Books of Interest August 2026
China’s Weaponization of Trade: Resistance Through Collective Resilience by Victor Cha (Author), Ellen Kim (Author), Andy Lim (Author)
The Idea of China: A Contested History by Xu Guoqi
Enduring Hostility: The Making of America’s Iran Policy by Dalia Dassa Kaye
Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare by Edward Fishman
Profiles in Service: Peace Corps Roots in American Diplomacy by Ben East
Treachery and Diplomacy: The Shadow Politics of U.S.-Africa Relations by Sobukwe Odinga
China’s Weaponization of Trade: Resistance Through Collective Resilience
Part of: Contemporary Asia in the World (36 books)
By Victor Cha (Author), Ellen Kim (Author), Andy Lim (Author)
Columbia University Press, January 2026
400 pages
Also available on Kindle
In recent years, China and the United States have each turned interdependence into an instrument of coercion, using their dominant positions in international trade to push states and firms to comply with their political goals. . .
This groundbreaking book explores the weaponization of economic interdependence and its implications for the international order through a wealth of new and original data on China’s economic statecraft. Victor D. Cha, Ellen Kim, and Andy Lim examine how and in what ways the United States and China have deployed economic coercion, focusing on China’s extensive use of this tactic over the past three decades. They analyze a vast data set that includes more than 600 cases of China’s economic bullying of states, companies, and individuals in North America, Asia, and Europe. Cha, Kim, and Lim propose a multilateral strategy of “collective resilience” to counter intimidation, showing how targeted states can band together, leverage trading relationships, and threaten retaliation.
Synthesizing new insights from unique trade data with international security expertise, this timely book sheds new light on how China exercises economic power—and it provides a playbook to deter bullies and rebalance the global order.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Victor Cha currently holds the D.S. Song Chair in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
He is the former Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. . . His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, International Security, and Political Science Quarterly among other journals.
Ellen Kim is Director of Academic Affairs at Korea Economic Institute of America. Previously, she was deputy director and senior fellow with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She holds a PhD in political science and international relations from the University of Southern California, an Master of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a BA in international relations and Japanese studies from Wellesley College.
Andy Lim is deputy director and fellow with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where his research focuses on North Korea, the U.S.-South Korea alliance, inter-Korea relations, and the weaponization of economic interdependence. He is also responsible for the U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholars Program, the Capital Cable, the ROK-U.S. Strategic Forum, and databases for Beyond Parallel, a satellite imagery analysis project. His work has been published in Comparative Connections, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Quarterly.
The Idea of China: A Contested History
By Xu Guoqi
Harvard University Press, March 2026
320 Pages
Also available on Kindle
An acclaimed historian’s bold response to two simple, yet vexed, questions: What counts as China, and who counts as Chinese?
China became a capitalist superpower by investing in globalization. Now that it has established its credentials―and emerged as a major US competitor―its leaders are looking within, focused on suppressing dissent and fostering cohesion. The result has been an increasingly nationalist cultural agenda, celebrating a Chinese identity steeped in the mystique of the Middle Kingdom and nostalgia for heroic twentieth-century resistance. Yet Chinese nationalism, like nationalism everywhere, is fraught. Few Westerners, and even fewer Chinese, recognize that the very idea of China is up for grabs.
REVIEWS
“. . . Xu stands out here by looking at China’s development through a transnational prism. The Idea of China showcases Xu’s superb knowledge of Chinese history and the debates that surround it.”―Odd Arne Westad, coauthor of The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform
“This splendid book delineates and analyzes how the concepts of China and Chineseness have evolved over centuries, and what the consequences have been. Ingeniously crafted, it is a great read both for specialists and for members of the educated public who are interested in global history, intellectual history, and international relations.”―Hanchao Lu, author of Shanghai Tai Chi: The Art of Being Ruled in Mao’s China
“In this book, Xu Guoqi deftly follows the many historical twists, turns, and official manipulations that have shaped the historical evolution of the elusive notion of “being Chinese.” Xu’s intellectual acuity and moral clarity make The Idea of China an especially rewarding, essential reading experience.”―Orville Schell, coauthor of Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-First Century
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Xu Guoqi is David H. Y. Chang Professor of History and founding director of the Institute of Transnational History of China at the University of Hong Kong. He has written many books, including Asia and the Great War, Chinese and Americans, Strangers on the Western Front, China and the Great War, and Olympic Dreams.
Enduring Hostility: The Making of America’s Iran Policy
By Dalia Dassa Kaye
Stanford Univesity Press, December 2025
236 pages
A timely and rigorous analysis of a half-century of American policymakers’ shifting perceptions of Iran, and how they have driven US-Iran relations. . . . Drawing on original interviews with former government officials, oral histories, memoirs, congressional hearings, archival material, and the author’s own participation in dozens of Iran-related track two meetings, Dalia Dassa Kaye deftly explores how America’s Iran policy is made, the people who make it, and the underlying ideas and perceptions that inform it. Dassa Kaye looks back at US policy toward Iran over the past four decades to help us look ahead, offering wider lessons for understanding American foreign policymaking and providing critical insights at a pivotal time of heightened military tensions in and around the Middle East.
REVIEWS
“In this incisive and timely book, Dalia Dassa Kaye tells the story of over four decades of America’s effort to contend with Iran’s regional role and nuclear ambitions. A much-needed resource on an urgent topic and a must-read for policymakers and academics.” ―Vali Nasr, author of Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History
“Enduring Hostility fills an important gap in our understanding of the troubled relationship between Iran and the United States. Digging deep into history, and drawing on new evidence, Dalia Dassa Kaye finds that American policy towards Iran is, at its core, ‘homegrown.’ A thoughtful, readable, and important analysis for anyone interested in the contemporary Middle East.” ―Janice Gross Stein, University of Toronto
“Dalia Dassa Kaye’s highly readable account of US–Iran relations since the Iranian Revolution considers why successive American administrations have only made half-hearted efforts to transform that relationship: in part because the default position―Iran is an implacable foe―reflects the perceptions and interests of many US players. A must-read for Middle East watchers.” ―Ellen Laipson, George Mason University
“Kaye explores this history to try to understand why détente, which proved possible even with the Soviet Union, has been impossible to achieve with Iran. Her answers―inertia, risk aversion, and lobbying from domestic and foreign groups―paint a sorry picture of Washington’s capacity to act in the national interest.” ―Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs
“It’s a function of the paucity of creative, courageous thinking in Washington that a book like Dalia Dassa Kaye’s Enduring Hostility: The Making of America’s Iran Policy is even necessary. This book is even more timely coming after the Trump administration joined Israel in bombing Iran last summer and now with a more devastating war in 2026.” ―Barbara Slavin, The Middle East Journal
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dalia Dassa Kaye is a Senior Fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations and former Senior Political Scientist and Director of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy. A recipient of many awards and fellowships, she speaks and publishes widely on US and Middle East policy.
Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare
By Edward Fishman
Portfolio, February 2025
535 pages
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic story of how America turned the world economy into a weapon, upending decades of globalization to confront a new authoritarian axis—Russia, China, and Iran.
Selected as a Best Book of 2025 by The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg, and NPR • Finalist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.
It used to be that ravaging another country’s economy required blockading its ports and laying siege to its cities. Now all it takes is a statement posted online by the U.S. government.
In Chokepoints, Edward Fishman, a former top American sanctions official, takes us deep into the back rooms of power to reveal the untold history of the past two decades of U.S. foreign policy. As Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Ayatollah Khamenei wreaked havoc on the world stage, mavericks within the U.S. government built a fearsome new arsenal of economic weapons. Successive U.S. presidents have relied on these weapons to address the most pressing national security threats—for good and for ill.
Chokepoints provides a thrilling account of one of the most transformative developments of our time, demystifying how the U.S. government harnesses the power of Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Big Oil against America’s enemies. At the center of the narrative are the trailblazing diplomats, lawyers, and financial whizzes who have masterminded America’s escalating economic wars against Russia, China, and Iran.
Control over economic chokepoints—such as the U.S. dollar, advanced microchip technology, and critical minerals—has become the key to geopolitical power in the twenty-first century. The result is a new world order: an economic arms race among great powers and a fracturing global economy. Chokepoints is the definitive account of how America pioneered a new, hard-hitting style of economic warfare—and how it’s changing the world.
REVIEWS
“A delightful read on two decades of economic warfare by a former practitioner who knows exactly what he is talking about.…What Chokepoints does swimmingly is to bring everything together, explaining both how the United States acquired the outsized power to punish anyone, anywhere, and how it learned to use and abuse that power.…For a reader looking for an accessible guide to how we got here and what is coming next, Fishman’s book is invaluable.”
— Foreign Policy
“A gripping, firsthand account of America’s efforts to weaponize the world economy against its resurgent adversaries. From the high-stakes campaign to halt Iran’s nuclear program to the cutting-edge strategy to deny China access to AI chips, Chokepoints is an unparalleled guide to America’s use of sanctions and export controls over recent decades. Essential reading for understanding the new age of economic warfare.”
— Chris Miller, author of Chip War
“Edward Fishman traces the historical evolution of economic warfare, taking readers behind the scenes of the U.S. campaigns to counter China’s economic aggression, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and Russia’s revanchism. Along the way, Fishman uncovers valuable strategic lessons and makes compelling recommendations that leaders in government and business must implement urgently.”
— Lt. General H. R. McMaster, U.S. Army (Ret.), former White House National Security Advisor and author of Battlegrounds and At War with Ourselves
“Chokepoints is one of those rare books that utterly changes how you see the world. Edward Fishman pulls back the curtain on the hidden world of economic warfare, telling the untold story of how a rogue group of U.S. officials quietly reinvented U.S. foreign policy. He puts readers in the room as policymakers experiment with sanctions and other once-obscure tools to fight the biggest geopolitical threats of the day: a nuclear Iran, a resurgent Russia, and an assertive China. Combining the insider knowledge of a practitioner, the analytical insight of a scholar, and the narrative instincts of a born storyteller, Fishman has written a book that is as engrossing as it is urgent. No one seeking to understand the global economy or America’s role in the world can afford to ignore this indispensable page turner.”
— Stuart A. Reid, Executive Editor of Foreign Affairs and author of The Lumumba Plot
“Chokepoints is the best book on sanctions that I have ever read—a tour de force that illuminates in spellbinding detail how economic warfare is reshaping the world. Edward Fishman combines his deep knowledge of the subject with a dynamic, engaging writing style, recasting U.S. government technocrats as superheroes fighting high-stakes economic battles. Sanctions are at the center of geopolitical competition today. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand how the world works in the 21st century.”
— Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Professor at Stanford University, and author of From Cold War to Hot Peace
“In this timely and highly readable book, Edward Fishman demystifies and humanizes one of today’s most complex and consequential subjects: America’s use of economic power as a tool of 21st-century warfare. Drawing on his firsthand experience at the State Department, Fishman takes readers inside Washington’s back corridors, revealing how U.S. officials raced to create new economic weapons to counter a trio of formidable challenges: Russia’s imperial aggression, China’s drive for technological dominance, and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. An invaluable book for anyone who wants to understand the risks, trade-offs, and limitations of America’s weaponization of the world economy.”
— Fiona Hill, former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council and author of There is Nothing for You Here
“This book should be required reading on both sides of the Atlantic as the West faces a geopolitical reckoning. Edward Fishman, a scholar-practitioner with deep insider knowledge from his time in government, provides a gripping account of the rise of a new form of economic warfare. Chokepoints is written with an eye to both the general and the specific, skillfully blending the Olympian big picture with wonderful vignettes of how the world economy works. Fishman argues convincingly that the West cannot have economic interdependence, economic security, and great power competition at the same time. We will have to make a choice quickly, before it is made for us.”
— Brendan Simms, Professor in the History of International Relations at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Centre for Geopolitics, and author of Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, from 1453 to the Present
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edward Fishman is a leading authority on economic statecraft and sanctions. He teaches at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and is a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy . . . Previously, he served at the U.S. State Department as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, at the Pentagon as an advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and at the U.S. Treasury Department as special assistant to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. His writing and analysis are regularly featured by outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Politico, and NPR. He holds a BA in History from Yale, an MPhil in International Relations from Cambridge, and an MBA from Stanford.
Profiles in Service: Peace Corps Roots in American Diplomacy
By Ben East
Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training/Arlington Hall Press, February 2026
307 pages
From the founding of the Peace Corps to the front lines of modern diplomacy, Profiles in Service traces how volunteer service shaped the careers of Americans who would later represent the United States during moments of global crisis and change.
Drawing on interviews and firsthand accounts, the book follows future diplomats from remote villages to negotiating tables—through war, revolution, hostage crises, and post-conflict reconstruction—revealing how early service forged resilience, judgment, and cross-cultural fluency.
These are stories of individuals who navigated cultural divides, upheld American values under pressure, and carried the lessons of service into careers marked by consequence and sacrifice.
As the United States marks 250 years and the Peace Corps surpasses six decades of service, Profiles in Service offers a timely reflection on how citizen diplomacy helped shape modern U.S. foreign policy—and why those roots still matter.
REVIEWS
Ben East’s work shows him to be an astute student of soft power. There is a clear through line running between his time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, his experiences as a U.S. diplomat, and his work as a writer and editor. — Christopher Wurst, U.S. diplomat (ret); creator and host of the SoftPower/FulStories podcast
PROFILES IN SERVICE is the perfect read for anyone who’s lived or worked overseas and loves the exotic drama of expatriate life. But the expats that fill this work are beyond the norm: U.S. ambassadors who originally served in the Peace Corps. Their overseas tales are that much sharper, that much deeper, so full of the adventure that only years of wise, faraway immersion can bring. Add to all that Ben East’s exceptional writing, his gift for storytelling, and you have a truly exceptional book! —Mike Tidwell, author of The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue; Founder and Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Ben East’s PROFILES IN SERVICE is an intimate account of how the cross-cultural, linguistic and humanly sensitive experiences of Peace Corps service helped prepare fourteen hardy Americans for later careers as U.S. diplomats. It is a “must-read” for all RPCVs, the U.S. Foreign Service community, their families and their friends that is sure to recall cherished memories as it reveals compelling truths about international and inter-personal relations. —Clayton J. Drees, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of History, Virginia Wesleyan University; Author of Bishop Richard Fox of Winchester: Architect of the Tudor Age
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ben East served in the U.S. Foreign Service leading communications and crisis operations in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. He is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and his writing has been recognized by the Peace Corps Worldwide and the Virginia Writers Club. He serves on the editorial board of The Foreign Service Journal. Two novels preceded his 2026 nonfiction work, Profiles in Service: Peace Corps Roots in American Diplomacy.
Treachery and Diplomacy: The Shadow Politics of U.S.-Africa Relations
By Sobukwe Odinga
Columbia University Press, April 2026
296 pages
The African allies of the United States are often depicted as mere pawns or clients seeking aid. Yet African leaders have deftly capitalized on security partnerships with the United States in ways that have been widely overlooked. Through skillful negotiating, hosting US military operations, and deploying their soldiers to support Washington’s strategic aims, they have advanced their own interests―sometimes at the expense of their citizens.
Treachery and Diplomacy shines a light on US-Africa security partnerships, revealing their simmering internal tensions, hidden racial politics, and consequences for peace and democracy. Sobukwe Odinga explores the contentious relations between the US and key African allies―Liberia, Ethiopia, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Uganda―from the Cold War to the War on Terror. He brings to life the diplomatic gambits of leaders such as William Tubman, Mobutu Sese Seko, and Yoweri Museveni, documenting how they prodded Washington to back them in regional conflicts, increase aid, and temper criticisms of their domestic policies. Odinga also considers the African American political elites who denounced and championed US-Africa security partnerships―in some moments undercutting the influence of African leaders, in others abetting their authoritarianism. Connecting American racial thought, Pan-Africanism, and Black transnationalism to US security policy toward Africa, Treachery and Diplomacy offers new insight into how African governments have pursued their own agendas.
REVIEWS
“This book is a pathbreaking and startlingly original study of racial politics, Pan-Africanist rhetorics, and the maneuvering of moderate African American political leaders in the forging of US-Africa statecraft. Odinga tells a real-world story of power, stealth, and intrigue in elegant, captivating prose. A singular, groundbreaking contribution to political science, foreign relations, and African and African American studies, Treachery and Diplomacy is an urgently needed guide to US-Africa relations that offers incredible insight into African agency in the context of severe power asymmetries.” — Jemima Pierre, author of The Predicament of Blackness: Postcolonial Ghana and the Politics of Race
“Odinga’s original, illuminating history of US-Africa security relations highlights African allies as active players and capable negotiators with successive US administrations. In addition, the book provides a nuanced characterization of African American politicians and activists, demonstrating the range of positions taken by these figures, both in support of US-Africa security partnerships and against them.” —Robert Vitalis, author of White World Order, Black Power Politics: The Birth of American International Relations
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sobukwe Odinga is an assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.