
2015
First Published
3.97
Average Rating
216
Number of Pages
From Vietnam to Syria, politicians, commentators and journalists have argued both for and against intervention, whether military or humanitarian. Simon Jenkins here presents a provocative and wide-ranging survey of the history of and the arguments surrounding intervention in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Do nations intervene because of right and wrong? Is Western intervention simply a form of imperialism-lite ? When is intervention justified? Jenkins traces the evolution of liberal interventionism and shows that scepticism towards it came and comes not just from a growing perception of its failure. Instead, he argues that the past few decades can be characterised as an age of intervention, displaying worrying signs of merely laundering old-fashioned western imperialism and bordering at times on a crusader complex. In the face of recent conflicts particularly in the Ukraine and with the rise of Islamic State what can we learn from the miscalculations, mistakes and mendacity of the age of intervention ?"
Avg Rating
3.97
Number of Ratings
35
5 STARS
26%
4 STARS
49%
3 STARS
23%
2 STARS
3%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads
Author

Simon Jenkins
Author · 16 books
Sir Simon David Jenkins, FSA, FRSL is the author of the international bestsellers England’s Thousand Best Churches and England’s Thousand Best Houses, the former editor of The Times and Evening Standard and a columnist for the Guardian. He is chairman of the National Trust.