Book Review of 2017 War With Russia

2017: War with Russia is a “future history” set after the invasion and annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. In the book, Russia launches a fictional invasion of the Baltic States and NATO is forced to launch a counter offensive to free the Baltics after their attempts to deter Russian aggression fail. The author, General Sir Richard Shirreff, takes a critical look at the actions and in-actions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) prior to and during this fictional wartime scenario. Shirreff uses the scenario to bring light to a number of issues NATO must face if it is to survive a real Baltic invasion scenario, namely a lack in proper definition of an “attack on NATO” in a world of non-traditional warfare, complacency in policy towards European defense, a degradation in NATO conventional military forces, and political hurdles that could delay NATO’s reaction to a real Russian invasion. The book is presented as a warning to NATO policy makers and senior military leaders, but it contains a number of lessons learned that the command and control community can take into consideration when planning contingencies and operations against future Russian aggression.