Description: In an era of instability and global competition, Statecraft offers a vital guide to understanding how states succeed, no matter their size.
Brief description:
Jack Watling is Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He works closely with the British, Ukrainian and American military, and advises governments on security and strategy.
He was formerly a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington DC and is the author of The Arms of the Future: Technology and Close Combat in the Twenty-First Century. Originally a journalist, he has contributed to Reuters, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and The Guardian, among others. Statecraft is his book about how states collaborate, compete and fight in an era of global turmoil.Review Quotes:
"'Gripping . . . packed with fascinating detail . . . ranges from first-person reportage from the trenches of Ukraine to analysis of the chokepoints in the world economy, including the Strait of Hormuz'" --Financial Times
"An indispensable book on strategy - brilliantly grounded in first-hand experience and telling detail. [Statecraft is] blunt about the failures and structural defects in policy [and] thoughtful, serious and compelling" --Rory Stewart, bestselling author of Politics on the Edge "Jack Watling has rewritten Clausewitz for the modern world, using stories and taking lessons from Ukraine to Mali to Taiwan. Anyone interested in geopolitics should read it" --Anne Applebaum, bestselling author of Autocracy, Inc "Through narrative and analysis, Statecraft explores the key factors that decide success or failure in resolving conflict or chaos. Jack Watling draws on his own stories to weave a narrative that gets underneath events - from Afghanistan to Ukraine - with which we might be familiar, but through this book, can better understand. Statecraft is an astonishing book, full of stories and details, drawn from Jack Watling's unique experience from the front line in conflict zones all over the world. Through it, we are able to evaluate what determines success and failure, and how we might better prepare for an uncertain future." --Rt Hon Baroness Catherine Ashton LG GCMG "'While Statecraft is a detailed, often surgical, book, its overall effect is therapeutic. Reading it one can start to imagine a road map through the crazy car crashes of the post-rules-based world, and how we can unite the disparate tools we still possess to truly take back control'" --The Spectator