Gabriel Kolko

Drawing on recently declassified materials, this study chronicles and analyzes the political, economic, and military history of the Vietnam War through incisive critiques of decision-making in Washington, Saigon, and Hanoi.

Vietnam, the United States, and the Modern Historical Experience

Anatomy of a War

Analyzes American politics, foreign policy, and economic development during the nation's history as a major industrial capitalist state

Main Currents in Modern American History

A radically new interpretation of the Progressive Era which argues that business leaders, and not the reformers, inspired the era’s legislation regarding business.

Triumph of Conservatism

Looks at the problems facing the United States and world in an age of transition and explores a range of international issues including the limits of American foreign policy and changes in military technology which will make all future wars futile.

The End of the American Century

World in Crisis

Does socialism have a future in the world of the twenty-first century? If not, what is the future for progressive politics? This is a major contribution to contemporary social and political thought written by one of the world's leading critical historians. Gabriel Kolko ask the difficult questions about where the left can go in a post-Cold War world where neoliberal policies appear to have triumphed in both the West and the former Soviet bloc. In trying to answer this, he interrogates both the origins and development of socialist ideas and the contemporary dynamics of the globalized economy dominated by American military, cultural and political might. While avoiding the temptations of either pessimism or utopianism, Kolko offers an original and practical solution about the way forward for a liberal politics.

Reconstructing Critical Social Thought

After Socialism

The politics of war: the world and United States foreign policy, 1943-1945

Very Good,No Highlights or Markup,all pages are intact.

United States Foreign Policy, 1945-1980

Confronting the Third World

One of America's most perceptive young historians examines the misunderstood dimensions and implications of a great question confronting the nation -- our foreign policy. Professor Kolko makes it clear that our foreign policy is neither the result of omission or ignorance nor of a "military-industrial complex." Civilian authority and civilian-defined goals, he asserts, are the consistent sources of American foreign policy. From this premise, Kolko undertakes to investigate "the respectables," the self-styled liberal realists and businessman who are the architects of the decades-old premises of American foreign policy. He also outlines the nature of American power and interests in the modern world and provides an assessment of who gains and who loses as a result of the policies Washington pursues."--Jacket.

An Analysis of Power and Purpose

The Roots of American Foreign Policy

Vietnam has experienced huge political and economic development since the war. In Anatomy of a Peace, Gabriel Kolko looks at the main economic phases the Communist Party has embarked upon since 1986 and outlines the transition to nascent capitalism. He also explores Vietnam's relations to its neighbours and the US in the light of social and psychological national features. Based on extensive research and over 30 years first hand experience, Anatomy of a Peace is a timely examination of recent history and developing economies in Asia. Gabriel Kolko argues that neither an intentional socialist or market strategy have determined recent Vietnamese history and, in fact, the Communist Party has little control over development during peace time.

Vietnam: Anatomy of a Peace

In this comprehensive, succinct - and provocative - overview of the last five decades of US foreign policy, Gabriel Kolko gives special emphasis to the period since 2000. Kolko argues that, as dangerous as the Cold War era was, we face far more instability and unpredictability now; the international environment is qualitatively more precarious than ever. Ranging from the Vietnam War to the war in Iraq, he critically appraises US responses to a world of complex new challenges. The result is a book with a unique voice. Sure to capture the attention of readers concerned with the troubled world we live in, The Age of War will also stimulate classroom discussion, serving as a powerful pedagogical tool.

The United States Confronts the World

The Age of War

Another Century of War? is a candid and critical look at America’s “new wars” by a brilliant and provocative analyst of its old ones. Gabriel Kolko’s masterly studies of conflict have redefined our views of modern warfare and its effects; in this urgent and timely treatise, he turns his attention to our current crisis and the dark future it portends. Another Century of War? insists that the roots of terrorism lie in America’s own cynical policies in the Middle East and Afghanistan, a half-century of real politik justified by crusades for oil and against communism. The latter threat has disappeared, but America has become even more ambitious in its imperialist adventures and, as the recent crisis proves, even less secure. America, Kolko contends, reacts to the complexity of world affairs with its advanced technology and superior firepower, not with realistic political response and negotiation. He offers a critical and well-informed assessment of whether such a policy offers any hope of attaining greater security for America. Raising the same hard-hitting questions that made his Century of War a “crucial” (Globe and Mail) assessment of our age of conflict, Kolko asks whether the wars of the future will end differently from those in our past.

Another Century of War?

Un siècle de guerres scrute les événements de la Première Guerre mondiale en Europe, de la Seconde Guerre mondiale en Asie et en Europe, et des guerres de Corée et du Viêt-Nam, dans le but de comprendre à quel point les chefs politiques et militaires furent dépassés par ces conflits. Tous les hauts responsables des années et des Etats sous-estimèrent les effets pervers de la technologie militaire et perdirent la maîtrise de ces guerres qui durèrent plus longtemps que prévu et dont ils n'anticipèrent jamais les conséquences politiques. Les nouvelles armes eurent des répercussions profondes sur les populations civiles ; elles changèrent la nature des guerres, les conflits qui opposaient avant tout des armées se muant petit à petit en épreuves de force décisives entre les systèmes sociaux et politiques des Etats en guerre. Un siècle de guerres traite en détail des contrecoups de la guerre sur les populations civiles et des conséquences politiques de l'agression des masses en Europe et en Asie. Il décrit aussi de quelle façon les mouvements fasciste et communiste en résultèrent. L'auteur soutient l'idée que les dirigeants traditionnels - ainsi que leurs adversaires de la gauche - furent très tôt incapables de diriger le cours des événements des grands conflits du Xxe siècle, ce qui contrecarra ainsi leurs idées toutes faites.

Kerstin Stakemeier

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