Statecraft (the New Rules Of Power In A Divided World)

By (author) Watling Jack
Short description/annotation:
In an era of instability and global competition, Statecraft offers a vital guide to understanding how states compete, plan and fight.
Description:

‘Gripping . . . packed with fascinating detail’ – Financial Times
‘Indispensable – brilliantly grounded in first-hand experience. Compelling’ – Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge
‘Anyone interested in geopolitics should read it’ – Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc

How do states actually exercise power in an age of chaos?

From top defense analyst Dr Jack Watling, Statecraft reveals the hidden mechanics of global influence. While we watch the headlines, Watling takes us inside the bunkers and wood-panelled offices where the real decisions are made.

In this urgent analysis, you will discover:

• The Iran Paradox: How a sanctioned nation controls global energy prices despite US military might.
• The Russia–Ukraine Lesson: Why a superpower struggled against a smaller neighbour in the opening months of the invasion.
• The Aircraft Carrier Dilemma: Why the UK spends billions on hardware it can barely support at sea.
• The Future of Taiwan: What the shifting ‘rules of power’ mean for the next great flashpoint.
• Middle Powers: How do smaller countries build leverage and stay off the menu?

Whether it’s economic alliances, sea power or the latest military technology, Watling provides a powerful new lens to understand a world that feels increasingly out of control.

Review quote:
An indispensable book on strategy – brilliantly grounded in first-hand experience and telling detail. [Statecraft is] blunt about the failures and structural defects in policy [and] thoughtful, serious and compelling
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Jack Watling has rewritten Clausewitz for the modern world, using stories and taking lessons from Ukraine to Mali to Taiwan. Anyone interested in geopolitics should read it
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Through narrative and analysis, Statecraft explores the key factors that decide success or failure in resolving conflict or chaos. Jack Watling draws on his own stories to weave a narrative that gets underneath events - from Afghanistan to Ukraine - with which we might be familiar, but through this book, can better understand.

Statecraft is an astonishing book, full of stories and details, drawn from Jack Watling’s unique experience from the front line in conflict zones all over the world. Through it, we are able to evaluate what determines success and failure, and how we might better prepare for an uncertain future

Review quote:
A goldmine of analysis of contemporary wars, and a timely warning around what it takes to compete in this age of geopolitical disorder
Biographical note:

Jack Watling is Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He works closely with the British, Ukrainian and American military, and advises governments on security and strategy.

He was formerly a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington DC and is the author of The Arms of the Future: Technology and Close Combat in the Twenty-First Century. Originally a journalist, he has contributed to Reuters, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and The Guardian, among others.

Statecraft is his book about how states collaborate, compete and fight in an era of global turmoil.