Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s SitRep. You might not be able to tell with all of the news breaking everywhere, but according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, we in the Northern Hemisphere are officially in the dog days of summer. So, what better way to celebrate than to pick up a good book?
We’ve once again compiled SitRep’s summer reading list—our picks of the best national security and foreign-policy books we’ve read this year.
Also on tap for the day: Mr. Netanyahu goes to Washington, and the Kamala Harris veepstakes homes in on two top contenders.
SitRep’s Summer Reads
If you’re like us and have spent much of the past two weeks doomscrolling a truly insane amount of breaking news, you’re probably in need of a timeline cleanse.
So this week, we’re offering your deluged inbox a bit of respite, in the form of what’s become an annual tradition here at SitRep: the summer reading guide for national security nerds. There’s some business here, some pleasure, but these are the page-turners that have kept us riveted so far this year.
Tour d’oeuvre. Jack has spent most of the year on a kick of two authors: the New Yorker’s John McPhee and novelist Tim O’Brien. If you want to get to know McPhee, a master craftsman of nonfiction, the best way is to pick up Annals of the Former World, a compilation of his adventures through North American geology, or any of the many “John McPhee readers” that are gathering dust in used bookstores across the country. As for O’Brien, it’s already a well-known classic, but The Things They Carried is a masterpiece of Vietnam War fiction.
Pit stop. Have you been wondering why all of your friends suddenly won’t shut up about Formula 1 racing? The Formula, by Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, chronicles the rise of the sport from the early days of Ferrari dominance through Colin Chapman’s Lotus cars and the fights between McLaren teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in the 1980s. It also dives into the geopolitics of the sport, which are becoming more and more tricky as oil-rich countries with poor human rights reputations, such as Azerbaijan, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, are hosting some of the sport’s biggest races.
War reporting. There has been a deluge of books with firsthand reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine. We already plugged it in FP’s summer reading list, but the best of the bunch is Our Enemies Will Vanish by the Journal’s Yaroslav Trofimov, which combines a travelogue through the war-torn country with a tick-tock of the most important moments of the first year of the war.
Time’s Simon Shuster also published The Showman, probably the most comprehensive English-language biography of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. If you’re looking for a deeper dive into Ukrainian history through the lens of fiction, Tanja Maljartschuk’s Forgottenness, which has already been reviewed in Foreign Policy, is a fascinating window into the country’s early 20th-century independence movement.
It’s hard to break new ground on the heavily studied Vietnam War, but You Don’t Belong Here by Elizabeth Becker does just that. Becker’s book (also reviewed in Foreign Policy) follows three hard-charging, stubborn, and iconoclastic female journalists who risked life and limb to cover the war: Kate Webb, Catherine Leroy, and Frances FitzGerald. It will come as no surprise that they faced ridicule and sexism from their male peers, but this book weaves together a compelling account of how they broke through those glass ceilings and altered war reporting for generations to come.
Did you know that the famed photojournalist Robert Capa could also write? Neither did we, but Capa’s Slightly Out of Focus, the Hungarian American photographer’s memoir of his adventures in World War II—from crossing the Atlantic hopped up on scotch to getting bored during the Italy campaign and even going to the beaches of Normandy—is a brilliant romp.
Nonfiction du jour. Our FP colleague Rishi Iyengar couldn’t get enough of Chris Miller’s Chip War, which chronicles why the infinitesimally thin silicon wafers have come to dominate so much of our daily lives, global commerce, and now geopolitics.
While it’s been less than a week since U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek reelection, there’s already a big clamor for insights on his foreign-policy doctrine and legacy. There’s no better place to start than with Pulitzer Prize finalist Alexander Ward’s The Internationalists, a stellar feat of on-the-ground beat reporting in Biden’s Washington that chronicles the highs and lows of U.S. foreign-policy making, from the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal to Russia’s march toward war in Ukraine. (Disclosure: Ward is a friend of SitRep’s, but that doesn’t make his book any less excellent.)
For the Middle East hands out there, it’s hard to put down The Achilles Trap by Steve Coll, the master of investigative reporting and narrative nonfiction on how the George W. Bush administration blundered into one of the worst foreign-policy follies in U.S. history and its long shadow over U.S. foreign policy today.
Another enlightening read for counterterrorism wonks is A Moonless, Starless Sky. Journalist Alexis Okeowo chronicles four narratives of ordinary African women and men fighting back against a surge of violent extremism in West and East Africa. Since most books on countering terrorism and extremism fixate on the military and security side of things, this book is a welcome respite that reveals the follies of the West’s military-centric counterterrorism campaigns and gives voice to the everyday people in the region who are truly at the forefront of the fight.
For those hankering for more academic policy works, Aisha Ahmad’s Jihad & Co. centers on a fascinating and mostly (until now) overlooked thesis: that Islamist groups’ rise to power stems from local business elites leaning on them to protect their business interests. This book has a fascinating series of case studies that could have major implications for the rising trend of countering terrorism through economic statecraft.
Fiction beach reads. Let’s not forget some solid page-turners for when SitRep wonks need a break from the nonfiction aisle.
For starters, Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor offers a thrilling, cynical, and bloody portrait into the making of modern India through the eyes of a hapless young man ensnared in the corrupt and power-hungry echelons of New Delhi’s elite.
The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak provides a refreshing twist on the traditional Cold War spy thriller with a complex protagonist that pairs well with your favorite John le Carré and Graham Greene novels.
For the sci-fi lovers out there, Arkady Martine’s Teixcalaan duology—A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace—is phenomenal. Martine in her two books spins a tale of empire-building with themes that national security wonks will love: high-stakes diplomacy, espionage and intrigue, cultural hegemony, and, of course, a looming invasion by a mysterious alien armada.
Did we miss anything? Reply to this email, and we may include your recommendations in a future SitRep!
Let’s Get Personnel
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has tapped Javier Colomina to be the special representative for the southern neighborhood, covering the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahel. Colomina is currently NATO’s deputy assistant secretary-general for political affairs and security policy and has been a top aide to Stoltenberg focused on the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Lori Esposito Murray is now a senior fellow for national security and the managing director of CEO programs at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and the founding executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, died on Thursday. He was 73.
Rango, a cat rescued from the backyard of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vilnius, has been named the agency’s official cat, top diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
On the Button
What should be high on your radar, if it isn’t already.
Bibi madness. As expected, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Wednesday address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress created rifts among Democrats about the party’s approach to the nine-month war in Gaza, with half of the party skipping the speech, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn. And some of those who did attend had harsh words for Netanyahu. Palestinian American Rep. Rashida Tlaib wore a traditional Palestinian scarf and held up a two-sided sign that read “war criminal” and “guilty of genocide.”
Six relatives of Israeli hostages were arrested in the visitors’ gallery during Netanyahu’s speech. They accused the Israeli leader of slow-rolling cease-fire talks with Hamas and a deal to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
New veepstakes. It’s early, but Vice President Kamala Harris appears to have whittled down her presidential campaign’s veep shortlist to two top contenders: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Either pick could have big foreign-policy implications. Shapiro, who would help boost Harris in the must-win Keystone State, has been publicly critical of pro-Palestinian protesters. Kelly, a former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain, has called out Republican vice presidential contender Sen. J.D. Vance for threatening to “abandon” Ukraine to Russia and has even helped train Ukrainian F-16 pilots back home in Arizona.
Harris is also reportedly considering a number of others in the veepstakes, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Also, keep an eye on ForeignPolicy.com: FP’s reporters are putting together a full rundown of what Harris’s foreign policy might look like.
Cooperation. China and Russia are teaming up to challenge U.S. airspace near Alaska for the first time. U.S. F-16s, F-35s, Canadian CF-18s intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two Chinese H-6 bombers near Alaska on Wednesday, Air & Space Forces Magazine reports. North American Aerospace Defense Command, which provides air warning for Canada and the United States, said the Russian and Chinese aircraft remained in international airspace during a combined patrol from a Russian base.
Snapshot
A U.S. Secret Service member walks past workers as they put up additional security fencing around the White House ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on July 24.
A U.S. Secret Service member walks past workers as they put up additional security fencing around the White House ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on July 24. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Put On Your Radar
Thursday, July 25: G-20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs begin a two-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Friday, July 26: The 2024 Summer Olympics kick off in Paris.
Sunday, July 28: Venezuela holds its presidential election, with incumbent President Nicolás Maduro facing off against first-time candidate Edmundo González.
Tuesday, July 30: New Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is inaugurated in Tehran.
Quote of the Week
“Old habits die hard.”
—British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after accidentally referring to his predecessor Rishi Sunak as the prime minister, during a session of Parliament on Monday.
This Week’s Most Read
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
LOL. U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney had quite the reaction to screenwriter Aaron Sorkin floating him as the Democratic presidential candidate in the New York Times this week: “Hahahaha,” he told the Atlantic’s McKay Coppins. Romney is retiring from the Senate this year.
Pro-Sheik. Actor Jeff Daniels asked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer about former wrestler Hulk Hogan’s speech at the Republican National Convention. “I myself am an Iron Sheik fan,” Whitmer said.
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