Christmas is coming and perhaps you need some ideas for your gifts. Here you find a list of 10 books on International Relations and Security Studies which I read during the past year and strongly recommend.
Dan Drezner, The Ideas Industry. How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas. Oxford University Press. 2017
Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in the US are the two events that have characterized the 2016’s political debate. On both occasions, voters ignored the point of view of an overwhelming majority of journalists, experts, academics and public figures. Moreover, during both events, a large strand of political actors demonstrated a proud hostility to the analysis of the academic, economic and political elites of their countries. Michael Gove, one of the exponents of the Brexit camp, has explicitly stated that “people in this country have had enough of experts”. Likewise, Trump emphasized that “the experts are terrible”.
The Ideas Industry, written by Dan Drezner, professor of Political Science at Fletcher School, analyses the role of experts in a narrow field, namely the so-called “marketplace of foreign policy ideas”. It consists of “the array of intellectual outputs and opinions on foreign affairs and the extent to which policymakers and publics embrace those ideas” (p.8). Intellectuals and experts have traditionally largely shaped the political debate on the US foreign policy. Trump’s success, and the fact that he deliberately avoided contacts with the academic elite in the US is unprecedented. Henry Kissinger, perhaps the symbol of the interpenetration between academia and US foreign policy, affirmed that “the Trump phenomenon is in large part a reaction of Middle America to attacks on its values by intellectual and academic committees” (p.7). Drezner’s aim is to analyse the role of experts in the current U.S. public debate and how this role has changed in recent decades.
I wrote an essay on the subject and you can find it here
John Davis and Alexander J. Kent, “The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World”. The University of Chicago Press. 2017
Beginning in the 1940s, the Soviets mapped the world at seven scales, ranging from a series of maps that plotted the surface of the globe in 1,100 segments to a set of city maps so detailed you can see transit stops and the outlines of famous buildings like the Pentagon.
I admit I still have to finish reading but it's worth it!
Lawrence Freedman, The Future of War: An History. PublicAffairs. 2017
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the war room!” (Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick)
I am the number 1 fan of Sir Lawrence Freedman. I read all his books and I love his way of writing. His last effort takes into consideration almost three centuries of history to enlighten us on the continuities and discontinuities of the war. This book is particularly important given the tensions between US and North Korea. In this regard, the chapters on nuclear deterrence should be read by every policy-maker. If you have not done it yet, read also Strategy: A History, of the same author.
Theo Farrell, Unwinnable: Britain’s War in Afghanistan, 2001–2014. Bodley Head. 2017
In this case too, I greatly admire the ability of the scholar to write and reflect on broad questions, without losing analytical rigour. This book really impressed me, because of its ability to transport you to the inferno of the Afghan war theatre. Striking the amount of empirical material collected by the author and the depth of his argument.
Robert Kaplan, Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America’s Role in the World. Random House 2017
One of the leading scholars in the IR discipline writes a book on the role of geography as a key factor in explaining his foreign policy. Do you really need anything else? Ah yes, we live in times of “America First”. You do not need anything else.
Blackwill Robert and Harris Jennifer, War by other means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft. Belknap Pr. 2016
Actually it was published in 2016, but I read it in 2017. The book focuses on the use of economic instruments to advance foreign policy goals. The topic is fundamental to address how trade policy and international politics are closely linked in the Chinese and Russian case. Moreover, this volume sheds light on a series of theoretical and methodological questions directly connected to my thesis, namely on how to explore security and economics of a country's foreign policy.
Kello Lucas, The Virtual Weapon and International Order. Yale University Press. 2017
This is my last purchase and I have not finished it yet. However, the topic is crucial because it provides a very useful conceptual and theoretical context that establishes a solid foundation for the study of cyberspace in international relations. If you want to read a review you can find it here
Nathalie Tocci, Framing the EU Global Strategy. A Stronger Europe in a Fragile World. Palgrave MacMillan. 2017
2017 was certainly an important year for European defence. The initiatives on PESCO, CARD, EU Defence Fund are clear evidences of this. But 2017 was also the year in which Federica Mogherini has issued the New Global Strategy of the EU. It represents an important step because the last official EU strategy dates back to 2003, under the impetus of the then High Representative Javier Solana. Nathalie Tocci, special advisor of Federica Mogherini, was the main architect of this effort. In her fascinating book, she showcases the background, the process, the content and the follow-up of the EU Global Strategy. The fact that Nathalie is both a scholar and a practitioner is certainly a surplus to the book and makes it accessible even for people outside academia.
Rieker Pernille, French Foreign Policy in a Changing World. Practising Grandeur. Palgrave MacMillan. 2017
Interesting analysis on contemporary French foreign policy. It helped me a lot to develop a chapter of the thesis. So, thank you! (The book is expensive, I read it in the library)
Perry Anderson, The New Old World. Verso Books, 2011
The book is dated 2009 but has been reprinted recently and I only bought it this year. Fascinating account of the development of the European Union from its inception to the present day. The chapter takes into consideration several European countries in a comparative perspective and how they have interacted with the EU project. The book is enjoyable and well written. The chapters on Italy and on the relationship between Cyprus and Turkey positively impressed me and I learned a lot by reading this book.
Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!
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