The FPA’s Must Reads (October 5 – October 11)

‘We Knew They Were Coming’
By Colum Lynch
Foreign Policy

Through a detailed account of what information the U.N. held prior to al-Shabab’s June attack on the U.N. in Mogadishu, Lynch examines the importance of better preparation and to what extent future attentiveness could minimize the vulnerabilities that organizations such as the U.N. increasingly face.

Freedom of Information
By Ken Auletta
The New Yorker

Auletta explores the life and work of Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian editor who recently broadened the definition of open journalism with his decision to publish intelligence files leaked by Edward Snowden.

China’s Real and Present Danger
By Avery Goldstein
Foreign Affairs

While emphasis has been placed on the long-term dangers of China on the rise, Goldstein suggests a more imminent escalation of conflict between the U.S. and China and describes what risks such a crisis would entail.

Black Hawk Down’s Long Shadow
By Daniel Klaidman
The Daily Beast

Daniel Klaidman revives the legacy of Black Hawk Down as he compiles the narratives of U.S. veterans who fought in the 1993 Mogadishu battle against Somali militiamen.

Bad Blood
By Will Storr
MATTER

Will Storr relives the events leading up to Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko’s mysterious death. In the chaotic aftermath, Storr scrutinizes the actions and hidden motives of both the Russian and British governments.

Blogs:

Putin’s Punitive Psychiatry and other Flashbacks
The Syrian Insurgency
An Investor’s View of the U.S. and its Neighbours
“Christian-American Bastard, Go Home!”
Tyranny of the Minority or the Romanticism of a never-past