Getting Out

Michael Walzer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and editor of Dissent. He is the author of many books, including Just and Unjust Wars and, most recently, Thinking Politically: Essays in Political Theory. Nicolaus Mills is Professor of Literature and American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College. A long-time contributor to Dissent magazine, his most recent book is Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America's Coming of Age as a Superpower.

"Our entry into Iraq was a moral and operational catastrophe, but our exit doesn't have to be. Getting Out shows that if we take the trouble to learn from history the United States can do in Iraq what few departing imperial powers ever do: make the welfare of those left behind its highest priority."-Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker "An arresting, morally serious book, of the sort that readers have come to expect from the precincts of Dissent."-Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy: Jackson to Lincoln "From Stanley Weintraub's crisp essay on Great Britain's withdrawal from the Colonies after its defeat in the American Revolutionary War to studies of much more recent disengagements, the contributions offer a variety of useful and stimulating perspectives on the complex problems involved in orderly withdrawals."-Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs "This admirable book makes it plain that one reason why military occupations are, in general, a bad idea, is that exit ramps get blocked and horrors ensue. It is morally evident that, for the occupying power, there is no end to responsibilities, which begin even in nightmares. This is not a book that offers simple recipes for Iraq or Afghanistan. But people of all persuasions should read it to deepen their awareness of the moral imperatives."-Todd Gitlin, Columbia University "This collection will appeal to a broad audience. Excellent at dealing with a complicated topic both historically and in terms of the current situation in Iraq, it will appeal to anyone interested in the fate of our world today."-Library Journal

• Introduction-Michael WalzerLESSONS FROM THE PAST1. No Exit but Victory: Britain and the American Colonies-Stanley Weintraub2. America and the Philippines: The Graceful Withdrawal-Stanley Karnow3. India and Britain: The Consequences of Leaving Too Soon-Rajeev Bhargava4. The Surprising Success: The United States and Korea-Fred Smoler5. France and Algeria: Claim Victory and Au Revoir-Todd Shepard6. Vietnam and the United States: The Price of Intransigence-Frances FitzGerald7. The Gates of Gaza and the Limits of Power: Israel and Gaza-Shlomo AvineriGETTING IN/GETTING OUT8. 9/11 and the Road to Iraq-Nicolaus Mills9. The Persistence of Empire-David Bromwich10. Departing Responsibly-Brendan O'Leary11. It Isn't Over-George PackerList of ContributorsIndexAcknowledgments