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Goliath

What the West got Wrong about Russia and Other Rogue States

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Goliath

By: Sean McFate
Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Goliath written by Sean McFate, read by Joe Knezevich.

Everything you think you know about war is wrong.

War is timeless. Some things change - weapons, tactics, leadership - but our desire to go into battle does not. We are in the midst of an age of conflict: global terrorism, Russia's resurgence and China's rise, international criminal empires, climate change and dwindling natural resources.

The stakes are high, and we are dangerously unprepared.

As a former paratrooper and military contractor, Sean McFate has been on the front lines of deep state conflicts. He has seen firsthand the horrors of battle and as a strategist, understands the complexity of the current military situation.

The West is playing the same old war games, but the enemy has changed the rules. In this new age of war:

-technology will not save us,
-victory will belong to the cunning, not the strong,
-plausible deniability is more potent than firepower
-corporations, mercenaries, and rogue states have more power than nation states, and loyalty will sit with the highest bidder.

This is The Art of War for the 21st century. Adapt and we can prevail. Fail, and size and strength won't protect us. Learn how to triumph in the coming age of conflict in ten new rules.

 Military Military Science Politics & Government Weapons & Warfare War Military Policy Middle East Armed Force Iran Russia Imperialism Imperial Japan Law China Technology

Critic Reviews

The Freakonomics of modern warfare
An important book
Lively and provocative ... laced with examples from the history of conflict as well as his own career as a soldier
A thought-provoking book. Sean McFate has admirably captured the challenges we face with an evolving character of warfare. Technology and the pervasiveness of information have blurred the distinction between peace and war and have opened up seams that our opponents are ruthlessly exploiting, utilising weapons that don't need to go bang (General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the Defence Staff)
Thought-provoking. Sean McFate puts his finger on key issues for Western security
His iconoclastic book is being hailed by radicals as a wake-up call to governments and armed forces everywhere, to stop doing all the wrong things; to start doing a few right ones . . . Some of what he says makes more sense than much of what comes out of the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence
Radical thoughts on the West's approach to modern warfare
A well-crafted indictment of The West's failure to keep pace with the changing face of warfare. The soldier is taught to improvise, adapt, and overcome. In Goliath, Sean McFate shows The West how it can do the same
A fascinating and disturbing book
Essential Reading (General Stanley McChrystal)
All stars
Most relevant
The author is able to articulate many things that most people who've spent years in the military know to be true. This book is to military/foreign policy as the road less travelled by M. Scott Peck is to understanding conciousness.

This is the future

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