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Strategic Appraisal 1996

Edited by Zalmay Khalilzad
Reviewed by By Eliot A. Cohen
July/August 1996
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Edited by Zalmay Khalilzad
Rand
1996
329 pp.
$20.00

This book draws on staff members at Rand and outside experts (Fritz Ermarth on Russia, Stephen Larrabee on the Balkans, Michael Swaine on China, Graham Fuller on the Middle East) to survey world security developments during the past year. The chapters follow no template, a wise move on the part of the editor, who formerly directed the policy planning staff in the Pentagon. The reference guides at the end of each essay play up Rand publications a bit but contain useful pointers for further reading. Although the purpose of the book is to help Air Force decision-makers "understand the strategic background" to their decisions, it is a work of general utility for the student of strategic affairs.

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