(Army Times) Backtalk: Suggested reading (for PE Obama)

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Suggested reading
By Lt. Col. (ret.) Terence J. Daly

President-elect Barack Obama is already getting outstanding guidance on what he should do, so I will give him a break. Rather than tell him what he should do, I will suggest some books that he should read to guide him and then trust him to ask the questions to which he can develop the right answers.

These books would also make useful reading for Army leaders, strategists and anyone who wants to prepare for the wars ahead. My suggestions are based on the simple fact that that the U.S. must never again be victim to the strategic illiteracy and ignorance at the highest levels that has characterized recent administrations. This understanding of strategic issues must start at the top; the president himself must have a basic knowledge of concepts and vocabulary so at a minimum he can distinguish between those whose advice is useful to his office and those whose ideas do not merit intelligent consideration.

I have five books that I consider basic to understanding the wars of the 21st century. One hopes the president-elect will discuss them with those he nominates to policy-level positions in the national security field. Just knowing that the president has read them will give those considered for appointments in an Obama administration a standard to which they can measure themselves and show them the level of expertise they must bring to their new jobs.

Here are the books I suggest, in the general order in which they should be read:

• Anything master strategist Professor Colin S. Gray has written is worthwhile, but in “Fighting Talk: Forty Maxims on War, Peace and Strategy,” Gray provides a brilliant introduction to and summation of Sun Tzu, Thucydides, Machiavelli and Carl von Clausewitz in one short, readable volume.


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