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- World War II (5)
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Articles 1 - 29 of 29
Full-Text Articles in Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Book Review: Number One Realist: Bernard Fall And Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare, John A. Nagl
Book Review: Number One Realist: Bernard Fall And Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare, John A. Nagl
Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews
Author: Nathaniel L. Moir
Reviewed by John A. Nagl, professor of warfighting studies, US Army War College
Counterinsurgency expert John A. Nagl reviews the “long-overdue” biography of the American political scientist Bernard Fall who, as Nagl writes, was “always a couple years ahead of informed US public opinion” about the Vietnam War. Author Nathaniel L. Moir’s experience as an Afghanistan War veteran informs this examination of one of the most “contentious” topics in American history, and the intersection here of Dr. Nagl’s, Moir’s, and Fall’s expertise provides powerful insights about the persistent question of how best to approach counterinsurgency.
Book Review: Military Dogs Of World War Ii, Wylie W. Johnson
Book Review: Military Dogs Of World War Ii, Wylie W. Johnson
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Author: Susan Bulanda
Reviewed by Reverend Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain (retired), US Army War College class of 2010
In total war, the nation calls on everyone to direct all resources toward victory—during World War II, that call extended to man’s best friend. Retired military chaplain Dr. Wylie W. Johnson reviews certified animal behavior consultant Susan Bulanda’s Military Dogs of World War II, a photographic history that highlights the value of dogs to the mission of the US military and reminds readers, as Johnson observes, of “the critical contributions made by every level of the force.”
Book Review: War Of Supply, John A. Bonin
Book Review: War Of Supply, John A. Bonin
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Author: David D. Dworak
Reviewed by Dr. John A. Bonin, consultant, US Army War College
The reviewer notes, “While there are thousands of books about World War II, there are relatively few on the war in the Mediterranean and fewer on its logistics.” Dworak provides just that, with a chronological account of Operation Torch in North Africa; Operations Husky, Avalanche, and Shingle in Sicily and Italy; and Operation Dragoon in southern France.
Book Review: Blood And Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931–1945, Jonathan Klug
Book Review: Blood And Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931–1945, Jonathan Klug
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Author: Richard Overy
Reviewed by Jonathan Klug, colonel, US Army, and assistant professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College
Many track the start of World War II to Poland in 1939.In Blood and Ruins, Richard Overy contends the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria was the start of an Asian war that later merged into the 1939 war in Europe when Japan attacked America. The book addresses policy and strategy as well as operational, technical, and tactical issues.
Book Review: Four Battlegrounds: Power In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Robert J. Bunker
Book Review: Four Battlegrounds: Power In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Robert J. Bunker
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Author: Paul Scharre
Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures, LLC
Award-winning author Paul Scharre’s latest work, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, envisions artificial intelligence as ushering in a “new industrial revolution” with big military, economic, and political implications. The reviewer sees this “readable, tightly structured” book as “fascinating and important work from a US national security studies perspective” and “after-hours supplemental reading for US military and policy professionals who want to understand the political-military importance of AI and its strategic (in fact, civilizational) implications for the future.”
Book Review: The Origins Of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines The Fates Of Great Powers, Zachery Tyson Brown
Book Review: The Origins Of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines The Fates Of Great Powers, Zachery Tyson Brown
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Author: Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr.
Reviewed by Zachery Tyson Brown, defense analyst, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Andrew F. Krepinevich has questions for policymakers when it comes to emerging technologies and warfare. In The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers, Krepinevich asks: How do states gain advantages in military competition during periods of disruptive change? How are developmental technologies best incorporated into legacy military structures? Or are entirely new structures necessary?
Book Review: Original Sin: Power, Technology And War In Outer Space, Jeffrey Caton
Book Review: Original Sin: Power, Technology And War In Outer Space, Jeffrey Caton
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Author: Bleddyn E. Bowen
Reviewed by Jeffrey Caton, colonel, US Air Force (retired), and president, Kepler Strategies LLC
Based on three key arguments, Original Sin covers the development of spacepower during the Cold War, space technology’s progress, and the weapons, planning and doctrine that surround space warfare. The reviewer notes, “What sets Original Sin apart from similar books is the outstanding context it provides and its willingness to challenge trite slogans attached to spacepower.”
Book Review: Spies And Shuttles: Nasa’S Secret Relationship With The Dod And Cia, Carlos Barrera, Manuel Carranza
Book Review: Spies And Shuttles: Nasa’S Secret Relationship With The Dod And Cia, Carlos Barrera, Manuel Carranza
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Author: James E. David
Reviewed by Professor Carlos Barrera, Mexican Institute for Strategic Studies in National Security and Defence, and Manuel Carranza, defense and security affairs researcher
Starting with the 1957 launches of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 and 2, James E. David’s autobiography “offers a cautionary tale on grandiloquent endeavors and highlights the need to prioritize planning over narrative” in space. David was a curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which gave him access to newly declassified materials. He put this information to good use in Spies and Shuttles as …
Book Review: The Air War In Vietnam, Vince Alcazar
Book Review: The Air War In Vietnam, Vince Alcazar
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Author: Michael E. Weaver
Reviewed by Vince Alcazar, Air Force (retired) planner and fighter pilot, Department of Defense
The Air War in Vietnam addresses President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration’s use of airpower (or lack of it) and why American airpower underperformed, as well as airpower innovations that influenced the US warfare model in the Vietnam War. The reviewer bills this work as “…an indispensable volume of airpower scholarship. It is a richly developed analysis of airpower in a decade-long war with challenging hybrid characteristics and shifting US strategies.”
Book Review: Without Flyers, No Tannenberg: Aviation On The Eastern Front Of 1914—Evolution Of A Critical Role For Modern Warfare, Greg Pickell
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Authors: Terrence J. Finnegan, Helmut Jäger, and Carl J. Bobrow
Reviewed by Greg Pickell, US Army lieutenant colonel (retired)
Providing valuable historical context, Without Flyers, No Tannenberg “offers a wealth of previously unavailable information and provided needed context to the German triumph over the Russian 2nd Army in the opening weeks of the First World War.” The book describes how aviation developed in Germany and Russia and offers detailed maps and graphics. The latter part of the book covers events following the defeat of Russian General Samsonov’s 2nd Army, to include the Battle of the Masurian Lakes and the campaign …
Book Review: Strategia: A Primer On Theory And Strategy For Students Of War, Phillip Dolitsky
Book Review: Strategia: A Primer On Theory And Strategy For Students Of War, Phillip Dolitsky
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Author: Charles S. Oliviero
Reviewed by Phillip Dolitsky, master’s student at the School of International Service, American University
Strategia: A Primer on Theory and Strategy for Students of War poses the question “What is the true nature of war?” According to the author, even after studying war for 2,000 years, it is still misunderstood. Topics include war on land, war at sea, and war in the air. The reviewer notes that several relevant strategists names are noticeably absent from the work, including J. C. Wylie, Raymond Aron, Colin S. Gray, and Edward N. Luttwak, and even Thucydides.
Book Review: Cyber Intelligence: Actors, Policies, And Practices, Robert J. Bunker
Book Review: Cyber Intelligence: Actors, Policies, And Practices, Robert J. Bunker
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Author: Constance S. Uthoff
Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures LLC
From intelligence cycles and processes to intelligence agencies, security challenges, and more, Cyber Intelligence: Actors, Policies, and Practices is a solid work that “covers a lot of ground at a reasonable price.” The reviewer sees it as “a practical tool in our understanding of the cyber intelligence and conflict discipline.”
Book Review: Team America: Patton, Macarthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, And The World They Forged, Wylie W. Johnson
Book Review: Team America: Patton, Macarthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, And The World They Forged, Wylie W. Johnson
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Author: Robert L. O’Connell
Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, US Army War College class of 2010
Although early twentieth-century America’s Army was small, meagerly funded, short on equipment, and rife with other struggles, it saw the rise of great leaders. Team America: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, and the World They Forged focuses on four of them. They came from different backgrounds, yet “Together they accounted for 19 stars; together they brought about victory in their generation. Two became Chief of Staff of the Army. One rose to become the US Commander in Chief.”
Book Review: How Civil Wars Start And How To Stop Them, Robert J. Bunker
Book Review: How Civil Wars Start And How To Stop Them, Robert J. Bunker
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Author: Barbara F. Walter
Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures LLC
How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them was written to acquaint readers with “the conditions that give rise to, and define, modern civil war” to “[understand how] close modern America is to erupting into conflict” (xviii). The reviewer notes, “American military officers, sworn government agents, and officials will find the work troubling” and praises its “nonpartisan exploration and objective analysis” in tackling a difficult topic.
Book Review: The Military And The Market, Ryan Orsini
Book Review: The Military And The Market, Ryan Orsini
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Editors: Jennifer Mittelstadt and Mark R. Wilson
Reviewed by Major Ryan Orsini, Infantry officer, US Army
The Military and the Market is filled with historical and political science case studies to help US policymakers and practitioners navigate the interrelationships between the Department of Defense and the private market. The studies present the success and failure “of regulation and adaptation of individual markets, from on-post housing to local prostitution, and their impact on the military mission and overall social equity.” This book is well suited for policymakers and practitioners at the local and national levels.
Book Review: Corruption In The Americas, José De Arimatéia Da Cruz
Book Review: Corruption In The Americas, José De Arimatéia Da Cruz
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Editors: Jonathan D. Rosen and Hanna S. Kassab
Reviewed by Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz, professor of international relations and comparative politics, Georgia Southern University, and visiting professor, Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College
Jonathan D. Rosen and Hanna S. Kassab argue in Corruption in the Americas that corruption is not only an industry but has also become an integral part of Latin American societies. The book also notes that support for democracy in many Latin American countries (despite years of authoritarianism) is at an all-time low. The reviewer recommends this book saying, “The book highlights the …
Book Review: The Good Captain: A Personal Memoir Of America At War, Joseph J. Collins
Book Review: The Good Captain: A Personal Memoir Of America At War, Joseph J. Collins
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Author: R. D. Hooker Jr.
Reviewed by Joseph J. Collins, PhD, retired US Army colonel
Retired Army colonel Rich Hooker’s The Good Captain is a memoir spanning the Cold War through the Global War on Terror. Hooker’s deployments take up the bulk of the book and include Grenada with the 82nd Airborne Division, Somalia to work with legendary Ambassador Bob Oakley, Zaire to coordinate humanitarian operations in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo as a parachute infantry battalion commander, the Sinai Peninsula for peacekeeping operations, command of the Dragon Brigade in Iraq and, in his last year of service, Afghanistan with the …
Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler And Stalin, Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson
Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler And Stalin, Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson
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Author: Timothy Snyder
Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, US Army War College class of 2010
Covering the rules of Hitler and Stalin between 1933 and 1945, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin, explores three periods of genocide in which “two great ideological powers that worked out their Darwinian fantasies at the expense of peoples they identified by religion, ethnicity, ideology, and location.” In addition to military casualties, 14 million noncombatants died. The reviewer notes, “Bloodlands is an important book for US military leaders of all ranks for two reasons. First, it is a stark warning to …
Book Review: Managing Sex In The U.S. Military: Gender, Identity, And Behavior, Mary Raum
Book Review: Managing Sex In The U.S. Military: Gender, Identity, And Behavior, Mary Raum
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Editors: Beth Bailey, Alesha E. Doan, Shannon Portillo, and Karen Dixon Vuic
Reviewed by Dr. Mary Raum, professor of national security affairs, US Naval War College
This compilation of scholarly, practical, and historical writings presents a running record of events gleaned from research on government policies from the eras of World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the War in Afghanistan. It provides greater insight into the complexities of gender issues with direct ties to defense systems. While service examples and dialogues are primarily aimed at the Army, the Navy and Marine Corps are also included. Historical …
Book Review: The Weaponisation Of Everything: A Field Guide To The New Way Of War, Robert J. Bunker
Book Review: The Weaponisation Of Everything: A Field Guide To The New Way Of War, Robert J. Bunker
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Author: Mark Galeottii
Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures LLC
In this field guide, Galeotti departs from his customary focus on Russia and covers a broad area of new ways—or emerging twenty-first-century means—of warfare. His expertise and penchant for illustrative and entertaining vignettes allows him to inject informed insights into his work and syncretize military historical and contemporary examples pulled from time and space.
Book Review: The Age Of Ai And Our Human Future, Russell W. Glenn
Book Review: The Age Of Ai And Our Human Future, Russell W. Glenn
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Authors: Henry A. Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocher
Reviewed by Dr. Russell W. Glenn, principal, Innovative Defense Research LLC
Notable for its authoritative arguments and analysis of the nature and potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI), this short, effective primer complements many longer treatments and journal articles on the subject. Readers well-versed in AI will find little new here, but the book’s national security implications merit consideration. Primary themes include the transformative character and criticality of establishing international agreements regarding the application of AI. The authors remind readers of humanity’s control of AI development and the contingent responsibility to …
Book Review: Military Virtues, George J. Fust
Book Review: Military Virtues, George J. Fust
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Editors: Michael Skerker, David Whetham, and Don Carrick
Reviewed by Major George J. Fust, active-duty US Army officer
Filling the gap between theoretical and practical application, this collection of essays by leading scholars and practitioners revitalizes the application of virtue to the modern military environment and answers the question, “Why did the service component choose this value?” Case studies and vignettes in each chapter reinforce main arguments and drive further reflection. After reading this book, readers will not have to accept military-prescribed virtues at face value; they will have obtained an understanding and a moral map for dealing with ethical …
Book Review: The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story Of A Fighting General And His Spearhead Tank Division’S Charge Into The Third Reich, Wylie W. Johnson
Book Review: The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story Of A Fighting General And His Spearhead Tank Division’S Charge Into The Third Reich, Wylie W. Johnson
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Author: Daniel P. Bolger
Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, US Army War College class of 2010
The Panzer Killers follows the story of World War II Major General Maurice Rose, chronicling his humble beginnings through his rise to being a decorated and accomplished Army commander who led by example.
Book Review: John J. Pershing And The American Expeditionary Forces In World War I, 1917–1919: April 7-September 30, Volume 1, Nathan K. Finney
Book Review: John J. Pershing And The American Expeditionary Forces In World War I, 1917–1919: April 7-September 30, Volume 1, Nathan K. Finney
Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews
Editor: John T. Greenwood
Reviewed by Dr. Nathan K. Finney, lieutenant colonel, US Army, Indo-Pacific Command, founder of The Strategy Bridge and the Military Writers Guild
Thoroughly researched and cited, this first volume in an anticipated eight-book series covers the first five months of World War I. The book includes maps, photographs, and is indexed for ease of use.
Book Review: War In The Villages: The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons In The Vietnam War, William Thomas Allison
Book Review: War In The Villages: The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons In The Vietnam War, William Thomas Allison
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Author: Ted N. Easterling
Reviewed by Dr. William Thomas Allison, professor of history, Georgia Southern University
Published on April 20, 2023. Former Marine and Vietnam War veteran Ted Easterling evaluates the Marine Combined Action Platoons and their effectiveness, calling them an “appropriate counterinsurgency method” whose potential was squandered during the Vietnam War.
Book Review: Determined To Persist: General Earle Wheeler, The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, And The Military’S Foiled Pursuit Of Victory In Vietnam, Gregory L. Cantwell
Book Review: Determined To Persist: General Earle Wheeler, The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, And The Military’S Foiled Pursuit Of Victory In Vietnam, Gregory L. Cantwell
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Author: Mark A. Viney
Reviewed by Dr. Gregory L. Cantwell, professor, Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College
Published on April 20, 2023. How did the leadership dynamics of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), the president, and others during the height of the Vietnam War play out? Determined to Persist analyzes General Earle G. Wheeler and others and offers what the reviewer calls a fresh perspective on the topic.
Book Review: Clear, Hold, And Destroy: Pacification In Phú Yên And The American War In Vietnam, Samantha A. Taylor
Book Review: Clear, Hold, And Destroy: Pacification In Phú Yên And The American War In Vietnam, Samantha A. Taylor
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Author: Robert J. Thompson III
Reviewed by Dr. Samantha A. Taylor, assistant professor of military and security studies, Air Command and Staff College
Published on April 20, 2023. There is no shortage of books that explore the Vietnam War and why it ended the way it did. This book does not focus on strategy or events but on the middle-level US and South Vietnamese pacification policy in the Phú Yên province and the communist strategy to counter it.
Book Review: Useful Captives: The Role Of Pows In American Military Conflicts, Michael E. Lynch
Book Review: Useful Captives: The Role Of Pows In American Military Conflicts, Michael E. Lynch
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Editors: Daniel Krebs and Lorien Foote
Reviewed by Dr. Michael E. Lynch, senior historian, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College
Published on April 7, 2023. A book of useful and thought-provoking essays, Useful Captives: The Role of POWs in American Military History explores 300 years of wars and the role POWs have played in them. Reviewer Dr. Michael Lynch walks readers through more than half of the groups featured in the book.
Book Review: Old & New Battlespaces: Society, Military Power, And War, Robert J. Bunker
Book Review: Old & New Battlespaces: Society, Military Power, And War, Robert J. Bunker
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Authors: Jahara Matisek and Buddhika Jayamaha
Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis and managing partner, C/O Futures, LLC
Published on April 7, 2023. In Old & New Battlespaces: Society, Military Power, and War, Drs. Jahara Matisek and Buddhika Jayamaha, examine the nature of battlespace and how one can make sense of it across space, through well-known and emergent domains, and along the various levels of war, asking where one should look, how one should look, and for what one should look. Reviewer Dr. Robert J. Bunker shows how the book executes well in its modernist …