The Beauty Queens Guide to World Peace: Dan Plesch
Politicos, £8.99
Tribune readers will be aware of Dan Plesch's consistently well-argued
case for peace.
In the modern world, dominated by those for whom force is depressingly the
first resort rather than the last, it is not always easy to argue such a case.
The reality is that, at these times, it is essential that there is a
countervailing argument to those who stubbornly and blindly believe that
might is right.
In these uncertain days, people look for simplistic answers to
impossibly-complicated questions.
That is as understandable as it is irrelevant to contemporary needs.
What Dan Plesch has done is to make the issues with which he deals,
digestible to the non-specialist.
He brings his formidable analytical and research skills to bear on his
subject, so that the book is scholarly, cogent, but eminently readable.
And, of course, it is humorously written.
He disposes of myths which too often colour our views.
For example, he has little sympathy with those who think that some Utopian
American age will succeed the downfall of George Bush.
Well-versed in his subject as he is, he looks at the longer term trends, not
just the current face of a problem.
Thus, he correctly points out that globalisation per se is not a new
phenomenon.
The issue is the technological transformations which are accelerating change
globally, creating new tensions in international relationships.
Nor does Plesch restrict himself to one narrow perspective.
He rightly, in my view, looks at how military thinking has evolved, so that
a crude win/lose approach to warfare is seen as obsolete.
Military approaches should blend imperceptibly into the political and
economic strategies necessary for conflict resolution.
He reinforced my belief that soldiers are generally those least in favour of
military solutions to international problems.
Interest in his book may be highest where he deals with current issues and
modern geopolitical dilemmas.
Plesch is extremely knowledgeable in these subjects and has written
extensively on them.
Thus, his erudition in dealing with, for example, weapons of mass
destruction, Afghanistan or Iraq, will be no surprise.
However, I found myself more taken by his forays into other dimensions which
influence world peace or war.
He is persuasive on the dangers of corporate power and some of his suggested
solutions are attractive.
His political agenda is, at the present time, somewhat fanciful, if not
impossible.
Electing more politicians, by his own admission, is not a popular cure to
the worlds ills; and his view on Europe whilst akin to my own is certainly
currently not the popular national view in Britain.
This does not mean we should not have the vision to look beyond our present
limitations.
In fact, the whole thrust of the book is predicated on the imperative to
think beyond our present disposition, but based on the vast body of
experience and thinking currently available.
Dan Plesch does not simply signpost problems; he offers solutions.
That is why this book will become a well-thumbed resource for anyone
seriously interested in the global issues of our time.
His views on the export of democracy, for example, are extremely feasible,
and are reflected in the work already being done under the aegis of the
Department for International Development and of the Governments Civil
Service College.
This book is an exotic cocktail of the historian, the observer, and the
futurologist.
Anyone knowing Dan Plesch and his work would recognise this.
The CV of this scholar, a man of Hungarian descent, carrying an American
passport, needs no embellishment; nor does a review of the book.
Give it a go it will open up your mind.
