THREE DANGEROUS MEN

Disturbing accounts of three little-known figures in three rival governments working to make their nations great.

“Their main tools are not fighter jets, battle tanks, or even infantry soldiers,” writes international security expert Jones, “but hackers, spies, special operations forces, and private military companies with clandestine links to state security agencies.” Delving deeply into Russian, Persian, and Mandarin documents (a tactic that U.S. intelligence services largely neglect), the author focuses on Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Russian chief of the general staff; Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani (d. 2020); and Gen. Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission. All have acknowledged that a hot war with America—in their minds an aggressive power seeking world domination—would be disastrous, and all learned from the expensive failures of the American strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have also blamed U.S. subversion for the “color” revolutions that overthrew dictators across the Middle East. Gerasimov engineered the annexation of Crimea and crippled the infrastructure of Ukraine with cyberattacks, and he continues to spread turmoil in the U.S. via massive hacking and social media disinformation campaigns. America’s generous gift—invading Iraq—greatly helped Soleimani in his goal of making Iran the Middle East’s dominant power. American leaders heralded the 2020 drone attack that killed him as a great victory, but the U.S. has a long history of announcing victory in the region. Although representing a nation vastly more powerful than Russia or Iran, Zhang Youxia oversees a similarly intense campaign of propaganda, espionage, and economic warfare. An astute analyst of complex global affairs, Jones reminds us that the U.S. won the Cold War when populations in the Soviet Union and its satellites rose up against tyranny—and Americans officials encouraged them. Back then, the government invested in language skills and expertise to better understand the enemies and tempt their often restive citizens with the liberties and prosperity they lacked.

A discomfiting reminder that the brain is often mightier than the sword.