WITH US AND AGAINST US (Columbia UP; May 22) by Stephen Tankel is subtitled "How America's Partners Help and Hinder the War on Terror" and Tankel provides a rigorous and nuanced analysis in this addition to the Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare series. An assistant professor at American University, Tankel argues that many states are as much a part of the problem as they are part of the solution. He uses numerous examples including chapters on Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to illustrate his points and the complexity of these alliances. Tankel includes extensive notes and references. Overall, WITH US AND AGAINST US is probably a bit too lengthy and scholarly for most of our high school students, but others interested in the field will definitely find it to be valuable. In particular, the last chapter ("Making the Most of Cooperation"), probes differences in attitudes and policies between the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations and their impact on America's ability to encourage a local face versus military force in sustaining counter-terrorism activities. Tankel consults through the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and will be speaking later this year about his new book at the University of Maryland’s START (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism).

Live links in post:
https://www.cnas.org/people/stephen-tankel
http://www.start.umd.edu/events/stephen-tankel-us-and-against-us-how-americas-partners-help-and-hinder-war-terror