Mobilize: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III

by Shyam Sankar, Madeline Hart

From the CTO of Palantir comes a bold call to arms for resurrecting America’s industrial base, and winning the defense technology race that will define the twenty-first century.

America is in an undeclared state of emergency. Not since the Cold War has the US faced such powerful enemies—and our military isn’t ready. Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer of Palantir, issues an urgent call to Mobilize.

The American industrial base once underwrote American victory. Builders and workers rallied to win World War II. For most of the twentieth century, great American companies from General Mills to Chrysler had defense businesses that sent mankind into space and won the Cold War. But the forges fell silent and the furnaces went dark. America’s innovators and warfighters were ripped apart. Now China, not America, leads the world in manufacturing. America is the underdog. The good news is, we’ve been here before.

Mobilize tells the remarkable true stories of the Americans who moved heaven and earth to produce for our troops and help our country win the twentieth century. And it exposes the shocking blunders that broke the Pentagon and weakened our military.

There’s a war for America’s future, stymied between the forces of complacency and change. If we empower exceptional individuals and harness the power of capitalism and competition, America can unleash the brains and brawn we need to resurrect our industrial base, stop World War III, and help our country build—and win.

Genres: Business

Audible Audio

Published March 18, 2026

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opening book on the defence establishment. Learned about the author from the Hugh Hewitt talk radio program. This book needs a bette front cover.

[Clayton Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Great book for understanding how the United States can revitalize its defense industrial base and spur innovation. Loved it!

[Kevin T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am nearing 30 years in the military and I couldn’t agree more with the author and the conclusions in this book. I was skeptical going in because I have worked with Palentir in my last two positions and I thought this maybe a sales pitch to the American people. It wasn’t and regardless of your politics, you will see how the massive bureaucracy that is our Department of Defense and it’s congressional enablers wastes money that sometimes causes or fails to prevent casualties. 5/5 well written and the audio version was engaging and easy to listen to.

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lobbing-as-a-book, but a much better one than a similar book by Alex Karp (CEO of Palantir).
The book is focused on just a few ideas: the weaknesses of monopsony, the failure of "Cost Plus" model, the lack of coop between Silicon Valley and DOD/DOW.

The book is far less Trumpo-sycophantic than I thought, the author is also very carefully not to make it into an ad campaign for Palantir as a vendor - in fact, there's very little Palantir in this book.

My biggest pain-point is that this book doesn't add much (facts, knowledge, insights) - it's yet-another-tool in the massive campaign that is supposed to shift American hearts when it comes to funding modern warfare. The book is very well crafted, so it's suited for both John/Jane Doe and a local congressman. It doesn't spread FUD (e.g., by fearmongering regarding China's advances), in fact it's a masterpiece of modern PR.

As a non-American and a person generally quite aware of what tells high-performing business from the rest, I don't see much value in reading this book. So I can't recommend it honestly.

[Benjamin Kasman · Rating 5 out of 5]

really great insight from shyam and madeline (who i got to meet). wish that literally anyone in our government would read this.

[Ryan Stanfield]

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