Lines of Fire: A Renegade Writes on Strategy, Intelligence, and Security by Ralph Peters
For three decades, Ralph Peters has been the most provocative and visionary American writer on strategy, security, intelligence, and military affairs, predicting every major trend that has plagued the post-Cold-War world. A career military officer and acclaimed author, he has always faced the issues others shunned until it was too late: The explosion of religious terrorism and its all-or-nothing nature; the resurgence of deadly ethnic strife as borders disintegrate around the world; the fateful weaknesses of our extravagantly expensive intelligence system; the dangers of over-reliance on technology to solve human problems; the endless nature of 21st-century warfare; our military leadership's difficulty adapting to a changed world; the colossal waste of taxpayer dollars on dubious weapons, at a cost in soldiers' lives; and why wishful thinking is as deadly as fanaticism. These and other enduringly vital themes are addressed in this definitive collection of the finest and most influential work of Ralph Peters over a generation of conflict. Lines of Fire is a career-capping and indispensable work for understanding the crises of today, and tomorrow.