International Relations: Theory and Beyond
General Concepts
- Theories of International Politics and Zombies by Daniel Drezner
- Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham Allison
- The Geography of War in the Post-Cold War World by Patrick O’Sullivan
- The Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John J. Mearsheimer
- International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues by Robert J. Art and Robert Jarvis
- World Order by Henry Kissenger
- Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis by Kenneth Waltz
- Perception and Misperception in International Politics by Robert Jervis
- Geopolitics, Geography and Strategy by Colin S. Gray and Geoffrey Sloan
- Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall
- Introduction to Geopolitics by Colin Flint
- Geopolitics: A Guide to the Issues by Bert Chapman
- The Geography of Warfare by Pat O’Sullivan
- The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski
- The Future of Power by Joseph S. Nye Jr.
- World Systems Analysis: An Introduction by Immanuel Wallerstein
- The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century by Robert Cooper
- The Revenge of Geography by Robert Kaplan
- Why Geography Matters by Harm de Blij
- The Penguin State of the World Atlas by Dan Smith
- American Foreign Policy Since WWII by Steven W. Hook
Security and the Use of Force
- On War by Carl von Clausewitz
- Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age by Peter Paret
- Just and Unjust Wars by Michael Walzer
- Arms and Influence by Thomas C. Schelling
- The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World by Rupert Smith
- Cyberpower and National Security by Franklin Kramer, Stuart Starr, and Larry Waltz
- A Fierce Domain: Conflict in Cyberspace, 1986 to 2012 by Jason Healey
- Economic Instruments of Security Policy: Influencing Choices of Leaders by Gary Shiffman and James Jochum
- The Origins of the First World War by James Joll and Gordon Martell
International Political Economy
- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
- Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
- Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade by Douglas Irwin
- Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century by Jeffry Frieden
- Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System by Barry Eichengreen
Substate Violence
- Inside Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman
- Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice by David Galula
- Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism by Daniel Byman
- Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind by Walter Reich
- Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence by Jeremy Weinstein
Intelligence
- Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy by Mark M. Lowenthal
- The Craft of Intelligence: America’s Legendary Spy Master on the Fundamentals of Intelligence Gathering for a Free World by Allen Dulles
- The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service by Henry A. Crumpton
- Transforming Intelligence by Jennifer Sims and Burton Gerber
Middle East & North Africa
General History
- A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani
- The Arabs: A History by Eugene Rogan
- The Mantle of the Prophet by Roy Mottahedeh
- The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East by Mark Lynch
- The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century’s First Muslim Power by Soner Çağaptay
- Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes by Victoria Clark
Political Structures and System
- The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World by Mohammad Ayoob
- Politics in the Middle East by James A. Bill, Robert Springborg
- The International Relations of the Persian Gulf by Gregory Gause
- Civil–Military Relations in the Islamic World by Paul E. Lenze
Military History
- Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991 by Kenneth Pollack
- Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces by Steven Ward
- Israel’s Wars: A History since 1947 by Ahron Bregman
Terrorism, Insurgencies, & Substate Violence
- Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know by Daniel Byman
- The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
- ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Wiess and Hassan Hassan
- Revolution Until Victory?: The Politics and History of the PLO by Barry Rubin
- A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962 by Alistar Horne
- The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency by Charles Lister
- Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917–1947 by Bruce Hoffman
- Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God by Matthew Levitt
U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East
- Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward
- The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America by Kenneth Pollack
- The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama by Michael R. Gordon
- Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War by Peter R. Mansoor
- The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth by Mark Mazzetti
- The Great War of Our Time: The CIA’s Fight Against Terrorism — From al Qa’ida to ISIS by Michael Morrell
Southeast Asia, East Asia, & the Pacific
General History
- Cold Peace: China-India Rivalry in the Twenty-First Century by Jeff M. Smith
- On China by Henry Kissinger
- The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics by Andrew Small
- Asia’s Cauldron by Robert Kaplan
- Asian Rivalries: Conflict, Escalation, and Limitations on Two-level Games by Sumit Ganguly
- The Borderlands of Southeast Asia by James Clad, et al.
Regional Security Issues
- Security and Southeast Asia: Domestic, Regional, and Global Issues by Alan Collins
- The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia by Bill Hayton
- Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea by Sheila Miyoshi Jager
- The Great Wall at Sea: China’s Navy in the Twenty-First Century by Bernard D. Cole
Rise of China
- In the Jaws of the Dragon: America’s Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Dominance by Eamonn Fingleton
- China Goes Global: The Partial Power by David Shambaugh
- The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China’s Search for Security by Andrew Nathan and Robert S. Ross
South Asia & Central Asia
General History
- Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History by Thomas Barfield
- In the Tracks of Tamerlane: Central Asia’s Path to the 21st Century by Dan Burghart and Theresa Sabonis-Helf
- The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan by Yasmin Khan
- The Idea of Pakistan by Stephen P. Cohen
- Shooting for a Century: The India-Pakistan Conundrum by Stephen P. Cohen
- India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia by Sumit Ganguly and S. Paul Kapur
- Deep Currents and Rising Tides: The Indian Ocean and International Security by John Garofano and Andrea J. Dew
Military History
- Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll
- Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War by Christine Fair
- Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia by S. Paul Kapur
- Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military by Husain Haqqani
Terrorism, Insurgencies, & Substate Violence
- Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid
Latin America & the Caribbean
Political Structures and Systems
- Politics in Mexico: Democratic Consolidation or Decline? by Roderic Ai Camp
- Politics of Latin America: The Power Game by Harry Vanden and Gary Prevost
- Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States, and the World by Peter Smith
General History
- Latin America and the Rising South: Changing World, Changing Priorities by Augusto de la Torre, et. al.
- Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day by Carrie Gibson
- Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chavez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela by Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold
- Redeemers: Ideas and Power in Latin America by Enrique Krauze
- Latin American Foreign Policies: Between Ideology and Pragmatism by Peter Lambert and Gian Gardini
Terrorism, Insurgencies, & Substate Violence
- El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency by Ioan Grillo
Western & Central Europe
- An Introduction to European Foreign Policy by Fraser Cameron
- European Security and Defence Policy: The First Ten Years (1999–2009) by Giovanni Grevi, Damien Helly and Daniel Keohane
- Security in the New Europe by Andrew Cottey
- EU Security Policy: What It Is, How It Works, Why It Matters by Michael Merlingen
- Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt
- The Institutionalization of Europe by Alec Stone Sweet, et al.
- What Is Wrong With the EU and How to Fix It by Simon Hix
Eastern Europe & the Caucasus
General History
- The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus by Charles King
- The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy
- Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 by Anne Applebaum
- Dagestan: Russian Hegemony and Islamic Resistance in the North Caucasus by Robert Bruce Ware and Enver Kisriev
- Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War by Thomas de Waal
- The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers 1804–1999 by Misha Glenny
Military History
- Russia’s Wars in Chechnya 1994–2009 by Mark Galeotti
- The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad by Robert W. Schaefer
- Fangs of the Lone Wolf: Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen War 1994–2009 by Dodge Billingsley
Russian Foreign Policy in the Region
- Post-Imperium: A Eurasian Story by Dmitri V. Trenin
- Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors by Nikolas K. Gvosdev and Christopher Marsh
- Russian Foreign Policy: The Return of Great Power Politics by Jeffery Mankoff
- Russia’s Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity by Andrei P. Tsygankov
- Russia, the West, and Military Intervention by Roy Allison
Sub-Saharan Africa
General History
- The Fate of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence by Martin Meredith
- Season of Rains: Africa in the World by Stephen Ellis
- Africa: Unity, Sovereignty, and Sorrow by Pierre Englebert
Interstate Violence and Civil Wars
- Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe by Gerard Prunier
- The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power by Alex de Waal
- Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason Stearns
- War and Conflict in Africa by Paul D. Williams
- The Mask of Anarchy Updated Edition: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War by Stephen Ellis
- The World’s Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia by James Fergusson
- Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War by Mike J. Smith
Chinese Foreign Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa
- China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa by Howard W. French
- China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence by Robert I. Rotberg
- Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil by John Ghazvinian
Source:
https://www.bookadvice.co/blog/the-2018-geopolitical-reading-list