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Man, the State and War
In 1954 Columbia University Press published what has become a classic read on understanding the cause of war. The book is philosophical in orientation, which aligns with the subtitle “Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis”. Remains a useful read for anyone interested in a review of the ideas proposed on why war occurs. […]
Tags: #Conflict #Human Nature #Kenneth Waltz #Peace #Philosophy #War
Beyond Colonialism and Nationalism in the Maghrib
This edited book started as an idea in the late 1990s and was published in 2000 by Palgrave. “Beyond Colonialism and Nationalism in the Maghrib: History, Culture, and Politics”, edited by Ali Abdullatif Ahmida is a read for a niche audience. The chapters cover historical narratives, memory, identity, literature, and politics. As many edited books, […]
Tags: #Africa #Colonialism #History #Maghrib #Nationalism #North Africa #Politics
Solve Big Problems in Five Days
Not a typical book on myself, but I find myself often delivering executive education and thought this might get me some ideas. “Sprint: Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” (2016) outlines a step-by-step process for how the authors (Knapp, Zeratsky, Kowitz) run their sessions. I run my sessions differently, but […]
Tags: #Executive Education #Facilitation #Jake Knapp #Solve Problems #Sprint
A Human History of the Sahara
Judith Scheele is an anthropologist who has spent decades across the Sahara. This book project, Shift Sands: A Human History of the Sahara (2025) appears to have begun at least a decade before. The book is less a human history, and more an introduction to the peoples and livelihoods of the Sahara, as viewed from […]
Tags: #Africa #Anthropology #History #Reflexivity #Sahara #Tribe
Remaking the Silk Road
The subtitle of this book had me assuming the book “The King’s Road” would go in a different direction, which reads “Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road” (2023, Princeton University Press). The book is about remaking, the title is accurate; the remaking is our historical understanding of the “Silk Road” and – seemingly […]
Tags: #China #History #Kazakhstan #Kyrgyzstan #Silk Road #Tajikistan #The King's Road #Tibet #Uzbekistan #Xin Wen
The Strategy of Denial
Elbridge Colby led the drafting of the 2018 National Defense Strategy for the US. He is currently the Under Secretary of War for Policy in the US Department of War. This 2021 book (published by Yale University Press) provides insight into how Colby views strategy broadly, and US military strategy specifically. Colby is well read […]
Tags: #China #Elbridge Colby #Grand Strategy #Iran #Strategy #Strategy of Denial #Taiwan #US
About me
Logan Cochrane
Logan is a Professor at HBKU in the College of Public Policy. He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and an Adjunct Professor at Hawassa University (Institute for Policy and Development Research). Over the last twenty years, he has worked in Afghanistan, Benin, Burundi, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Logan acts as a consultant for governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, seeking to create bridges between research and practice.
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