2014 in Foreign Policy: Six books for every student’s list (and that includes you)
Our favourite non-fiction from the past year.
This Changes Everything
By Naomi Klein
Was there ever any doubt this book would top our list? Klein spent several years on This — the best book this year to challenge our thinking, help put climate change back on the international agenda and provide examples of movements and policies that are taking an innovative, environmentally aware-approach on production. It’s part doom, part gloom, part bloom. Perfect.
No Place to Hide
By Glenn Greenwald
Whether or not you agree with Greenwald’s political views overall, this book is a must-read to get to know the back story on the Edward Snowden leaks and further context on U.S. surveillance. Greenwald’s role and voice has become a crucial perspective to understand, at the very least to contrast official state rhetoric.
World Order
By Henry Kissinger
The world is now less back-and-white, according to the world’s most prominent realist. Safe to say anything written by Kissinger — the architect of U.S. foreign policy, now 91 — will continue to be read by most global leaders and thinkers and we should all probably stay informed on what he espouses, especially when it comes to Russia, terrorism, and diplomacy.
China’s Second Continent: How a million migrants are building a new empire in Africa
By Howard W. French
The faces behind China’s turn to the continent make for an interesting read and bring a thread often left out of the narrative: from low-level workers to entrepreneurs and investors. Chinese interest in Africa is still on the rise, and the impact on regional dynamics should be on the radar of any policy nerd.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
By Thomas Piketty
You likely already read Piketty’s exploration of inequality — arguably the biggest challenge facing communities across the board. And if you haven’t, well, get on it.
Bumf
By Joe Sacco
Cartoonist Joe Sacco, author of Safe Area Gorazde and Palestine, takes his thoughts and observations on U.S. foreign policy over the last few decades, adds some literally shady characters, and draws it up into one of the most fascinating if not scattered graphic novel experiences of this year.
