Concerns over the so-called Islamic State are only building, as war continues in the Middle East and Central Asia. Readers looking for deeper understanding of international threats and conflicts can turn to these new and forthcoming titles, all reviewed by PW.
America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History
"Politicians and policymakers would be well advised to take into account what Bacevich reveals as the potential long-term consequences of the use of military power," our starred review said. "This exemplary work, both readable and deeply informative, will be welcomed by anybody interested in U.S. foreign policy and curious about the present-day afflictions of the greater Middle East."
A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS
Per our starred review, "Veteran correspondent Worth traces the Arab Spring through five countries, from the heady idealism of 2011 to the largely grim aftermath." The author provides no easy path forward, but “skillfully presents the competing perspectives in play to explain the daunting impediments to stable states in the present-day Middle East.
Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War
“This lucid but gloomy book provides a solid account of how the U.S. seems to be mired in a losing and intractable battle against global terrorism,” our review said, offering “a clear-eyed and shrewd examination of how easily terrorists achieve their goals of inspiring fear and retaliation.”
The Terror Years: From Al-Qaeda to the Islamic State
In these pieces, culled from reporting Wright did for the New Yorker, the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist "writes with empathy for every side while clearly registering the moral catastrophes that darken this pitiless struggle," according to our review.
A Kingdom of Their Own: The Family Karzai and the Afghan Disaster
A veteran foreign correspondent explores America’s entanglement with Afghanistan through the lens of the Karzai family, which wielded power from the 2001 ousting of the Taliban until 2014. Partlow, whom our starred review calls “an astute and thoughtful reporter,” shows how “the U.S. eventually came to view Karzai as hapless—or tacitly complicit—in the face of widespread corruption.” But his book, our review explains, “offers a more nuanced perspective on what went wrong.”
