Must Reads
The following is a running list of strategic references that everyone should read:
Title: A NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY PRIMER
Citation: HEFFINGTON, STEVEN, ADAM OLER, and DAVID TRETLER. "PRIMER."
Note: Readers can search CRS Reports for background when developing their own informal National Security Strategy.
Title: Dealing with femtorisks in international relations
Citation: Frank, Aaron Benjamin, Margaret Goud Collins, Simon A. Levin, Andrew W. Lo, Joshua Ramo, Ulf Dieckmann, Victor Kremenyuk et al. "Dealing with femtorisks in international relations." Proceedings of the national academy of sciences 111, no. 49 (2014): 17356-17362.
Title: Systems engineering principles and practice
Citation: Kossiakoff, Alexander, William N. Sweet, Samuel J. Seymour, and Steven M. Biemer. Systems engineering principles and practice. Vol. 83. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Note: This is a great source of information about applying system engineering principles.
Title: Who Rules America?: The Corporate Rich, White Nationalist Republicans, and Inclusionary Democrats in the 2020s.
Citation: Domhoff, G. William. Who Rules America?: The Corporate Rich, White Nationalist Republicans, and Inclusionary Democrats in the 2020s. Routledge, 2021.
Note: Additional material from the author can be found at: https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/
Title: Studying the power elite: Fifty years of who rules America?
Citation: Domhoff, G. William. Studying the power elite: Fifty years of who rules America?. Routledge, 2017.
Note: This book provides critiques of the "Who Rules America?" book series.
Title: Giants: The Global Power Elite.
Citation: Phillips, Peter. Giants: The global power elite. Seven Stories Pres s, 2018.
Note: Giants, and the two "Who Rules America" references, are great starting points for developing preliminary theories of power in today's society.
Title: Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.
Citation: Geertz, Clifford. "Deep play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight." In New Critical Writings in Political Sociology, pp. 383-413. Routledge, 2024.
Note: Regardless of the validity of the author's interpretations; this paper is assigned reading in many college anthropology classes. It has been used to analyze the social and cultural dynamics of different communities.
Title: A Network Theory of Power
Citation: Castells, Manuel. "Network theory| A network theory of power." International journal of communication 5 (2011): 15.
Note: Everyone who studies power, should be familiar with Castell's theory of power in the information age. This is a difficult read, because of how many times the words, "power" and "networks" are used, in isolation or in combinations with each other.
Title: A Sociology of Power: My Intellectual Journey
Citation: Castells, Manuel. "A sociology of power: My intellectual journey." Annual Review of Sociology 42, no. 1 (2016): 1-19.
Note: This paper clarifies many of the concepts in: "A Network Theory of Power."
Title: The network society revisited
Citation: Castells, Manuel. "The network society revisited." American Behavioral Scientist 67, no. 7 (2023): 940-946.
Note: Castells reconsiders his theory based on social changes in the last decade.
Title: Strategy as Simple Rules
Citation: Eisenhardt, Kathleen M., and Donald N. Sull. Strategy as simple rules. Vol. 6, no. 4. Harvard Bus Pub, 2001.
Note: This paper describes simple rules for decision making and fundamental strategic approaches in plain language.
Title: National Security Strategy: Mandates, Execution to Date, and Issues for Congress
Citation: Dale, Catherine. National Security Strategy: Mandates, Execution to Date, and Issues for Congress. Vol. 43174. Congressional Research Service, 2013.
Note: This reference is useful for readers who are willing to take the next step of understanding the actual process before drafting and advocating their own informal
national security strategy.
Title: The 2015 national security strategy: Authorities, changes, issues for Congress.
Citation: Lucas, N. J., & McInnis, K. J. (2015). The 2015 national security strategy: Authorities, changes, issues for Congress. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
Note: The section, "Linking Goals to Resources and Activities," Page 5, provides an overview of what needs to be considered by thinkers and planners when developing a national security strategy.
Title: Congressional Research Service Reports on National Security and Defense Policy
Citation: Aftergood, Steven. Congressional Research Service Reports on National Security and Defense Policy. Federation of American Scientists. Last updated August 20, 2024. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/..
Note: This is a list of CRS Defense Primers. It includes, "Defense Primer: A Guide for New Members," shown below.
Title: Defense Primer: A Guide for New Members
Citation: U.S. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Defense Primer: A Guide for New Members (Washington, DC: CRS, Publication Date).
Note: These issue briefs are intended to provide members of Congress an overview of important aspects of the Department of Defense and Congress' authority over it. Serious activists in international relations and security studies should at least know as much as a freshmen member of Congress!