Security by the Book

Recorded on March 14, 2018, A discussion with Niall Ferguson on The Square and the Tower The twenty-first century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in new book “The Square and the Tower,” historian and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, “The Square and the Tower” tells the story of the rise, fall and rise of networks, shows how network theory can transform our understanding of both the past and the present, and provides a brilliant recasting of the turning points in world history, including the one we’re living through, as a struggle between old hierarchies and new social networks. Jack Goldsmith and Niall Ferguson sit down for a discussion on the history of social networks. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe!

The Hoover Institution hosted "'Security by the Book featuring Amy Chua" on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. In her newest book, Chua argues that more successful foreign policy is only possible if the United States government acknowledges, and deals with, the realities of political tribalism. But Chua's analysis isn't limited to foreign political tribalism; she turns the magnifying glass inward to critique our domestic political culture. A successful America is one that overcomes the intense tribalism ripping apart our politics and our country by facing our inequities and differences no matter how difficult that process may be. Amy Chua was interviewed by Jack Goldsmith, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe!

The Hoover Institution hosted "Security by the Book: Max Boot's new book, 'The Road Not Taken,'" on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. Max Boot's new book, "The Road Not Taken" chronicles the life of Edward Landsdale, a relatively obscure but crucial figure in American military and foreign policy. In this new biography, Boot reframes Landsdale's legacy to demonstrate his contributions to American diplomacy, from the Philippines to the Vietnam war. While many of Landsdale's policy suggestions were ignored, they were insightful in their recognition of the importance of ideas and ideals in addition to cold and calculating warfare. Benjamin Wittes interviewed Max Boot on the complex role Landsdale played in American military history. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe!

New technologies have provided both incredible convenience and new threats. The same kinds of digital networks that allow you to hail a ride using your smartphone let power grid operators control a country’s electricity—and these personal, corporate, and government systems are all vulnerable. In Ukraine, unknown hackers shut off electricity to nearly 230,000 people for six hours. North Korean hackers destroyed networks at Sony Pictures in retaliation for a film that mocked Kim Jong-un. And Russian cyberattackers leaked Democratic National Committee emails in an attempt to sway a U.S. presidential election.

Recorded on September 11, 2017 Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair, interviewed authors Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro, examining the role that war has played in international relations from the sixteenth century to the present -- a role profoundly transformed by the "Internationalists," who created the rules and institutions that gave us seven decades of unprecedented peace between states. Hathaway and Shapiro argue that as the world stands on the brink of rejecting the global legal order the Internationalists built, this is a moment to understand what is at risk.

The Hoover Institution hosted "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?" on Wednesday, July 12, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviewed author Graham Allison about why Thucydides's Trap is the best lens for understanding U.S.-China relations in the twenty-first century.

The Hoover Institution hosted "The Ideas Industry: How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas" on Thursday, June 15, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion of The Ideas Industry: How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas. Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, will interview author Daniel Drezner about how political polarization, heightened inequality, and eroding trust in authority have ushered in the change. A limited quantity of complimentary copies of the book will be provided to attendees.

Recorded on May 3, 2017 The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, discussion of Oppose Any Foe: The Rise of America's Special Operations Forces. Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviews author Mark Moyar, a member of the Hoover Working Group on Military History and Conventional Conflict, about this first comprehensive history of America's Special Operations Forces and his recommendations for special operations forces and policymakers. Oppose Any Foe is the epic story of America's most elite warriors: the Special Operations Forces. Born as small appendages to the conventional armies of World War II, the Special Operations Forces have grown into a behemoth of 70,000 troops, including Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Air Force Night Stalkers, Special Operations Marines, Rangers, and Delta Force. Weaving together their triumphs and tribulations, acclaimed historian Mark Moyar introduces a colorful cast of military men, brimming with exceptional talent, courage and selflessness.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office discussed Privacy and Power: A Transatlantic Dialogue in the Shadow of the NSA-Affair. Benjamin Wittes (Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution), Russell Miller (professor of law at Washington & Lee University School of Law) and Prof. Ralf Poscher (professor of law at University of Freiberg) discussed fundamental differences in the way that Americans and Europeans approach the issues of privacy and intelligence-gathering. Edward Snowden’s revelations of American intelligence-gathering and surveillance activities around the world stirred widespread resentment and dramatic law and policy responses in Europe. It is clear that there is almost nothing on which Americans and Europeans differ so dramatically as the questions of privacy and security. In dozens of contributions from leading commentators, scholars, and policymakers from both sides of the Atlantic, Privacy and Power definitively documents and critically engages with those differences. The book’s opening section acknowledges that Snowden’s revelations, and the startling glimpse they give us into the implications of our new big-data era, challenge us to reconsider our old notions of privacy. The book’s second section, featuring contributions from Benjamin Wittes (Brookings) and Anne Peters (Heidelberg Max Planck Institute), distills, embodies, and frames the transatlantic debate on these issues in these succinct terms: “Germany needs to grow up” and “American needs to obey the law”. The book’s third section consists in a collection of chapters from leading American and European privacy law experts that both substantiates the transatlantic divide and exposes the diversity of views within those spheres. A fourth section features commentary from experts on the supranational and international law implicated by these issues, thereby giving the European Union privacy and data-protection regimes the central role in the debate they are due. The book’s final section concludes with a collection of cultural commentary offering profound and challenging insights into the deeper causes of the American and European differences on these issues.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office held a discussion with author of The Way of Strangers, Graeme Wood. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes, along with Samuel Tadros, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviewed Wood, who discussed his definitive, electrifying account of the strategy, psychology, and theology driving the Islamic State. The Way of the Strangers is an intimate journey into the minds of the Islamic State's true believers. From the streets of Cairo to the mosques of London, Graeme Wood interviews supporters, recruiters, and sympathizers of the group. We meet an Egyptian tailor who once made bespoke suits for Paul Newman and now wants to live, finally, under Shariah; a Japanese convert who believes that the eradication of borders-one of the Islamic State's proudest achievements-is a religious imperative; and a charming, garrulous Australian preacher who translates the group's sermons and threats into English and is accused of recruiting for the organization. We also learn about a prodigy of Islamic rhetoric, now stripped of the citizenship of the nation of his birth and determined to see it drenched in blood. Wood speaks with non-Islamic State Muslim scholars and jihadists, and explores the group's idiosyncratic, coherent approach to Islam. The Islamic State is bent on murder and apocalypse, but its followers find meaning and fellowship in its utopian dream. Its first caliph, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has declared that he is the sole legitimate authority for Muslims worldwide. The theology, law, and emotional appeal of the Islamic State are key to understanding it-and predicting what its followers will do next. Through character study and analysis, Wood provides a clear-eyed look at a movement that has inspired so many people to abandon or uproot their families. Many seek death-and they will be the terror threat of the next decade, as they strike back against the countries fighting their caliphate. Just as Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower informed our understanding of Al Qaida, Graeme Wood's The Way of the Strangers will shape how we see a new generation of terrorists.

The Hoover Institution hosts a discussion on "How America Lost its Secrets" with author Edward Epstein on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:0pm EST. The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion with author of How America Lost its Secrets, Edward Epstein. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes will interview Epstein, who will discuss hacker turned avenging angel Edward Snowden while revealing the vulnerabilities of our national security system. After details of American government surveillance were published in 2013, Edward Snowden, formerly a subcontracted IT analyst for the NSA, became the center of an international controversy: Was he a hero, traitor, whistle-blower, spy? Was his theft legitimized by the nature of the information he exposed? When is it necessary for governmental transparency to give way to subterfuge? Edward Jay Epstein brings a lifetime of journalistic and investigative acumen to bear on these and other questions, delving into both how our secrets were taken and the man who took them. He makes clear that by outsourcing parts of our security apparatus, the government has made classified information far more vulnerable; how Snowden sought employment precisely where he could most easily gain access to the most sensitive classified material; and how, though he claims to have acted to serve his country, Snowden is treated as a prized intelligence asset in Moscow, his new home.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, held a discussion with author of The Drone Memos, Jameel Jaffer. Hoover working group member and senior fellow, Jack Goldsmith interviewed Jaffer, who led the ACLU legal team that secured the release of many of the documents and evaluated the "drone memos" in light of domestic and international law. In an introductory essay, Jaffer provides an overview of the drone campaign and an analysis of some of the legal arguments underlying it. He also offers a first-hand account of lawsuits in which the ACLU and others challenged the targeted killing policies and the secrecy that surrounded them. He argues that Americans invested power in the presidency because they trusted President Obama, and that as a result President Trump will inherit sweeping authority that is not meaningfully constrained by law.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion with award-winning author Christopher Moran as he digs deep into the tumultuous relationship between the CIA and former agents who try to go public about their careers. Hoover working group member and senior fellow, Jack Goldsmith will interview Christopher Moran on his new book, Company Confessions. Drawing on interviews; the private correspondence of such legendary spies as Allen Dulles, William Colby, and Richard Helms; and declassified CIA files, Company Confessions examines why America's spies are so willing to share their stories, the damage inflicted when they leak the nation's secrets, and the fine line between censorship on the grounds of security and censorship for the sake of reputation.

The Hoover Institution hosted "Soldiers on the Homefront: The Domestic Role of the American Military" on Monday, November 14, 2016 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. The Hoover Institution's National Security, and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, held a discussion on the legal dynamics that shape the domestic role of the American military. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviewed author William C. Banks on his new book, Soldiers on the Homefront. America's military is uniquely able to save lives and restore order in situations that overwhelm civilian institutions. Yet the military has also been called in for more coercive duties at home. At a time when the military's domestic footprint is expanding, how will we establish best practices for military responses to future crises?

The Hoover Institution's National Security, and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion on the unique relationship between the President and the intelligence community. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Jack Goldsmith will interview author David Priess on his new book, The President's Book of Secrets. The interview will take an in depth look into the top-secret document known as the President's Daily Brief, or "the Book" as intelligence officials like to call it.

Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviews author Rosa Brooks on her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. The interview takes a look at the growing lack of distinction between wartime and peacetime. A limited quantity of complimentary copies will be provided.

Benjamin Wittes's interview with Walter Pincus on his recent essay “Reflections on Secrecy and the Press from a Life in Journalism.”

Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviews author Stephen Budiansky on his new book, Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union. The interview takes a look at the NSA's origins, its war against the Soviet Union and how the war relates to the Edward Snowden revelations. A limited quantity of complimentary copies will be provided. Security by the Book is a series of interviews of key national security authors conducted in partnership with Lawfare. Visit Security by the Book's website for past podcasts.

Benjamin Wittes interviews author Fred Kaplan on his new book, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War. The interview takes a look at the past, present, and future of cyber war.

Jack Goldsmith’s interview with Jefferson Powell on his new book, Targeting Americans: The Constitutionality of the U.S. Drone War. The interview focuses on the legal debate surrounding drone strikes, the use of which has expanded significantly under the Obama Presidency as part of the continuing war against terror. Despite the political salience of the legal questions raised by targeted killing, the author asserts that there has been remarkably little careful analysis of the fundamental legal question: the constitutionality of the policy.

Jack Goldsmith interviews author Juliette Kayyem on her new book, Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home. The interview examines the smart, measureable guidelines that every American citizen can follow in order to make a more resilient home and a more resilient nation.

Jack Goldsmith interviews Adam Segal about his new book, The Hacked World Order, which begins at what Segal calls “year Zero”—sometime between June 2012 and June 2013—explaining that the events in that year ushered in a new era of geopolitical maneuvering in cyberspace, with great implications for security, privacy, and the international system. These changes, he suggests, have the potential to produce unintended and unimaginable problems for anyone with an internet connection.

Benjamin Wittes interviews General Michael Hayden on his book, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror, where Hayden provides an inside look at some of the most critical intelligence decisions since 9/11, including the CIA’s controversial rendition, detention, and interrogation program, the NSA's Stellarwind program, and the U.S.’s interactions with the intelligence agencies of its allies in the following years. In addition to weighing in on the ongoing FBI vs. Apple battle, Hayden also offers his perspective on the successes of the intelligence community, and outlines the challenges it will face in the coming years.

Jack Goldsmith interviews Orde Kittrie on his new book, Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War, examining the deployment and impact of lawfare, the role played by the private sector, and real-world examples of its use by the United States, China, Iran, and Israel.

Benjamin Wittes interviews Gayle Tzemach Lemmon on her new book, Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield. Lemmon, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discussed the growing role of women soldiers in special operations and beyond, examining the story of a cultural support team of women hand-picked from the Army in 2011 to serve in Afghanistan alongside Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. Their conversation dives into how the program developed, the lessons learned in the process, and why its success may provide critical insights for future force integration. Former Marine and current Lawfare contributor Zoe Bedell, who served in a similar capacity in Afghanistan, joined them on the panel to discuss her own experiences.

Benjamin Wittes interviews Edward Lucas on his new book, Cyberphobia: Identity, Trust, Security and the Internet where Lucas discusses the rapid increase in cybercrime, the difficulties of identity verification on the web, and why, even today, we still do not take cybersecurity seriously enough. Lucas paints a bleak picture of our cybersecurity landscape, but closes with a few recommendations for how we can fix it. It’s a conversation that prompted Ben to digitally betray his country, and the rest of us to grab our dongles and strengthen our passwords.

Jack Goldsmith interviews Charlie Savage on his new book, Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency, for a discussion of the Obama administration’s national security legacy. The conversation is full of insider accounts of just about all of the most important Obama administration legal and policy decisions. Savage discusses how Abdulmutallab’s failed underwear bombing affected President Obama, and the two discuss exactly why a president who came into office critiquing Bush's national security policies ended up keeping so many of them. Savage and Goldsmith even touch on whether he will actually shutter Guantanamo Bay.

Benjamin Wittes interviews William McCants and Joby Warrick on their new books, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State and Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS on the Islamic State including its history, the ideas behind it, and the people who made it happen and watched it happen.