Summer additions to the 2024 reading list for national/international security enthusiasts
This is the time of year when we all try to carve out time to catch up on our reading. Not sure where to start? I have some ideas for you. Before getting to them, may I invite you to take a look at the list from earlier this year? It’s entitled “Some suggestions to kick off your 2024 reading plan!” and you may find several recommendations that pique your interest. Think of this post as an update of that list.
Some additions
End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation by Victor Davis Hanson. A reviewer described the book as one where a “New York Times –bestselling historian charts how and why societies from ancient Greece to the modern era chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time.” The four events that get intense scrutiny are the sieges at Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan — and, wow, I’ll bet you’ll learn a lot (I did anyway!). Since I do expect to have a full review for you in the not-to-distant-future, I’ll leave it at that except to say this a a very thoughtful and fascinating volume.
The Return of Great Powers: Russia, China and the Next World War, by Jim Sciutto. A tour de force by CNN’s Chief National Security Analyst whose background includes two years service as the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Ambassador to China. What is more is that Sciutto gives the book additional gravitas by liberally quoting other experts on the record, including current and past U.S. government officials from multiple administrations. I hope to provide you with a fuller review at some point as I do have some critiques, but I think you’ll find the book really informative.
The Back Channel; A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Renewal, by William J. Burns. A superb and very readable memoir of a diplomat with more than three decades of service through multiple administrations. Provides the behind the scenes perspective of how hard diplomacy can be. Now the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the New York Times says “he has amassed influence beyond most if not all previous C.I.A. directors.” You’ll want to know more about this key public servant.
What I’m reading now
Big Data and Armed Conflict: Legal Issues Above and Below the Armed Conflict Threshold, edited by Laura A. Dickinson and Edward W. Berg. As much as we talk about artificial intelligence, “big data” has become the critical infrastructure of modern defense capabilities. This book is a collection of essays by experts who grapple with the different legal aspects of the big data phenomena. (Some examples: “Big Data: International Law Issues During Armed Conflict” by Mike Schmitt; “Cyborg Soldiers: Military Use of Brain-Computer Interfaces and the Law of Armed Conflict,” by Noam Lubell and Katya Al-Khateeb; and “‘Attacking’ Big Data: Strategic Competition, the Race for AI, and the International Law of Cyber Sabotage,” by Gary Corn and Eric Jensen (see the podcast here).
Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice, by Michel Paradis. I’ve always been fascinated by the Doolittle Raid that took place in early 1942 and raised morale of a nation still reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack. This book is about the effort to bring to justice those who tortured and killed the airmen who fell into the hands of the Japanese when their planes were unable to reach safety after the bombing attack. A fascinating look at the complicated development of war crimes law that discuses issues which still resonate today. A great read.
The Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare, Stockton Center for International Law. Understanding the law of naval warfare is becoming increasingly important, and if you think the law of armed conflict is always applied in the precisely the same way in the maritime environment as it is on land, this recent (2023) volume is one you need to read. Very well-written and accessible to all. (Check out the podcast here.)
United States Constitutional Law (2nd Ed) by Daniel Farber and Neil Siegel. A just-updated (2024) text that is aimed at “law students, political science students, and engaged citizens.” I’m reading it partly because one of the authors (Siegel) is my Duke Law colleague, but mostly because I wanted an update/refresher on this critical topic. This is the succinct yet scholarly book I need (Chapter 7 on Presidential Power is a “must-read” for national security law attorneys). BTW, Neil has another new book out “The Collective-Action Constitution” that has been very well received.
Tide of War: The Impact of Weather on War, by David R. Petriello. I’ve had this short book for awhile, but I’m glad I picked it up again. It discusses how weather conditions have impacted warfare – often decisively. As the flyleaf says: “The growing concern over climate change has only heightened the need to study and understand this subject.”
A book I just ordered and am very much looking forward to reading
The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century, by Harold Koh. Yale law professor (and former Dean) has penned a book sure to be widely read in the national security law community. As the former legal advisor to the State Department during the Obama administration he was responsible for cutting -edge legal opinions regarding drones, cyber, and much more. Here’s an except from a description of the book:
“Reviewing the presidencies of the twenty-first century, he explains why modern national security threats have given presidents of both parties incentives to monopolize foreign policy decision-making, Congress incentives to defer, and the courts reasons to rubber-stamp. Koh suggests both a workable strategy and crucial prescriptions to restore the balance of our constitutional order in addressing modern global crises.”
Incidentally, Prof Koh has tentatively agreed to speak at our 30th National Security Law Conference 28 Feb/1 Mar 2025.
Here are a couple of articles that you may find of interest:
Parts of national security law are so dynamic that it is hard to find books that are really current. Fortunately, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are usually (but not always!) a very reliable source of information. Given that so much of national security law as understood by major civilian law firms involves business dealings, here are two recent CRS reports worth a look (both dated May 17, 2024)
CFIUS Executive Order on Evolving National Security Risks and CFIUS Enforcement Guidelines
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
Keeping up with technology relevant to national security is a truly daunting task, but here’s a CRS report (dated February 2024) that can help you:
Emerging Military Technologies: Background and Issues for Congress
Speaking of technology, Mike Schmitt and Anusha Pakkam recently (April 26, 2024) published an extremely valuable article for those interested in what kind of cyber incident, exactly, would amount to a casus belli. It is an unsettled issue, but Mike and Ms. Pakkam give you, as they put it, the “state of play”: “Cyberspace and the Jus ad Bellum: The State of Play”
Here are a couple of novels for beach reading.
Extinction, by Douglas Preston. This is a novel set in the near-future at a resort built to exhibit species–like woolly mammoths and giant armadillos –that have been “de-extincted” by scientists. Gee, what could go wrong? Fast paced and fun, it also suggests some serious thinking needs to go into well-meant ideas about genetic manipulation.
Chaos Agent, by Mark Greaney. In the latest installment of the “Gray Man” series, Greaney takes us into the world of artificial intelligence. Greaney makes sure you learn a bit about the topics that are at the center of his thrillers, so it isn’t completely frivolous entertainment!
Concluding thoughts
Allow me to reiterate what I’ve said in a previous post: In 2022 Gallup made this troubling report:
Americans say they read an average of 12.6 books during the past year, a smaller number than Gallup has measured in any prior survey dating back to 1990. U.S. adults are reading roughly two or three fewer books per year than they did between 2001 and 2016. (Emphasis added.)
Additionally, it made this surprising finding:
The decline is greater among subgroups that tended to be more avid readers, particularly college graduates but also women and older Americans. College graduates read an average of about six fewer books in 2021 than they did between 2002 and 2016, 14.6 versus 21.1.
The reason(s) for these disturbing findings are beyond the scope of this post, but they do say something to me: I believe those that do read will enjoy an asymmetric advantage in their careers and, really, life.
In his final book (Leadership) Henry Kissinger observed that “Intense reading can help leaders cultivate the mental distance from external stimuli and personalities that sustains a sense of proportion.” It can also provide a “storehouse” of knowledge from which “leaders can reason analogically.” He then adds:
“More profoundly, books offer a reality that is reasonable, sequential and orderly—a reality that can be mastered, or at least managed, by reflection and planning. And, perhaps most importantly for leadership, reading creates a ‘skein of intergenerational conversation’, encouraging learning with a sense of perspective. Finally, reading is a source of inspiration. Books record the deeds of leaders who once dared greatly, as well as those who dared too much, as a warning.”
Reading is actually a lifelong project. General Jim Mattis puts it bluntly:
