Micah Zenko

"In Red Team, security expert Micah Zenko provides an in-depth investigation into the work of red teams, revealing the best practices, most common pitfalls, and most effective strategies of these modern-day Devil's Advocates. He shows how competitive organizations, from private corporations to whole governments, can and should mitigate risk by red teaming. A growing number of institutions are already using this approach, Zenko shows, but he argues that the potential of red teaming far exceeds its current applications. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and his own training at the U.S. Army's Red Team University (which he was the first civilian to attend), Zenko traces the history of red teaming, describes its current uses, and explores its vast potential in today's interconnected, multipolar world. The basic techniques of red teaming remain the same whether applied to the CIA, IBM, or the NFL, and executed correctly they can yield impressive results: red teams have given businesses an edge over their competition, confirmed vital CIA intelligence, and troubleshot dangerous military missions long before there were boots on the ground. But red teams are only as good as the leaders who commission them, and Zenko shows not only how to create an empowered red team, but also what to do with its advice. Essential reading for policy wonks and business leaders alike, Red Team will revolutionize the way organizations think about, exploit, compensate for, and correct their institutional strengths and weaknesses. Through illuminating case studies and never-before-told stories, Zenko shows how any group--from army units to credit card companies to sports teams--can win by thinking like the enemy"--

How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy

Red Team

Essential reading for business leaders and policymakers, an in-depth investigation of red teaming, the practice of inhabiting the perspective of potential competitors to gain a strategic advantage Red teaming. The concept is as old as the Devil's Advocate, the eleventh-century Vatican official charged with discrediting candidates for sainthood. Today, red teams are used widely in both the public and the private sector by those seeking to better understand the interests, intentions, and capabilities of institutional rivals. In the right circumstances, red teams can yield impressive results, giving businesses an edge over their competition, poking holes in vital intelligence estimates, and troubleshooting dangerous military missions long before boots are on the ground. But not all red teams are created equal; indeed, some cause more damage than they prevent. Drawing on a fascinating range of case studies, Red Team shows not only how to create and empower red teams, but also what to do with the information they produce. In this vivid, deeply-informed account, national security expert Micah Zenko provides the definitive book on this important strategy -- full of vital insights for decision makers of all kinds.

How to Succeed By Thinking Like the Enemy

Michael A. Cohen

An eye-opening look at the history of national security fear-mongering in America and how it distracts citizens from the issues that really matter What most frightens the average American? Terrorism. North Korea. Iran. But what if none of these are probable or consequential threats to America? What if the world today is safer, freer, wealthier, healthier, and better educated than ever before? What if the real dangers to Americans are noncommunicable diseases, gun violence, drug overdoses--even hospital infections? In this compelling look at what they call the "Threat-Industrial Complex," Michael A. Cohen and Micah Zenko explain why politicians, policy analysts, academics, and journalists are misleading Americans about foreign threats and ignoring more serious national security challenges at home. Cohen and Zenko argue that we should ignore Washington's threat-mongering and focus instead on furthering extraordinary global advances in human development and economic and political cooperation. At home, we should focus on that which actually harms us and undermines our quality of life: substandard schools and healthcare, inadequate infrastructure, gun violence, income inequality, and political paralysis.

Clear and Present Safety

In Between Threats and War: U.S. Discrete Military Operations in the Post-Cold War World, author Micah Zenko presents a new concept to capture and illuminate the phenomenon: "Discrete Military Operations."

Micah Zenko

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