Future: Tense: The Coming World Order

Future: Tense: The Coming World Order ( ISBN   0-7710-2978-0) is a 2004 book by Canadian journalist and author Gwynne Dyer. ^[1] In it he examines the motivations and consequences of the 2003 U.S. invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

Arguments

In his book, Dyer makes the argument that:

• the U.S. "neo-conservative agenda" included the invasion of a country as a demonstration of U.S. military power and a new willingness to operate in defiance of international co-operation and the UN;
• Iraq was chosen because it was an unpopular government engaged in human rights violations and obstruction in implementing U.N. resolutions, and that therefore an invasion would elicit a minimum of antipathy from the world;
• Iraq was also chosen because, while it was a potential long-term threat, the invasion would be low-risk as it was considered unlikely that Iraq possessed usable weapons of mass destruction;
• oil was not a motivating factor, as military occupation is not the most cost-effective way to obtain oil;
• undermining the UN's role in international security will result in the kind of security situation that existed in 1914;
• the United States does not have the military assets or economic base to sustain a self-appointed role as the world's 'judge, jury and executioner';

His conclusion is that embarking on a mission of world domination without the ability to sustain it in the long term will lead to a dangerous increase in the chances of a world war.

References

1. Liebenberg, I (2013). "Book Review: "Future Tense: The Coming World Order" by Gwynne Dyer". Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies. 41 (1). doi:10.5787/41-1-1058.

Online resources

• Full text available at Internet Archive