The Book Review delves into the many books on national security and related fields published each year. It offers reviews that range widely across subjects and disciplines, from domestic and international law to history, strategic and military studies, from national security journalism to terrorism and counterterrorism, ethics, and technology. Contributors include scholars, serving or former government officials or military personnel, journalists, experts of many kinds, and students in law school or university.
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When Aiming for Your Adversary’s Achilles Heel May Lead to Shooting Yourself in the Foot
A review of Steve Coll, “The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq” (Penguin Random House, 2024) -
The Hidden Stories of China's Past
A review of Ian Johnson, “Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for Their Future” (Oxford University Press, 2023) -
Cyber, MacGyver, and the Limits of Covert Power
A review of Lennart Maschmeyer, “Subversion: From Covert Operations to Cyber Conflict” (Oxford University Press, 2024) -
Greenback Warfare: The Treasury Department’s Approach to Global Economic Security
A review of Saleha Mohsin, “Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order” (Penguin, 2024) -
Information Warfare and Its Casualties
A review of Peter Pomertantsev, “How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler” (PublicAffairs, 2024) -
A Civilization of Exams: China’s Struggle Between Standardization and Innovation
A review of Yasheng Huang, “The Rise and Fall of the EAST: How Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology Brought China Success, and Why They Might Lead to Its Decline” (Yale, 2023) -
Who’s Rulin’ Who?
A review of Anu Bradford, “Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology” (Oxford University Press, 2023) -
A President and His Justices
A review of Cliff Sloan, “The Court at War: FDR, His Justices, and the World They Made” (PublicAffairs, 2023) -
Nuremberg's Regrettable Sibling: The Contradictions of the Tokyo Tribunal
A review of Gary Bass, "Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia" (Knopf, 2023) -
Law and Politics in the Quest for an Independent Department of Justice
A review of Geoffrey Berman, “Holding the Line: Inside the Nation's Preeminent US Attorney's Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department” (Penguin Press, 2022) -
Is There a Cyber Arms Race?
A review of Max Smeets, "No Shortcuts: Why States Struggle to Develop a Military Cyber-Force" (Oxford University Press, 2023) -
Disinformation: A Back Pocket Guide
A review of Lee McIntyre, “On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy” (MIT 2023)