Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. It was very informative and he struck an excellent balance between readability and erudition.
At times, the flavor is unwittingly nostalgic. At the time of writing, it seemed as though Russia was focusing its efforts primarily on its economy and internal affairs, in a way that didn't anticipate its only somewhat covert involvement in Georgia and now Ukraine, much less its involvement in the 2016 US elections. Similarly, while the book discussed the potential of expanded fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, regular suicide bombings and attacks in Europe, let alone the 9/11 attack on the United States, were still in the future. Perhaps in hindsight, the book missed the role of Wahabism and Saudi Arabia in fostering terrorism, although it did mention how the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments regularly paid off fundamentalist terrorists to "go be terrorists somewhere else." However, his analysis of terrorism in Northern Ireland remains unchanged by subsequent events and the hard-won peace there holds. While he didn't clearly foresee the rise of Putin, his analysis of Russia made it clear that the elements of the Communist dictatorship, control of the media, and corruption could emerge again, albeit this time disguised as democracy and capitalism rather than as socialism.
His recommendations for greater centralization, for the United States to increase its efficiency by reducing layer upon layer upon layer of redundancy, and for more of an emphasis on human intelligence (HUMINT), are rather frustrating to read, in light of all of the mistakes and problems that poor intelligence (or predetermined conclusions) caused. Could 9/11 have been prevented? Would better human intelligence have avoided the many mistakes the United States made in the occupation of Afghanistan? Might it even have averted the George W. Bush invasion of Iraq and subsequent failures during that occupation? Might it have helped to prevent the rise of Daesh or helped the West anticipate and be better-prepared to support peaceful transitions during the short-lived Arab Spring? Of course, hindsight is 20-20, but certainly better intelligence could have played a part.
There were several typos and other printing/editing issues. A good spellcheck would have helped with almost all of those.
Note: I received a free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
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- Kindle CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2018
Less New Spies, more old news, written in 1994 and so much has happened since...
