Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security - Tapa dura

Two of Washington's "go to" policy experts show why, when it comes to US elections, national security is the only issue that matters - and what the Democrats need to do to make the issue their own. In America, the Democrats have been steadily losing elections for the past five years - often in the face of overwhelming incompetence on the home-front on the part of their opposition. The reason for their losses is simple: the Democratic Party has no viable strategy on the issue that matters most to Americans - national security. In "Hard Power", Michael O'Hanlon, an expert on foreign policy, and Kurt Campbell, an authority on international security, explain how the Democrats lost credibility on issues of security and foreign policy, how they can get it back, and why they must. Drawing on their expertise, they identify the reasons that Americans do not trust Democrats on issues relating to terrorism, security and the military - reasons that they believe are valid but reversible. In the forthcoming midterm elections, and in the 2008 Presidential election, everything will come down to national security: who has the best plan to keep America safe? Democrats have always been good at pointing out the faults of their opponents, but here is a book that offers significant, workable answers.

Michael O'Hanlon is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at Brookings, and has written books on defence strategy, arms control and homeland security. He has appeared on all the major American TV networks, and on the BBC, and has writing for many newspapers including the Financial Times and New York Times. Kurt Campbell is Senior Vice President and Director of the International Security Programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He has written for the New York Times, and served in several capacities in government including Director on the National Security Council Staff.