The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis

The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was really excited to read this because I love Gaddis and I am excited about classified documents that become available over time. I was also excited about this book being short so I could get a bird's-eye view of the issues that are in some ways playing out again with various states. But I didn’t find enough riveting material or amazing themes in this to justify how obnoxiously non-chronological this account was. Gaddis constantly jumped back and forth through time in a way that I found dizzying.

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The Puzzle Palace by James Bamford

The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization by James Bamford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is sometimes surprising, often boring, and extremely quaint. The entire idea is how secretive the NSA is, and how few people even know that there is an NSA or what it has done. Oh, remember before Russia hacked our election in multiple different ways and NSA officials and ex-officials testified before Congress on television several times? Those were the good old days!

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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful and sad without being devastating. This is a feminist novel about religious and political fanaticism. It's a novel about how Afghanistan's people were devastated by the Cold War tug-of-war between America, Russia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. It's about the disappointments of family, and the depths of friendship. Even though I gave them the same rating, I liked this one better than Kite Runner.

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The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is basically about the end of American hegemony. According to the author, this was partly caused by America ruining worldwide trust with the second Iraq war, buy mostly caused by China and India's quiet economic development, and Russia's increased aggression while we were busy with the Middle East. Most of the book is a description of the politics and economics can of America, China, and India. Then there are some warnings and hopeful statements about how this might all lead to greater security. But this was back in 2008. I'm having a hard time imagining how our precarious position in the world is going to work out okay with Trump at the helm.

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Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky

Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance by Noam Chomsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a long refutation of the concept that it is helpful to security or morally right to maintain American hegemony. It is also, to a lesser extent, a refutation of that democratic peace theory (the theory that democratic countries go to war with each other less) somehow contributes to increased world peace.

The book is a scathing indictment of American foreign policy which is equal parts nightmarishly frightening (talks about American "terrorist actions") and somehow also totally boring. I think it's important to read, but good luck with that.

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