Book Review

THE MEANS TO WAR

Gordon, Michael R, Michael R. Gordon is a correspondent in the New York Times Washington bureau who reports on national security issues

1988

Overview

''The Arms Control Delusion,'' by Senator [Malcolm Wallop], a conservative Republican from Wyoming, and his former aide, [Angelo Codevilla], was published before the new missile treaty was signed by President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. But this highly polemical work provides a general introduction to the strategic visions and military analyses of staunch conservatives, along with their attack on the national security bureaucracy. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the book is its subliminal message, which is one of bitterness and betrayal. The authors indict the Reagan Administration for failing to keep faith with what they deem to be the conservative tradition. It is not enough for them that President Reagan has transformed the strategic debate, moving to test and develop anti-missile defenses through his Strategic Defense Initiative. Senator Wallop and Mr. Codevilla want the United States to abandon the arms control process altogether and start deploying space-based laser weapons immediately. With such condemnations they are attempting to settle some old scores with the Administration for its failure to act on Senator Wallop's ideas. But they fail to display the aptitude for compromise and consensus building that would truly advance their agenda.

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: Codevilla, Angelo / CODEVILLA, ANGELO M / GORDON, MICHAEL R / Wallop, Malcolm / WALLOP, MALCOLM (SEN)