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Summer Reading from IWP Faculty: America 250 Edition

Marlatt Mansion and Flag
IWP’s Marlatt Mansion

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, IWP faculty members have assembled a summer reading (and viewing) list that explores America’s founding principles, intelligence and statecraft, military leadership, cybersecurity, foreign policy, and the enduring challenges facing free societies.

From Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley:

Since it is America 250, it is a wonderful time to reflect on our founding principles and the political economy that motivated the founders.  To that end, I encourage us all to read the Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.  Both were signed/published in 1776!  If you don’t have time to read all of Smith, read the first four chapters of Book 1.

From Prof. Aaron Danis:

This short (12-page) article was written by a British military officer who is well-known in professional wargaming circles. Students who work or will work in the National Security Enterprise will participate in wargames and need to know their capabilities and limitations.

From Prof. Lawrence Dietz:

From Prof. Dustin Droullard:

This brief book is an apropos way to reflect on our country’s historical values during America’s 250th birthday.

From Dr. Jonathan Hall:

Written by an actual cybersecurity practitioner, Code War provides a sobering overview of state-sponsored cyber operations. With case studies ranging from Stuxnet and NotPetya to modern-day Russian- and Chinese-led campaigns, Mellen details exactly how the world’s leading powers make use of cyberspace from a strategic, operational, and tactical perspective. A useful primer for anyone interested in the digital domain.

From a former CIA operations officer who spent years working in Russia and neighboring states, Wiswesser’s Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks is a tour de force – an authoritative, plain-spoken guide to Russia’s three main intelligence services – the SVR, GRU, and FSB. From honeypots and double agents to assassination and active measures, readers are provided with an excellent overview with both analytical rigor and on-the-ground expertise. (View Sean Wiswesser’s book lecture at IWP)

The U.S. military is historically unusual: powerful, popular, and yet consistently subordinate to civilian authority. Schake traces how that relationship was built and nearly broken over 250 years. At a moment when the boundary between military and political life feels increasingly contested, this will make a clarifying read for any audience.

From Dr. Christopher C. Harmon:

Read Dr. Harmon’s full review of Rogue Allies.

From Prof. Vangala Ram:

Film Recommendation:

The movie is based on the true story of Alexander DUGIN, who is known as “Putin’s Brain.” This is an engaging and very well-done portrait of Putin and Russia from around 1990 or so (after the Soviet Union) to around 2011 – before the current war with Ukraine.

From Prof. John Sano:

A lengthy (400+ pages) discourse on the development of U.S. Intelligence – from our founding efforts during the Revolution through the Cold War to today’s intelligence efforts, particularly as it interacts with its civilian counterparts in the modern era.

From Prof. Al Santoli:

I recommend Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky, which is the strategy against democracy in the U.S., as practiced by left-wing academic groups who seek to overthrow the American form of government.

From Dr. Wayne Schroeder:

Book Recommendation:

Often seen as America’s first grand strategist, John Quincy Adams played a major role in the building of the American republic. Part of the building process involved understanding America’s growing geopolitical importance internationally and also our dominant role in the Western Hemisphere.  John Quincy’s key strategies focused on America’s physical security, national development (including commerce and infrastructure), and how to best use our moral force in world affairs.

Adams knew that American power was not limitless and that we must know when to use and when not to use military force to accomplish our strategic objectives – acting in the right sequences and with the best motives.

Charles Edel visited IWP to speak on his book in June 2017, an event which I had the pleasure to attend. I encourage students of American foreign policy and national security to read Edel’s book this summer and reflect on John Quincy’s legacy to America.

Film Recommendation:

I strongly recommend that IWP students – particularly those studying national security affairs – take in Twelve O’Clock High this summer.  The first Americans to fight Germans in Europe during World War II fought them in the skies – the men of the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force. This film covers the pressures of combat, the loneliness of command, and the leadership qualities needed during wartime – and does so in a thoroughly convincing manner.

From Prof. Dennis Teti:

This is the perfect book for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration’s publication, which marks the birth of the United States of America.  At a time when more Americans than ever are confused about the meaning and purpose of our country, this book is the author’s love gift to America.  He has managed to combine an authoritative reading of the Declaration almost word by word, with a popular historical narrative that enfleshes these dry bones.

How could the founders who declared that all human beings are created equal have owned black slaves?  What were the specific events behind the 27 charges against King George III that brought on the War for Independence?  How does the Declaration’s “theology” encourage popular religious faith while rejecting denominational preferences?

This book is not about our history but about the soul that still gives life to our nation.

Four score and seven years after the Declaration came Lincoln’s best-known speech, which begins by referencing the father-founders who brought it forth.  In a way, this book is a sequel to Spalding (above) or rather a completion; in fact, it was written at Jaffa’s request to elaborate certain incomplete elements of his twin magisterial works on Lincoln, The Crisis of the House Divided and A New Birth of Freedom.  Unlike Spalding’s, it is not a narrative but a dense commentary on the work of both Jaffa and Lincoln.

The Civil War makes us wonder whether something unresolved in the Declaration itself might have led to the American version of European religious wars.  Erler explores the “theology” of the American Founding, revealing Lincoln as the prophet of the founders’ principles in their twofold proclamation of reason and revelation, or nature and nature’s god.

Our 250th anniversary is a good time to meditate on religious liberty, the struggle over which still animates our politics, yet which is perhaps the founders’ most vital bequest to human civilization.