Daniel W. Drezner

How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy by Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown

First, it is incredibly accessible to anyone who is well-versed about the international political economy — no mean feat, as someone who has to teach this stuff. Second, it is forthright in explaining, kinda like an IPE Dalton from Road House, that nobody wins a trade war but sometimes they are gonna be fought no matter what, so it’s good to go in fully informed. Third, it contains bits and pieces that even policy wonks will find new and interesting.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 18 Jun 20263mo

The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders by Seth Masket

Masket provides an excellent, concise, data-driven explanation. Much of the data from repeated surveys of GOP local leaders, along with Masket’s on-the-ground field research in Iowa and New Hampshire. The sweat equity on display in the book is impressive.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 18 Jun 20263mo

The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey

I read the first book, The Mercy of Gods, way back in March and enjoyed it immensely. I say this even though it was intense book, beginning with a plot about the politics of science labs and ending somewhere rather different and dark — about the politics of survival under occupation and captivity.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 18 Jun 20263mo

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I enjoyed her third book The Goldfinch so much that I felt sad as I was approaching its ending.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 16 Mar 20266mo

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

As a completist, I am now reading her middle book, which reads an awful lot like a gender-flipped updating of To Kill A Mockingbird so far. It’s chock-full of Tartt’s exquisite prose, and that is what I need on my vacation.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 16 Mar 20266mo

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Tartt’s first book, The Secret History, is one of my favorite novels ever.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 16 Mar 20266mo

This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

A collection of interconnected short stories about three generations of a “strange and estranged family—their unspoken expectations, silent feuds, exhausting birthdays” that is also riotously funny — at least it is to me.

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 16 Mar 20266mo

Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests by Agathe Demarais

The result is something of a muddle, however. Demarais claims in the preface that “this book is not for or against sanctions (xii)” but declares in the conclusion that “the time of peak US sanctions has passed (200).”

on danieldrezner.substack.com · 20 Dec 202421mo