Good but not as good as Imperial Grunts. If you're in a hurry, read the last chapter - "The Morbid Tyranny Out of Antiquity" and the Afterword - "The Non Warrior Democracy."

The last chapter is all about North Korea. Good summary of the history and sobering look at what might be the future sooner than later.

The afterword is a good look at our nation, patriotism, faith, universal values, Rumsfeld, Powell, status quo, and the age in which we live. ( )

Robert D. Kaplan continues his exploration of the American military's challenging and varied commitments around the world. From protecting sea lanes, to providing disaster relief, to preparing for potential military confrontation with North Korea and Iran, Kaplan describes the astonishing, vital, and often unacknowledged operations regularly performed by American military personnel in the air, at sea, and on the ground. Vivid and illuminating, this book takes us deep into the highly technical and exotic cultures of the armed forces, telling soldiers' stories from the perspective of the troops on the ground.

Old reviews went missing. How does save not working?

I enjoyed it. ( )

A book set in the 1990s covers those individuals who were at the center of the fight in Iraq. I thought it an interesting, yet dated, read. The book gives the reader an idea of what it's like to fight a modern war from the soldier's perspective. ( )

Kaplan presents an interesting and thoughtful perspective on the US military in the 21st century. He embedded with a number of units in the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force over a several year period. His approach is to show how the diverse missions of these units fit within an evolving US global strategy in the post cold war and post 9/11 time. There are two overarching themes of his analysis: positioning the nation to deal with the rising power of China in the Pacific rim and the world and how the military can be used to develop the capacities and cooperation of emerging democracies throughout the third world.

Regarding China, Kaplan shows that our relations with Pacific rim countries like Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and Nepal have evolved far away from the "big base" large magnitude show of force strategy of the post WWII era. Small units are engaging with joint operations and training programs with these nations aimed in part at cementing their affiliations with the US. This approach is mirrored in other countries like Algeria, Niger, Mali and Georgia.

Another key feature of this new approach is how humanitarian efforts of the military can bring the American presence in positive ways on small (e.g. villages in Algeria) or large (e.g. tsunami relief) scales.

Two other aspects of the military's engagement are notable. The logistics that support the military have changed in scale and approach. Rather than a large footprint for positioning ourselves in countries, we are relying on low key arrangements, often secured and run by civilian "embeds" who know the customs and language of the countries of interest. The second feature highlighted by Kaplan is the depth of competence shown by today's military, particulary the junior officers and NCO's. This beneficial result of the volunteer professional military deserves the attention Kaplan gives it.

On Iraq (his travels cover 2004-2006) there's only one chapter. Kaplan describes the nation-building efforts of Army units around Mosul. Here again, the civil affairs work of the units are admired, although Kaplan is critical of the mistakes of policy makers in wrong-headed decisions and failure to provide sufficient resources for the civil activities of units at the ground level.

There is some deep analysis of the Koreas, the last vestige of the cold war. Kaplan poses some interesting ideas about the interests of the region's countries (China and Japan mainly) in the bellicosity of North Korea and the possible outcomes of events in or by North Korea.

Although now a few years old, this book presents a very different perspective on military strategy than is seen in superficial media coverage. It is pro-military but not in the sentimental ethos of popular media, but rather in the sense of how very competent and committed professionals are working in smart ways to help secure our nation's interests. ( )