Our Nation at Risk is a powerful collection of essays that deals with the big challenges facing the U.S. after 9/11. This book includes contributions from leading experts on terrorism, domestic extremism, cybersecurity, and implications for American democracy.

These essays identify how measures for national security at times can conflict with civil liberties and balance prudently between safety and freedom. Contributors discuss how previous policies have framed the current problems and outline thoughtful solutions.

With political conventions this summer and roughly three months until a national election, scholars will find it worth taking a look at OUR NATION AT RISK edited by Julian E. Zelizer (Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University) and Karen J. Greenberg (Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law). Their text, encompassing sixteen chapters, explores "Election Integrity as a National Security Issue." In addition to New York Times Columnist Thomas Edsall and former Senator Russ Feingold, contributors include professors based at Catholic University of America, Cornell, MIT, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, UT Austin, and Vanderbilt. Plus, representatives of organizations like American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Enterprise Institute and American Constitution Society. OUR NATION AT RISK has an academic, legal tone, referring often to pertinent court cases and full of footnotes. For example, the chapter titled "Presidential Power and Federal Elections" notes "the absence of lawful authority alone does not guarantee that a president will not attempt to use his office to interfere with an election" and concludes that "the viability of the legal limits on the president's involvement in elections depends greatly on the willingness of those within his [or her] administration to observe and then force them" Other selections explore equally timely topics like foreign election interference, disinformation, role of Congress and the Supreme Court, and the right to vote.

The book is informative. I liked how the authors described the elections throughout US history. I found the section dealing with how the US interfered in foreign elections primarily since WWII and how negatively impacted relations with other countries particularly informative.

Thank you NYU Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Ron Klain, who was then VP’s Gore’s Chief of Staff and General Counsel for Gore’s recount committee (later Chief of Staff to President Biden), told Gore’s lawyer David Boies “Welcome to Guatemala” after the 2020 election. Unfortunately, our election system is still a mess almost a quarter century later.

This book contains 16 essays, each by a different author(s) on problems with our elections system. The essays are divided into three different parts: “the historical sources of insecure elections”, “overseeing secure elections” and “administering secure elections.” By the time you finish it, if not earlier, you will become convinced that the book’s title is no exaggeration. Our nation really is at risk.

The book examines current day problems with elections, but also provides great historical information. It points out that anyone who believes that elections have always gone smoothly in this country doesn’t know the history of the nation.

Jeremi Suri’s chapter was one of the best in the book. He bluntly points out that, not only do we have our own domestic problems with our voting systems, we also have a very troubling history abroad. As Suri points out, “Ironically, the United States was, after World War II, the most aggressive and pervasive foreign election meddler. … Safe and complacent at home, the United States pioneered election interference abroad, with a belated blowback.” And, he has plenty of documentation to support his claims.

Among some of the other top chapters was Nicole Hemmer’s on election disinformation and voter suppression, Michael Waldman on the Supreme Court, Julilly Johler-Hausmann’s discussion on voter suppression measures (and actually that was a repeat theme throughout the book) and John C. Fortier’s discussion of what could happen in the case of the death of the winning ticket, or winning presidential candidate, at different points prior to the inauguration.

I give this book an A. Amazon, Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

I don’t know. I couldn’t get myself to finish this book. I had a hard time reading this one.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it