Military professionals cannot afford to think about war in only one dimension. This month’s Military Journal selections move from reconnaissance in Vietnam to Cold War deterrence in Asia, from the history of American intelligence to the growing role of economic warfare in modern statecraft. Together, they show that serious military reading includes understanding the wider instruments of power that shape conflict.
“Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before. It doesn’t give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.”-- General James Mattis
That is what makes these books worth attention. Michael O. Fallon, Eric Setzekorn, Jeffrey P. Rogg, and Edward Fishman each illuminate a different part of the profession’s intellectual terrain, from fieldcraft and alliances to intelligence and coercion. What follows offers concise entry points into four serious works and the questions they raise for today’s readers.
