davidbfpo and ryantherationalactor,

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. I will look into Imperial Grunts-Savage Wars of Peace was excellent, but not exactly what the theme of the course is about.

I'm familiar with most of the themes and debates-I am looking for a book that summarizes them, ideally since post 9/11 (the more current, the better) and I don't know about a book like that. It needs to be a book for the purposes of the class I am in.