11 books the US Army's top officer recommends to help understand the world

Thomson Reuters

Secretary James Mattis has been heralded as a "warrior monk" for his prodigious knowledge and voracious reading habits.

But Mattis, a retired Marine general, is not the only US military officer who has supplemented his martial knowledge with academic achievement.

In that spirit, the US Army has distributed reading recommendations so soldiers and civilians alike are able "to sharpen their knowledge of the Army’s long and distinguished history, as well as the decisive role played by landpower in conflicts across the centuries."

Below are some of the books recommended by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to help better understand the world's current strategic environment, along with his explanations for their inclusion.

"A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order," by Richard Haass

"Haass argues for an updated global operating system—call it world order 2.0—that reflects the reality that power is widely distributed and that borders count for less."

"Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century," by P.W. Singer

"Blending historical evidence with interviews of an amazing array of individuals, [Singer] shows how technology is changing not just in how wars are fought, but also in the politics, economics, laws, and the ethics that surround war itself."

"The Tragedy of Great Power Politics," by John J. Mearsheimer

"Contending that states throughout history have been driven to acquire greater power and influence as a means of guaranteeing their own security, [Mearsheimer] concludes that current efforts at engagement and seeking harmonious relations between states will ultimately fail and predicts that the U.S. security competition with a rising China will inevitably intensify."