So as a student of martial culture, I'm obligated to continue my quest for knowledge and insight. I've just about finished reading one of the most insightful books written about America's failed foreign policy. I have to say, William Lederer and Eugene Burdick's "The Ugly American" will continue to be heralded as a prophetic look at what's wrong with everything we've done on the foreign front for the last hundred years. What's astounding to me is that this book was written in 1958, prior to our major involvement in Vietnam, and apparently nobody in Washington ever read it. And apparently nobody in Washington now has ever read it. If I ever come into a sum of money, I'll buy copies for every member of the Administration, Congress, the DOD, and the State Department. I'm not optimistic that either of our current candidates has a firm grasp on what it takes to influence a foreign power.
So here's my list of continued reading for the next 3 months (I'll probably polish off about one every other week or so.)
-The Ugly American (Lederer/Burdick)
-Imperial Grunts (R.D. Kaplan)
-Battle Leadership (Adolf Von Schell)
-Gates of Fire (S. Pressfield)
-First to Fight (Victor Krulak)
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