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19 reviews for:
The Shadow War: Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America
Jim Sciutto
4.13 AVERAGE
19 reviews for:
The Shadow War: Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America
Jim Sciutto
4.13 AVERAGE
I spent my weekend reading The Shadow War. When I would come across a particularly astonishing (let’s be honest -- HORRIFYING) fact, I’d share it with my life partner Doug. By Sunday afternoon, he was saying, “I’m REALLY READY for you to be done with that book!” Suffice it to say, Jim Sciutto’s news is Not. Good.
The book came out in May 2019, and I happened to be in DC during the launch of the book. One Saturday afternoon (May 18th), Sciutto and Wolf Blitzer (both CNN anchors/reporters) were speaking at the Newseum about the contents of the book. I wandered down to the National Mall and planted myself right in front of these two journalists, prepared to listen with rapt attention. I took gobs of notes. (You can take the recovering journalist out of reporting, but you can’t take the reporting out of a recovering journalist…) Before I’d even cracked the pages of the book, then, I had a few chilling nuggets to look forward to, things like:
1) “The shadow war” is, according to Sciutto, when adversarial countries creep alllllll the way up to the line of hostile actions that will bait the United States into a fighting war. China and Russia are constantly seeing what they can get away with. They are winning this war.
2) Both China and Russia -- but especially China -- are developing ‘kamikaze satellites,’ which can wander over to other satellites and take them out. Space warfare is a current and going concern.
3) Thankfully, Russia and China aren’t currently working together, although they were still both parties to the Iranian nuclear deal as of May 18, 2019.
4) US leaders, including/especially presidents, of both parties have totally missed the growing shadow war. Trump’s efforts, though, are pushing back more than any previous president; however, Sciutto is quick to note that Trump is entirely missing the Russian front of the shadow war and much of the Chinese front. (This is not a ringing endorsement of prior presidential administrations…)
5) Former intelligence officials of the highest ranks (e.g., National Security Advisor, head of the CIA, etc.) say that some of our wounds are caused by our deep partisan divides and mistrust of one another.
6) There’s a major disconnect between those serving on the front lines (they understand what’s happening and how high the stakes are) and the administrators who oversee them (they are cagey and seemingly unconcerned with what’s developing).
I could literally write P-A-G-E-S telling you what I found most interesting / important / horrifying in this book, but I’d rather you read it. It’s a quick and easy read, and more importantly, it’s a VITAL READ to understand the future of the United States’s role internationally.
However, there are two other things that I feel I simply must nod to in this short review:
7) The ability of Chinese and Russian satellites to disrupt American satellites has massively far-reaching consequences. Take, for example, the GPS system, which has 24 satellites that feed information to systems worldwide -- “a massive, state-of-the-art technology provided to the world by the US military for free” (page 159). Should one or more of these satellites be taken out, the ripple effects would be astronomical. Systems affected range from (obviously) navigational systems for all sorts of vehicles, including military craft, airplanes, etc. But less obvious: traffic lights and railroad signals would default to red; air traffic would be suspended; no more weather forecasts from NASA/NOAA; disruption of the nation’s power grid and water treatment plants; financial markets would be shut down (they rely on time provided by GPS to facilitate trading); ATMs and credit cards would no longer work. [Can you see why Doug wanted me to stop reading?!]
8) In 20 years as a foreign correspondent, Sciutto developed something he called “The Police State Playbook” -- a set of actions by governments that he saw deployed in countries as far-flung as Egypt, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, China, Russia, and elsewhere. Those actions include:
* Blame dissent at home on enemies abroad.
* Rally supporters by pointing to perceived past victimization.
* Dismiss dissidents and other critics as traitors.
* Feed the public false information.
* Use fear and hate to justify bad-to-reprehensible behavior.
Yeesh.
(You can read his full piece in the World Affairs Journal, if you happen to have an institutional subscription to do so.)
The book came out in May 2019, and I happened to be in DC during the launch of the book. One Saturday afternoon (May 18th), Sciutto and Wolf Blitzer (both CNN anchors/reporters) were speaking at the Newseum about the contents of the book. I wandered down to the National Mall and planted myself right in front of these two journalists, prepared to listen with rapt attention. I took gobs of notes. (You can take the recovering journalist out of reporting, but you can’t take the reporting out of a recovering journalist…) Before I’d even cracked the pages of the book, then, I had a few chilling nuggets to look forward to, things like:
1) “The shadow war” is, according to Sciutto, when adversarial countries creep alllllll the way up to the line of hostile actions that will bait the United States into a fighting war. China and Russia are constantly seeing what they can get away with. They are winning this war.
2) Both China and Russia -- but especially China -- are developing ‘kamikaze satellites,’ which can wander over to other satellites and take them out. Space warfare is a current and going concern.
3) Thankfully, Russia and China aren’t currently working together, although they were still both parties to the Iranian nuclear deal as of May 18, 2019.
4) US leaders, including/especially presidents, of both parties have totally missed the growing shadow war. Trump’s efforts, though, are pushing back more than any previous president; however, Sciutto is quick to note that Trump is entirely missing the Russian front of the shadow war and much of the Chinese front. (This is not a ringing endorsement of prior presidential administrations…)
5) Former intelligence officials of the highest ranks (e.g., National Security Advisor, head of the CIA, etc.) say that some of our wounds are caused by our deep partisan divides and mistrust of one another.
6) There’s a major disconnect between those serving on the front lines (they understand what’s happening and how high the stakes are) and the administrators who oversee them (they are cagey and seemingly unconcerned with what’s developing).
I could literally write P-A-G-E-S telling you what I found most interesting / important / horrifying in this book, but I’d rather you read it. It’s a quick and easy read, and more importantly, it’s a VITAL READ to understand the future of the United States’s role internationally.
However, there are two other things that I feel I simply must nod to in this short review:
7) The ability of Chinese and Russian satellites to disrupt American satellites has massively far-reaching consequences. Take, for example, the GPS system, which has 24 satellites that feed information to systems worldwide -- “a massive, state-of-the-art technology provided to the world by the US military for free” (page 159). Should one or more of these satellites be taken out, the ripple effects would be astronomical. Systems affected range from (obviously) navigational systems for all sorts of vehicles, including military craft, airplanes, etc. But less obvious: traffic lights and railroad signals would default to red; air traffic would be suspended; no more weather forecasts from NASA/NOAA; disruption of the nation’s power grid and water treatment plants; financial markets would be shut down (they rely on time provided by GPS to facilitate trading); ATMs and credit cards would no longer work. [Can you see why Doug wanted me to stop reading?!]
8) In 20 years as a foreign correspondent, Sciutto developed something he called “The Police State Playbook” -- a set of actions by governments that he saw deployed in countries as far-flung as Egypt, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, China, Russia, and elsewhere. Those actions include:
* Blame dissent at home on enemies abroad.
* Rally supporters by pointing to perceived past victimization.
* Dismiss dissidents and other critics as traitors.
* Feed the public false information.
* Use fear and hate to justify bad-to-reprehensible behavior.
Yeesh.
(You can read his full piece in the World Affairs Journal, if you happen to have an institutional subscription to do so.)
This book should serve as a wake up call for all Americans. Sciutto's work methodically lays out how I'll prepared we are as a nation when it comes to dealing with the threats of both China and Russia. The stakes are high, and our future rests on calculations and behaviors of politicians. We had better hope that our national interests out weigh their personal interests.
This is a vital read for today, especially in light of Russia's recent submarine incident. We need decisive, un-compromised leadership in our nation. Leadership that can recognize what Russia and China are doing, and take clear steps to show what our nation will do to protect our liberties and our standing in the world. Unfortunately, that is not currently present in the Executive Branch, though there are valuable actors in our government and media doing their best to sound the alarm and protect us.
A book about different Russian and Chinese attacks on the US and democracy, from the South China Sea, to cyberattacks, submarine warfare and more. A few tangents to pump up page counts but full of details. For those who know it, a nice review. For those who aren't familiar with this, very important.
informative
tense
fast-paced
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced