Alternative War by J.J. Patrick – Review
Alternative War by J.J. Patrick
I connected with JJ Patrick on Twitter after seeing some of his online activity and the thrust of what he was saying had more than a ring of truth. In a previous existence I had analysed Russian intentions regarding Putin from a long-term perspective.
I am an ex intelligence officer who has been following developments in geopolitics for years, I have also been briefing on and analysing multifaceted, non-combative tactics used in “influence” operations both as someone involved in influencing and someone being targeted by influence. The term Hybrid Warfare had been used in many discussions around this but not articulated as clearly as JJ Patrick has done in Alternative War.
I am not a conspiracy theory advocate and tend to shy away from articles and books that purport to bring out facts to support a conspiracy theory as most of them are poorly put together bo***cks. There was something about JJ Patrick’s discussions on Twitter that made me think this was different so I took the plunge and bought the book.
All I can say is I have not come across such a well-researched piece of what I would be very happy to call intelligence, where the facts are presented, assumptions, where made, are outlined and the thinking behind them justified and the analysis he presents is clear and logical.
Starting with the Trump quote about Sweden and weaving a path through the Trump and Brexit campaigns, JJ Patrick exposes some very real concerns about meddling. He shows the power of Big Data and when used to manipulate an outcome, the very real effect a targeted psychological campaign can have.
It has been clear as Putin has consolidated his power over the years and he is a leader to be admired. Admired because his job is to look after Russian interests and like the spymaster he was he is doing just that. It is an old spy trick when passing information to where possible “influence as much as you inform.” Influence is what he has done and the scary thing is we have watched him do it and members of our political ruling class have been the weapon systems he has fired.
This book is a must read for politicians, journalists, academics and CEO’s and directors of international companies. It is a must read for voters as it exposes just how much of a mug many are if they believe the hype that comes out of political campaigns.
I feel this is just the start of something huge, well done JJ Patrick.
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