What is the best international relations book of the decade?

The International Studies Association announces a book contest:  The International Studies Best Book of the Decade Award honors the best book published in international studies over the last decade. In order to be selected, the winning book must be a single book (edited volumes will not be considered) that has already had or shows the ...

By , 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.

The International Studies Association announces a book contest

The International Studies Best Book of the Decade Award honors the best book published in international studies over the last decade. In order to be selected, the winning book must be a single book (edited volumes will not be considered) that has already had or shows the greatest promise of having a broad impact on the field of international studies over many years. Only books of this broad scope, originality, and interdisciplinary significance should be nominated.

Hmmm…. which books published between 2000 and 2009 should be on the short list?  This merits some thought, but the again, this is a blog post, so the following choices are the first five books that came to mind: 

  1. John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001)
  2. G. John Ikenberry, After Victory (2001). 
  3. Mia Bloom, Dying to Kill (2003)
  4. Raghuram Rajan and Luigi Zingales, Savng Capitalism from the Capitalists (2003). 
  5. Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms (2007). 

I don’t agree with everything in these books — but they linger the most in the cerebral cortex. 

So, dear readers, which books do you think are worthy of consideration for this award? 

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

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