19 Best Security (National & International), Political Science Books
Security (National & International), Political Science is a popular category for many book lovers. Our team at Speechify has curated a list of the top Security (National & International), Political Science audiobooks everyone must read.
See the top 19 Security (National & International), Political Science audiobooks below.
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The Spymaster of Baghdad
- By: Margaret Coker
- Narrator: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hours 49 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: February 23, 2021
- Language: English
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4.39(460 ratings)
4.39(460 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0026.99 USDFrom the former New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad comes the gripping and heroic story of an elite, top-secret team of unlikely spies who triumphed over ISIS. The Spymaster of Baghdad tells the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covertFrom the former New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad comes the gripping and heroic story of an elite, top-secret team of unlikely spies who triumphed over ISIS.
The Spymaster of Baghdad tells the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covert Iraqi intelligence unit called “the Falcons” came together against all odds to defeat ISIS. The Falcons, comprised of ordinary men with little conventional espionage background, infiltrated the world’s most powerful terrorist organization, ultimately turning the tide of war against the terrorist group and bringing safety to millions of Iraqis and the broader world. Centered around the relationship between two brothers, Harith Sudani, a rudderless college dropout who was recruited to the Falcons by his all-star younger brother Munaf, and their eponymous unit commander Abu Ali, The Spymaster of Baghdad follows their emotional journey as Harith volunteers for the most dangerous mission imaginable. With piercing lyricism and thrilling prose, Coker’s deeply-reported account interweaves heartfelt portraits of these and other unforgettable characters as they navigate the streets of war-torn Baghdad and perform heroic feats of cunning and courage.
The Falcons’ path crosses with that of Abraar, a young, radicalized university student who, after being snubbed by the head of the Islamic State’s chemical weapons program, plots her own attack. At the near-final moment, the Falcons intercept Abraar’s deadly plan to poison Baghdad’s drinking water and arrest her in the middle of the night–just one of many covert counterterrorism operations revealed for the first time in the book.
Ultimately, The Spymaster of Baghdad is a page-turning account of wartime espionage in which ordinary people make extraordinary sacrifices for the greater good. Challenging our perceptions of terrorism and counterterrorism, war and peace, Iraq and the wider Middle East, American occupation and foreign intervention, The Spymaster of Baghdad is a testament to the power of personal choice and individual action to change the course of history–in a time when we need such stories more than ever.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
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The Mueller Report
- By: The Washington Post
- Narrator: Matt Zapotosky
- Length: 19 hours 16 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2019
- Language: English
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4.2(1010 ratings)
4.2(1010 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USDONE OF TIME‘S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR The Crucial #1 New York Times Bestseller “The Mueller report is that rare Washington tell-all that surpasses its pre-publication hype…the best book by far on the workings of the TrumpONE OF TIME‘S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
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The Crucial #1 New York Times Bestseller
“The Mueller report is that rare Washington tell-all that surpasses its pre-publication hype…the best book by far on the workings of the Trump presidency.” –Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post
The only book with exclusive analysis by the Pulitzer Prize-winning staff of The Washington Post, and the most complete and authoritative available.
Read the findings of the Special Counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, complete with accompanying analysis by the Post reporters who’ve covered the story from the beginning.
This edition from The Washington Post/Scribner contains:
–The long-awaited Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election
—An introduction by The Washington Post titled “A President, a Prosecutor, and the Protection of American Democracy”
—A timeline of the major events of the Special Counsel’s investigation from May 2017, when Robert Mueller was appointed, to the report’s delivery
—A guide to individuals involved, including in the Special Counsel’s Office, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Trump Campaign, the White House, the Trump legal defense team, and the Russians
—Key documents in the Special Counsel’s investigation, including filings pertaining to General Michael T. Flynn, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, and the Russian internet operation in St. Petersburg. Each document is introduced and explained by Washington Post reporters.
One of the most urgent and important investigations ever conducted, the Mueller inquiry focuses on Donald Trump, his presidential campaign, and Russian interference in the 2016 election, and draws on the testimony of dozens of witnesses and the work of some of the country’s most seasoned prosecutors.
The special counsel’s investigation looms as a turning point in American history. The Mueller Report is essential reading for all citizens concerned about the fate of the presidency and the future of our democracy. -
The Withdrawal
- By: Noam Chomsky
- Narrator: Donald Corren
- Length: 4 hours 39 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2022
- Language: English
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4.18(227 ratings)
4.18(227 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0014.95 USDTwo of our most celebrated intellectuals grapple with the uncertain aftermath of the American collapse in Afghanistan. Not since the last American troops left Vietnam have we faced such a sudden vacuum in our foreign policy–not only ofTwo of our most celebrated intellectuals grapple with the uncertain aftermath of the American collapse in Afghanistan.
Not since the last American troops left Vietnam have we faced such a sudden vacuum in our foreign policy–not only of authority, but also of explanations of what happened, and what the future holds.
Few analysts are better poised to address this moment than Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad, intellectuals and critics whose work spans generations and continents. Called “the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet” by the New York Times Book Review, Noam Chomsky is the guiding light of dissidents around the world. In The Withdrawal, Chomsky joins with noted scholar Vijay Prashad–who “helps to uncover the shining worlds hidden under official history and dominant media” (Eduardo Galeano)–to get at the roots of this unprecedented time of peril and change.
Chomsky and Prashad interrogate key inflection points in America’s downward spiral: from the disastrous Iraq War to the failed Libyan intervention to the descent into chaos in Afghanistan.
As the final moments of American power in Afghanistan fade from view, this crucial book argues that we must not take our eyes off the wreckage–and that we need, above all, an unsentimental view of the new world we must build together.
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Inside Delta Force
- By: Eric L. Haney
- Narrator: Robertson Dean
- Length: 13 hours 1 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2011
- Language: English
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4.17(8641 ratings)
4.17(8641 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDThe inspiration for the hit television series The Unit Delta Force. They are the US Army’s most elite top-secret strike force. They dominate the modern battlefield, but you won’t hear about their heroics on CNN. No headlines can revealThe inspiration for the hit television series The Unit
Delta Force. They are the US Army’s most elite top-secret strike force. They dominate the modern battlefield, but you won’t hear about their heroics on CNN. No headlines can reveal their top-secret missions, and no book has ever taken readers inside—until now. Here, a founding member of Delta Force takes us behind the veil of secrecy and into the action to reveal the never-before-told story of First Special Forces Operational Detachment-D (Delta Force).
He is a master of espionage, trained to take on hijackers, terrorists, hostage takers, and enemy armies. He can deploy by parachute or arrive by commercial aircraft, survive alone in hostile cities, speak foreign languages fluently, strike at enemy targets with stunning swiftness and extraordinary teamwork. He is the ultimate modern warrior: the Delta Force Operator.
In this dramatic behind-the-scenes chronicle, Eric Haney, one of the founding members of Delta Force, takes us inside this legendary counterterrorist unit. Here, for the first time, are details of the grueling selection process—designed to break the strongest of men—that singles out the best of the best: the Delta Force Operator.
With heart-stopping immediacy, Haney tells what it’s really like to enter a hostage-held airplane. And from his days in Beirut, Haney tells an unforgettable tale of bodyguards and bombs, of a day-to-day life of madness and beauty, and of how he and a teammate are called on to kill two gunmen targeting US Marines at the Beirut airport. As part of the team sent to rescue American hostages in Tehran, Haney offers a first-person description of that failed mission that is a chilling, compelling account of a bold maneuver undone by chance—and a few fatal mistakes.
From fighting guerrilla warfare in Honduras to rescuing missionaries in Sudan and leading the way onto the island of Grenada, Eric Haney captures the daring and discipline that distinguish the men of Delta Force. Inside Delta Force brings honor to these singular men while it puts us in the middle of around-the-world action that is sudden, frightening, and nonstop.
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Nemesis
- By: Chalmers Johnson
- Narrator: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hours 59 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2006
- Language: English
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4.07(842 ratings)
4.07(842 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0020.95 USDThis final volume of Chalmers Johnson’s bestsellingBlowbacktrilogy confronts the overreaching of the American empire and the threat it poses to the republic. In his prophetic bookBlowback, Johnson linked the CIA’s clandestine activitiesThis final volume of Chalmers Johnson’s bestsellingBlowbacktrilogy confronts the overreaching of the American empire and the threat it poses to the republic.
In his prophetic bookBlowback, Johnson linked the CIA’s clandestine activities abroad to disaster at home. InThe Sorrows of Empire, he explored how the growth of American militarism has jeopardized our security. Now, inNemesis, he shows how American imperialism undermines the republic itself, both economically and politically.
Drawing comparisons to empires past, Johnson explores in vivid detail the likely consequences of our dependence on a permanent war economy and what it will mean when the globe’s sole “hyperpower,” no longer capable of paying for the vaulting ambitions of its leaders, becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all time. In his stunning conclusion, Johnson suggests that the crisis of a financial breakdown could ultimately prove to be the only path to a renewed nation.
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Blowback
- By: Chalmers Johnson
- Narrator: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hours 8 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2007
- Language: English
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4.06(2147 ratings)
4.06(2147 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDThe term “blowback,” invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended consequences of American actions abroad. In this incisive and controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire,The term “blowback,” invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended consequences of American actions abroad. In this incisive and controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire, which insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and using American capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms.
From a case of rape by US servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asia’s financial crisis, from our early support for Saddam Hussein to our conduct in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster.
In a new edition that addresses recent international events from 9/11 to the war in Iraq, this now classic book remains as prescient and powerful as ever.
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Courage under Fire
- By: Steven A. Sund
- Narrator: Steven A. Sund
- Length: 12 hours 3 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2023
- Language: English
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4(64 ratings)
4(64 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDOne of the darkest days in American history became an extraordinary story of courage under fire. Courage under Fire is United States Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund’s gripping personal account that takes readers inside the events leadingOne of the darkest days in American history became an extraordinary story of courage under fire.
Courage under Fire is United States Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund’s gripping personal account that takes readers inside the events leading up to January 6, and provides a detailed and harrowing minute-by-minute account of the attack on the US Capitol, which was valiantly defended in hand-to-hand combat by the US Capitol Police officers who found themselves outnumbered fifty-eight to one.
Courage under Fire draws upon audio recordings, key documents, and government records as it traces Sund’s extraordinary journey from his command post on January 6 to his explosive behind-closed-doors testimony before the January 6 committee.
Steven A. Sund, one of only ten men in history to hold the title of Chief of the US Capitol Police, has coordinated dozens of National Special Security Events, responded to numerous critical incidents and active shooter events, and has protected every living US president. But nothing could have prepared him for the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Three days before the attack, Chief Sund requested the assistance of the National Guard. This request was denied. In preparation for the Joint Session of Congress, Chief Sund directed every available sworn officer to be on duty to protect the Capitol and all of its members and staff.
But it wasn’t enough.
The savage attack that followed was a well-planned and carefully coordinated armed assault on the United States Capitol, involving thousands. The shock and horror of this attack exploded on TV screens worldwide as US Capitol Police officers under Chief Sund’s command found themselves facing a violent siege, hit with pipes, fire extinguishers, boards, and flag poles. Dedicated men and women were knocked unconscious and sprayed with mace and bear spray as live pipe bombs were discovered at the national headquarters of both major political parties.
Finally, multiple police lines were breached. Then the building was breached. The National Guard didn’t arrive until it was much too late. In the end, 150 officers were seriously injured, and nine Americans were dead.
Now, for the first time, Chief Steven Sund has written the definitive inside story of the perfect storm of events that led up to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, a day that rocked the nation and threatened our democracy. As the Capitol descended into chaos, insurrectionists infiltrated and stormed its hallowed halls and democracy was pushed to the brink. Few people realize just how close we came to seeing the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and countless members of Congress beaten, maimed, or killed.
There have been many false reports and outright lies concerning the conduct of the US Capitol Police on January 6, and there has been no accountability for the individuals who bear most of the responsibility for the failures that left the USCP unprepared that day–from the shocking failures in intelligence to the outright stonewalling Chief Sund received from the Pentagon when he repeatedly called for the National Guard’s help, even as the attack on the Capitol was raging.
Two years later, so many questions still remain unanswered: What did the intelligence community know about the plans of the insurrectionists before the attack? Why was the request for the National Guard continually denied and delayed? Why was the nation’s capital so vulnerable?
Forced to take the fall and resign, this is Chief Sund’s chance to answer those questions and to tell the full truth about what really happened on January 6.
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Against All Enemies
- By: Richard A. Clarke
- Narrator: Richard A. Clarke
- Length: 6 hours 14 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2004
- Language: English
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3.91(3888 ratings)
3.91(3888 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0015.95 USDThe real war on terror has happened largely behind closed doors, run by the White House, drawing on secret intelligence and operations around the world. There is no man who knows more about it than Richard Clarke, the former Counterterrorism CzarThe real war on terror has happened largely behind closed doors, run by the White House, drawing on secret intelligence and operations around the world. There is no man who knows more about it than Richard Clarke, the former Counterterrorism Czar for both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the man who has led our efforts against al Qaeda and all other terrorist enemies for years, serving under seven presidents and in the White House for George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, until he resigned in March 2003. He has had a front-row seat at every major battle in this war, from the first World Trade Center bombing, to 9/11, to Afghanistan, to Iraq.
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Clarke knows the secret stories of Bill Clinton’s great victories — shutting down anti-U.S. terrorism sponsored by Iran and Iraq — and his great frustrations — failing to kill Usama Bin Laden despite many attempts. When President Bush took office, Clarke was ready to present him with a master plan to roll back and destroy al Qaeda — yet the president did not grant a briefing for months. His aides had little interest in Usama Bin Laden, preferring to talk about Saddam Hussein at every turn. Clarke knows why we failed to shut down terrorist financing within our borders prior to 2001.
After ignoring existing plans to attack al Qaeda when he first took office, George Bush made disastrous decisions when he finally did pay attention. Thanks to the determined, even conspiratorial views of Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, and Bush, we went after the wrong enemy.
The charges Clarke levels against the current administration must be taken seriously by every American, Democrat or Republican. Our security depends upon it. -
The Last Warrior
- By: Andrew Krepinevich
- Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hours 56 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2015
- Language: English
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3.9(223 ratings)
3.9(223 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDAndrew Marshall is a Pentagon legend. For more than four decades he has served as Director of the Office of Net Assessment, the Pentagon’s internal think tank, under twelve defense secretaries and eight administrations. Yet Marshall has beenAndrew Marshall is a Pentagon legend. For more than four decades he has served as Director of the Office of Net Assessment, the Pentagon’s internal think tank, under twelve defense secretaries and eight administrations. Yet Marshall has been on the cutting edge of strategic thinking even longer than that. At the Rand Corporation during its golden age in the 1950s and early 1960s, Marshall helped formulate bedrock concepts of US nuclear strategy that endure to this day; later, at the Pentagon, he pioneered the development of “net assessment”–a new analytic framework for understanding the long-term military competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Following the Cold War, Marshall successfully used net assessment to anticipate emerging disruptive shifts in military affairs, including the revolution in precision warfare and the rise of China as a major strategic rival of the United States.
In The Last Warrior, Andrew Krepinevich and Barry Watts–both former members of Marshall’s staff–trace Marshall’s intellectual development from his upbringing in Detroit during the Great Depression to his decades in Washington as an influential behind-the-scenes advisor on American defense strategy. The result is a unique insider’s perspective on the changes in US strategy from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day.
Covering some of the most pivotal episodes of the last half century and peopled with some of the era’s most influential figures, The Last Warrior tells Marshall’s story for the first time, in the process providing an unparalleled history of the evolution of the American defense establishment.
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America’s Secret War
- By: George Friedman
- Narrator: Brian Emerson
- Length: 13 hours 49 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2004
- Language: English
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3.87(946 ratings)
3.87(946 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDDubbed by Barron’s as “The Shadow CIA,” Stratfor is one of the world’s most respected private global intelligence firms with an unmatched ability to provide clear perspective on the current geopolitical map. Here, drawing onDubbed by Barron’s as “The Shadow CIA,” Stratfor is one of the world’s most respected private global intelligence firms with an unmatched ability to provide clear perspective on the current geopolitical map. Here, drawing on Stratfor’s vast information-gathering network, George Friedman delivers the geopolitical story that the mainstream media has been unable to uncover: the startling truth behind America’s foreign policy and war effort in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond.
In America’s Secret War, Friedman identifies the United States’ most dangerous enemies, delves into presidential strategies of the last quarter century, and reveals the real reasons behind the attack of September 11 and the Bush administration’s motivation for the war in Iraq. Here, in eye-opening detail, is an insightful picture of today’s world that goes far beyond what is reported in the news media.
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The Big Stick
- By: Eliot A. Cohen
- Narrator: Bill Thatcher
- Length: 9 hours 10 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2016
- Language: English
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3.85(348 ratings)
3.85(348 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USD“Speak softly and carry a big stick” Theodore Roosevelt famously said in 1901, when the United States was emerging as a great power. It was the right sentiment, perhaps, in an age of imperial rivalry. But today many Americans doubt the“Speak softly and carry a big stick” Theodore Roosevelt famously said in 1901, when the United States was emerging as a great power. It was the right sentiment, perhaps, in an age of imperial rivalry. But today many Americans doubt the utility of their global military presence, thinking it outdated, unnecessary, or even dangerous.
In The Big Stick, Eliot A. Cohen–a scholar and practitioner of international relations–disagrees. He argues that hard power remains essential for American foreign policy. While acknowledging that the United States must be careful about why, when, and how it uses force, he insists that its international role is as critical as ever, and armed force is vital to that role.
Cohen explains that American leaders must learn to use hard power in new ways and for new circumstances. The rise of a well-armed China, Russia’s conquest of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, and the spread of radical Islamist movements like ISIS are some of the key threats to global peace. If the United States relinquishes its position as a strong but prudent military power and fails to accept its role as the guardian of a stable world order, we run the risk of unleashing disorder, violence, and tyranny on a scale not seen since the 1930s. The United States is still, as Madeleine Albright once dubbed it, “the indispensable nation.”
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The Day After Roswell
- By: William J. Birnes
- Narrator: William J. Birnes
- Length: 12 hours 31 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2017
- Language: English
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3.8(1442 ratings)
3.8(1442 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USDA breathtaking expose that reads like a thriller, The Day After Roswell is a stunning depiction of just what happened in Roswell, New Mexico all those years ago and how the effects of this mysterious unidentified aircraft crash are still relevantA breathtaking expose that reads like a thriller, The Day After Roswell is a stunning depiction of just what happened in Roswell, New Mexico all those years ago and how the effects of this mysterious unidentified aircraft crash are still relevant today.
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Former member of President Eisenhower’s National Security Council and the Foreign Technology Desk in the United States Army, Colonel Philip J. Corso was assigned to work at a strange crash site in Roswell in 1947. He had no idea that his work there would change his life and the course of history forever. Only in his fascinating memoir can you discover how he helped removed alien artifacts from the site and used them to help improve much of the technology the Army uses today, such as circuit chips, fiber optics, and more.
Laying bare the United States government’s shocking role in the Roswell incident–what was found, the cover-up, and more–The Day After Roswell is an extraordinary memoir that not only forces us to reconsider the past, but also our role in the universe. -
Clear and Present Safety
- By: Michael A. Cohen
- Narrator: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 7 hours 6 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2019
- Language: English
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3.67(46 ratings)
3.67(46 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDAn eye-opening look at the history of national security fear-mongering in America and how it distracts citizens from the issues that really matter What most frightens the average American? Terrorism. North Korea. Iran. But what if none of these areAn eye-opening look at the history of national security fear-mongering in America and how it distracts citizens from the issues that really matter
What most frightens the average American? Terrorism. North Korea. Iran. But what if none of these are probable or consequential threats to America? What if the world today is safer, freer, wealthier, healthier, and better educated than ever before? What if the real dangers to Americans are noncommunicable diseases, gun violence, drug overdoses, and even hospital infections?
In this compelling look at what they call the “Threat-Industrial Complex,” Michael A. Cohen and Micah Zenko explain why politicians, policy analysts, academics, and journalists are misleading Americans about foreign threats and ignoring more serious national security challenges at home. Cohen and Zenko argue that we should ignore Washington’s threat-mongering and focus instead on furthering extraordinary global advances in human development and economic and political cooperation. At home, we should focus on that which actually harms us and undermines our quality of life: substandard schools and health care, inadequate infrastructure, gun violence, income inequality, and political paralysis.
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Mission Failure
- By: Michael Mandelbaum
- Narrator: Bill Thatcher
- Length: 15 hours 44 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2016
- Language: English
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3.66(85 ratings)
3.66(85 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0024.95 USDIn Mission Failure, Michael Mandelbaum, one of America’s leading foreign policy thinkers, provides an original, provocative, and definitive account of the ambitious but deeply flawed post-Cold War efforts to promote American values andIn Mission Failure, Michael Mandelbaum, one of America’s leading foreign policy thinkers, provides an original, provocative, and definitive account of the ambitious but deeply flawed post-Cold War efforts to promote American values and American institutions throughout the world.
In the decades before the Cold War ended, the United States used its military power to defend against threats to important American international interests or to the American homeland itself. When the Cold War concluded, however, it embarked on military interventions in places where American interests were not at stake. Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo had no strategic or economic importance for the United States, yet the US intervened in all of them for purely humanitarian reasons. Each such intervention led to efforts to transform the local political and economic systems. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq turned into similar missions of transformation–none of them achieved its aims.
Mission Failure describes and explains how such missions came to be central to America’s post-Cold War foreign policy, even in relations with China and Russia in the early 1990s and in American diplomacy in the Middle East, and how they all failed. Mandelbaum shows how American efforts to bring peace, national unity, democracy, and free-market economies to poor, disorderly countries ran afoul of ethnic and sectarian loyalties and hatreds as well as foundered on the absence of the historical experiences and political habits, skills, and values that Western institutions require.
The history of American foreign policy in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall is, he writes, “the story of good, sometimes noble, and thoroughly American intentions coming up against the deeply embedded, often harsh, and profoundly un-American realities of places far from the United States. In this encounter the realities prevailed.”
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Don’t Wait for the Next War
- By: Wesley K. Clark
- Narrator: Donald Corren
- Length: 8 hours 34 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2014
- Language: English
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3.63(60 ratings)
3.63(60 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDWith the end of the Cold War came not the end of history, but the end of America’s sense of its strategic purpose in the world. Then, after a decade of drift, the United States was violently dragged back into international conflict. Its armedWith the end of the Cold War came not the end of history, but the end of America’s sense of its strategic purpose in the world. Then, after a decade of drift, the United States was violently dragged back into international conflict. Its armed forces responded magnificently, but its leaders’ objectives were substantially flawed. We fought the wrong war–twice–for reasons that were opaque, and few American citizens understood the cause for which their sons and daughters were fighting and dying.
War is a poor substitute for strategic vision, and decisions made in the heat of imminent conflict are often limited by the emotions of the moment. In Don’t Wait for the Next War, Wesley K. Clark, a retired four-star general of the US Army and former Democratic candidate for president, presents a compelling argument for continued American global leadership and the basis on which it can succeed: a new American strategy. America needs both new power and deeper perspective. The platform for American leadership is to use America’s energy resources to spark sustainable economic growth, building new strength to deal with pressing domestic issues like the deficit as well as the longer term challenges to US security–terrorism, cyber threats, the next financial crisis, China’s rising power, and climate change.
Such a strategy is not only achievable but essential, and it is urgently needed. This is the true test of American leadership for the next two decades, but it must start now so America has the power and vision to deal with the acute crises that will inevitably come–in the Middle East, Europe, or Asia.
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The Generals Have No Clothes
- By: William M. Arkin
- Narrator: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 6 hours 37 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
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3.62(35 ratings)
3.62(35 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDThe definitive book about America’s perpetual wars and how to end them from bestselling author, military expert, and award-winning journalist William M. Arkin.The first rule of perpetual war is to never stop, a fact which former NBC NewsThe definitive book about America’s perpetual wars and how to end them from bestselling author, military expert, and award-winning journalist William M. Arkin.
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The first rule of perpetual war is to never stop, a fact which former NBC News analyst William M. Arkin knows better than anyone, having served in the Army and having covered all of America’s wars over the past three decades. He has spent his career investigating how the military throws around the word “war” to justify everything, from physical combat to today’s globe-straddling cyber and intelligence network.
In The Generals Have No Clothes, Arkin traces how we got where we are–bombing ten countries, killing terrorists in dozens more–all without Congressional approval or public knowledge. Starting after the 9/11 attacks, the government put forth a singular idea that perpetual war was the only way to keep the American people safe. Arkin explains why President Obama failed to achieve his national security goal of ending war in Iraq and reducing our military engagements, and shows how President Trump has been frustrated in his attempts to end conflict in Afghanistan and Syria. He also reveals how COVID-19 is a watershed moment for the military, where the country’s civilian and public health needs clash with the demands of future wars against China and Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Proposing bold solutions, Arkin calls for a new era of civilian control over the military. He also calls for a Global Security Index (GSX), the security equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which would measure the national and international events in real-time to determine whether perpetual war is actually making the nation safer. Arguing that the American people should be empowered by facts rather than spurred by fear, The Generals Have No Clothes “builds a damning case against the status quo” (Publishers Weekly) and outlines how we can take control of the military…before it’s too late. -
The Greatest Threat
- By: Richard Butler
- Narrator: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hours 32 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2010
- Language: English
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3.54(17 ratings)
3.54(17 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDCivilization may face no greater enemy than Saddam Hussein, and yet the major powers allowed Saddam to face them down. Here, Richard Butler tells the inside story of the UN’s failed attempt to stop Saddam and explains the terrible cost of thatCivilization may face no greater enemy than Saddam Hussein, and yet the major powers allowed Saddam to face them down. Here, Richard Butler tells the inside story of the UN’s failed attempt to stop Saddam and explains the terrible cost of that failure.
As the head of UNSCOM, the special United Nations commission that was supposed to regularly inspect Iraq for weapons violations, Butler had the authority to shut the Iraqis down if he caught them cheating—but that authority was undermined behind his back. Kofi Annan, in the name of diplomacy, agreed to Hussein’s outrageous demands, and Russia’s foreign minister took secret payoffs from the Iraqis in exchange for his support. The French, eager to do business with the dictator, undercut American efforts to force Hussein to comply, and Butler found himself the target of a major Iraqi and Russian propaganda campaign, ultimately alone.
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The Future of Violence
- By: Benjamin Wittes
- Narrator: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hours 54 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2015
- Language: English
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3.42(242 ratings)
3.42(242 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDFrom drone warfare in the Middle East to digital spying by the National Security Agency, the US government has harnessed the power of cutting-edge technology to awesome effect. But what happens when ordinary people have the same tools at theirFrom drone warfare in the Middle East to digital spying by the National Security Agency, the US government has harnessed the power of cutting-edge technology to awesome effect. But what happens when ordinary people have the same tools at their fingertips? Advances in cybertechnology, biotechnology, and robotics mean that more people than ever before have access to potentially dangerous technologies–from drones to computer networks and biological agents–that could be used to attack states and private citizens alike.
In The Future of Violence, law and security experts Benjamin Wittes and Gabriella Blum detail the myriad possibilities, challenges, and enormous risks present in the modern world and argue that if our national governments can no longer adequately protect us from harm, they will lose their legitimacy. Consequently, governments, companies, and citizens must rethink their security efforts to protect lives and liberty. In this brave new world where many little brothers are as menacing as any Big Brother, safeguarding our liberty and privacy may require strong domestic and international surveillance and regulatory controls. Maintaining security in this world where anyone can attack anyone requires a global perspective, with more multinational forces and greater action to protect (and protect against) weaker states who do not yet have the capability to police their own people. Drawing on political thinkers from Thomas Hobbes to the Founders and beyond, Wittes and Blum show that, despite recent protestations to the contrary, security and liberty are mutually supportive, and we must embrace one to ensure the other.
The Future of Violence is at once an introduction to our emerging world–one in which students can print guns with 3-D printers and scientists’ manipulations of viruses can be recreated and unleashed by ordinary people–and an authoritative blueprint for how government must adapt in order to survive and protect us.
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Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar
- By: Martin C. Libicki
- Narrator: Erik Sandvold
- Length: 6 hours 8 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2010
- Language: English
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3.27(64 ratings)
3.27(64 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0013.95 USDThe protection of cyberspace, the information medium, has become a vital national interest because of its importance both to the economy and to military power. An attacker may tamper with networks to steal information for money or to disruptThe protection of cyberspace, the information medium, has become a vital national interest because of its importance both to the economy and to military power. An attacker may tamper with networks to steal information for money or to disrupt operations. Future wars are likely to be carried out, in part or perhaps entirely, in cyberspace. It might seem that maneuvering in cyberspace is like maneuvering in other media, but nothing would be more misleading. Cyberspace has its own laws. It is easy to hide identities and difficult to predict or even understand battle damage, and attacks deplete themselves quickly. Cyberwar is nothing so much as the manipulation of ambiguity.
Martin Libicki explores these topics in detail and uses the results to address such issues as the pros and cons of counterattack, the value of deterrence and vigilance, and other defensive actions the United States and the US Air Force can take in the face of deliberate cyberattack.
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Cliff Weitzman
Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.
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