Reviews

The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power by Jacob Helberg

mattienay's review

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informative reflective fast-paced

3.25

It’s written entirely from a capitalist realist perspective and is laced with neoliberal talking points. The discussions on politics and technology are more timely than ever, although the analysis itself lacked political self-awareness and nuance. It read like agitprop against Russia and China rather than a thoughtful global analysis. The author made the United States out to be a bumbling oaf, an easy way to not have to examine our own crimes or question why we are the arbitrators of what is right or true. It was hard to take the author seriously even with such interesting subject matter. 

vladco's review

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3.0

Repetitive, weirdly alarmist, but perhaps also quite right on the overall risks. I enjoyed Jim Sciutto's Shadow War much more on this topic. It felt more thoroughly reported, more carefully fact-checked, less speculative, and better overall. Also, the author's sense of the geopolitics seems underdeveloped. He's stronger when writing about the tech side of the equation.

tempse's review

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced
This book is more relevant now than ever before, sadly. We need to think more deeply about how to uphold our democratic values in a world where autocrats are actively trying to undermine them through technological means of all kinds.

reversedpolarity's review

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challenging hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

stephcpotts's review

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informative

3.75