The Dragons and the Snakes

How the Rest Learned to Fight the West

De: David Kilcullen

Narrado por: Christopher Douyard

Just a few years ago, people spoke of the US as a hyperpower—a titan stalking the world stage with more relative power than any empire in history. Yet as early as 1993, CIA director James Woolsey pointed out that although Western powers had "slain a large dragon" by defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War, they now faced a "variety of poisonous snakes."

In The Dragons and the Snakes, the eminent soldier-scholar David Kilcullen asks how, and what, opponents of the West have learned during the last quarter-century of conflict. Applying a combination of evolutionary theory and detailed field observation, he explains what happened to the "snakes"—non-state threats including terrorists and guerrillas—and the "dragons"—state-based competitors such as Russia and China. He explores how enemies learn under conditions of conflict, and examines how Western dominance over a very particular form of warfare since the Cold War has created a fitness landscape that forces adversaries to adapt in ways that present serious new challenges to America and its allies. Within the world's contemporary conflict zones, Kilcullen argues, state and non-state threats have increasingly come to resemble each other, with states adopting non-state techniques and non-state actors now able to access levels of precision and lethal weapon systems once only available to governments.

©2020 David Kilcullen (P)2023 Tantor

Kilcullen brings it all together

I had referenced his ideas on liminal warfare… I was thrilled to know this book was the source.

Excellent Look at Western Military Strategy and Our Advasaries

Author did an excellent review or our weaknesses and how to address them. A bit dated but still relevant.

How much Iran does to fund terror

I liked the information. Getting into china buying up all the land near bases. The parts on the snakes.

A good look into geopolitical impacts of modern warfare

The book is a very unique look into the impacts of warfare/alternative methods to achieve global dominance throughout history. Some of the assertions break down slight based on current developments (Russia, Iran, and Syria to name a few), but definitely presents a wide view of cause and effect not typical presented. Highly recommended

Horrible narrator

The narrator was so bad that I literally turned it off. I was really hoping to get more out of this but after an endless, and monotonous, “bueller…bueller” style I couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t give a fair account of the actual material but this was like watching paint dry while having someone drag a desk across tile.