FRIDAY NEWS ROUNDUP — MAY 22, 2020
The CSPC Summer Reading List
Good Friday morning from Washington, DC. During the week, the debate over reopening in light of the Covid pandemic has become more heated, while uncertainty about public health and economic health grows — and partisan politics drives further wedges between us.
This week, even from our remote offices, we’ve covered a range of important issues.
Yesterday, we had the privilege of hosting General Martin Dempsey to discuss his reflections on leadership and strategic vision. The webinar with General Dempsey can be viewed here.
In The Hill, our Senior VP and Director of Policy Dan Mahaffee decried the lack of statesmanship and unity in addressing the pandemic, and how the politicization of public health, law enforcement, and intelligence makes Americans sicker and unsafe. Joshua Huminski, Director of the Mike Rogers Center, looked at how the upcoming novel “Burn In” addresses many of the technological, political, and cultural uncertainties about our future.
Next week, CSPC will be hosting two great authors. On Tuesday, Max Brooks, the author of “World War Z” will be sharing his thoughts in a virtual discussion on how fiction and writing can make us better at crisis response. On Friday, August Cole, the co-author of “Burn In” will discuss his work and the aforementioned uncertainties raised in his novel.
Finally, we also reflect upon the Memorial Day weekend and remember that it is not only the unofficial start of summer, but also a solemn reflection upon the sacrifice of those who fought for our freedom and safety. We must remember that while many were born under different flags, they have fought and died for the stars and stripes — a common sacrifice for shared ideals of liberty, peace, and prosperity.
Given the start to the weekend, and summer holidays — perhaps planned vacations rescheduled to backyard porches — this week’s roundup forgoes the news of the week to share the summer reading suggestions from across the CSPC team. Even if we’re not planning a beach getaway, we want to share the best books we’ve been reading from our improvised home offices.
Glenn Nye, President & CEO
Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations, Admiral William McRaven
A great collection of personal anecdotes and a quick read, Sea Stories tells the tales of various moments in the life of a SEAL and senior commander in the United States special forces. From SEAL training to the operation to eliminate bin Laden, the book is full of compelling stories of what it’s really like to be a special operator taking on the toughest and most important national security missions, and dealing with the politics and personalities of America’s chain of command.
Apollo: The Race to the Moon, Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox
Apollo captures in great detail from concept to execution the challenge and triumph of landing a person on the surface of the moon. The book is a great lesson in vision, marshalling national resources, the politics of managing humans and large bureaucracies, and how seemingly small acts and coincidences combine with great feats of intellect and drive to make an impossible dream real. A great book for the student of the interface between federal government, industry and science: the good, the bad, and the ugly. You will have some new heroes after reading.
Do Morals Matter?: Presidents & Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump, Joseph Nye, Jr. (no relation)
A consummate writer on the role of the presidency in American politics, and the role of the United States in the world, Nye leads us on a journey through the history from FDR to the present and how American presidents have grappled with applying morals and ethics in their foreign policy decisions. He helps us apply a systematic analysis of the role ethics play and what it means for the future, as we attempt to evaluate how the current president will shape an enduring American approach to the world, based on a practical look at how unique or similar the times are to recent history.
Dan Mahaffee, Sr. Vice President, Director of Policy
Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East, Kim Ghattas
Sunnis on one side, Shias on the other, and stuck in the middle is the United States. With U.S. policymakers evaluating how we adjust our Middle East policies and our approach to the region. Iran was once our ally, and the Saudis still are, but the arc of American engagement in the Middle East has followed both our energy appetites and geopolitical gamesmanship — accomplishing little and costing much. As a journalist long covering the region, Kim Ghattas covers how the religious arms race between Riyadh and Tehran has colored the region and often outpaced the assumptions of U.S. policymakers.
The Splendid & the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family & Defiance Under the Blitz, Erik Larson
From a serial killer during the growth of Chicago into a world city to the last moments of the Lusitania, Erik Larson has drawn his readers into some of the most momentous moments in history with the pen of a novelist and the spirit of the most engaging professor. He continues his excellence with The Splendid and the Vile as he documents the leadership of Winston Churchill and the social and political challenges he faced during the Battle of Britain, when it was hardly clear that freedom and democracy would prevail.
A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Hapsburg Empire, Geoffry Wawro
At the start of the First World War, the Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire was considered a world power. After all, it was Vienna’s quest to punish Belgrade that would draw millions from the old world and the new to die in trenches. Yet, halfway through the war, their German allies would describe their relationship with Austria-Hungary as fighting “shackled to a corpse.” From the political infighting and civil sectarianism to the fact that bureaucrats and comptrollers, coasting upon decaying institutions, preferred outdated military hardware for the sake of accounting, we should heed the lessons of 1913–1915 Austria-Hungary to learn how quickly internal weakness cedes national strength.
A History of the World in Six Glasses, Tom Standage
Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Classic Coca Cola: in his summary of human history, Tom Standage looks at how what we quaff has defined our history. From Sumerians establishing agriculture to brew more beer to enlightenment thinkers guzzling coffee to Coca-Cola’s equivalence to the stars and stripes, Standage’s easy read covers how our drinking habits reflect the arc of history, geopolitics, and globalization.
Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, Derek Leebaert
We often think that the years right after World War II and the beginning of the Cold War were a seamless transition from London’s to Washington’s hegemony over the west. The reality was far more complicated as Derek Leebaert describes. From traditional animosities to misconceptions and miscommunications, the collapse of British power, the rise of American power, and the uncertainties that endure to this day are valuable lessons about geopolitics, leadership, and global influence.
Joshua Huminski, Director, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs
Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution, P.W. Singer & August Cole
Singer and Cole’s previous work Ghost Fleet on a future U.S.-China conflict quickly became mandatory reading within the Department of Defense. Burn-In, on the impact of advanced technology, AI, machine learning, and robotics, needs to become mandatory for the general public. It takes complex issues — philosophical, ethical, and technological — and brings them to the real world in a thrilling and highly enjoyable way. It is Michael Bay meets Stephen Hawking — a smart summer blockbuster. My full review in the Diplomatic Courier is linked here.
Active Measures, Thomas Rid
If you want to understand what happened in 2016 with Russia’s interference in the presidential election, you need to understand what active measures are and how these campaigns were used in history. Thomas Rid’s Active Measures is an outstanding look at the history of influence operations, what they are and are not, and how Moscow used them to great effect during the Cold War. I also reviewed this book for the Diplomatic Courier.
Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Took on the West, Catherine Belton
Catherine Belton’s forthcoming book (to be published on June 16th) is absolutely fascinating and reads like a thriller, but it is an incredibly well reported and detailed insight into the rise of Putin and the KGB cadre that surrounds him. If Washington is to make smart policy towards Moscow, understanding what motivates Putin and his regime, how he views the world, and what his goals and objectives are of paramount importance. Belton is a welcome guide to this challenge.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, John le Carré
Hands down the best spy novel I have ever read. The pacing, the plot, the character development, everything is spot-on. It is spycraft at its finest. George Smiley is not the typical action hero that does more action and less actual spying, but a considered, focused, and attentive operations officer that uncovers the Karla-led plot. In these times of a revanchist Russia, going back to the old ways is very much needed.
Russians Among Us, Gordon Corera
The security correspondent for BBC, Corera offers a single best summary of Operation Ghost Stories — the identification, tracking, and ultimate arrest by the FBI of the Russian “illegals” in 2010 including the glamorous Anna Chapman. Corera details the training of the illegals in Russia, the development of their cover, and their introduction to the West. Russians Among Us goes into incredible detail about the shadow intelligence war taking place between the United States and Russia, including the assassination of Sergei Skripal and more. It reads like a thriller and is absolutely riveting.
Erica Ngoenha, Director of Presidential Fellows & External Relations
The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator, Timothy C. Winegard
As we gear up for a humidity-filled summer in Washington, Timothy Winegard gives us a reason to reconsider that pesky seasonal companion, the mosquito. More than just an annoying pest, the mosquito is the deadliest predator human beings have ever faced. This tiny insect is responsible for killing nearly half of the humans who have ever lived. Taking us from the dawn of civilization to modern times, Winegard shines a light on the outsized role that the mosquito has played in shaping human history. She has performed the role of both hero and villain, warding off would-be colonizers in the Americas and laying siege to the Roman Empire. Winegard’s masterful non-fiction narrative serves as a journey through world history from the lens of our ongoing struggle against humanity’s fiercest rival.
Ethan Brown, Senior Military Fellow
Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World’s Deadliest Special Operations Force, Dan Schilling & Lori Chapman Longfritz
The dramatic story of John Chapman, whose final moments were fought valorously against overwhelming odds, safeguarding comrades in some of the most brutal terrain on the planet. Schilling’s book reads like a Clancy esque fast-paced SOF-thriller rooted in a fictional world of super-men and altruism, but not a page is imagined. The story of MSgt. Chapman’s final moments on the 10,469-foot Takur Ghar peak in Paktia Province are nothing short of awe-inspiring- ultimately resulting in his posthumous receipt of the Medal of Honor. The book also gives a glimpse into the highly-classified Tier One component of the United States Air Force to which MSgt. Chapman belonged- a rare and chilling account of some of the most elite and specialized military personnel on the planet.
The Coldest Winter: American and the Korean War, David Halberstam
Korea is colloquially the “Forgotten War”, but Halberstam’s masterpiece makes the war an unforgettable experience. His detailed accounting tells the story of a military divided from the policy world amidst the rising ride of communism’s blood-soaked march across the eastern hemisphere. The story shifts from the wide strategic lenses of post-World War II geopolitics to the individual soldiers’ and marines’ frostbitten foxholes during the Battle of Chipyongni or the Chosin Reservoir without skipping a beat. Some characters in this book arrive and remain larger than life (Douglas MacArthur, Matthew Ridgeway), while some (like President Harry Truman) are shown to be more human than popular culture has ever depicted. In short, this retelling of the Korean War is a must-read and will challenge any preconceptions about the Forgotten Wars influence in modern history.
Christopher Condon, Policy Analyst
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777, Rick Atkinson
The first book in renowned historical author Rick Atkinson’s Revolution trilogy is a masterful work of nonfiction. Telling the story of the American Revolution (from Lexington to Princeton) through the eyes of people from various strata on both sides of the conflict, the work uses primary sources to weave a complex narrative that provokes a nuanced understanding of the struggle for liberty in America. From politics to governance to military strategy, Mr. Atkinson’s prose makes any topic easily digestible and extremely enjoyable to read about.
James Kitfield, Senior Fellow
Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, General Jim Mattis and Bing West
Given the implicit criticism of President Trump’s handling of alliances in Mattis’ resignation letter, many critics hoped for a “tell all” about his time in the Trump administration’s inner circle. Mattis is too old school to embarrass his former commander-in-chief, however, and readers are treated instead to a fascinating tale of the education of a young Marine officer who rose to become one of the preeminent soldier-statesmen of his generation of officers.
Grant, Ron Chernow
You may think you know the whole story behind the hard drinking Union general who helped win the Civil War and went on to become president of the United States — but you would be wrong. Among the surprises in this exhaustive biography is the degree to which Grant was all but washed up as an officer before the Civil War started his unlikely climb to the pinnacle of power, and how important his support was to Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation. His handling of the initial period of Reconstruction alone is a profile in courage.
Michael Stecher, Senior Advisor
The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel
Thomas Cromwell might remind you of people you meet in Washington. He came to the capital committed to a policy goal and accumulated the power to implement his vision as a result of his drive and competence. Politics is an ugly business, unfortunately, and the policymaker that Cromwell is attached to, King Henry VIII, might have been a shark-eyed psychopath — if it is possible to judge a prince in human terms. Cromwell has an appointment with the headsman at the end of the story, but the lesson in Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy (of which this is the closing act) is for those of us who seek influence to do good and make compromises to achieve our goals.
The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, Kyle Harper
The Roman Empire was fueled by the most intensive production and trade network in premodern western Eurasia. Harper argues that the growth of Roman power was made possible by particularly friendly climate conditions that permitted intensive agriculture in North Africa and specialization of production that fostered urbanization and economic growth. Around 200 CE, those conditions began to deteriorate and the Roman world found itself under increasing strain. At the same time, the growing, tightly integrated Roman trade network created the conditions that allowed pandemic diseases to spread — first smallpox and eventually bubonic plague — for the first time. Changes in the natural world realigned geopolitics and, within a century, the Roman, Mediterranean world fractured, never to be reassembled.
Aida Olivas, Intern
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, Barbara Demick
Over the course of fifteen years, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick interviewed six North Korean citizens who escaped from the most repressive totalitarian government in the world today resulting in a deep and detailed look at daily life in North Korea over the past several years. Their stories show the state of the country at the death of Kim Il-Sung and the accession of his successor, Kim Jong-Il (father to Kim Jong-Un) with personal details of how the transition of power affected the citizens. The meticulous and page-turning literary nonfiction not only reveals the severe effects of a totalitarian government with its people cut off from the world, but also how the county’s citizens worked the system, attempted to achieve their goals, and live as ordinary lives as possible.
The views of authors are their own and not that of CSPC.