Surrender Is Not an Option
By John R. Bolton
Threshold Editions, 2007, $27.00

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Media Inquiries: Véronique Rodman
vrodman@aei.org 202.862.4870

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 13, 2007

In his new book, Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad (Threshold Editions/Simon & Schuster, November 2007), AEI senior fellow John R. Bolton, former U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and under secretary of state for arms control and international security, describes a U.S. Department of State mired in bureaucratic inertia and a UN concerned less with weapons proliferation and human tragedy than with the protection of personal perks and political sacred cows.

In Surrender Is Not an Option, Ambassador Bolton recounts his appointment in 2005 and lessons learned from his Senate confirmation battle. He offers insight into international crises such as North Korea's nuclear test, Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, the genocide in Darfur, the month-long negotiation that produced the controversial end of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, and more.

Among the highlights:

• Bolton explains the vital choices ahead in the 2008 elections: "These choices go beyond Iraq: the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, especially North Korea and Iran; the unsettled Middle East with its many threats to friends and interests, such as Israel, democracy in Lebanon, and the region's oil and gas reserves; Russia's renewed aggressiveness and its quest for superpower status; and China's large and growing demand for energy and rapidly increasing military budgets and capabilities."

• Bolton warns of the European Union's (EU) inclination for endless diplomacy instead of confronting and resolving problems: "This decline in European will and capacity is matched by the related phenomenon (beloved by many in Europe) of using multilateral bodies for 'norming' international practice and domestic policy, a development that over time threatens to diminish American autonomy and self-government (i.e., our sovereignty). . . . The EU's proclivity to turn to the UN makes the fact that that the UN remains unreformed an important problem." Europe views "'conflict resolution' through the 'prism of global governance.'"

• The U.S. State Department must also be reformed according to Bolton: "Because successive Secretaries of State have left the department to run itself, its 'cultural' [read clientitis] problems have grown to the point where the department's capacity to advocate American interests in foreign affairs is now severely impaired."

• As for weapons of mass destruction, Bolton explains that the central problem is that neither Russia nor China (nor, for that matter, Europe) has internalized the fact that proliferation represents a significant threat to their long-term security. What is viewed by many in the United States as an investment in future security is viewed as lost profit by Washington's allies. Worse still, not all in the United States understand the gravity of the threat; as proliferators in Iran and North Korea are increasingly accommodated, the world's rogues take notice.

• Bolton also eyes troubling changes in Russia's domestic and foreign policy, and in particular, the renaissance of President Vladimir Putin's great-power aspirations and policies in the Middle East, Iran, and North Korea. There are also economic considerations: Russia stands to gain billions from the construction of nuclear plants in Iran and from lucrative contracts for nuclear fuel supplies and other services. That cash also finances Russia's troubling rearmament.

• China also profits from its willingness to proliferate, yet is driven not only by economic considerations but also by a worldview that diverges significantly from that in Washington. On the vital question of North Korea, Beijing is driven by fear of North Korea's collapse or shifts in the regional balance of power. Bolton notes that "China has been unwilling to apply sufficient pressure against North Korea to make it renounce its nuclear ambitions, for fear of collapsing the regime itself. . . . For China, the change in the balance of power implied by Korean reunification is much more serious." Nonetheless, he adds that Korean "reunification is inevitable, as it was for Germany."

• Bolton warns that the United States should pay long-term attention to China's energy needs and its quest for foreign oil and natural gas. "China's [support] for threatening governments like those of Iran, Sudan and Burma can be explained in large measure by its desire to support governments that can help China achieve its broader objective of energy security."

The sweep of John R. Bolton's experience, combined with his clear-eyed vision of U.S. sovereignty and interests and a gripping style, will engross both students of national security and every concerned citizen. His prescriptions for reform at the State Department and the United Nations, as well as for an urgent reprioritization of U.S. foreign policy to confront new challenges in the twenty-first century, will resonate as a new generation of leaders competes for the nation's highest office.

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