The International Affairs summer reading list 2024
Curating the third edition of this summer reading list from rainy London has a tinge of irony. For anyone needing to escape the disappointing weather (or reaping the benefits of a sunny holiday), the selection of books below is aimed at broadening horizons and transporting International Relations (IR) enthusiasts to a variety of destinations.
With one exception, and as most reasonable readers are wont to do, this list eschews exclusively theoretical contributions to IR in its conception of the ideal lightweight summer read. Instead, Book Reviews Editor Mariana Vieira spotlights new thinking in the practical realm, from choices for NATO to revolutions in Colombia and Indonesia, as well as seeing the summer as the best opportunity to learn about the role(s) of relatively forgotten individuals, such as Ralph Bunche and Merze Tate.
1) Post-imperial possibilities
Written by Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper. Published in Princeton, NJ and Oxford by Princeton University Press.
If you know of Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, then this recommendation is hardly necessary. However, if you are not acquainted with their groundbreaking 2010 work Empires in world history, do yourself a favour, pick it up and quickly follow up with Post-imperial possibilities. Burbank and Cooper are back (and better than ever) with this exploration of three hypothetical world visions that emerged in the global South during the wave of decolonization. The book investigates the origins, premises and merits of ideas of Eurafrica, Eurasia and Afroasia as future possibilities at a time of hopeful, rapid and drastic change. The book straddles both mid-twentieth-century history and more recent developments, questioning the inevitability of the nation-state model of statehood. An original and extraordinary book.
Read the full review here.
2) The book at war
Written by Andrew Pettegree. Published in London by Profile Books.
A book about books, and their social history, is exactly what a summer reading list should include. Taking a broad view of the category of books, and including their infrastructure in the analysis, Andrew Pettegree reflects on how publishing practices and literacy rates have shaped reading in wartime societies and on these societies’ ability to examine the world. The wide-ranging and entertaining narrative touches upon a variety of topics, from how books were used as an escape and for militarization during conflict, to how the theoretical literature on strategy came to influence military training over time. This worthwhile account sheds light on the power of books and has important implications for knowledge production.
Read the full review here.
3) NATO
Written by Sten Rynning. Published in New Haven, CT by Yale University Press.
International Affairs’ very first Review Forum of 2024 provides an in-depth appraisal of Sten Rynning’s timely NATO: from Cold War to Ukraine, a history of the world’s most powerful alliance. In the forum, four experts examine Rynning’s accessible history of the alliance, the author’s understanding of the most suitable role for NATO and his policy recommendations to ensure NATO remains at its best (in its classic Europe-focused format). The book does an excellent job of emphasizing the cyclical nature of NATO’s existence, from crisis to opportunities, and Rynning usefully navigates the current challenges that the alliance faces.
Read the Review Forum here.
4) Framing a revolution
Written by Rachel Schmidt. Published in Cambridge by Cambridge University Press.
Framing a revolution transports readers to Colombia’s civil war and it focuses on the discursive battles that have taken place within the conflict and shaped it. Rachel Schmidt outlines how a range of actors, from guerrilla groups and deserters to loyalist ex-combatants and the Colombian government, define concepts of ‘victim’, ‘traitor’ and ‘self-defence forces’ in their perceptions and subsequent fighting strategies. Relying on interviews with ex-combatants, Schmidt illustrates how these rhetorical dynamics have had lasting effects on the country’s efforts towards peace. In addition, Schmidt’s illuminating exploration of gendered framings and insurgent feminism makes a rare and welcome contribution to the literature.
Read the full review here.
5) The absolutely indispensable man
Written by Kal Raustiala. Published in New York by Oxford University Press.
Did you know that Nobel laureate Ralph Bunche became so popular in the 1950s that ‘Bunche Fever’ was a real thing? If Bunche, his remarkable career and his role in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war are only faintly familiar, pick up The absolutely indispensable man immediately. Likewise, if Bunche’s name or most celebrated accomplishments ring many bells, this book still offers a wealth of new insights. Kal Raustiala has written an engaging political biography that celebrates Bunche’s contributions to the creation of the postwar international order, the struggle for racial equality in the US and the links between the two.
Read the full review here.
6) Advocacy and change in international organizations
Written by Kseniya Oksamytna. Published in Oxford by Oxford University Press.
This remarkable book sheds much-needed light on processes of institutional change and pushes back against existing conceptualizations, portraying organizational change as an active, dynamic and varied process. Kseniya Oksamytna puts forward an innovative and complex framework that accounts for how combinations of actors and sources of advocacy can bring about institutional change. The author applies this framework to three case-studies drawn from UN peacekeeping operations which illustrate the mechanisms and conditions required for change to take place in international organizations. The result is a striking exploration that will be relevant to scholars of peacekeeping, institutional legitimacy, international cooperation and bureaucratic politics.
Read the full review here.
7) More than a health crisis
Written by Jessica Kirk. Published in Cambridge, MA by MIT Press.
More than a health crisis joins a growing literature on racialization and global health (you might have spotted Alexandre White’s Epidemic Orientalism in our May round-up!). This book offers a critical examination of US foreign policy discourses in the context of the 2013–16 Ebola outbreak in west Africa. Jessica Kirk tracks the attempts to securitize and contest three competing discourses and, in the process, offers a nuanced understanding of the discourses in question and their relationship to one another. In the words of our reviewer, even those unfamiliar with discourse analysis ‘will soon appreciate the seriousness and dedication that are obvious in Kirk’s methodological approach’.
Read the full review here.
8) Revolusi
Written by David Van Reybrouck. Published in London by Bodley Head.
At more than 650 pages, Revolusi’s size might put some readers off. However, its length is actually a strength, as it allows readers to trace the trajectory of the Indonesian anti-colonial movement from beginning to end. Van Reybrouck has written an impactful and enthralling account of Indonesian modern history, a topic that rarely features on trade press publications. The book relies on Dutch scholarship (an unusual treasure trove for English speakers), combining anecdotes with five years’ worth of interviews. The perspectives of the octogenarians interviewed embody the subaltern, either in terms of their limited education or geographical remoteness, uniquely enriching and humanizing the book and shedding light on legacies of colonial structures on Indonesian society.
Read the full review here.
9) Merze Tate
Written by Barbara D. Savage. Published in New Haven, CT, and London by Yale University Press.
Merze Tate lived a long, awe-inspiring and consequential life. In the book, Barbara D. Savage takes readers on a journey from Tate’s childhood in rural Michigan to her adventures as a young adult with impressive skills of persuasion, which she used to convince Oxford University to take her on as an undergraduate student. In the largely white- and male-dominated field of twentieth-century International Relations, Tate became accustomed to the label of ‘first Black woman’ with her stellar academic achievements and prestigious university appointments. The author expertly documents Tate’s travels, her university posts and her passion for uncovering the links between race and technologies of modern imperialism, without losing sight of how Tate herself escaped some of the race and gender barriers of her time.
Read the full review here.
10) A different Trek
Written by David K. Seitz. Published in Lincoln, NE by University of Nebraska Press.
Last but certainly not least, this entry featuring David Seitz’s critical commentary on Deep Space Nine provides a bookt and a TV series recommendation. Seitz takes the most explicitly political of the Star Trek series and analyses its depiction of concepts such as racial capitalism, imperialism and social reproduction. Throughout, the author acknowledges Star Trek’s problematic elements, from commercialization to sexism and racism, incorporating them in his argument. This exploration of science fiction showcases the genre’s speculative and political potential, allowing its creators to engage with alternative possibilities for better futures.
Read the full review here.
Mariana Vieira is the Book Reviews Editor of International Affairs.
Find the latest book reviews section in our July 2024 issue here.
For more reading suggestions, check out the IA Bookshelf series.
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