Battlegrounds: Defending Freedom Around the Globe

JAFO: This book is a reflection on consistent foreign policy failures of past US administrations. The book is well written, but nothing really new that I didn't already understand or know. Perhaps a little TMI on the details; could have condensed this book by at least 200 pages. This would be a good book for college students studying government or political science.

United States on Aug 17, 2023

"davidreimers": I’ve followed HR McMaster in podcasts for some time, and he has excellent insight. This book talks about our four key geopolitical challenges: the return of great power competition; trans-national terrorism; rogue states; and cyberwarfare.

It’s written not by a commentator, but someone who was there. This is an good follow-on read to The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton.

Australia on Sep 04, 2022

A. J. Norton: A keen mind - this guy is clearly one of the US best, and without guys like him at the front - well, lets hope we don't end up as radioactive ash.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for the McMasters, i left my copy out in the June rain before getting 40% through it, so - i will be buying again

United Kingdom on Jul 18, 2022

Mjolnir: I am amazed by the depth of McMaster’s knowledge, the intelligence of his geopolitical analysis, the clarity of his exposition, and the illuminating lucidity of his thoughts. This is one of the best books on geopolitics the reader interested in this matter can find.

United Kingdom on May 23, 2022

Cefaloni: Really quite extraordinarily well written. McMaster could equally well have occupied the post of Secretary of State, in lieu of National Security Advisor. What a shame that the administration could not have put his amazing insight and rational thinking to more use.

United Kingdom on Nov 17, 2021

Christina Schatz: If we take our individal freedom in western democracies for granted we could face a very unpleasant wake up in the not so distant future. This book describes the threats in a profound and understandable way. The author witnessed the end of the cold war in Germany (like me by the way) and reveals his personal experience which lends authenticity and credibility to his analysis. Very important read for everybody who cares about the future of our open societies.

Germany on Apr 28, 2021

S. Mahon: H.R. McMaster uses all of his considerable military and academic experience to produce a thorough assessment of where the USA is in the current state of affairs, how we got there and what we can do to improve it. He uses the term strategic narcissism to describe the baseless assumptions and too rosy scenarios that both Democratic and Republican administrations have used to fit complex global problems into two and four year political strategies. He speaks with authority on the "battlegrounds" he includes: Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, having personal experience on the ground executing policy or having dealt with in a professional capacity, senior leaders from that country. His assessment and proposed solutions are based on history, data and real experience. Where does the book fall short? In his previous work Dereliction of Duty, he rightly castigates the Viet Nam era senior military leaders for not telling the hard truths to the President and demanding a strategy that would allow our troops to win. As Trump's National Security Advisor he found himself in much the same position but never resigned in protest or spoke out. IN the book he basically says I did...

United States on Mar 19, 2021

Steven Cass: McMaster has gathered the best minds in the country formulated a platform of ideas that hopefully will influence policy far into the future. This book is that good. A must read for any student of national security and anyone who cares about it, whether American. Ally or Adversary.

His previous book Dereliction of Duty was thick, over researched and paid too much attention to getting all the details right instead of thinking about the reader, the story and the tenor of the written word. While that book with correct in its premise and its theme was clear, it was hard to get though. This book is different.

McMaster is older and a lot wiser since he wrote Dereliction of Duty and that is reflected in this book. He shares his personal experiences, wraps in geopolitical strategy and charts a course for the best interests of the United States. What is particularly striking about this book? His sections on China and Asia. McMaster is one of the most influential people to expose our policy of wishful thinking regarding engaging and entangling with the communist country. He outlines something called 'strategic narcissisms' which best describes our foreign policy thinking from...

United States on Dec 12, 2020