The Foreign Service Journal, November 2005

F O C U S 42 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 Accidental Encounters with History (And Some Lessons Learned) Lincoln Palmer Bloomfield, Hot House Press, 2005, $26.00, hardcover, 222 pages. “A scholar, practitioner and for- mer colleague, Bloomfield makes it quite clear that he has a responsi- bility to educate. He does so brilliantly in this well- written account of his various encounters with history. His personal description of major events shaping the last half of the 20th century adds vivid details and thoughtful interpretations,” says former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Bloomfield served in the U.S. Navy, the State Department and as director of global issues for the National Security Council. As a political science pro- fessor at MIT, he directed the Institute’s arms control project and pioneered the development of political gaming. Terrorism and Peacekeeping: New Security Challenges Volker C. Franke, ed., Praeger, 2005, $24.95, paperback, 294 pages. Today, U.S. forces are increas- ingly charged with asymmetric war- fare and fighting terrorism or with humanitarian relief and peacekeep- ing missions, challenges that defy predetermined responses based on the rigid and automated contain- ment strategies utilized during the Cold War. The case studies presented in this book are valuable tools to stimulate the type of creative thinking, new ideas and adaptable strategies needed to ensure stability in this new world. Volker C. Franke is assistant professor of political science and international studies at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. Mission Italy: On the Front Lines of the Cold War Richard N. Gardner, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005, $29.95, hardcover, 320 pages. Richard Gardner’s four years as ambassador to Italy (1977-1981) witnessed the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, the failed attempt of the Italian Com- munist Party to take power, the Soviet invasion of Af- ghanistan and seizure of American hostages in Tehran, as well as Italy’s historic decision to deploy U.S. cruise missiles. “A scrupulously honest and thoroughly docu- mented narrative of a critical episode in the history of the Cold War … [that] can serve as a guidebook for stu- dents of diplomacy and aspiring diplomats,” says Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser, who wrote the foreword. Mission Italy has been nominated for the American Academy of Diplomacy’s 2005 Book Award. The Opportunity: America’s Moment to Alter History’s Course Richard N. Haass, PublicAffairs, 2005, $16.50, hardcover, 242 pages. Here, in what The New York Times calls “the groundwork for a counterrevolution,” is a statement of the “realist” point of view on the post–Cold War world from the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Haass, a former head of the State Department’s policy planning staff, argues that the U.S. now has great opportunities to integrate itself political- ly with the rest of the world, and that if that integration does not happen, “the principal challenges of this era … will come to overwhelm the United States.” Says Publisher’s Weekly , “Coming as they do from a careful- ly calibrated source, those are sobering words.” The Opportunity has been nominated for the American Academy of Diplomacy’s 2005 Book Award. OF RELATED INTEREST