- Paperback: 246 pages
- Publisher: Picador USA (Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312278357
- ISBN-13: 978-0312278359
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 926,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Kosovo was, Michael Ignatieff asserts, "the first post-modern war". A lateral step from the Gulf War, and further than just decades away from the total wars of the 20th century, it was essentially fought on the Allied side by a few thousand airmen with not one combat casualty, yet was watched by billions of spectators. War without death, he argues, is surely "virtual" war, and this gladiatorial vision, of foreign policy stripped of its physical and emotive restraints, forms the basis of his third book in an unintentional trilogy. The first two books--Blood and Belonging and The Warrior's Honor--explored themes of ethnic nationalism and the impossibly fine line between negligence and interference for outside, ie, generally Western, "democratised" nations or individuals. Virtual War uses Ignatieff's personal experiences in and around Kosovo to bring the two together in a meditation on the Balkans and, by way of it, the future of modern warfare (though "war" is an "unspun", obsolete word in our sensitive age). In 1995, French philosopher Jean Baudrillard published The Gulf War Has Not Taken Place; Ignatieff does not go that far, but in some ways Virtual War is a virtual book. The first half comprises a series of essays concerning key players in Kosovo, and is among the best collected journalism on the subject yet written. Ignatieff is a remarkable journalist; whether profiling American envoy Richard Holbrooke, prosecutor for the War Crimes Tribunal Louise Arbour, old friend and now "virtual" enemy Aleksa Djilas, exchanging letters with British peer Robert Skidelsky (by e-mail, naturally), or reporting from a Kosovan deportee camp in Macedonia, his writing never fails to match a fiercely wrought intellect to rhetorical eloquence. The latter chapters, in which he expounds his theories of virtual warfare leading to virtual victories, are tightly argued if not groundbreaking, though his portrait of post-Cold War globalisation, of a world shrink-wrapped by telecommunications and homogenised moral universalism, justifies the conceit. In a Playstation world, this is a persuasive, provocative book by a very real thinker. --David Vincent
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher
An urgent, illuminating and moving study of the war in Kosovo and a vision of the future of warfare by a distinguished cultural commentator writer and broadcaster.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This new book by Michael Ignatieff sheds new light on the Kosovo War. Rather than the simple commentary that marks many accounts of current affairs, the author instead presents both a factual account of the conduct of both sides involved in the conflict, as well as an intelligent dicussion of the the issues surrounding the use of force for humanitarian reasons in the post-Cold War era. These are interspersed with touchingly personal insights into the problems of Balkans, and descriptions of the big players in the conflict, and their relationships with each other and the region. The only drawback is the authors obvious affinity for the United States, though this is somewhat offset by his otherwise frank appraisal of NATOs action. However, this does little to mar what is otherwise an indispensible guide for anyone wishing to learn about Kosovo and humanitarian intervention. A great read.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book represents a good account of the war over Kosovo. However, Ignatieff stays a journalist and not a scholar, and his comments on the RMA nad media involvemnet are very superficial. An average read.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A new and refreshing insight into the Kosovan war, as well as an entertaining read. Ignatieff displays so much skill in writing contemporary historical books and it was the most interesting read on the subject I have yet come across. However, he does look at the war very much from the perspective of the West, especially the US, and seems to draw his conclusions solely from this. Yet overall I would recommend this as appealing to almost anyone interested in the subject, even if only slightly.
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