Reason Enough to Hope: America and the World of the 21st Century

Reason Enough to Hope: America and the World of the 21st Century, Philip Morrison and Kosta Tsipis, The MIT Press, 1998

Written by a couple of MIT scientists with great experience in arms control issues, this is a look at a global approach to the issues of global security and development in the next century.

The US needs to rethink its policy of being able to fight two major wars at the same time. Against whom? The US has, by far, the world's largest defense budget. Some say the world is a dangerous place; a major reason is the fact that the US is the world's biggest arms dealer.

The authors propose something called Common Security, where multinational troops would enter a war zone with the authorization to fight back. These would be more than just peacekeepers, the major countries would contribute soldiers and weapons, and this would happen only after more moderate approaches like diplomacy and trade sanctions had failed.

Common Development would change the system of aid and technology transfers to poorer countires, raising their standard of living, while keeping First World standards at approximately present levels.

This will not be quick or easy to implement. The authors have written a very interesting and plausible look at how to reduce the gap in quality of life between the US and the rest of the world. It's highly recommended.