Surveying the rhetoric about the "new kind of war" in Iraq, controversial strategist Ralph Peters notes that there is nothing new about fighting over ethnicity and religion; in fact, with the end of what he calls the Age of Ideology, he asserts that civilization is back to the "historical norm": wars of blood and faith.

Wars of Blood and Faith collects seventy-eight columns written by Peters for the New York Post, Washington Monthly and other publications. It covers sections like "The Home Front", which identifies critical flaws in American strategic intelligence, and "The World Beyond", which provides concise analysis of other world powers like Russia and China, and touches upon topics ranging from international competition for clean water to the crisis in Darfur.

But Iraq and terrorism occupy Peters' greatest concern, where he is eager to redraw the borders of the Middle East, kill what he refers to as "Islamist fanatics and ethnic beasts", and empower Middle Eastern women as a diplomatic strategy. Though controversial, his opinions hew to no party line; both severely critical of the way the war has been prosecuted and those who want to end it, the well-traveled Peters is fierce in his convictions and fervent to make them known.

Ralph Peters
Ralph Peters is a retired military officer, a media commentator, and the author of twenty-two books of fiction and non-fiction, some written under the pseudonym Owen Parry. He is also an opinion columnist for the New York Post, a member of the boards of contributors at USA Today and Armchair General, and a columnist for the Armed Forces Journal.