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The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Spies, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare (Dispatch Books) Paperback – November 20, 2012

by Nick Turse (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 43 ratings
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Following the failures of the Iraq and Afghan wars, as well as “military lite” methods and counterinsurgency, the Pentagon is pioneering a new brand of global warfare predicated on special ops, drones, spy games, civilian soldiers, and cyberwarfare. It may sound like a safer, saner war-fighting. In reality, it will prove anything but, as Turse's pathbreaking reportage makes clear.
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  1. Part of series
    Dispatch Books
  2. Print length
    107 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Haymarket Books
  5. Publication date
    November 20, 2012
  6. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.25 x 8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1608463109
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1608463107
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The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nick Turse, an award-winning journalist and historian, is the author/editor of several books including The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives, the managing editor of TomDispatch.com, and a fellow at the Nation Institute.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Haymarket Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 20, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 107 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1608463109
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1608463107
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.25 x 8 inches
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ Dispatch Books
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 43 ratings

About the author

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Nick Turse

Nick Turse

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Nick Turse is a journalist, historian, and the author of Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam. Turse's work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Nation, among other publications. His investigations of U.S. war crimes in Vietnam have gained him a Ridenhour Prize for Reportorial Distinction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a fellowship at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
43 global ratings

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Customers find the book fascinating and easy to read. The information content receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as an excellent continuation of the topic.

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9 customers mention "Readability"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fascinating and easy to read, with one customer noting the author's strong passion in their writing.

"...A very provocative read and highly recommended." Read more

"An interesting book it is a laundry list of what America's continuing militarization is generating with advancing technology and the need to..." Read more

"...His passion in his writing is so strong, I almost feel him standing over my shoulder deriding my views of his comments with "If you did not want..." Read more

"...a little dated given the state of the world these days, but a compelling short read." Read more

5 customers mention "Information content"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative, with one customer describing it as an excellent continuation of the topic.

"...: The World Is a Battlefield published in 2013 is an excellent continuation on this topic...." Read more

"A slim volume but packed with information. Worth getting for your reference library of geopolitics...." Read more

"It is an informative book regarding the expansion of special forces, particularly by the US, and to a lesser extent by other counties...." Read more

"Excellent discussion of our new empire of forts." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Charles Fankhauser
    5.0 out of 5 stars A cause for reflection
    Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2013
    Format: eTextbookVerified Purchase
    When contemporary events are summarized in a single read like this, one is driven to reflect on how it is that we arrived here in the first place, is all of this stuff OK and, if it isn't, then what can be done to redirect what it is we are doing. A very provocative read and highly recommended.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • wsmrer
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Underling Theme
    Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
    Format: eTextbookVerified Purchase
    An interesting book it is a laundry list of what America's continuing militarization is generating with advancing technology and the need to intervene in all area of the world where our National Interest might be perceived to be threatened.

    The underlying theme Turse pursues well is simply how mindless this process has become.

    Turse is not afraid to list all post WW II American military actions, save Granada and Panama, as defeats given their intended aim. But he clearly does not see the current moves found in his subtitle as wise re-directions. And he sees the current push to use Special Ops, proxy armies and robot technology, the new American way of war, holding great potential for unforeseen entanglements and serial blow-back.

    One startling finding of his is that, quoting Admiral Olson, the outgoing chief of Special Operations Command, "Black operations like the bin Laden mission are now exceptionally common. A dozen or so are conducted every night."

    Right now, Olson emphasized, U.S. Special Operations forces were approximately as large as Canada's entire active duty military.
    Our secret war is not well publicized and this book is defiantly an opening on it.

    A criticism of his work would be, as noted by one or more reviewers, what else can be done in this dangerous world we inhabit?

    His answer is look to the past where small incursions have blossomed into major (misdirected) engagements; actions have consequences, expect them. He does not use the term `Cost- Benefit Analysis' but does call up the process as a necessity for policy makers.

    Some portion of the book deals with the hypocrisy of our politicians, but none of that will come as a surprise to most readers. Perhaps more interesting time could have been spent on the question of what if anything is implied by the term National Interest that is presumably driving our military policy.

    Turse's title, The Changing Face of Empire, hits on the concept that America is behaving like an empire and that is an unconformable notion perhaps for some. The Imperial Age was a period when some European nations carved up the world for their own national interest, Britain being the outstanding example. Historical studies have shown that the gains did not match the costs for the country's population as a whole but clearly did for some parties -- the ruling elite. Today American is under some threat, real or imagined, that is driving our Imperial reach. It would be useful if authors as well informed as Nick Turse were to try to unravel the real meaning of National Interest in a way of directing rational policy or asking what in the world do we really think we are doing and who is benefiting?*

    *Jeremy Scahill, Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield published in 2013 is an excellent continuation on this topic.
    And this: According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the CIA has conducted 378 strikes in the program's 10-year history. Of those, 326 are classified as "Obama strikes." The total number of people killed by drones is estimated at 2,528 to 3,648. Civilian casualties are estimated at 416 to 948, with 168 to 200 of those being children. As many as another 1,545 are estimated to have been injured in those strikes.
    22 people found this helpful
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  • David Bliven
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great chronicaling of 21st Century U.S. Imperialism
    Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I think it's absolutely essential that we know what our government is up to. If we don't, then how/why would we have a basis to protest it? This book's conclusion is worth quoting at length: "After more than a decade of war, it has failed to eliminate a minority, rag-tag Afghan insurgency with limited popular support. It trained an indigenous Afghan force that was long known for its poor performance, before it became better known for killing its American trainers. It has spent years and untold tens of millions of tax dollars chasing down assorted firebrand clerics, various terrorist “lieutenants,” and a host of no-name militants belonging to al-Qaeda, mostly in the backlands of the planet. Instead of wiping out the organization and its wannabes, however, it seems mainly to have facilitated its franchising around the world. . . . It’s thrown millions of dollars in personnel, equipment, aid, and recently even troops into the task of eradicating low-level drug runners (as well as the major drug cartels), without putting a dent in the northward flow of narcotics to America’s cities and suburbs. It spends billions on intelligence only to routinely find itself in the dark. It destroyed the regime of an Iraqi dictator and occupied his country, only to be fought to a standstill by ill-armed, ill-organized insurgencies, then out-maneuvered by the allies it had helped to put in power, and unceremoniously bounced from the country. It spends untold millions of dollars to train and equip elite Navy SEALs to take on poor, untrained, lightly-armed adversaries, like gun-toting Somali pirates."
    2 people found this helpful
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  • J. Cranford
    3.0 out of 5 stars If you did not want my opinion, you should not have bought my book.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I will establish that I am conservative, but open-minded. I know my biases and have safeguards in place already. I teach classes on critical decision making techniques. I like to hear both sides of a topic, and I like them to be well-argued.

    I purchased the book after other reviews convinced me the material had something to offer. I found that it is a one-sided view of the topics. It is hard to read a book that is filled with such a negative view of the way things have become. It offers soft evidence that smells of confirmation bias. In fact, one of the good things about it is to use it as an example of confirmation bias training. So I do not feel too bad that I had purchased this book. I just prefer all the facts be laid out, then the let the author play to his opinions; he should defend his and objectively take apart the opposing views.

    His passion in his writing is so strong, I almost feel him standing over my shoulder deriding my views of his comments with "If you did not want my opinion, you should not have bought my book."

    While I am sure the author is passionate about his opinions and that has created his negativity, he is entitled to them. He is entitled to publish them and defend them. After all is said and done, that is what the purpose of some of those topics he is so critical of. I think his opinion, the right to express it and the fact that it is published without fear of retribution stand as a monument to the successes of his targets of admonition.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Dr. Danny
    4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing and insightful
    Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2017
    Format: eTextbookVerified Purchase
    Well written and excellent investigative journalism. Not footnoted, and a little dated given the state of the world these days, but a compelling short read.
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  • J. Nunes
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente serviço!
    Reviewed in Spain on December 16, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    O livro chegou antes da data prevista de entrega. Muito bom!
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  • D.C. Johnson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very factual,in contrast to the bland mainstream media
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The book appears to tell the truth and support its points by very precise and beleivable relevations of what really hhappened
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