Book Reviews
RUSSIA’S GRAND STRATEGY IN MOSCOW’S OWN WORDS
April 23, 2022
CSPC Director Joshua Huminski reviews the "Russian Grand Strategy," edited by Andrew Monaghan: The book delivers some powerful lessons, upsetting Western assumptions about the Kremlin's decision making while subtly showing how intellectually lazy Western policy has become.
HOLLYWOOD, CHINA, AND THE NEXUS OF GEOPOLITICS AND ENTERTAINMENT
April 2, 2022
[Red Carpet] takes a truly fascinating look at how strategic competition is playing out in an under recognized arena, and it is these arenas that will have as significant an impact as the ones to which we pay the most attention, writes CSPC Director Joshua Huminski.
BUILDING AGILITY FOR THE FUTURE OF WAR
March 5, 2022
“War Transformed”, covers a refreshing perspective on the evolution of war by integrating the future of the military, instead of solely focusing on technological advancements. Read CSPC Director Joshua Huminski’s latest review of Major General Mick Ryan’s book.
BOOKS TO HELP MAKE SENSE OF RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE
February 26, 2022
Read CSPC Director Joshua's list of books to help relieve uncertainties about Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine and to obtain a better understanding of what is to come.
Book Review: China’s ambitions for a New Internal Order
January 29, 2022
“The World According to China”, reflects on “the dynamic and multifaceted nature of China’s rise, the application of its power, its attempts to manipulate global norms and institutions”. Read CSPC Director Joshua Huminski’s latest review of Elizabeth Economy’s book.
BOOK REVIEW: FC BARCELONA & THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
January 22, 2022
Read CSPC Director Joshua Huminski’s review of author Simon Kuper’s book “The Barcelona Complex”, where he applauds Kuper’s admiration for the club and sport that has greatly impacted Barcelona’s culture.
book review: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE
December 18, 2021
Author Katja Hoyer’s book “Blood and Iron” takes a wide-lens view to the formation of Germany, and it is an exceptionally successful approach, articulates CSPC Director Joshua Huminski.
book review: THE PRICE OF AMERICA’S ABSENCE IN SYRIA
December 4, 2021
“[Anna] Borshchevskaya’s book [Putin’s War in Russia] is one that has been long overdue—this is perhaps the only book available that looks exclusively at Russia’s intervention, its causes and consequences (both internationally and domestically), and what it means more broadly for Russia’s geopolitical position,” writes CSPC Director Joshua Huminski.
book review: for queen and country
November 27, 2021
Read Joshua Huminski’s review of “The Secret Royals: Spying and the Crown, from Victoria to Diana,” a book that combines the worlds of the monarchy and espionage into a riveting account of British royalty.
book review: humanity in the age of ai
“The Age of AI: And Our Human Future” explores the economic, geopolitical, societal and philosophical implications of artificial intelligence technology from the perspective of three theorists: Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher. Click the link below to read Joshua Huminski’s review.
book review: looking for and finding complexity in Afghanistan
November 13, 2021
Read Joshua Huminski’s review of a compilation of several books, including “The Caravan,” “Night Letters,” “Pakistan on the Brink,” “Dead Men Risen,” and “The Islamic State in Khorasan,” that analyzes a body of literature that goes beyond the established narrative to portray the complexity and nuance of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
book review: damascus station
October 17, 2021
“Damascus Station” by former CIA analyst David McCloskey is a refreshing addition to the spy thriller genre in that it offers a grounded perspective coupled with well-rounded, compelling characters. Click the link below to read CSPC Director Joshua Huminski’s review.
Book Review: The recruiter: Spying and the Lost of American Intelligence
October 2, 2021
Read Director Joshua Huminski’s review of “The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence,” a revealing memoir by Douglas London, which offers a rare insight into the life of a former Operations Officer in the CIA.
BOOK REVIEW: AMERICAN DEFENSE IN AN AGE OF GREAT POWER AND CONFLICT
September 14, 2021
Read Joshua Huminski’s review of “The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict,” an eloquent case for a new U.S. approach to China’s emerging prominence that denies the false dichotomy of “friend or foe” in favor of a more nuanced conception of international relations.
BOOK REVIEW: SECURING THE HIGH SEAS AND GLOBAL PROSPERITY
September 13, 2021
Click the link below to read Joshua Huminski’s review of “The Blue Age,” a part history, part travelogue, part commentary on the economic and geopolitical forces that govern the high seas.
BOOK REVIEW: The Legacy of 9/11 in American Politics
September 7, 2021
In “Reign of Terror,” journalist Spencer Ackerman takes an in-depth look at the rise of the post-9/11 security state and its impact on American democracy, culture, and politics, which he sees as the explanation for Trump’s emergence in 2016. Read CSPC Director Joshua Huminski’s full review via the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: THE GROWING THREAT OF IRREGULAR WARFARE
September 3, 2021
CSPC Director Joshua Huminski reviews Dr. Seth Jones' upcoming book "Three Dangerous Men: Russia, China, Iran, and the Rise of Irregular Warfare," which discusses the challenges the US faces in shifting its strategic focus from counterinsurgencies to great power competition featuring irregular warfare.
BOOK REVIEW: The Decline and Looming Fall of Liberal Democracy
August 25, 2021
Tom Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, unpacks why the foundations of Western democracy are eroding in his latest book, “Our Own Worst Enemy.” Read Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski full review in the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: The Tragedy of America’s War in Afghanistan
August 18, 2021
The Washington Post’s Craig Whitlock in his new book “The Afghanistan Papers” explores how, after 20 years, trillions of dollars of investment and countless lives lost, did the entirety of America’s effort in Afghanistan seemingly collapse in a matter of days. Read Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski full review in the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: A JOURNEY ACROSS RUSSIA’S ASIAN AND EUROPEAN LEGACY
August 7, 2021
In her travelogue "The Border: A Journey Around Russia," Erika Fatland visits countries neighboring Russia in an attempt to understand how Russia has affected those neighbors, in an engaging read that combines a sense of wanderlust with the political. Read the full review in the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: ON ALL FRONTS: THE EDUCATION OF A JOURNALIST
July 12, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist by Clarissa Ward, “a much-needed look at the trials and challenges of being a foreign correspondent”. Read the full review in the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: Future wars and the defence of europe
June 28, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Future Wars and the Defence of Europe," by John R. Allen, Frederick Ben Hodges and Julian Lindley-French- “An interesting read and wide-ranging exploration of a complicated topic on European defence and security policy challenges.” Read the full review in the link below.
A Former CIA Operative’s Leadership and lessons from the field
June 14, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews former CIA Operation Officer Marc Polymeropoulos’ book "Clarity in Crisis," a reflection about the important leadership and life lessons learned during his tenure in the CIA. Read the full review in the link below.
CAN WASHINGTON BREAK THE CYCLE OF THE “INSANITY DEFENSE”?
May 29, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Congresswoman Jane Harman's book "Insanity Defense," a historical reflection on seven key national security and foreign policy issues, including the attacks on 9/11. Read the full review in the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: DOOM: THE POLITICS OF CATASTROPHE
May 22, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe by Niall Ferguson who “illustrates humanity’s difficulty in understanding or preparing for disasters, and highlights the cognitive challenges society faces in even understanding adverse events.” Read the full review in the link below.
BOOK REVIEW: Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia
May 1, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia by Timothy Frye - “With deft prose, deep and insightful analysis, and considerable supporting evidence, Frye not only counters, but dismantles, the overly simplistic and lazy narratives of Russia under Putin.”
BOOK REVIEW: THE WEST’S WAR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC STATE
April 24, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews The West’s War Against the Islamic State by Andrew Mumford - “In the absence of a formal campaign analysis from the Department of Defense, or other comprehensive reviews, Mumford’s book is a good summary of the components of the anti-ISIL effort.”
BOOK REVIEW: LIFE IN CHINA’S SURVEILLANCE STATE
April 17, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter - “Interesting and quite terrifying as it is, Mr. Strittmatter’s book goes beyond the disembodied machine-learning face to see how the Chinese Communist Party is fundamentally reshaping Chinese society and culture.”
BOOK REVIEW: WALK IN MY COMBAT BOOTS
April 10, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Walk in My Combat Boots by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney - “The problem is that Walk in My Combat Boots skirts real issues and borders on hagiography, and this is a disservice to the men and women in uniform.”
Book Review: THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: THE BRITISH ARMY SINCE 9/11
April 3, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews The Changing of the Guard: The British Army Since 9/11 by Simon Akam - “Mr. Simon Akam’s book The Changing of the Guard masterfully captures [a] clash of cultures and the British Army’s struggle to adapt to the “wars of choice” of Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Book Review: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley
March 27, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley by Wesley Morgan - “In raw, frank, and exquisite reporting, Mr. Morgan tracks American military involvement in the Pech Valley, marrying on the ground reporting from both American and Afghan perspectives with in-depth analyses of intelligence sources and other reports.”
BOOK REVIEW: RED LINE: THE UNRAVELING OF SYRIA
March 20, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America’s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World by Joby Warrick - “Mr. Warrick is an accomplished writer and reporter, and that is certainly on display in Red Line. Using the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons as a hook, he seeks to weave together a book about the conflict that captures just how complex of a foreign policy challenge Syria was and remains.”
BOOK REVIEW: trump, xi, and the battle for the 21st century
March 13, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century by Josh Rogin - “That Mr. Rogin manages to capture the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the China challenge is a testament to his writing and reporting. This is a must-read book and, candidly, one that I have been looking for, for some time.”
BOOK REVIEW: The Daughters of Kobani
March 6, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews The Daughters of Kobani by Gayle Lemmon - “War does not care about one’s gender. Its friction, fog, and noise are eternal and uncaring. Were one to de-gender the names or swap the women’s names for men’s, the story would be just as visceral. . Heroism and bravery are heroism and bravery regardless of gender.”
BOOK REVIEW: Global Crime, Online Sleuths, and the Bold Future of News
February 27, 2021
Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews We are Bellingcat: Global Crime, Online Sleuths, and the Bold Future of News by Eliot Higgins - “We Are Bellingcat is a fascinating look at the rise of this open-source investigative organization and its impact in the last decade.”
BOOK REVIEW: THE PUSHBACK AGAINST CHINESE GLOBAL AMBITIONS
February 13, 2021
Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews How China Loses: The Pushback Against Chinese Global Ambitions by Luke Patey - “Mr. Patey’s approach—combining journalistic exploration with data and facts—is interesting and welcome. He brings the story of China’s foreign investment and policy to life.”
BOOK REVIEW: 2034: a Novel of the Next World War
January 30, 2021
Director Joshua Huminski reviews 2024: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis - “If there is one job in Washington, DC, that will never cease to exist, it is forecasters of future war. It’s probably the safest job in any market, as if you’re wrong, you can blame it on exigent or unexpected circumstances.”
BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST SPECIAL FORCES FIGHTING THE FOREVER WAR
January 23, 2020
Director Joshua Huminski reviews Eagle Down— “It is an exploration of what happens when political and policy failures meet the realities of modern conflict, and when those on the ground are charged with attempting to overcome these shortfalls. It is a story of the consequences of these failings both for those fighting the war and those at home.”
BOOK REVIEW: The Nine lives of pakistan
December 11, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Declan Walsh’s “The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State,” a book that “goes beyond [the] simplistic understanding and presents a far more nuanced picture” of Pakistan and its history.
Diplomatic courier’s best books of 2020
December 5, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski highlights some standout books of 2020.
BOOK REVIEW: The powerful and the damned
November 25, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews Lionel Barber’s “The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times,” a “fascinating look at not just the newspaper business, but also the countless events that took place during his editorship, and the broader trends they represented.”
BOOK REVIEW: The Shadow commander
November 21, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews “The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the U.S. and Iran’s Global Ambitions,” a “masterfully told” story of Iran and its role in the Middle East.
BOOK REVIEW: Homegrown: isis in america
November 14, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviews “Homegrown: ISIS in America,” a highly-informative read that extensively details the way ISIS recruits, mobilizes, and communicates within the United States.
BOOK REVIEW: Head of the Mossad: In Pursuit of a Safe and Secure Israel
November 7, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Shabtai Shavit’s new book “Head of the Mossad: In Pursuit of a Safe and Secure Israel,” an insightful memoir that offers a revealing perspective on how Israel views its foreign policy challenges.
BOOK REVIEW: War: how confLict shaped us
October 31, 2020
CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Margaret MacMillan’s new book “War: How Conflict Shaped Us,” a study of armed conflict and its tremendous influence on society.
BOOK REVIEW: Ten lessons for a post-pandemic world
October 24, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Fareed Zakaria’s new book “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World,” a thought provoking but ultimately incomplete account of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for society and governance.
BOOK REVIEW: The new map: energy, climate, and the clash of nations
October 17, 2020
CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Daniel Yergin’s new book “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations,” a book that tells us how energy politics shapes and is shaped by power politics.
BOOK REVIEW: BattleGrounds
October 14, 2020
CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster’s latest book “Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World,” a thoughtful and intellectual analysis of the foreign policy challenges the United States currently faces.
BOOK REVIEW: The folly and the glory
October 3, 2020
CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Tim Weiner's new book "The Folly and the Glory," an unfortunately flawed account of Russian political warfare from post-World War II to the 2016 election.
BOOK REVIEW: Kleptopia
September 26, 2020
CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Tom Burgis’s new book "Kleptopia," a gripping account about the global money laundering that empowers the rule of autocrats all around the world.
BOOK REVIEW: THE SPYMASTERS
September 19, 2020
CSPC Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Joshua Huminski reviews Chris Whipple’ latest book, "The Spymasters"—a story of "intelligence and policy, politics and facts, and oversight and autonomy."
BOOK REVIEW: BLOOD AND OIL
September 12, 2020
In a new book review of Blood and Oil, author Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck takes us through Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to lure foreign investment to Saudi Arabia writes Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski. Read full review here:
BOOK REVIEW: THE VIRUS IN THE AGE OF MADNESS
August 15, 2020
Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviewed Bernard-Henri Lévy 's new book "The Virus in the Age of Madness" in the Diplomatic Courier. Bernard-Henri “looks at the effect COVID-19 is having on the human condition and the way we live, offering a literary-based and philosophical polemic.”
BOOK REVIEW: HIDDEN HAND: EXPOSING HOW THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY IS RESHAPING THE WORLD
August 13, 2020
Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviewed Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg's new book "Hidden Hand." In the book, the authors’ “have crafted a must-read for Americans, Brits, Germans, and anyone in the West who is curious about or even mildly concerned about the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in nearly every facet of political, business, academic, and cultural life.”
BOOK REVIEW: TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY
August 1, 2020
Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviewed Anne Applebaum's new book "Twilight of Democracy" in the Diplomatic Courier. Ms. Applebaum examines individuals who are drawn to & enable authoritarian tendencies.
BOOK REVIEW: 100 YEARS OF ELECTORAL INTERFERENCE
July 25, 2020
In the Diplomatic Courier, Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs Director Joshua Huminski reviewed David Shimer’s new book, Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Electoral Interference.