A Measure Short of War: A Brief History of Great Power Subversion

A fast-paced, gripping history of meddling, manipulation, and skulduggery among great power rivals

In 2016, the United States was stunned by evidence of Russian meddling in the US presidential elections. But it shouldn't have been. Subversion–domestic interference to undermine or manipulate a rival–is as old as statecraft itself. The basic idea would have been familiar to Sun Tzu, Thucydides, Elizabeth I, or Bismarck. Russia's operation was just the latest episode, and there will be more to come.

It came as a surprise in 2016 because the sole superpower had fallen asleep at the wheel. But what's really new? Have we entered a new age of vulnerability? To answer these questions, and to protect ourselves against future subversion, we need a clear-eyed understanding of what it is and how it works.

In A Measure Short of War, Jill Kastner and William C. Wohlforth provide just that, taking the reader on a compelling ride through the history of subversion, exploring two thousand years of mischief and manipulation to illustrate subversion's allure, its operational possibilities, and the means for fighting back against it. With vivid examples from the ancient world, the great-power rivalries of the 19th century, epic Cold War struggles, and more, A Measure Short of War shows how prior technological revolutions opened up new avenues for subversion, and how some democracies have been fatally weakened by foreign subverters while others have artfully defended themselves–and their democratic principles.

A primer on the history of subversive statecraft in great power rivalry, A Measure Short of War will leave readers smarter about foreign meddling, more prepared to debate national responses, and better able to navigate between the twin temptations of insouciance and overreaction.