Book Reviews
-
Book Review: The Cyber and Information Space Matrix
Bianca Lins and Josef Schröfl, (Peter Land Group: Lausanne, 2026). pp. 236. The Cyber and Information Space Matrix offers an ambitious attempt to systematise one of the most complex terrains in contemporary security: the convergence of cyberspace, information environments, and modern conflict. Edited by Bianca Lins and Josef Schröfl, the volume positions itself at the… Read More
Written by
-
Book Review: Lifeblood of Terrorism: Countering Terrorism Finance
Vivek Chadha, (Bloomsbury Publishing India Pvt. Ltd., 2015). pp. 258 Terrorism finance remains under-examined in Indian security studies despite its central importance. Vivek Chadha’s Lifeblood of Terrorism addresses this gap through a detailed mapping of funding sources, transfer mechanisms, and operational use across India’s conflict zones. Indian Army Veteran, Colonel Chadha, leverages counterinsurgency expertise, offering enforcement-focused, state-centric… Read More
Written by
-
Inside Terrorism
Bruce Hoffman, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998). pp. 320. There are books that describe the world, and books that predict it. Bruce Hoffman’s Inside Terrorism, published in 1998, belongs emphatically to the second category. He argued that the dominant threat to global security was shifting toward religiously motivated actors for whom violence was a… Read More
Written by
-
Die Renaissance des Carl von Clausewitz
Strategie für Entscheidungsträger im 21. Jahrhundert Lennard Souchon, (Hamburg, 2024). 348 pp. Lennard Souchon’s Die Renaissance des Carl von Clausewitz is an ambitious and timely exploration of how the Prussian theorist’s ideas continue to shape modern strategic thought. Far from being a dusty relic of nineteenth-century military theory, Souchon presents Clausewitz as a figure experiencing… Read More
Written by
-
India and Asian Geopolitics
The Past, Present Shiv Shankar Menon, (Place of publication: Brookings Institution Press, 2021). 416 pp. Amidst the geopolitical turmoil in Asia and beyond, India must carefully reconsider its past and present to brace itself for new future challenges. Case in point, the former foreign secretary and National Security Advisor, Shiv Shankar Menon, published a dispassionate… Read More
Written by
-
India’s China Challenge
A Journey Through China’s Rise and What it Means for India Ananth Krishnan, (HarperCollins India, 2020). pp. 420. Ananth Krishnan’s “India’s China Challenge” offers readers a deep and nuanced exploration of the complex dynamics between India and China. Krishnan, a correspondent in Beijing for a decade, provides a unique and first-hand perspective on China’s remarkable… Read More
Written by
-
The ISI War Crimes And Murder Of Civilian Culture Of Intelligence In Pakistan
Musa Khan Jalalzai, (New Delhi, 2021). pp. 236. amazon.com The ISI War Crimes And Murder Of Civilian Culture Of Intelligence In Pakistan presents a comprehensive examination of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Established in 1948 to safeguard national security, the ISI holds considerable influence over the defense and foreign policy decisions in Pakistan, which often… Read More
Written by
-
Dying to Learn
Wartime Lessons from the Western Front Michael A. Hunzeker, (Cornell, 2021). pp. 224. amazon.com In Dying to Learn, Michael A. Hunzeker expounds on a novel theory he developed to explain how militaries learn during wartime. Hunzeker utilises three variables — Assessment, Command, and Training (ACT) — to form a somewhat simple theory to explain how… Read More
Written by
-
Near Abroad
Putin, The West, And the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus Gerard Toal, (Oxford, 2017). pp. 408. amazon.com Based on almost 16 years of research and written in the aftermath of Russian adventurism in Ukraine (2014) and Georgia (2008), Near Abroad offers a detailed analysis of the geopolitical complexities faced by Russia and countries in… Read More
Written by
-
The Atlantic And Its Enemies
A History of the Cold War Norman Stone, (London, 2010). pp. 688. amazon.com This is an infuriating book: the basic tenets of which are that Communism is bad and that the Anglo-US axis (the “Atlantic” of the title) invented Europe, and that all good in Europe stems henceforth. The first point is valid in the… Read More
Written by
