At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention

At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention, is a series of essays arguing the incredible folly of imposing democracy and staging humanitarian intervention with the barrel of an M-16. At a time when there are nearly 150,000 United States troops in Iraq, Mr. Rieff (son of the late Susan Sontag) raises insightful and timely questions about the right to intervene militarily and discusses whether the country's moral ambitions match the means or wisdom necessary for successful diplomacy in foreign affairs. Focusing first on the conflicts in Kosovo and Bosnia, then the Rwandan Genocide and post-colonial Africa, Mr. Rieff's field reports draw a searing portrait of what happens when the plans of policymakers go horribly wrong in the field, solidifying his argument against the armed occupation of Iraq in the name of humanitarian causes.