The Shield and the Cloak: The Security of the Commons

The Shield and the Cloak: The Security of the Commons Gary Hart Date: 2006-02-16   —   Book product page Rating:

This is by far the best book on national security I've ever read. I hadn't heard anything from Gary Hart since the "Monkey Business" back in the 80s, but it didn't take me long to conclude this guy knows what he's talking about. He's at once inspirational and realistic -- a combo sorely lacking in Washington right now.

Hart tells us we need to disenthrall ourselves from the notion that 21st century national security is primarily about military strength. He starts off with the premise that "by using traditional military power against a largely new third-dimensional [stateless] threat, we are inviting a stand-off at best and defeat at worst." This is the paradox of fighting an ideology like radical Islam: As more military might is applied, more collateral damage is inflicted, which creates more enemies -- rinse and repeat.

Hart believes we've defined security in this century too narrowly. Certainly Islamic terrorism is a threat, but so is nuclear proliferation, epidemics, climate change, dependence on fossil fuels, and even globalization, outsourcing, lack of healthcare and the widening gap between rich and poor. He argues that, by broadening our definition of national security, we can see how these issues are all inter-related and work toward real, comprehensive solutions (with the caveat that no one is ever completely secure in this world).

And just as the definition of security is broadened, Hart argues that the segments of our society who are responsible for guaranteeing that security must be expanded. If security is no longer a purely military exercise, then security is no longer primarily the military's job. "If security is now both a function and a definition of the commons, its first guarantors are its citizens," he says. Yes, Hart is arguing for national military and civil service programs,

One of the hallmarks of a republic is its reliance on citizen soldiers: in the ancient Greek days, farmers put down their plows and took up their spears and shields to protect the city-state republic. Not only was the citizen soldier relied on to avoid a standing army becoming the instrument of a dictator, a "man on a white horse," but it also was the essence of civic virtue, the responsibility of the citizen to participate in the life of the republic, most vividly in its collective defense.

I could go on and on, but that's the gist. The book ends with a number of concrete proposals which include improving our science and technology education; energy independence (or, energy invulnerability, as Hart refers to it); fiscal strength through rewarding production and savings and taxing consumption; supporting, reforming and strengthening international security, financial and legal institutions; moving to eradicate extreme poverty and ignorance around the world and creating opportunity for advancement; increasing our military and intelligence capabilities -- including, consolidating our special forces to create a fifth branch of service; and many more.

Hart makes a lot of sense. Read it for yourself and see. The book draws heavily on the 2000 Hart/Rudman Report, so you might find that interesting as well. I did.

tags: gary hart  national security  democrats