America's Secret War

Inside the Struggle Between the United States and Its Enemies

By: George Friedman

Narrated by: Brian Emerson

Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Dubbed by Barron's as "The Shadow CIA", Stratfor, George Friedman's global intelligence company, has provided analysis to Fortune 500 companies, news outlets, and even the U.S. government. Now Friedman delivers the geopolitical story that the mainstream media has been unable to uncover, the startling truth behind America's foreign policy and war effort in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond.

Stratfor, one of the world's most respected private global intelligence firms, has an unmatched ability to provide clear perspective on the current geopolitical map. In America's Secret War, George Friedman identifies the United States' most dangerous enemies, delves into presidential strategies of the last quarter century, and reveals the real reasons behind the attack of September 11, and the Bush administration's motivation for the war in Iraq. It describes in eye-opening detail America's covert and overt efforts in the global war against terrorism: Not only are U.S. armies in combat on every continent but also, since September 11, the intelligence services of dozens of nations have been operating in close partnership with the CIA.

America's Secret War is an unprecedented look at the new world war being waged behind the scenes today. It is sure to stir debate and capture headlines around the world.

©2004 George Friedman (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Stratfor is changing the way we think about news." (American Spectator)
"A clearer, deeper, and subtler understanding of the post-9/11 world than we will ever get from listening to the cacophony of talking heads on television." (Booklist)

Good analysis, but I don’t agree with everything

As usual, Friedman’s analysis is for the most part very good and the facts he presents are well researched. His geopolitical analysis is fantastic but I think some of the Bush administration’s decisions had less to do with the type of analysis he assumes and more to do with an attempt to play to their base. I also don’t agree with all of his conclusions. However it is a good book and should be read by everyone interested in our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. It changed my mind on a number of issues.

Light on references

The analysis is interesting, but not very nuanced and based on facts without any kind of references-even vague ones.

Korea, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iraq, Afghanistan

Friedman’s work — Excellent-has me wondering how the History Books are handling all the folly of the last 70 years without being “un- American!”

A must read. The lesson does seem to be that Our security state and military-industrial/technological complex -and our hubris have left us sorely exposed.

We are incapable of adapting to keep up with our potential enemies - and have to recruit intelligence and logistical support from such delights as Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia to fight our enemies accross the globe.

No “Secrets” in the Secret War Book

The author Friedman is widely praised as a forecaster of geopolitical events, and in this book he writes not about the future but about what was then the ‘now,’ events that were widely reported my major media. As a prognosticator in 1991 he wrote a book “The Coming War with Japan” which we presumably can write off as a total fail of his crystal ball. It’s not that there isn’t useful information in his “America’s Secret War” book, there is, such as the revelation that Iran had already prepared to govern the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and lured the USA in to get rid of Hussein for them. My biggest issue is that there are a lot of individual errors in this book, based on my own personal first-hand experience with some of the topics covered, and when I see so many small errors in a book I always wonder about the accuracy of the things stated that I don’t have first-hand knowledge about. It’s also disturbing to read a book that is based 100% on the author’s opinion without one single (not one in the entire book) reference to data or external sources. Perhaps the printed version has such references but I have not explored that. The audio portion is jarring. The reader injects crazy inflections into sentences for no apparent reason, hangs certain parts of words out for inexplicable purposes, and the whole thing sounds like each paragraph is a separate roller coaster ride. Not the worst audio reading but very distracting.

Outstanding book, answers so many questions.

I am far from a 9/11 fanatic. I work in NYC and was there the weekend before and the weekend after. Life goes on, and most of those that were taken I'm sure would agree. However, it has been frustrating watching the confusing actions of this administration. This book provided so much clarity, not so much to the correctness of each decision but the context in which things were done. I can't praise it highly enough. I now realize that if a person hasn't read this book it would very difficult to have an intelligent conversation about the subject. Equally helpful regardless of your politics, I higly, highly reccomend it. Very fast paced and holds your attention. Answers so many question!! One of the best audible book/books I have read.

The Best

Exceptional. I have read (or listened to) most of the other books on this subject, many of them quite good, but "America's Secret War" was by far the best of the bunch in every important way. It is perfectly clear, concise and forthright. It is full of "I didn't realize that!" moments, and even readers who know a lot about this subject matter are likely to find nuggets of truth and perspective that will surprise them (if only because the concepts are so well explained and put into such clear perspective that you find yourself grasping concepts with a depth you might not have otherwise). It takes no political stance, but instead outlines and analyzes events as they happened without partisan spin (something that I appreciate all the more in this age of increasingly whiny, partisan, adversarial screeds by authors with openly political agendas and a total lack of shame flaunting them). Moreover, this book is truly interesting, fast-paced, and novelistic: I found myself compelled to continue listening to it not just by my desire to learn more, but also by the same "can't wait to find out what happens next" story-telling that the best adventure novels benefit from. That is partly due to the writing, of course, but the narrator was also among the best I've heard. He was one of only 2 narrators that were so good that I looked up their other books and purchased titles I would never have bought otherwise (most of which turned out to be excellent as well, so the narrator really can make or break an audiobook listening experience). This is simply one of the best books I have ever listened to.

No Secrets

It was worth a listen, however if you have been alive and read a newspaper during the course of the last 20 years there is not much new here. If you have not kept up on current events, or weren't around for the Jimmy Carter era it is a very good recap. Uses a lot of insider lingo and abreviations as a substitute for any concrete unique insights. If you are reasonably well informed and are looking for inner sanctum secrets you won't find them here.

Fascinating look at Int'l foreign policy

A fascinating book about American foreign policy both leading up to and following 9/11.

Though Mr. Friedman?s topic seems impossible to address without some political angle, Friedman takes a ?Dragnet? approach??just the facts.? He explains the goals and aims of Al Qaeda, the history of American presence in the Middle East during the Cold War, and explains Al Qaeda?s motives in attacking the United States on 9/11. He then discusses the response of the United States in great detail around the world, but focusing on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The most fantastic aspect of this book was that it opened my eyes to the chess game of diplomacy which is going on over our heads. Friedman explains what the U.S. government did in order to get other countries to cooperate (every country stated PUBLICLY that they would cooperate, but many were not as helpful in substance). The flare-up between India and Pakistan was a result of the U.S. using creative diplomatic pressure.

No book is without its shortcomings, and Friedman?s text has some limitations. First, some of his analysis is wrong. I have no idea which information is incorrect, but it is safe to assume that Friedman himself is not 100% correct. Because each of his points is so clearly stated and convincing, it is virtually impossible to know what is correct, and what is incorrect. This is difficult to keep in mind while reading.

Also, I wish the title did not have to contain the word ?Secret.? Though the war is certainly hidden, those who don?t bother to read the book may think the ?secret? is that the war is about oil, the desire for revenge against Saddam, or any other of the groundless conspiracy theories (from any angle).

Brian Emerson?s reading is great--clear and easy to understand.

Friedman has written an epilogue to the book which can be viewed on the web (just Google the author?s name, title, and ?epilogue,? and you?ll find it). You'll love this book!

Exhaustive approach to understanding todays war

This book is a must read / listen for anyone who was enhralled by 'Against all enemies' (however with less politics) or 'Plan of Attack'. If your desire is to understand our enemy and the decisions made by our government in times of war, you need to stop watching the news and read this book. I come from a mentality that politics and war is more than ideals and that you are wasting your time if you take a backwards naive approach to this war by spouting 'nuke 'em all!'. America is the only superpower, no doubt, but has only been so for the last 40-50 years and I do not want to share the fate of the USSR, of whom I never thought would become what it is at present...myself being a child of the Cold War.
This book is outstanding in discussing, in plain terms for all to understand, how we have arrived in the position we are today with Islamic terrorists and how decisions of the past, and decisions of the present, will determine our future on a global scale. There is no bias in this book and it is rich in information that I just absorbed like a sponge...being a political science junkie. If you are considering whether to buy this book, stop reading this and add it to your cart, you will not be dissappointed!

Great book....mehh narration

I had a friend from Iran who mentioned America's role in the revolution of her country and I realized I was completely uninformed. If you are uninformed about the US's history in the middle east it's probably a must read. I had no idea about Afghanistan and it's role in the cold war. I have actually realized that I have a lot of military history to relearn following this book. My US history class in high school was shockingly poor and biased and this is a good start to understanding some background information.

The author does a great job remaining unbiased in his explanations of each's side perspective. My only complaint about this book is the narration. It put me to sleep several times. So I wouldn't listen to this thing driving. I should repeat, its not the story or research, it's really the narrator.

So try it out if you want to understand the Taliban, Iraq, and why on earth we are even there. If I had it to do again I would definitely download it again.