To-Read List

This biography chronicles the life of Muhammad Mossadegh, Iran's prime minister who nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1951, defying Britain and earning Time's Man of the Year. A liberal patriot advocating democracy and independence, he clashed with Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi and was overthrown in a 1953 CIA-MI6 coup that restored the Shah's power, paving the way for the 1979 revolution. Drawing on Persian and Western sources, it portrays his complexity and warns of intervention's perils.

The book analyzes how geography shapes global power dynamics in a fragmenting world order. It explores how nations and enterprises can leverage regional blocs amid rising tensions, emphasizing adaptable strategies over rigid globalization. Weber argues that understanding networks of connections—rather than isolated nodes—will determine competitive advantages, urging clear-headed action to improve outcomes in an unpredictable landscape.

Three leading thinkers—Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocher—explore how artificial intelligence is transforming human society. They examine AI's impact on knowledge, politics, security, world order, and human identity, addressing challenges like opaque decision-making, false information, and job displacement, while highlighting benefits in medicine and beyond. The book serves as a roadmap for navigating this unprecedented era.

This book examines Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ideological shift from conservative democrat to Islamist and Turkish nationalist, shaping his Syria policy. Through the lens of the Syrian conflict, it traces his battles against domestic foes—from early rule and the Kurdish peace process to the failed coup, Arab uprisings, and refugee crisis—revealing his relentless quest for power that intertwined and transformed Turkey and Syria.

This book is a comprehensive anthology of primary documents chronicling the Israel-Arab conflict from the Zionist movement's origins through major wars, diplomacy, peace efforts, and recent events like the Gaza withdrawal and Hamas election. It includes speeches, UN resolutions, treaties, and statements from Israelis, Palestinians, Arab leaders, British, Americans, and Soviets, arranged chronologically across pre-Mandate to modern periods.

Invisible China examines China's urban-rural divide, highlighting how neglect of rural education and health leaves half the population unskilled for modern jobs. Drawing on fieldwork and data, authors Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell argue this human capital crisis threatens China's economic rise, as rural youth lack basic skills amid shifting manufacturing demands.

Nicole Perlroth's book explores the cyberweapons arms race, detailing the origins, proliferation, and catastrophic risks of state-sponsored cyberattacks. Drawing from interviews with hackers, spies, and experts, it covers high-profile incidents like Stuxnet and WannaCry, revealing how nations like the US, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in an underground market threatening global stability.

An acclaimed journalist examines China's two-decade quest for global dominance by weaponizing capitalism. The Chinese Communist Party coopts economic tools like market access, tariffs, disinformation, and private firms for spying to coerce Western institutions into political acquiescence. Through investigative reporting, it reveals how Beijing exploits weaknesses, positions itself as a superpower, and threatens liberal democracy.

The China Record offers an ambitious, detailed examination of the People's Republic of China under Chinese Communist Party rule. As the middle volume of a planned trilogy, it uses quantitative and qualitative data to deliver a balanced yet unflinching assessment of the PRC's nature, performance, and trajectory since 1949.

An examination of historical great power conflicts along the Maritime Silk Road, drawing lessons from past clashes to inform contemporary geopolitical strategy. The work analyzes the intersection of maritime trade routes, international competition, and strategic power dynamics across regions historically shaped by naval competition and commercial interests.

This book chronicles India's formative first decade after independence (1947-1957), covering the transfer of power from British rule, framing of the Constitution, integration of princely states, and political machinations among leaders like Nehru, Patel, Gandhi, and Jinnah. It explores ideological clashes within Congress, Nehru's domestic and global challenges, opposition consolidation, and the interplay of democratic ideals with power politics that shaped the new republic.

This book examines India's profound regional divide between the South and North, analyzing economic, social, and political disparities using data-driven insights. It explores why southern states have outperformed northern ones in development metrics, attributing differences to governance, education, and historical factors, while offering perspectives on national unity and policy reforms.