Defense 101
Understanding the Military of Today and Tomorrow
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Moriarty
About this listen
In Defense 101, a concise primer for understanding the United States' $700+ billion defense budget and rapidly changing military technologies, Michael O'Hanlon provides a deeply informed yet accessible analysis of American military power.
Defense 101 provides in-depth coverage of four critical areas in military affairs:
- Defense budgeting and resource allocation: detailed budget and cost breakdowns, wartime spending allocations, economics of overseas basing, military readiness, and defense budgeting versus US grand strategy
- Gaming and modeling combat: wargaming, micro modeling, nuclear exchange calculations, China scenarios, and assessments of counterinsurgency missions
- Technological change and military innovation: use of computers, communications, and robotics, cutting-edge developments in projectiles and propulsion systems
- The science of war, military uses of space, missile defense and nuclear weapons, testing, and proliferation
For policy makers and experts, military professionals, students, and citizens alike, Defense 101 helps make sense of the US Department of Defense, the basics of war and the future of armed conflict, and the most important characteristics of the American military.
The book is published by Cornell University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
"An excellent guide to the planning, budgeting, wargaming, modeling, and technology issues that have shaped and continue to shape American defense policy." (Michael Gordon, coauthor of Cobra II)
"This book is a miracle of exposition that makes arcane topics of military analysis both understandable and highly engaging." (Harold Feiveson, Princeton University)
"This book is the best to illustrate [defense policy] issues for audiences outside the Pentagon" (Richard K. Betts, Columbia University)
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Story
In this fascinating foray into the centuries-old relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and writer-researcher Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. "The overlap is strong, and the knowledge flows in both directions," say the authors, because astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the same things: multi-spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a "curiously complicit" alliance.
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Inspiring, educational, patriotic.
- By Kevin on 09-17-18
By: Avis Lang, and others
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Armies of Sand
- The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness
- By: Kenneth M. Pollack
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the Second World War, Arab armed forces have consistently punched below their weight. They have lost many wars that by all rights they should have won, and in their best performances only ever achieved quite modest accomplishments. Over time, soldiers, scholars, and military experts have offered various explanations for this pattern.
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A Very Worthwhile Listen
- By Michael on 08-28-19
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Drone Wars
- Pioneers, Killing Machines, Artificial Intelligence, and the Battle for the Future
- By: Seth J. Frantzman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Drones are transforming warfare through the use of artificial intelligence, drone swarms, and surveillance - leading to competition between the US, China, Israel, and Iran. Who will be the next drone superpower?
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The sound of S as scratching chalk boards.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-19-24
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The Button
- The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump
- By: William J. Perry, Tom Z. Collina
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Written in an accessible and authoritative voice, The Button reveals the shocking tales and sobering facts of nuclear executive authority throughout the atomic age, delivering a powerful condemnation against ever leaving explosive power this devastating under any one person's thumb.
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Garbage political tripe
- By Bryan Beaty on 03-15-21
By: William J. Perry, and others
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Oceans Ventured
- Winning the Cold War at Sea
- By: John F. Lehman
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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When Ronald Reagan took office in January 1981, the US and NATO were losing the Cold War. The USSR had superiority in conventional weapons and manpower in Europe and had embarked on a massive program to gain naval preeminence. But Reagan already had a plan to end the Cold War without armed conflict.
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Detailed Retelling of 1980s Navy War Games
- By Brandon Halvorsen on 09-28-18
By: John F. Lehman
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Counterinsurgency
- By: David J. Kilcullen
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Kilcullen brings together his most salient writings on this vitally important topic. Here is a picture of modern warfare by someone who has had his boots on the ground in some of today's worst trouble spots - including Iraq and Afghanistan - and who has been studying counterinsurgency since 1985. Filled with down-to-earth, common-sense insights, this book is the definitive account of counterinsurgency, indispensable for all those interested in making sense of our world in an age of terror.
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CounterInsurgency Insights
- By JenFox on 12-21-21
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Army of None
- Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
- By: Paul Scharre
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Scharre, a Pentagon defense expert and former U.S. Army Ranger, explores what it would mean to give machines authority over the ultimate decision of life or death. Scharre's far-ranging investigation examines the emergence of autonomous weapons, the movement to ban them, and the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. Through interviews with defense experts, ethicists, psychologists, and activists, Scharre surveys what challenges might face "centaur warfighters" on future battlefields.
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Robots, weapons, and AI oh my!
- By Tyler Quinn on 07-24-18
By: Paul Scharre
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Hell to Pay
- Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947
- By: D. M. Giangreco
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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U.S. planning for the invasion and military occupation of Imperial Japan began two years before the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hell to Pay brings to light the political and military ramifications of the enormous casualties and loss of material projected by both sides in the climatic struggle to bring the Pacific War to a conclusion through a brutal series of battles on Japanese soil.
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This is a good piece of history.
- By David on 08-09-14
By: D. M. Giangreco
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Putin's Wars
- From Chechnya to Ukraine
- By: Mark Galeotti
- Narrated by: David Sibley
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Putin's Wars is a timely overview of the conflicts in which Russia has been involved since Vladimir Putin became prime minister and then president of Russia, from the First Chechen War to the two military incursions into Georgia, the annexation of Crimea and the eventual invasion of Ukraine itself. But it also looks more broadly at Putin's recreation of Russian military power and its expansion to include a range of new capabilities, from mercenaries to operatives in a relentless information war against Western powers.
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Botched Attempt on Russian Stress
- By Alexey B. on 12-20-22
By: Mark Galeotti
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Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry, Updated Edition
- (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
- By: P.W. Singer
- Narrated by: John Alexander Brancy
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Singer provides the first account of the military services industry and its broader implications. Corporate Warriors includes a description of how the business works, as well as portraits of each of the basic types of companies: military providers that offer troops for tactical operations; military consultants that supply expert advice and training; and military support companies that sell logistics, intelligence, and engineering.
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Fantastic beginning with a weak end
- By Jorge Rodriguez on 10-31-16
By: P.W. Singer
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Lemay
- By: Barrett Tillman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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Packed with breathtaking air battles and ground tactics, this new addition to the Great Generals series features the controversial command and strategies of the former Air Force Chief of Staff. Curtis LeMay was a terrifying, complex, and brilliant general. In World War II, he ordered the firebombing of Tokyo and was in charge when atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.
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A Biased Look at A Great Air Force Leader
- By Bishop on 02-11-20
By: Barrett Tillman
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The Shadow War
- Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America
- By: Jim Sciutto
- Narrated by: Jim Sciutto
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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CNN’s chief national security correspondent reveals the invisible fronts of 21st-century warfare and identifies the ongoing battles being waged - often without the public’s full knowledge - from disinformation campaigns to advanced satellite weaponry.
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Informative and interesting, but incomplete.
- By ZenBowman on 05-25-19
By: Jim Sciutto