Recent Publications

Book Review: Great Power Clashes Along the Maritime Silk Road: Lessons from History to Shape Current Strategy
December 12, 2024 — Dr. Patrick C. Bratton, US Army War College director of South Asian Studies, reviews Grant F. Rhode’s “valuable contribution to [the] literature” that “[brings] attention to many of Eurasia’s often-forgotten maritime powers and conflicts.” Bratton highlights the particular value of Rhode’s “excellent” case studies “that deserve attention” and explains the book’s utility for policymakers while also providing a thoughtful critique of the book’s framing devices... MORE

Book cover: Great Power Clashes Along the Maritime Silk Road: Lessons from History to Shape Current Strategy

Book Review: Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
December 12, 2024 — Lieutenant Colonel Peter M. Erickson, PhD, provides a valuable overview of Gary J. Bass’s explanation of why the post–World War II Tokyo trials “were a relative failure.” He highlights how a lack of impartiality, the “legacy of empire,” and the judges’ backgrounds and motivations affected the trials. Erickson calls the book “a must-read for Defense community leaders who often wrestle with the strict legality of America’s tactical actions and the broader and deeper moral impacts of its strategic endeavors.”... MORE

Book cover: Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia

Book Review: British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony
December 12, 2024 — Dr. Frank L. Jones, a distinguished fellow of the US Army War College, provides a useful and comprehensive review of author William D. James’s first book, “an excellent study for members of the defense community who want to understand British grand strategy historically or aspire to policy-making or strategy-making positions and need a sound introduction.” Jones outlines James’s main arguments and the value of the case studies presented, including the “East of Suez” case study, a “vivid example of strategic adjustment where timing, domestic politics, other foreign policy priorities, economic power, and the concerns of allies shape decision making.”... MORE

Book cover: British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony

Book Review: We Had to Get Out of That Place: A Memoir of Redemption and Betrayal in Vietnam
December 12, 2024 — Dr. Wylie W. Johnson reviews Vietnam War veteran Steven Grzesik’s memoir that, as Johnson explains, shows the effects of “the Army’s institutional policies” and how “[u]nit cohesiveness begins with senior leadership.” Grzesik’s personal experiences and the “isolation, abuse, and sacrifice of individual replacements” (which Johnson identifies as important themes in the book) provide a valuable perspective on “the imperative of caring for soldiers.” ... MORE

Book cover: We Had to Get Out of That Place: A Memoir of Redemption and Betrayal in Vietnam

Book Review: A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force
October 8, 2024 — John C. Erickson and Timothy S. Martin review one of the US Army War College Press’s most-downloaded publications, A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force, an integrated research project that covers the first year of the Russia-Ukraine War. Erickson and Martin provide a useful overview and analysis, highlighting 10 key themes, with a special focus on the “Clausewitzian triad” and “mission command,” and explaining why members across the “national security enterprise” can benefit from reading the book... MORE

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Book Review: The Ballad of Roy Benavidez: The Life and Times of America’s Most Famous Hispanic War Hero
October 2, 2024 — As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Dr. Wylie W. Johnson presents a review of a recent publication on one of the most celebrated Hispanic war heroes in US history—Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez. Johnson overviews author William Sturkey’s biography of Benavidez, which discusses Benavidez’s “perseverance against racial prejudice, poverty, substandard education, bureaucratic inertia, popular bias against patriotism, anti-military sentiment, and physical disabilities” and also his heroism in the Vietnam War and his lifetime of service afterward. Johnson recommends the book as “military leaders need to be reminded about our heroes and honor the examples they set.”... MORE

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Review Essay: Exploring Strategy in India
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Vinay Kaura reviews two similarly named books that Kaura writes will be “an indispensable reference for South Asian security for years to come.” He praises Rajesh Basrur’s Subcontinental Drift for “incorporating domestic factors to explain Indian’s foreign policy” and provides a helpful overview of Basrur’s three case studies and “policy drift.” Kaura also overviews Feroz Hassan Khan’s book, centered on how India and Pakistan “are shaping the political order in South Asia”... MORE

Cover from the Review Essay: Exploring Strategy in India: Rajesh Basrur's Subcontinental Drift: Domestic Politics and India’s Foreign Policy and Feroz Hassan Khan's Subcontinent Adrift: Strategic Futures of South Asia

Book Review: The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Thomas Spahr presents a compelling review of General Kenneth McKenzie’s The Melting Point, providing an overview of the book’s three main points and its unique scope compared to other generals’ memoirs. Spahr praises McKenzie’s writing on Afghanistan, in particular, calling it “the best [description] I have read of the strategic events that led to that dramatic end.” Spahr presents a compelling case for why the book “should be required reading at senior levels... MORE

cover of The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century

Book Review: The Making of a Leader: The Formative Years of George C. Marshall
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Wylie Johnson provides a thoughtful review of Rhodes Scholar Josiah Bunting’s new book on the early life and career of General George Marshall. As Johnson notes, there are many books about Marshall, and Johnson highlights the value of Bunting’s book, which contextualizes Marshall’s early career—from experience as a staff officer (rather than leading troops in combat), to having authority in overseas assignments, to recreation. Johnson notes... MORE

cover of The Making of a Leader: The Formative Years of George C. Marshall

Book Review: Unwinnable Wars: Afghanistan and the Future of American Armed Statebuilding
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Erik Goepner reviews analyst Adam Wunische’s Unwinnable Wars, which, according to Gopener, offers a “timeless reminder—American power has limits.” Goepner provides a helpful outline of Wunische’s four “major preexisting conditions that severely limit the success of armed state-building efforts.” Wunische argues that preexisting conditions are “beyond the control of the intervening power” and “often foreordain the failure of such missions”... MORE

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Book Review: The New Makers of Modern Strategy: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age
September 25, 2024 — John Erickson and John Nagl provide a useful overview of the latest (third) edition of Princeton University Press’s anthologies on modern strategy, directing readers to the most salient chapters of the book and giving insight into why “this third edition is the most interesting yet” and “are of immeasurable importance for students, practitioners, and scholars alike.” Erickson and Nagl write that “[the] essays provide excellent starting points for research on almost any... MORE

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Book Review: War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World
September 25, 2024 — John Erickson and John Nagl review Hal Brands’s 2024 anthology on the Russia-Ukraine War, including a thorough and helpful overview of the parts and chapters. They supplement the review with a contextualization of the war and its significance for the rest of the world. They call Brands’s book, “a scholarly appraisal of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that may mark the first blows of World War III.”... MORE

cover of War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World