers; members of the Union of Concerned Scientists, Center for Defense Information, and RAND; former editors of high-profile journals such as Foreign Affairs and National Interest; and a few professors. Narrow-scope realists join forces with isolationist idealists to argue that there is no security threat to the US in Europe; that NATO enlargement will create one by alienating Russia; and that the US cannot nor should attempt hegemony by way of a NATO front for US imperialism. While the articles are well written, the book would benefit from fewer but more in-depth articles and a few essays representing the other side. The layers of repetitious analysis capture key arguments but lack development. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above. L. S. Hulett; Knox College