The rubble of the World Trade Center smoulders following the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York[/caption]
The Icarus Syndrome by Peter Beinart
Few books capture the transformation of America’s foreign policy and the nation’s psyche in the hours and months after the attacks on 9/11, and contextualize these events in the wider history of America’s foreign relations. Written in an eloquent and thoughtful style and markedly different from the other literature that has come out in the past decade or so, Beinart’s work should be read by anyone interested in American foreign policy after 9/11.
The 9/11 Wars by Jason Burke
Burke, a respected and thoughtful journalist who has spent much of his career in the regions of the world most impacted by the wars after 9/11, charts in 500 pages America’s interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also examines the impact of Europe’s experience with terrorism during this decade and its response.
The Three Trillion Dollar War by Joseph E. Stieglitz and Linda J. Bilmes
In an election year dominated by the economy and the debt crisis, Stieglitz and Bilmes illustrate the deep economic cost associated with America’s intervention in Iraq, and note that—including the intervention in Afghanistan—America has spent over 7 trillion dollars on the wars of the past decade. A sobering number that both explains problems faced by the United States in terms of its debt and also, the hesitancy about considering future military interventions in places such as Syria.
Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
With Afghanistan barely mentioned in this year’s presidential elections and with America’s troops expected to withdraw by 2014, it is worth a moment to consider after 11 years at war in Afghanistan, what has been accomplished and what lies ahead for Afghanistan and America’s presence in the country.
Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them by John Mueller
Homeland security has become the buzzword for an entire industry of analysts in the United States and the Homeland Security Department has become a sizeable feature of the federal budget. A noted scholar on public opinion and national security, Mueller attempts to put homeland security in perspective and its impact on American public opinion. Mueller’s conclusions will surprise some and his work illustrates the domestic impact that 9/11 had on America’s perception of its security.
