American National Security

by Amos Jordan, Suzanne C. Nielsen, James Schlesinger (Foreword by)

The sixth edition of American National Security has been extensively rewritten to take into account the significant changes in national security policy in the past decade. Thorough revisions reflect a new strategic context and the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the early twenty-first century. Highlights • An examination of the current international environment and new factors affecting U.S. national security policy making• A discussion of the Department of Homeland Security and changes in the intelligence community• A survey of intelligence and national security, with special focus on security needs post-9/11• A review of economic security, diplomacy, terrorism, conventional warfare, counterinsurgency, military intervention, and nuclear deterrence in the changed international setting• An update of security issues in East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Russia and Central Asia, and Latin Ameri

Genres: Politics

688 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would have guessed the Cold War was so hot? This spicy thriller puts 50 Shades of Gray in the leagues of super market Harlequin novels. Earmarked all the best parts like the scene where Brezhnev calls Nixon on the "red" phone ( a real HOTline) the whole detente sequence was too much! I felt sooo guilty reading it in public I replaced the dust jacket with something a little more conservative! Tons of fun. Recommending it to all my girls!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sixth edition of a graduate level textbook. There are five sections, the first three of which pertain to U.S. national security policy making in theory and in practice. The text was published around the time Barack Obama became president, so these three sections are still instructive. The fourth section is a series of primers on various regional security issues. This section is becoming increasingly dated as events pile on events. The fifth section is basically a look ahead which, while prescient on everything except energy security, also needs updating.

To be clear, this is a laborious read. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter; it's clearly a teaching tool. However, if one wants to truly understand the complexities of U.S. national security, reading this will do wonders. I think that universities will gradually move away from it as time goes on, though, unless a new edition comes out.