This book has a few chapters reveling in the technical achievements of today's UAV producers and noting the decline of the traditional jet fighter pilot's career path. These are good fun, but just as interesting are the followup chapters where he asks questions like 'is a UAV pilot actually a warrior?' and 'how does warfare change when one side is in absolutely no danger of being harmed?' Definitely a worthwhile read.

This book outlines Lord Moran's experiences in WWI and the effects of that war on those around him. It's bleak, dark, and fatalistic, which probably makes it a good reflection of that war. The descriptions of the soldiers moving about as shells fall randomly makes you wish they had a CRAM. It's a sad and thoughtful read.

Fareed Zakaria makes an interesting distinction between liberty and democracy, and he explores this difference in a variety of fields - politics, law, religions, etc. His views on the influence of democracy on religion were interesting - some churches have become so seeker friendly that they have excised the bits of the Bible that deal with sin, the need for forgiveness, and other jarring topics. This book is worth reading if only to annoy James Carville, who recently said that he'd like to "take a football bat" (whatever that is) to Zakaria.

Definitely a change from the usual reading list fare... it reminded me in content, if not in style, of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner". The bits about Castro reissuing money (and stealing everyone's existing savings) are well done.

This is a quick read and a fun one... it reminded me of some of PJ O'Rourke's globe-trotting books. It punctures some of the optimism found in Thomas Friedman's books in that it shows how the freight train of globalization can be derailed by local corruption.

Somehow I'd never read this book before... it's a classic, of course, and a good read.

I really enjoyed the parts of this book where Barnett talks about the Pentagon's "briefing culture". A white paper won't do, since the O-8's aides can just summarize it for him - you have to have a lively, entertaining, and insightful brief to get access to the upper reaches of the Pentagon. This book was written in 2004, and Barnett made some bold predictions. He thought that Kim Jong-il would be toppled by President Bush, but here we are in 2010 and Kim Jong-il is sinking South Korean ships. Barnett also predicts that the U.S. will add some more states from bits of Mexico... that remains to be seen. The book's thesis is that there is a "functioning Core" and a "disconnected Gap", and we need to encourage more of the former and less of the latter. It's an interesting strategic proposal. One more thing I learned from this book - a great phrase from J.R.R. Tolkien: "Hope without guarantees". A wonderful thought!