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Book Review: The Good Captain: A Personal Memoir of America at War
Joseph J. Collins
Author: R. D. Hooker Jr.
Reviewed by Joseph J. Collins, PhD, retired US Army colonel
Retired Army colonel Rich Hooker’s The Good Captain is a memoir spanning the Cold War through the Global War on Terror. Hooker’s deployments take up the bulk of the book and include Grenada with the 82nd Airborne Division, Somalia to work with legendary Ambassador Bob Oakley, Zaire to coordinate humanitarian operations in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo as a parachute infantry battalion commander, the Sinai Peninsula for peacekeeping operations, command of the Dragon Brigade in Iraq and, in his last year of service, Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division. His description of the politics of the high command bears close examination.
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Book Review: Corruption in the Americas
José de Arimatéia da Cruz
Editors: Jonathan D. Rosen and Hanna S. Kassab
Reviewed by Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz, professor of international relations and comparative politics, Georgia Southern University, and visiting professor, Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College
Jonathan D. Rosen and Hanna S. Kassab argue in Corruption in the Americas that corruption is not only an industry but has also become an integral part of Latin American societies. The book also notes that support for democracy in many Latin American countries (despite years of authoritarianism) is at an all-time low. The reviewer recommends this book saying, “The book highlights the symbiotic relationship and strategic partnership between corrupt organized criminal organizations and those in power.”
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Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin
Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson
Author: Timothy Snyder
Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, US Army War College class of 2010
Covering the rules of Hitler and Stalin between 1933 and 1945, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin, explores three periods of genocide in which “two great ideological powers that worked out their Darwinian fantasies at the expense of peoples they identified by religion, ethnicity, ideology, and location.” In addition to military casualties, 14 million noncombatants died. The reviewer notes, “Bloodlands is an important book for US military leaders of all ranks for two reasons. First, it is a stark warning to professional warriors about the evils perpetrated by military forces unbridled by ethical and religious morality. Second, given the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, one must recognize that the historical roots of today’s conflict are intensely personal to the people of Ukraine.”
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Book Review: The Military and the Market
Ryan Orsini
Editors: Jennifer Mittelstadt and Mark R. Wilson
Reviewed by Major Ryan Orsini, Infantry officer, US Army
The Military and the Market is filled with historical and political science case studies to help US policymakers and practitioners navigate the interrelationships between the Department of Defense and the private market. The studies present the success and failure “of regulation and adaptation of individual markets, from on-post housing to local prostitution, and their impact on the military mission and overall social equity.” This book is well suited for policymakers and practitioners at the local and national levels.
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