War by Bob Woodward

A well-rounded account of events from Ukraine and Israel/Palestine

This book offers an inside look at the events leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how the Biden administration responded, not only to that conflict but also to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Some key highlights:

• Biden had to deal with tough tradeoffs under the lingering influence of Trump’s presidency, which still affected his administration

• He faced a right-wing Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu while other Middle Eastern countries urged humanitarian relief, all in the midst of a proxy conflict with Iran and the challenge of fighting a decentralized force like Hamas

• The massive scope of US intelligence is highlighted, making it crucial for the president not to make empty threats

• Balancing the war in Ukraine meant not cornering Putin so severely that he might consider using nuclear weapons

• The book underscores the risk of US isolationism by showing the conflicting sentiments within the Trump and Biden administrations