Overview
The Wreckage Reconsidered examines Yugoslav disintegration in order to suggest, through the Yugoslav example, that a reexamination of national security strategy and foreign policy concerns for the United States in a new century is not only a wise choice but an imperative one. P. H. Liotta examines this subject by means of the oxymoron, which he defines through its specific Balkan application: a force or issue so contrary in nature that it may remain problematic no matter what approach or resolution might be offered. The five oxymorons Liotta considers are: U.S. strategic perspectives as they have applied to the Balkan example; the rise of the "parastate" as a result of recent Balkan history; a strategy of chaos, as it may have applied in the last Balkan war and as it may "target" American strategic culture in the future; religion, a cultural and political force in the Balkans as it may have provided the occasion, though not the cause, for the outbreak of conflict; and, finally, the recognition that NATO enlargement may bring both unintended and unwelcome consequences.
Synopsis
The Wreckage Reconsidered examines Yugoslav disintegration in order to suggest, through the Yugoslav example, that a reexamination of national security strategy and foreign policy concerns for the United States in a new century is not only a wise choice but an imperative one. P. H. Liotta examines this subject by means of the oxymoron, which he defines through its specific Balkan application: a force or issue so contrary in nature that it may remain problematic no matter what approach or resolution might be offered. The five oxymorons Liotta considers are: U.S. strategic perspectives as they have applied to the Balkan example; the rise of the "parastate" as a result of recent Balkan history; a strategy of chaos, as it may have applied in the last Balkan war and as it may "target" American strategic culture in the future; religion, a cultural and political force in the Balkans as it may have provided the occasion, though not the cause, for the outbreak of conflict; and, finally, the recognition that NATO enlargement may bring both unintended and unwelcome consequences.
Author Biography: P. H. Liotta is Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.
Mediterranean Quarterly
P. H. Liotta's [book is] a tour de force of scholarship. . . . A mine of detail and a veritable encyclopedia of source material.
Editorials
European Security
Peter Liotta is a soldier and a scholar with more experience in the region than most Western commentators. . . . Liotta's oxymorons make a strong case for a policy of prudence and conflict management that does not envision neat, ideologically-based, external solutions.Ethnopolitics
It is obvious that P. H. Liotta has established a deep relationship with the Balkans. The work is based on a deep knowledge of the region's history and Balkan issues. Liotta succeeds in analyzing various aspects of the Yugoslavian wreckage in depth but also manages to achieve something that few researchers do: an impartial view of all conflicting sides of the war.— Varsilis Margaras, University of Bath