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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
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
As usual, caveat that I didn't walk into this book with much prior knowledge, although I did have passing familiarity with most of the topics mentioned here. I had heard Sciutto on two interviews (one on Axe, one on Recode) and thought he was pretty good there. The book does a good job jumping between his personal experience/observations, the opinions of experts, and the historical/factual record.
The basic thesis of the book is that China and Russia (but really mostly Russia) are out to get the US and that their plan is to do everything short of hot war to defeat the US (and allied forces). He goes through various theaters of potential war (cyber, space, politics, business/trade secrets) and various actual incidents (2016 election, Estonia, Ukraine, South China Sea), illustrating what has been done and what can be done.
A few things felt like they were missing:
- Assessment of the domestic pressures that propel American, Chinese and Russian attitudes
- Assessment of Chinese economic strategies (i.e. One Belt One Road)
- Non-Military assessments (i.e. State Department gets much less play here)
Overall its very interesting
The basic thesis of the book is that China and Russia (but really mostly Russia) are out to get the US and that their plan is to do everything short of hot war to defeat the US (and allied forces). He goes through various theaters of potential war (cyber, space, politics, business/trade secrets) and various actual incidents (2016 election, Estonia, Ukraine, South China Sea), illustrating what has been done and what can be done.
A few things felt like they were missing:
- Assessment of the domestic pressures that propel American, Chinese and Russian attitudes
- Assessment of Chinese economic strategies (i.e. One Belt One Road)
- Non-Military assessments (i.e. State Department gets much less play here)
Overall its very interesting
As an Obama fan, I found myself surprised to agree with the author's critical take on Obama's foreign policy stance on Russia and China. And I found myself agreeing with Trump that we need a "Space Force" (I'm sure Trump and I disagree on the details, but I have done a 180 on my assumptions about conflict in space). Those were just two of the issues I changed my mind about while reading this insightful, fair, and forward-looking take on some of the conflicts that will shape the next decades. Great read.
I might have taken this book a little more seriously if the author had interviewed more than one woman in the entire thing. There were no women on his “expert panel,“ either. It takes some effort to completely avoid female experts in foreign policy, so it makes me wonder what else the author might have overlooked.
A little expanded version of what you see in the news everyday. The sermonizing at the end of each chapter and the action plan at the end of the book ruined it a bit
informative
reflective
slow-paced
As an Obama fan, I found myself surprised to agree with the author's critical take on Obama's foreign policy stance on Russia and China. And I found myself agreeing with Trump that we need a "Space Force" (I'm sure Trump and I disagree on the details, but I have done a 180 on my assumptions about conflict in space). Those were just two of the issues I changed my mind about while reading this insightful, fair, and forward-looking take on some of the conflicts that will shape the next decades. Great read.