Kruses Keys: Read “American War: A Novel” to Imagine an America that Says on its Current Trajectory

Egyptian-Canadian (by way of Qatar) journalist-turned-author Omar El Akkad has penned a tale of what I’d call “future-historical fiction(ish).” We are dropped into a world 40 years in the future where America has erupted into a chaotic conflict over the federal government’s outlawing of fossil fuels. This north-south split is aggravated by accelerated global warming and rising ocean levels that are swallowing up coastlines everywhere. 10 years ago this type of novel might have seem far-fetched but a casual perusal of today’s headlines place in squarely in the realm of scary-enough-it-just-could-happen-maybe?
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Amidst these cataclysmic events, we witness the tragic arc of Sarat, a young girl whose life is quickly thrown into chaos as the violence of war encroaches and overwhelms her family’s life. Sarat quickly becomes a hardened women-turned sniper-turned prisoner of war-turned mass murderer.

The staying power of this novel comes from Akkad’s mastering in capturing the ways that media and political rhetoric can distort reality and inflame the populace. It’s also a good lesson on why it’s important for students to learn to evaluate events (past and present) from a diversity of viewpoints and sources.

To bring this lesson home for me as a AFRICOM foreign area officer, it’s of limited utility for me to study an African nation by reading only histories, political analysis and journal articles written by white western authors. It’s important to seek out indigenous sources and contrary viewpoints. It’s one of the reasons that I regularly read the blog “Africa is a Country” which has a decidedly anti-American, anti-colonial (for good reason), anti-white bent. I may not agree with much of their analysis but I surely wouldn’t be challenging myself intellectually by insulating myself against such contrasting viewpoints.

See our 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 Reading Lists.

Key References: 
2017 NPR: American War Explores the Universality of Revenge
2017 Guardian Review of "American War"