Russia
On defending against Russia new-generation warfare: The Lands in Between: Russia vs. the West and the New Politics of Hybrid War, by Mitchell Alexander Orenstein.
On Putin as an operator: Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin, by Clifford Gaddy and Fiona Hill.
On the Russian Siloviki: All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin, by Mikhail Zygar.
On the failed Russian transition of the 1990s: Sale of the Century: Russia’s Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism, by Chrystia Freeland.
For a personal account of Russia’s transition in the 1990s and beyond: From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, by Michael McFaul.
On Putin’s rule and implications for the future: Kremlin Winter: Russia and the Second Coming of Vladimir Putin, by Robert Service.
China
On the U.S.-China relationship: The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present, by John Pomfret.
On historical memory and the Chinese Communist Party’s ambitions: Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power, by Howard French.
On the Chinese Communist Party’s obsession with control: Haunted by Chaos: China’s Grand Strategy from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping, by Sulmaan Wasif Khan.
On Xi Jinping’s reversal of reform and the development of the authoritarian surveillance police state: The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, by Elizabeth Economy.
On the future of the Indo-Pacific region: The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World’s Most Dynamic Region, by Michael R. Auslin.
On China’s modern transformation, Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-First Century, by Orville Schell and John Delury.
South Asia
On Afghanistan’s wars: The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers, by Peter Tomsen.
On jihadist terrorist goals and strategy: The Master Plan: ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Jihadi Strategy for Final Victory, by Brian Fishman.
On the Haqqani network as the nexus of jihad in South Asia: The Fountain-head of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973–2012, by Vahid Brown and Don Rassler.
On the troubled U.S.-Pakistani relationship: Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding, by Husain Haqqani.
On the essential elements of an effective counterterrorism strategy: How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns, by Audrey Kurth Cronin.
Middle East
On the U.S. experience in Iraq from 2003 to 2011: The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama, by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor.
On Iraq’s internal political dynamics after Saddam Hussein: Iraq After America: Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance, by Joel Rayburn.
On the United States’ long struggle with terrorism in the Middle East: Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism, by David Kilcullen.
On ISIS: ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan; and Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate, by Mike Giglio.
On the effect of the Arab Spring on the people of the region: A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS, by Robert F. Worth.
On the Syrian Civil War: Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria, by Sam Dagher.
Iran
On the Iranian Revolution: The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution, by Abbas Milani.
On Iran’s four-decade proxy war in the Middle East: The Twilight War: The Secret History of America’s Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran, by David Crist; and Confronting Iran, by Ali M. Ansari.
On the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Corps in exporting Iran’s revolution: Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, by Afshon Ostovar.
On the Saudi-Iranian rivalry and the drives of sectarian violence in the Middle East: Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East, by Kim Ghattas.
North Korea
On the history of U.S.-North Korean interactions: The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future, by Victor Cha.
On the nature of the North Korean regime: The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia, by Andrei Lankov.
On the miracle of South Korea: Nation Building in South Korea, by Gregg A. Brazinsky.
On the U.S. relationship with Japan in the postwar period: Japan in the American Century, by Kenneth B. Pyle.
On Kim Jong-un: The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un, by Anna Fifield.
Arenas
On defending against cyber-enabled information warfare and other threats to democracy: Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency, by Larry Diamond.
On the interrelated problems of climate, energy, and food security: Food Foolish: The Hidden Connection Between Food Waste, Hunger, and Climate, by John M. Mandyck and Eric B. Schultz.
On technology and its effect on the environment and security: Energy for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines, by Richard A. Muller.
On social media’s detrimental effect on society: The Square and the Tower, by Niall Ferguson; and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media, by P. W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking.
On offensive cyber attacks: Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations, edited by Herbert Lin and Amy Zegart.
On technology and security: Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation Is Arming Tomorrow’s Terrorists, by Audrey Kurth Cronin.
Conclusion/General
On great power competition and the importance of alliances: The Unquiet Frontier: Rising Rivals, Vulnerable Allies, and the Crisis of American Power, by Jakub J. Grygiel and A. Wess Mitchell.
For a historic perspective on how to defeat terrorist organizations: Return of the Barbarians: Confronting Non-State Actors from Ancient Rome to the Present, by Jakub Grygiel.
On strategy in war: The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective, by Hew Strachan.
On the need to consolidate military gains into sustainable political outcomes: War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success into Political Victory, by Nadia Schadlow.
On how to think about the adversary and the importance of strategic empathy: A Sense of the Enemy: The High Stakes History of Reading Your Rival’s Mind, by Zachary Shore.