Twilight Warriors: Covert Air Operations Against the USSR (review)

Twilight Warriors tackles the subject of the role of airpower in supporting the use of covert operations during the Cold War, with most of the focus falling on the period between the end of the Second World War in 1945 and the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. While providing some of the larger perspective on U.S. policy, organization, and strategy, the book is primarily an operationally focused history. Peebles covers the subject in four broad areas: Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. (the early Cold War); Asia (the Korean War and Mainland China); after Stalin (inside the U.S.S.R.); and The Longest War (the U.S. in Southeast Asia). Being operational focused, much of the value of this work lies in the details provided about the development and execution of a wide variety of operations, some successful, many others less so. The work is filled with numerous interesting tidbits and stories that capture the "life on the edge" atmosphere, danger, and numerous challenges (both human and technological) inherent in the conduct of such operations.

While this is a satisfactory overview of the subject, several annoyances detract from the overall quality of the work. First, the title is misleading. While its title focuses attention on the U.S.S.R., the book actually examines covert operations conducted against a variety of actors in the Communist camp at different times during the Cold War era, e.g., Albania, the Baltic nations, China, North Korea, and North Vietnam, as well as the U.S.S.R. A more accurate title, one would think a basic editorial responsibility, could have easily corrected this mistake. Second, the work lacks even a single map, leaving it up to the reader to employ an alternative source; when will publishers ever learn the value of just a few pages of maps to provide geographical references? Lastly, this is a work with primarily a U.S.-centric focus, but does include interesting discussion of the role of the British in operations directed against both Albania and the Soviet-occupied Baltic nations in the early Cold War period. Greater discussion of the role and use (or reasons for nonuse) of covert operations by other nations in the Cold War could have added a more robust multinational flavor.

The utility of covert operations as discussed by Peebles is worthy of consideration as we enter a new age that seems to require their increased employment. The effectiveness of covert operations during the Cold War was often constrained for a variety of reasons: the totalitarian nature of Communist societies, policymaker restrictions, bureaucratic and institutional shortcomings and conflicts, as well as the fact that such operations are often unlikely to be decisive by themselves. While Peebles appropriately comments, "It's uncertain just what lessons from Cold War covert operations can be applied to the world after September 11, 2001," Twilight Warriors offers a cautious perspective on the value of such activities.