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one of the justifications for the review of this book is that the volume raises questions
and suggests some answers that are directly relevant to Canadian involvement in
Afghanistan, Haiti, and the Sudan, three focal points of Canadian foreign policy.
The book is not without its limitations. Those looking for the highly detailed reference
sections of peer reviewed articles should look elsewhere. Although well referenced for
conference presentations, these essays do not pretend to be more than a point of
departure for understanding the subject. The book succeeds in providing a solid
foundation for the reader to understand the broad range of intelligence problems facing
political and military leaders attempting to create long term solutions to often systemic
conflicts. In the end, this volume is recommended to anyone that wants or needs to
develop a firm understanding of the complexity of intelligence collection, analysis and
application problems inherent to most Canadian and allied interventions today.
OVERTHROW: AMERICA’S CENTURY OF REGIME CHANGE
FROM HAWAII TO IRAQ
KINZER, Stephen. New York, Times Books, Henry Holt and Company, 2007, 416 pages.
$15.00
Reviewed by Dr. Barbara J. Falk
Immediately after 9/11, it was impolitic if not immoral
to suggest that the history of United States’ (US) foreign
policy had been even marginally responsible for either
the terrorist attacks themselves, or for murderous
regimes of despots such as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. A
few lone liberals, such as Lewis Lapham and Susan
Sontag argued for a more nuanced view, but were
pilloried for their positions. More than half a decade later
however, the Anglo-American public is more
circumspect—if not jaded—and thus receptive to voices
arguing for a corrective of the long-standing historical
amnesia of the United States.
Among these voices is Stephen Kinzer, a veteran
foreign correspondent for the Boston Globe and The
New York Times. In Overthrow, he seeks to examine the
much maligned concept of regime change in the longue
durée of US history. He convincingly demonstrates that
armed intervention does not begin with George W. Bush
in Iraq but indeed is as American as apple pie. Woven through the Monroe Doctrine and
manifest destiny is the explicit desire to control or influence the political and economic
behaviour of the Western hemisphere in order to meet American national and
commercial interests. As a journalist, Kinzer knows the value of a compelling narrative
in attracting and holding an attentive reader, and his prose is both energetic and
entertaining. With biographical detail, he brings alive the many swashbuckling
protagonists of his story. From “banana man” and East European emigré Sam
Zemurray’s private efforts to overthrow the government of Honduras along with fellow
soldier-of-fortune mobster “Machine Gun” Molony through to Smedley Bultler who, at the
age of 28 was already a veteran of three US regime change operations, one cannot help
but both abhor and admire the audacious military planning and subterfuge of the many
characters discussed.
Canadian Army Journal Vol. 11.1 Spring 2008