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Book Review: Cold Rivals: The New Era of US-China Strategic Competition
Jeffrey Reeves
Editor: Evan S. Medeiros
Reviewed by Dr. Jeffrey Reeves, associate professor, Naval War College, Naval Postgraduate School
Naval War College associate professor Dr. Jeffrey Reeves provides a thoughtful critique of this anthology on relations between the United States and China. After a brief note on US-Chinese relations during the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations, Reeves offers suggestions for further reading and implies that the book, while providing a “historical account of US-China relations and [chronicling] its evolution,” is not unique in its contributions compared to similar literature, though he does praise two chapters on economics and technology that “stand out.”
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Book Review: Armies in Retreat: Chaos, Cohesion, and Consequences
J.P. Clark
Editors: Timothy G. Heck and Walker D. Mills
Reviewed by Dr. J.P. Clark, associate professor of strategy, Basic Strategic Art Program, US Army War College
Dr. J.P. Clark provides a thoughtful analysis of this anthology on retreat, an "under-studied topic in the US military." The book covers case studies spanning from the ancient world to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and even discusses retreat in the context of cyberspace. Clark employs his expertise as a strategy professor to give a valuable critique, highlighting the book’s merits (for example, the “intriguing angle” of the Gallipoli Campaign analysis) and some weaknesses (such as “a conflation of retreat with defeat”). Overall, Clark concludes that the “volume as whole” is “well worth readers’ time,” which he supports through his engaging expert assessment.
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Book Review: Limited Force and the Fight for the Just War Tradition
Wylie W. Johnson
Author: Christian Nikolaus Braun
Reviewed by Reverend Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain, US Army War College class of 2010
Retired US Army chaplain Dr. Wylie W. Johnson reviews Christian Nikolaus Braun’s dissertation-turned-book on a “casuistic” approach to just war informed by the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Johnson overviews the philosophies with which Braun engages—those of Michael Walzer and of revisionists (virtue ethicists)—and quotes Braun’s central purpose: to provide a “third way” to these philosophies and “remind contemporary thinkers of the tradition’s core—namely, its practical function as a guide to statecraft.”
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Book Review: Thanks for Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military
James "Andy" Nichols
Author: Christian Nikolaus Braun
Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel James “Andy” Nichols, US Army War College class of 2023
Lieutenant Colonel James “Andy” Nichols provides a thoughtful review of Duke University professor Peter D. Feaver’s book on the reasons for—and proposed ways to maintain—the “high public confidence” that the US military has experienced since 2001. Nichols overviews Feaver’s research methodology and policy recommendations, providing potential readers useful praise of the book’s merits—particularly Feaver’s “discussions surrounding politicization (party) and public pressure”—and some critiques, namely that the policy recommendations are “underdeveloped.” Nichols concludes that “[t]he text advances policy discussions on public confidence in US government institutions, includes valuable quantitative analysis, and points to future research opportunities.”
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