Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$11.49

Available instantly

Hardcover
$24.19

Paperback
$14.95 - $16.20

$24.19

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 2 left in stock - order soon.

$$24.19 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$15.44

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

Nice clean copy with no highlighting or writing. We take pride in our accurate descriptions. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Nice clean copy with no highlighting or writing. We take pride in our accurate descriptions. Satisfaction Guaranteed. See less

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$24.19 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Jenson Books Inc and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (43) from $6.76 & FREE Shipping

Follow the author

John Robb

+ Follow

More books from this author

Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization Hardcover – April 20, 2007

by John Robb (Author)

4.4 117 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$24.19","priceAmount":24.19,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"24","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"19","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"EiGiOSgoPq6BRMWeygYJbkfoPmPfjGxKaNMTgOo%2BYkhFR%2Ftq11ReOlBv3%2Bzod%2B0n5%2FOn8h4rRzoExGdYiPYgulCxLrX9Y5NwkvWUOvpuTzpklqA9WkcA0eWzKO9P8U3D%2Fqj2Z9XZz6o%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$15.44","priceAmount":15.44,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"44","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"EiGiOSgoPq6BRMWeygYJbkfoPmPfjGxKCwTw9%2F4DeOF9hs8emSojg1dyM0yP0oWxGX6A4jtIvUzPLata4hZA9%2BBFyLpanrAC%2F4b5MX3ECufOehAxH99E2MJ6I2M6ukouKLxnOkSYaAWo1c9J2wQu0ooS7Yv%2FPzzdrUUzFP%2BrAIX1KhEE8yvVf%2FWtwkCMduPi","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

"For my money, John Robb, a former Air Force officer and tech guru, is the futurists' futurist"
--"Slate"

The counterterrorism expert John Robb reveals how the same technology that has enabled globalization also allows terrorists and criminals to join forces against larger adversaries with relative ease and to carry out small, inexpensive actions--like sabotaging an oil pipeline--that generate a huge return. He shows how combating the shutdown of the world's oil, high-tech, and financial markets could cost us the thing we've come to value the most--worldwide economic and cultural integration--and what we must do now to safeguard against this new method of warfare.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"a fast, thought-sparking book."" (""The New York Times"", May 18, 2007)

From the Inside Flap

During the summer of 2004, a small group of Iraqi insurgents blew up a southern section of the Iraqi oil pipeline infrastructure. This attack cost an estimated $2,000 to produce, and no attackers were caught, while the explosion cost Iraq $500 million in lost oil exportsa rate of return 250,000 times the cost of the attack.

In Brave New War, the controversial terrorism expert John Robb argues that the shift from state-against-state conflicts to wars against small, ad hoc bands of like-minded insurgents will lead to a world with as many tiny armies as there are causes to fight for. Our new enemies are looking for gaps in vital systems where a small, cheap actionblowing up an oil pipeline or knocking out a power gridwill generate a huge return.

Drawing on scores of chilling examples from the ongoing insurgency in Iraq, Robb reveals how the technology that has enabled globalization also allows terrorists, criminals, and violent ideologues of every stripe to join forces against a far bigger and richer foe without revealing their identities, following orders, or even working toward the same ultimate goal. This new brand of open-source warfare enables insurgents to coordinate attacks, swarm on targets, and adapt rapidly to changes in their enemy's tactics, all at minimal cost and risk. And now, Robb shows, it is being exported around the world, from Pakistan to Nigeria to Mexico, creating a new class of insurgents he calls global guerrillas.

This evolutionary leap in the methods of warfare makes it possible for extremely small nonstate groups to fight states and possibly win on a regular basis. The use of systems disruption as a method of strategic warfare gives rise to a nightmare scenario in which any nationincluding the United Statescan be driven to bankruptcy by an enemy it can't compete with economically. We are staring at a future where defeat isn't experienced all at once but as an inevitable withering away of military, economic, and political power through wasting conflicts with minor foes.

How can we defend ourselves against this pernicious new menace? Brave New War presents a debate-changing argument that no one who cares about national security can afford to ignore: it is time, says Robb, to decentralize all of our systems, from energy and communications to security and markets. It is time for every citizen to take personal responsibility for some aspect of state security. It is time to make our systems, and ourselves, as flexible, adaptable, and resilient as the forces that are arrayed against us.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Trade Paper Press; 1st edition (April 20, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0471780790
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0471780793
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.23 x 0.83 x 8.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,066,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #917 in Globalization & Politics
- #1,161 in Terrorism (Books)
- #1,285 in National & International Security (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 117 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

John Robb

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

John Robb is igniting a movement to return America to continuous prosperity. You can join him at www.homefreeamerica.us

John is an author, inventor, entrepreneur, technology analyst, engineer, and military pilot. He’s started numerous successful technology companies, including one in the financial sector that sold for $295 m and one that pioneered the software we currently see in use at Facebook and Twitter. John’s insight on technology and governance has appeared on the BBC, Fox News, National Public Radio, CNBC, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek.

John served as a pilot in a tier one counter-terrorism unit that worked alongside Delta and Seal Team 6. He wrote the book Brave New War on the future of national security, and has advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff, NSA, DoD, CIA, and the House Armed Services Committee.

HomeFree America is a hub for the movement regain American economic prosperity. It’s dedicated to returning trust, independence, and optimism to the American economy.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

117 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jon Burnham

Buy and Read this Book NOW

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2011

Verified Purchase

I don't write many reviews on amazon.com but this is one I feel compelled to write. I have followed this author, John Robb, for years on his excellent blog ([...]). I always thought I would read his book some day since it provides the framework or background briefing for what his blog explores day to day via links and observations. Honestly, for some reason I didn't expect much from the book. I thought it would be dry and boring. Wow! I was wrong! This book is like a body blow. It is concise, factual, quick and deft. It is full of new concepts and ideas. Truckloads by the page. It has changed the way I view the world. That is how I measure an important book. So I would say this is an important book.

This book shows you how the US has lost the plot of the story. We did everything right and according to the book. It's just that someone came along and changed the script via "4G Warfare" (Fourth Generation Warfare) so that the USA has now lost the trail. We'll get back on track but only after it becomes apparent to the majority of people that we are way off course.

The writer is not blowing smoke. He is qualified to speak on the subject of terrorism and the military. According to the author's bio on the back of the book: "John Robb is a former U.S. counterterrorism operation commander and high-tech entrepreneur who now advises corporations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Intelligence Council on the future intersection of terrorism, infrastructure, and markets. He is a graduate of Yale University and the Air Force academy. His writings on war have appeared in the New York Times and Fast Company." So he knows that of whence he speaks.

I like the way the author weaves lessons learned from his software and internet ventures into the means and methods of what he terms "global guerrillas" - networks of criminals, terrorists, and entrepreneurs that span the globe and are growing stronger by the day. They don't want to take over nation states because they don't want the responsibility of providing services such as electricity for the masses. They just want to weaken and cripple the nation states in which they operate so they are free to make loads of money and have freedom of movement and operation in their preferred area of interest or specialty such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, or religious adventurism.

After reading this book, one is left wishing those in charge of our military and politics would "get it" and change course. Since we have little control over their decisions, we may only watch and observe in real time what Robb calls the "hollowing out of the nation state" and begin rebuilding our own communities. Toward that end, the author has started a new "open source venture" called MiiU [Me-You] at [...]. MiiU is "The Resilient Community Wiki" - an early offering in a field that is about to experience exponential growth as people become aware that our standard of living will be going down unless we adapt and learn new ways of making a living and making a life. At MiiU.org the author and participants are "building resilience one page at a time." You are welcome to join this effort and help make it happen. Check out John Robb's sites mentioned herein and learn what is happening in the world. Then get involved "documenting resilience in your community" via MiiU.org. Be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. You will benefit and so will your family, neighbors and the world at large.

Reading "Brave New War" is a good first step toward greater resiliency in your own life and in your community. It will help you appreciate the scope of the change afoot in the world today. Knowledge is power and this is an empowering book. Buy it and read it today. It will be time and money well spent. I know it has been for me.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sven

Pushing Human Factors and Disruption

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2007

Verified Purchase

I've read the reviews and now read this book. Bottom line is a recommendation, especially for planners, policy makers, and those who don't understand how today's wars can not show success by capturing a hill, nor can security be assured through fences and borders.

I'd also recommend it to those that are quick to make comments about intelligence failures on adversarial attacks when tragedy strikes the U.S. or takes the lives of our soldiers or representatives overseas.

John Robb does a very effective job highlighting the challenges associated with today's conflicts and the complexities of adversarial social networks that require a shift of thinking to combat their disruptive attacks.

This is the perfect size book and writing style that can be a quick read for an update on our current threats, and the book is a great starting point to springboard new ideas to address human factor threats. For others it will be a good awakening to what can happen and likely ways that global structures can be attacked or disturbed. It will also illuminate how people raised in clan or tribe structures with different social / religious views must be regarded with a lens of understanding unique to each actor.

Words like terrorist, insurgent, etc. are nice buckets that we have made to categorize the acts of those lashing out (against whom or what is not so easy to always tell). Robb understands the very complex fabrics from which hostile actions can cause devastating effects from even the smallest acts of aggression precisely executed to those that shake our very core.

Well done!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Steve Chernoski

Buy this book

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2007

Verified Purchase

This is one of the best books that I have read on how wars will be different in the future and how terrorist groups have evolved and will continue to evolve. His blog is, Global Guerillas, which is his basic term for terrorist networks. Warning: you will learn a lot.

True, he does make a lot of predictions and who knows if they will hold up over time? But it is pretty different from what else is being written out there and should provide you with interesting talking points. And if it makes you act, and get others on board, all the better in Robb's view.

His conclusions are pretty bleak: This era of Globalization where tons of open ended software (e.g. Linux, Wikipedia) have improved the quality of items and access to information also applies to terrorist groups too. They don't need to be big, in fact they are most effective in smaller groups (7-8 guys) or medium sized ones. If they get over 150 people, they usually suffer from internal fighting and split off anyway though, these loosely coordinated networks can pull off more on a geographic scale. We see this in Iraq, where there is not one big monolithic group fighting us, they are a patchwork of different groups with different motivations but with one important goal: make the state chaotic. He emphasizes the term of their fighting-style, called, Fourth Generation War. They have been using open-ended technology against our troops and Iraqi allies with deadly results. Just look at the evolution of the IED.

For Robb the sovereign state isn't going the way of the dinosaurs, but we will see most of the countries of the world become very decentralized in the future. For Robb in the USA, the Dept. of Homeland Security will be the first casualty. They cannot spend money to protect all areas as a city can or a group of concerned citizens can (look at the Minute men). Also Robb thinks the border fence with Mexico will be as effective as the Maginot Line was in WWII, but I would like to point out that the West Bank Barrier has been regarded as a success in Israel strategically . . . . but I guess not politically.

He uses history as his guide and talks about how Lawrence of Arabia's goal in WWI was not to destroy all of the Ottoman Turkish rail lines. If they did that, the Turks would have used other shipping routes and the troops who guarded the rails would be deployed somewhere closer to Lawrence's bases of support. In this Arab Revolt, they merely sought system disruption, delay things, cost the Turks money, but don't destroy it. Make them unable to wage war on a full-scale level. The same is happening in Iraq with attacks on oil pipelines and electricity grids. Interrupt; cost the new Iraqi gov't billions in lost oil revenue on a certain day or two, but don't stop it. Because that would result in total war, not to terrorists' advantage.

He believes the next attack in the US or Europe, etc. will be aimed at the power grid: electricity, oil, shipping ports, etc. to disrupt the supply. America already having a trade and federal budget deficit, how much longer could we cope with another disruption?

What solutions does Robb give? Security will be more decentralized with cities possibly relying on privatized security forces and more energy independent initiatives, like your neighbors being able to produce (and sell) their electricity. So, if my friends and I in Hoboken wanted to buy a condo, we could throw solar panels on a building. If it got big enough, we could create a generating station for the whole block and make some money. The block would have people volunteer to guard the station from vandals. That way our block would be immune from a systems disruption on a main target. He uses the example of the blackout in the Northeast in 2003, to emphasize that our energy can no longer be centralized. A terrorist could spend a mere thousand dollars and get back a payoff of a billion dollars (the estimated cost of that one day blackout to the economic life of the area).

A final interesting prediction Robb has is that by 2016, China will have big problems, not be the superpower that everybody expects. This is in his final section: "Globalization will end Globalization." He predicts that because pirates, drug cartels, mob groups are so profitable now and (in this free trade era) will only get more powerful, that eventually barriers (in forms of more regulated trade) will be erected by many governments and the Chinese with their growing economy and thirst for very expensive oil and trade will begin to crack. They will defragment as the provinces will begin to assert more control and China will "finally revert to its historical norm: fragmentation." (Could be good news for Tibet). . . .

Worthy reading and his bold predictions are worth it enough. However, he is not an optimist. He believes the way we are fighting this new war is wrong and unless we get up to the terrorists' intelligence levels, we will see systems disruption on a massive scale that can seriously threaten our economy more than what happened on 9/11.

If Robb is wrong, then this book will eventually fall out of print in the next ten years. If he is right, it will be out in many new editions and could become a manifesto on how to adapt to this changing world.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

MisterWizard

ottimo

Reviewed in Italy on July 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

ottimo

Translate review to English

Brett Mcsweeney

The new warriors challenging whole states

Reviewed in Australia on March 1, 2015

Verified Purchase

There is a new type of warrior on the scene - or rather, an old type with access to new technology - that can challenge and defeat whole states. And not just states already on the point of collapse; any state is vulnerable to this new type of coordinated action against weak spots in vital infrastructure. John Robb is a natural Red Team thinker who can get into the minds and strategies of these people. Written several years ago, it's analysis has been entirely vindicated by subsequent events, something of which few books on such topics could boast. A fascinating and still very timely book.

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable