“Analogies at War” by Yuen Foong Khong ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Humans are pretty smart, but our brains still rely on abstraction to bin new ideas into pre-existing frameworks. This natural process of making analogies helps us understand the world’s complexities. They carry with them, however, a caution: our bias for using analogies that are familiar to us can cloud our decision-making. Khong dives into the Johnson administration’s decision to kickoff the Vietnam War as a case study on the analogies that subconsciously guide us. The biggest lesson learned is that as decision-makers, we must constantly check our own analogies for “fit” within the context of our current situations. This also applies to checking your own biases when hearing other analogies: do I dislike this analogy because I fail to relate to it or because it is actually inaccurate? Less a history lesson and more a framework for thinking, Khong, like Ice Cube, reminds us to “check yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self”. Boom… analogy 🧊

“Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A sci-if classic but not the children’s book people often mistake it for. Ender’s Game follows the story of Ender Wiggin, a talented prodigy chosen to train at the elite Battle School in preparation for the expected Third Invasion of the alien “buggers”. Only 6 years old at the start, Ender learns much about leadership, strategy, and tactics as he quickly rises through the ranks. Back on Earth, his equally brilliant (though polar opposite) sister Val and brother Peter begin to shape public views for after the buggers are defeated. Without spoiling the ending (it’s a doozie), Ender’s Game is less a book on strategy and more a book on the importance of empathy: “In the moment when I try let understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him”. This book is an admitted favorite of mine and the subsequent series dives deeper to explore empathy and the concept of foreignness. Also… I kinda wish I could go a couple rounds in the battle room 🔫👩🏼‍🚀

“The Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Surprisingly, reading a 600-page translated Greek history written 2,400 years ago was actually incredibly valuable. Thucydides was an Athenian general in the era of the Peloponnesian War; the conflict that pitted Sparta and Athens (and their convoluted web of alliances) against one another after the infamous Persian War. Thucydides 1-ups the movie “300” with a rich history full of insightful lessons on diplomacy, political science, and practically founds the Realist school in the field of international relations. Most intriguing are the modern analogies that can be drawn from this work. While Sparta felt compelled to wage war out of fear of Athena’ rising power, the pair offers a flawed analogy to today’s great power competitors (I’m looking at you, 🇺🇸 & 🇨🇳) who aren’t necessarily falling into “Thucydides’ Trap”. Give it the well-deserved read and decide for yourself.

“On Grand Strategy” by John Lewis Gaddis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Riddled with thoughtful connections and references, Gaddis (one of our leading Cold War historians), presents a series of dueling comparisons of historical strategists against Archilochus’ poem: “the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog know one big thing”. Here we find Xerxes as a single-minded 🦔 in good company with Philip II. These leaders are juxtaposed against adaptable 🦊 such as Elizabeth I and Pericles. Gaddis shows, however, that successful grand strategy across time, scale, and scope requires the strategist to simultaneously be both a 🦔 and a 🦊. Examples of such unwavering purpose paired with adaptability of means include Octavius, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR. Gaddis’ book references many of the greatest works on strategy across the ages and is thus an excellent primer to anyone hoping to “align their means towards ends”.

“Waging a Good War” by Thomas E. Ricks ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ricks presents the most well researched account of the American civil rights movement I have read to date. Parallels and analogies are drawn throughout to concepts familiar in military strategy to view the actions taken by the Movement’s leaders in a new light. While the military analogies are often a stretch (or at worse, just plain wrong), they do serve their purpose by highlighting the deliberate planning effort that the likes of MLK Jr. and other civil rights leaders made. Of particular interest was the imperfect portrait that Ricks paints of these historical figures - our idolized leaders are human as we all are, flaws and all. Ricks let’s his own political biases permeate the entire text, but these can be identified and overlooked if the reader is looking for it.

So I’m a few weeks into a particular challenging masters program that is colloquially known as the “book-a-day club”. Some friends encouraged me to document the journey with book reviews as I go along. I initially started on Instagram, but thought, “Nostr would be perfect for this!” Enjoy - I hope it spurs some discussion and debate!