International & World Politics Archives

Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia

The iconic deserts of the American southwest could not have been colonized and settled without the help of desert experts from the Middle East. For example: In 1856, a caravan of thirty-three camels arrived in Indianola, Texas, led by a Syrian cameleer the Americans called “Hi Jolly.” This “camel corps,” the US government hoped, could help the army secure the new southwest swath of the country just wrested from Mexico. Though the dream of the camel corps – and sadly, the camels – died, the idea of drawing on expertise, knowledge, and practices from the desert countries of the Middle East did not. […Learn More]

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?

Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? […Learn More]

The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today

The United States is entering an era of great-power competition with China and Russia. Such global struggles happen in a geopolitical twilight, between the sunshine of peace and the darkness of war. In this innovative and illuminating book, Hal Brands, a leading historian and former Pentagon adviser, argues that America should look to the history of the Cold War for lessons in how to succeed in great-power rivalry today. […Learn More]

Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China

It has become conventional wisdom that America and China are running a “superpower marathon” that may last a century. Yet Hal Brands and Michael Beckley pose a counterintuitive question: What if the sharpest phase of that competition is more like a decade-long sprint? […Learn More]

Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies

With intrigue that rivals the best le Carré novels, Russians Among Us tells the explosive story of Russia’s espionage efforts against the United States and the West—from the end of the Cold War to the present and the significant threat of hacking the 2020 election […Learn More]

Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America’s Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed

The incredible true story of Ana Montes, the most damaging female spy in US history, drawing upon never-before-seen material and to be published upon her release from prison, for readers of Agent Sonya and A Woman of No Importance. […Learn More]

China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower

From internationally renowned historian Frank Dikötter, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, a myth-shattering history of China from the death of Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping. […Learn More]

Salafism and Political Order in Africa

Violent Islamic extremism is affecting a growing number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In some, jihadi Salafi organizations have established home bases and turned into permanent security challengers. However, other countries have managed to prevent the formation or curb the spread of homegrown jihadi Salafi organizations. […Learn More]

The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, from Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit

From one of its keenest observers, a brilliant, witty journey through the “Special Relationship” between Britain and America that has done so much to shape the world, from World War II to Brexit. […Learn More]

Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace: The Rise, Demise, and Revival of Arms Control

The definitive guide to the history of nuclear arms control by a wise eavesdropper and masterful storyteller, Michael Krepon. […Learn More]