The Savage Wars of Peace:
Small Wars and the Rise of American Power
Max Boot
Basic Books, 2002, 428 pages
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he ``American way of war'' has tradionally meant
the mobilization of millions of troops conscripted from the civilian
population and the use of overwhelming force. But more often, America
has sent small contingents of professional soldiers on protective or
punitive expeditions. This book describes these low-level wars, including
the wars against the Barbary pirates and the Boxers, the Philippine War,
the invasion of Russia, and the numerous small and little-known wars in
Central and South America. The author's thesis is that these, rather
than titanic struggles for survival like the Civil War and World War
II, are closer to the norm for American military engagement. Boot calls
the 1918 invasion of northern Russia one of the ``great lost opportunities
of history.'' Had the Western allies put forth a serious attack on the
Bolsheviks, Boot argues, it could have averted 74 years of Soviet
Communist rule, the Great Famine, the Communist takeover of China, the
Cold War, and quite possibly World War II. Casually
exploding the myths carefully nurtured by some academics whose main
goal is to find as much dirt on American politicians and cast as much
suspicion on American motives as possible, the author has no axe to grind
other than an evident (and infectious) fascination with the subject
matter. The narrative style makes it highly readable.
