As longtime head of French intelligence, Count de Marenches served as the confidant and adviser to the world's most powerful men. Charles de Gaulle, Henry Kissinger, and Ronald Reagan are among the statesmen, princes, and presidents from around the globe who sought and still seek his advice. Now, in this startling book, he describes his life in global intelligence from World War II to the present - including his reflections on world leaders from Churchill to Gorbachev - and delivers a chilling "state of the world" message.
De Marenches, together with foreign affairs commentator David A. Andelman, holds that we have passed through three world wars in this century - the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War - only to find ourselves now engaged in the deadliest conflict of all. The Fourth World War is pitting North against South, nations with continuous traditions against those with a history of cultural, religious, and military upheaval. It is a war waged by terrorist networks and drug cartels unassailable through conventional strategies. Intelligence, the authors hold, will be the crucial weapon in this Fourth World War, in which all parties will be forced to fight by terrorist rules.
Regarded as one of the great geopolitical seers of our time, Count de Marenches reveals in The Fourth World War his own prominent yet covert role in world politics, including his impact on American foreign policy, and details the inner workings of the world's most powerful intelligence agencies. The Fourth World War is a compelling memoir and a spellbinding warning for our times.