Herbert Hoover’s Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath

Uma resenha crítica do enorme tomo escrito pelo ex-presidente Americano Herbert Hoover: The flaw in Hoover’s argument, it seems to me: Hitler turned his weapons east rather than west not because he was more covetous of Stalingrad than of London, and not only because there was more Lebensraum, “living space,” in Eurasia than in the British Isles. Rather, Hitler desperately needed oil for his tanks, ships, and planes. Oil was abundant in Soviet Central Asia — not in England, Scotland, and Wales. Had Hitler succeeded in capturing Baku, the heart of the Soviet oil industry, he would have become stronger than ever — and then, undoubtedly, he would have turned his aggressive attentions to Britain and the Americas. Hoover was correct in this: World War II lifted the Nazi jackboot from the throats of Eastern Europe only to replace it with the Soviet jackboot for decades to come. Wrong, however, was his prediction that, “if we get involved in this struggle we, too, will be exhausted and feeble.” In fact, the US emerged from World War II more powerful and, before long, more prosperous than it had ever been. It was not inevitable that America would prevail over Nazism, fascism, and, eventually, Communism. It is not inevitable that America will prevail over totalitarianism in its 21st-century forms — not a kampf but a jihad; not Aryan racial supremacism but Islamic religious supremacism; not a Führer but a Supreme Leader; not dictatorships of the proletariat but clerical dictatorships. What we should know — and what Hoover’s magnum opus reinforces — is that vigorous debate is essential. Those who call themselves our enemies have ideologies, strategies, and goals. We need to understand them. If we refuse to seriously attempt that — because we want to be “politically correct” and multiculturally sensitive, or because it is comforting to believe we are only confronting “extremism” and grievances that can be addressed through diplomacy — we will contribute to our own decline and downfall. We need to think also about our vital interests and highest values, and develop strategies to defend them.