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The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth

New York Times national security correspondent and former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar Mark Mazzetti releases his new book on the CIA's shadow war.

Date & Time

Thursday
Apr. 11, 2013
4:00pm – 5:00pm ET

Location

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
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Overview

From the publisher: “The most momentous change in American warfare over the past decade has taken place away from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, in the corners of the world where large armies can’t go. The Way of the Knife is the untold story of that shadow war: a campaign that has blurred the lines between soldiers and spies and lowered the bar for waging war across the globe. America has pursued its enemies with killer drones and special operations troops; trained privateers for assassination missions and used them to set up clandestine spying networks; and relied on mercurial dictators, untrustworthy foreign intelligence services, and proxy armies.”

The Way of the Knife provides a stunning, inside account of the CIA’s transformation after 9/11 from an intelligence agency into a global clandestine killing machine. Mazzetti …has written a frightening, must-read book.”

—Jane Mayer, staff writer, The New Yorker; author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals



“The United States fought three wars after 9/11: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the one in the shadows. This is an authoritative account of that that third war, conducted by the CIA and military Special Operators in Yemen, East Africa, and, most of all, Pakistan. If you want to understand the world we live in, you need to read it.”

—Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and The Generals

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Speaker

Mark Mazzetti

Mark Mazzetti

Former Public Policy Scholar;
National Security Correspondent, The New York Times, and former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar
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Hosted By

Indo-Pacific Program

The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region.   Read more

Middle East Program

The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program serves as a crucial resource for the policymaking community and beyond, providing analyses and research that helps inform US foreign policymaking, stimulates public debate, and expands knowledge about issues in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  Read more

Africa Program

The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in US-Africa relations.    Read more

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