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2013-11-06 17:31:15
Guerrilla warfare isn't a novelty in the post9/11 era, says Max Boot, but instead has been a potent, persistent feature throughout military history. A senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has also advised commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan (as well as the presidential campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney), Boot traces the trajectory of insurgent groups across history who stirred up trouble for figures as far back as Alexander the Great and today are a key obstacle in the fight against terrorism.
7. "The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Shooters, and Other SelfDestructive Killers," by Adam Lankford (January)
An assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, Adam Lankford decided to examine what motivates suicide bombers. Poring over interviews, case studies, suicide notes and other sources, Lankford concludes, contrary to many psychologists and political scientists, that suicide bombers do not act simply in the name of a political or religious cause, but instead have a clinical suicidal impulse; their acts are attempts to escape depression, anxiety and other personal hardships, Lankford finds. His book, which has earned advanced praise from both government officials and psychologists, feels especially timely amid the discussion surrounding mental health and mass shootings in the United States.
8. "After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead," by Alan S. Blinder (January)
More than four years after the 2008 financial collapse and with the 2012 election behind us, Alan Blinder the Princeton economist who served on Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and as vice president of the Federal Reserve in the 1990s has a new book billed as among the most comprehensive looks at the economic downturn. Blinder argues that the global crisis can be traced to the "bond bubble" in the United States, where an underregulated financial system collapsed and in turn infected the rest of the world. He details why he believes the results would have been much worse without government intervention, including from the Fed, though he believes there's still "cleanup work" left to be done.
9. "The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World," by Kishore Mahbubani (February)
For all the talk of an ascendant China threatening the West, longtime Asia booster Kishore Mahbubani sees not a clash of civilizations but a "new global civilization" on the horizon. The former Singaporean diplomat, who now serves as dean of the National University of Singapore's school of public policy, announced a "New Asian Hemisphere" in his previous book. With this one, he argues East and West now occupy "one world," welcoming a convergence of worldwide values, perceptions and standards of living. Still, Mahbubani also warns that the West must proportionately cede some of the spotlight on this shared global stage, for instance at the United Nations and the World Bank, to adapt to the new balance of powers.
1012. "China Goes Global: The Partial Power," by David Shambaugh (February); "The Devouring Dragon: How China's Rise Threatens Our Natural World," by Craig Simons (March); "Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower," by Henry Paulson and Michael Carroll (September)
China's rise is hardly news, but the rest of the world is in many ways still grappling with the consequences of this new global power the focus of three books out beginning early next spring. David Shambaugh, a China scholar at George Washington University, takes a broad view, charting China's vast economic reach and growing but still limited military might, while arguing that the country still "punches way below its weight" when it comes to international diplomacy and cultural influence. Meanwhile, Craig Simons, a Chinabased environmental journalist, documents the ecological devastation, both at home and abroad, that has been the byproduct of China's rise from the Three Gorges Dam's impact on wildlife and soil along the Yangtze River to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, where trees have been felled and land cleared to meet China's vast demand for soybean oil and beef. Treasury secretary to plot out how Western companies can engage and challenge their greatest global competitor.
13. "Comandante: Hugo Chvez's Venezuela," by Rory Carroll (March)
As Hugo Chvez appears to fade, most recently delegating power to his vice president, Rory Carroll, a former Latin America bureau chief for the Guardian, is set to publish a timely biography of the Venezuelan president. Promising an "intimate piece of reportage" based on interviews with Chvez's ministers, aides and courtiers, as well as Venezuelan citizens, "Comandante" traces Chvez's rise to, and increasing grip on, power over the years from his seizure of the Venezuelan oil industry to his creation of a personality cult (including his longtime TV show "Alo Presidente!") to his growing suppression of political opponents.
14. "Democracy in Retreat: The Revolt of the Middle Class and the Worldwide Decline of Representative Government," by Joshua Kurlantzick (March)
Two years after a wave of democratic uprisings swept the Arab World, Council on Foreign Relations fellow Joshua Kurlantzick takes a far more sober view of global political progress, arguing that a "spate of retreating democracies" are not outliers but a trend democracy is in decline.
16. "The Way of the Knife: The CIA, A Secret Army, and a War at the End of the Earth," by Mark Mazzetti (April)
