September’s books of the month

Give the anti-globalization protestors their due. After the Battle in Seattle, most of the claims of most of the protestors were dismissed by the commetariat within the space of a single op-ed column. Five years later, they’ve managed to convince a fair fraction of the globe of the correctness ofd their ideas. The result has ...

By Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

September 1, 2004, 3:31 PM

Give the anti-globalization protestors their due. After the Battle in Seattle, most of the claims of most of the protestors were dismissed by the commetariat within the space of a single op-ed column. Five years later, they've managed to convince a fair fraction of the globe of the correctness ofd their ideas. The result has been a raft of books devoted to debunking the myriad claims of the anti-globalization and alternative globalization crowds, some of which I've discussed here. However, September's international relations book of the month blows the other books in this category out of the water. Martin Wolf's Why Globalization Works is the best single book I've read to date that comprehensively addresses all of the claims and counter-claims with regard to economic globalization. It's the kind of book I wish I'd written. Go buy it. Now. In light of recent events, today's general interest book is Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon. As one who's had to read a fair number of toddler books over the past years, I'll always have a soft spot for this one. Brown's The Runaway Bunny is also good -- and Margaret Edson uses it to brilliant effect in the closing of Wit. And of course I love Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. However, Goodnight Moon will always be my favorite to read out loud -- the cadences are just lovely. However, opinions vary on this. So readers are invited to submit their favorite children's book for the under-five set.

Give the anti-globalization protestors their due. After the Battle in Seattle, most of the claims of most of the protestors were dismissed by the commetariat within the space of a single op-ed column. Five years later, they’ve managed to convince a fair fraction of the globe of the correctness ofd their ideas. The result has been a raft of books devoted to debunking the myriad claims of the anti-globalization and alternative globalization crowds, some of which I’ve discussed here. However, September’s international relations book of the month blows the other books in this category out of the water. Martin Wolf’s Why Globalization Works is the best single book I’ve read to date that comprehensively addresses all of the claims and counter-claims with regard to economic globalization. It’s the kind of book I wish I’d written. Go buy it. Now. In light of recent events, today’s general interest book is Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon. As one who’s had to read a fair number of toddler books over the past years, I’ll always have a soft spot for this one. Brown’s The Runaway Bunny is also good — and Margaret Edson uses it to brilliant effect in the closing of Wit. And of course I love Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. However, Goodnight Moon will always be my favorite to read out loud — the cadences are just lovely. However, opinions vary on this. So readers are invited to submit their favorite children’s book for the under-five set.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner