2024 has been yet another year of instability and conflict on the hard edge of geopolitics. The war in Ukraine continues as the crisis in the Levant intensifies, disrupting supply chains, extending energy market instability, and imposing the costs of geopolitics on developed and developing world alike. We have seen sabotage, assassinations, civil unrest, terrorism, and blockades. Regional and local conflicts rage from Mexico to Sudan to Myanmar. Meanwhile, hopes for an end to geopolitical naivety in the form of Germany’s “Zeitenwende”, EU strategic autonomy, and Western rearmament all look to have been timely – if largely ignored – given the potential US withdrawal from the continent under President Trump. 2025 looks to be no calmer for analysts and global affairs watchers, with great power competition, conflict, and challenges to established global orders continuing to dominate the geopolitical landscape.
In this annual piece – which supplements our regular geopolitical book reviews – we recommend the best books for analysts, students, and other global affairs-watchers to better understand what drives geopolitics, how best to interpret world events, and what their future consequences could be. We offer two sets of books; team favourites, as well as thematic reading lists. These include favourites from previous years, as well as the best works from this year, and all of them are intended for one purpose; to help you better understand geopolitics in 2025.
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Team Favourites
Lewis Sage-Passant – Founder and Editor-in-Chief
How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive – Marcel Dirsus – 2025
If 2024 – with over half of the world’s population voting – was the year of democracy, then 2025 threatens to be the year of the tyrant. Flawed and outright rigged elections were seen in numerous parts of the globe this year, while repression and brutality has continued to stifle dissent. Elsewhere, leaders with authoritarian tendencies have gained power. Populations have consequently found themselves hostages to the often destructive whims of dictators and their elites. In this outstanding book, Dirsus examines the fragility behind the image of invincibility projected by tyrannical leaders, and how their downfalls occur. He examines disfunctions in autocratic systems, the mechanisms by which they collapse, and the grizzly end they typically meet. This book is essential reading for analysts of autocratic systems, and their interactions with global geopolitics.
The Levelling: What’s Next After Globalization – Michael O’Sullivan – 2019
With the durability and future of globalisation in question, “The Levelling” is an excellent explanation of the underlying challenges facing current geopolitical and economic models, as well as a fascinating proposal for how to fix it. O’Sullivan explores the 17th Century UK’s “Levellers” movement and the Putney Debates as a potential model for rethinking social contracts against the backdrop of today’s shifting lines in the global economy, increasing great power competition, and widening inequality. The book examines why civil unrest seems to be on the rise as populations lose patience with systems that they no longer feel represent them, and what this is likely to lead us to next. While the end of globalisation is a concept invoked frequently in geopolitics, this book is one of the few to examine in detail what such a shift would really mean. As such, it is an excellent read for strategic analysts and those seeking to understand the global economic changes currently taking place.
Hope and Despair: Israel’s Future in the New Middle East – Michael A. Horowitz – 2024
“Hope and Despair” – as I explored in my full review of this book earlier this year – is a deeply fitting title for Michael Horowitz’ new book on Israel and its place in the Middle East. Largely written before October 7th and the subsequent wars in Gaza and Lebanon, Horowitz explores the challenges to Israel’s future trajectory posed by increasingly hard-line policies such as the judicial reforms, and how the country faces a cross-roads between closer relations with neighbours, and falling into geopolitical traps. Horowitz calls for Israel to take a less reactive, more strategic rethink of its position in the region and the world in order to pursue a more hopeful future, and against the current conflict-defined backdrop, presents a truly important message. This book is essential reading to those in the Middle East/foreign policy community, as well as scholars and analysts seeking to understand Israel’s changing – yet complex – relationship with its neighbours. I would recommend it for geopolitical readers at the intermediate and advanced level seeking to understand the Abraham Accords, Israel’s relationship with the Gulf States and how this balances with the Palestinian cause, as well as Israel’s tense relationship with Iran.
Lebanon: A Country in Fragments – Andrew Arsan – 2020
Lebanon is a country of seemingly unending tragedies, with economic collapse, disaster, and conflict deeply woven into its rich history. With war once again touching much of the country, understanding the people, history and culture that make up Lebanon is crucial for regional analysts, as well as those seeking to understand the wider conflict. Arsan takes the reader on a tour of the country’s turbulent and deeply fractured politics, as well as the everyday scenes that comprise Lebanese life, providing unique and thoughtful insights into the troubled country. With the war in southern Lebanon unlikely to end this year, this book is essential reading for those seeking to understand the country’s trajectory and challenges. Written in an engaging and rich style, “Lebanon: A Country in Fragments” is worthwhile reading for a wide audience.
Punishing Putin – Stephanie Baker – 2024
With the war in Ukraine set to enter its fourth year, understanding the economic war being waged across the front lines is crucial for understanding the conflict’s trajectory, and what it means for both the countries involved and the wider global economy. In this excellent book, Baker explores how various sanctions and economic measures were deployed throughout the early conflict, and how they have evolved over time, as well as their impact on Russia’s economy. Baker examines the fate of corporations with assets stranded inside Russia, and of oligarchs with assets stranded outside. With economic warfare increasingly being both wielded and challenged in geopolitical conflicts and competition, understanding the gritty details matters more than ever for analysts. As such, I recommend this book for both Russia-Ukraine conflict watchers, as well as analysts exposed to other potential sanctions-exposed conflicts. The book is written in a page-turning thriller style, and as such is accessible to any interested readers.
Rebel Island: The Incredible History of Taiwan – Jonathan Clements – 2024
In “Rebel Island”, Clements explores the fascinating and rich history of Taiwan; an island that increasingly features in discussions around the future of US-China and Asia-Pacific security affairs. Given its contested nature, gaining a clear view into the origins of the conflict is increasingly a challenge, and understanding how this island, smaller than the US state of Indiana, but with a GDP larger than Sweden, has come to shape global geopolitics and economics will be critical for analysts in the coming years. Clements provides a valuable backdrop to current regional affairs by taking readers through the long and often fraught history of the island in an accessible but detail-rich manner. As such, I recommend this book not only to Asia-Pacific analysts, but to anyone exposed to the US-China relationship who is looking to deepen their understanding of Taiwan, its people, and its history.
Deep Dive: Exploring the real-world value of Open Source Intelligence – Rae Baker – 2023
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has been catapulted into public consciousness in recent years, showing extraordinary value in tracking the conflicts in Ukraine and the Levant. Despite this, the finer details of the craft remain misunderstood, and with AI-supercharged disinformation running rampant on social media in 2024 (a problem we don’t expect to abate in 2025), developing OSINT skills has never been more important for analysts. “Deep Dive” takes a look at the nuts and bolts of OSINT skills, and makes a fantastic introductory textbook for would-be OSINTers, or experienced intelligence practitioners looking to polish existing skills. I recommend this book to anyone working with OSINT, or those looking to better understand how OSINT is conducted.
Simon Schofield – Editor
Israel’s Forever War – Paul Moorcraft – 2024
This book makes an honourable attempt at putting the current war between Israel and the Palestinians in context in a way that is accessible and clear in its voice, forensic in its examination of evidence, and, comprehensive in its coverage, whilst still being digestible. The book also looks at the impacts of the conflict on Israel’s society, economy, and culture, which helps give a deeper, more well-rounded insight, in a balanced, thoughtful, and evidence-backed approach. This even-handed work is one of the best recent book I have read on the subject and will help deepen understanding of one of the pivotal conflicts of 2024, which will continue to have deep implications for the world in 2025.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence: A Concise History – Steven Ward – 2024
Despite Iran’s permanent status as pariah on the world stage, with all the attendant media coverage and public discussion, focus more often than not remains on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its activities and objectives. Little is said of the regime’s own Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS), which is to the detriment of a serious analysis of the regime’s capabilities and strategy. Steven Ward, a former CIA officer, gives an intelligence-eye view of this shadowy and understudied organisation.
Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza – General David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts – 2023
This impressive study by an acclaimed general and an accomplished historian documents the change in warfare since the end of the Second World War, tracing the similarities between war today and then, and explaining the changes. This work is genuinely Clausewitzian in its ambition to explain modern warfare and has many pearls of wisdom to offer anybody, from the casual reader, to geopolitical scholars, to present and future statespeople.
Prisoners of Geography Quiz Book – Tim Marshall – 2024
Put your geopolitical knowledge to the test, or learn in a new way with this quiz book. It offers a challenging, but fun way to spend an afternoon, with the satisfaction that comes from guessing the obscure nation’s capital, and the surprising new facts you learn to season your watercooler conversation.
Aleksandra Szylkiewicz – Deputy Editor
In True Face: A woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked – Jonna Mendez – 2024
An inspiring and accessible read for all, “In True Face” is a personal memoir of a courageous and determined woman tirelessly navigating the male-dominated world of espionage, intelligence and national security. It traces Mendez’s 27-year CIA career from her beginnings as a “contract wife” to becoming the agency’s Chief of Disguise – a time during which she consistently refused to accept the restriction to support functions and other non-operational roles that was ordinarily imposed upon women within the agency. “In True Face” features not only the fascinating operational adventures of a decorated undercover agent, but also the deeply moving and humanizing story of a resilient, resolved woman standing strong in the face of adversity and hostility encountered by so many women seeking to make it in the field of security and intelligence. Mendez’s time with the CIA has without any doubt been a major contribution that helped to bring about slowly but surely shifting attitudes to women’s positioning in the CIA, with Gina Haspel becoming the first first female CIA chief in 2018. While Mendez retired from the CIA in 1993, her rise through the ranks remains a source of hope and strength for the steadily growing number of women forging their career paths in intelligence and security today.
Mendez is also the famous other half of the “Jonna and Tony” espionage power couple who, among other exploits, wrote the bestselling “Moscow Rules” of tradecraft, pioneered stage-mask disguises that would make Mission Impossible weep, and pulled off the Tehran exfiltration heist detailed in Ben Affleck’s 2012 film “Argo”.
Editor’s note: for those interested in Jonna’s incredible career, listen to our interview with her in Season 3 of the “How to get on a Watchlist” podcast!
Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia – Charles Hecker – 2024
Having worked with Charles in the past and witnessed his expertise and remarkable talent for writing and story-telling first hand, the publication of his first book focusing on the experiment of a post-Soviet Russia, open for business, comes with no shortage of excitement. The new reality of doing (or no longer doing) business in Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has caught some companies by surprise, and many businesses still struggle to formulate a cohesive strategy to understand and navigate an ever-changing geopolitical order as globalisation enters a new era. “Zero Sum” will without any doubt provide fascinating insights, and have something for everyone: the Russia geeks, the historians, the international relations aficionados, or those sitting in the driving seat of global business strategy.
Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence – Claire Hubbard-Hall – 2024
In “Her Secret Service”, historian Hubbard-Hall tells the story of the women of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ of the 20th century – like Kathleen Pettigrew, assistant to the MI6 chief who inspired Ian Fleming’s Miss Moneypenny character in James Bond – who worked tirelessly in the shadows of the British intelligence apparatus without the recognition, compensation or opportunities reserved for their male colleagues. Hubbard-Hall offers a compelling account and celebration of the crucial role of those secretaries trusted with state secrets (while still being denied the right to vote), and makes us better understand the difficulties faced by women in UK intelligence agencies in the last century.
Edwin Tran – Levant Region Analyst and “How to get on a Watchlist” Producer
A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East – David Fromkin – 2001
The ongoing war between Israel, Hezbollah, and Hamas is rooted in deep history. While it is inaccurate to describe the conflict as going back millennia, the modern war is defined by the long century prior. Policies set forth by the Allies in World War 1 still reverberate into the present. From the often-cited Sykes-Picot Agreement to the negotiations set at the Treaty of Versailles, World War I is an important step in the creation of the modern Middle East. David Fromkin’s work is an illustrative assessment of how the fall of one empire, coupled with the schemes of outside powers, led to the present as we know it. This book is recommended for all Middle East analysts seeking to understand the roots of the present conflict.
Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon – Melani Cammett – 2014
As Israel continues military operations in Lebanon, Melani Cammett’s work provides important context on the usage of social services and welfare to build support bases amongst Lebanon’s many sectarian groups, including, of course, Hezbollah. We have previously explored this issue in our “Socioeconomic History of Hezbollah” article, which this book expands on. It is a very data-oriented work and dives deep into socioeconomic fissure points and fault lines. Cammett’s work is insightful, authoritative, and important to consider.
The Lion House: The Coming of a King – Christopher de Bellaigue – 2023
Although a more stylistic and less academic read, de Bellaigue’s work is a fast-paced and illustrative depiction of the geopolitics of the Mediterranean during the time of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Great. It encompasses the power plays of Venice, Austria, and the Sublime Porte, all while highlighting the schemes and politics of individuals. Through a wonderful cast of characters, such as the pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa or the bastard governor Alvise Gritti, The Lion House perfectly depicts the varied nature of politics: the actions of the person often clash with the needs of the state.
Ben Brandt – Senior Intelligence Analyst
Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World – Anne Applebaum – 2024
With the erosion of liberal democratic governance in many regions over the past two decades, an increasing number of analysts and experts have sought to explain the threat posed by authoritarian governance, either by looking at at the conditions that give rise to it (such as How Democracies Die) or those which sustain it (such as The Politics of Authoritarian Governance). Although a relatively succinct read, Autocracy Inc provides a valuable addition to the literature discussing authoritarian governments, focusing on how authoritarian regimes suppress dissent, confuse both domestic and international narratives on civil liberties, support one another, and leverage relatively weak financial controls in democratic countries to store their wealth. These last two points are particularly valuable contributions, as Ms Applebaum chronicles the various means by which authoritarian regimes support each other diplomatically, economically, and militarily, while also illustrating how Western banks and realtors have helped to launder the proceeds of graft in authoritarian regimes. As contestation between democratic and authoritarian governments becomes more acute around the world, students of geopolitics would be well advised to read this book.
Eamon Driscoll – Russia and Former Soviet Spaces Analyst
A Seditious and Sinister Tribe: The Crimean Tatars and Their Khanate – Donald Rayfield – 2024
Sometimes lost amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are the Crimean Tatars, the Turkic-speaking people of the Crimean peninsula who ruled the land as a successor state to the Golden Horde until it was conquered by the Russian Empire in the 18th century. Rayfield goes in-depth to analyse and understand this steppe khanate throughout history, before concluding with the modern experience of the people, their culture suppressed by Tsars, Commissars, and finally Vladimir Putin. This is the book to understand the hidden third side of the conflict, which so often gets lost in the narrative.
The Showman – Simon Shuster – 2024
From comedian to commander-in-chief, this is a chronicle of Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, as the war began and dragged on. With insight from Zelensky’s inner circle, Shuster paints a picture of life under siege from Russian invasion and what could have been done differently, even to prevent the war from starting at all. It is an open and in-depth account of the changes that took place at the top ranks of Ukrainian leadership, essential reading for those seeking to know more about this showman standing strong against the conquest of his nation.
Patriot – Alexei Navalny – 2024
In February this year, the brightest light among the Russian opposition was extinguished. Alexei Navalny gave his life in the hope that someday Russia would re-join the brotherhood of free nations, liberated from the “party of crooks and thieves” led by Vladimir Putin. This is his memoir. Published posthumously, this is the vision of a brave and dedicated man for a better Russia, the account of his experiences in prison, and the call to action for the next generation of activists. For those who know that there is a better Russia, there is no better book.
Cormac McGarry – Maritime Security and Global Geopolitics Expert
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory – David Graber – 2018
President Elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, will no doubt be looking to identity and remove five things: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters. These are what the late David Graber contended to be the meaningless jobs that exist in almost every large organisation (yes, corporations are just as vulnerable as government according to Graber), occupied by people who pretend their role is not as inconsequential or even harmful as they themselves know it to be.
Graber’s 2018 book followed a wildly successful, and highly satisfying, essay published in 2013. The author sprinkled his often very academic postulations with light humour and anecdotes that make this book an enjoyable read. But do not be mistaken by the airport-grabbable funny title: Graber was serious. He contended that the existence and acceptance of bullshit jobs is causing significant waste and distress to the mental health of the over half of society he thinks falls under the title. Being an anthropologist, he provided a breakdown of how society itself has elevated such jobs above the most utterly useful work in terms of status and pay (think nurse and firefighter versus management consultant) and how bullshit jobs come about even in ruthlessly profit driven companies.
With that, Graber’s book gifts us an understanding of the forward movement of society including government bureaucracy, that will be useful for surveying many of the world’s new government administrations coming online over the next year – many with radical views of what needs hiring and firing. Graber also warned that, often, an attempt to rejig an organisation and remove the “Bullshit Jobs”, results in appointments that create even further sludge (see my next book review, of “Nudge”). So, Musk and Ramaswamy may want to read Graber’s book and ask whether they may fall under their own axe.
Nudge (the Final Edition) – Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein – 2021
First published in 2008, the authors decided to render their final edition largely due to the scale of reaction to their thesis versus some outdated references alongside the vastly changed politics of – particularly western – governments in the intervening 13 years. “Nudge” has significantly influenced governance, with Mr Sunstein himself serving as the Administrator of President Obama’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009-12 (a little known but hugely influential appointment over policy implementation), while over 200 “nudge units” have been appointed by governments all over the world.
Nudge boils down to the concept of “Choice Architecture” and the philosophy of “Paternal Libertarianism”, wherein those seeking a certain outcome (from policy makers to marketing firms) should create an environment in which a citizen or consumer is “nudged” to choose something in the right direction but not forced or coerced and the “sludge” that stands in the way of that choice is removed. Perhaps the most famous example of nudging is when governments create opt-out rather than opt-in pension systems, assuming (well, knowing, because the data support it) that the average person just doesn’t want to bother reading about their options and making an active decision. But nudging has asserted itself everywhere from insurance policies and organ donation (often unwittingly in the wrong direction, which the authors are at pains to address in this edition) to using optical illusions to nudge road users to slowdown at dangerous bends.
Thaler and Sunstein without doubt equipped us with Nudge to pursue useful, usually altruistic outcomes but do not shy away from the fact that the idea can be used to pursue sinister, selfish outcomes. With a swathe of new governments coming online from the 2024 year of global elections, many under new and inexperienced leadership from “outside the system”, implementation of some of their more radical polices may indeed come down to clever choice architecture. Reading Thaler and Sunstein’s final edition will equip the reader to see the good, and bad, nudges that may be coming.
The Long Game: Inside Sinn Féin – Aoife Moore – 2023
Irish politics to most people is a largely inconsequential little game in the grand game of geopolitics, but it is often perilously ignored by those seeking to forecast the trajectory of a rather more consequential country: the United Kingdom. What even many British observers miss is that Sinn Féin is a party in both the Republic of Ireland’s and the United Kingdom’s political systems. They currently occupy the top role in the Northern Ireland government, for the first time in the statelet’s history, and have seven elected Members of the UK Parliament (yes, the one in Westminster) who follow the party’s abstentionist policy in protest of their perceived illegitimacy of that House.
Sinn Féin, whose ultimate goal is the reunification of Ireland, has slowly risen to become a mainstream and highly popular party in the Republic since the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1997 that led to their militant wing, the Provisional IRA, ceasing its armed campaign, leaving the politicians to pursue “the long game”. Owing to its militant history, Sinn Féin is unlike any other political party in Europe. Aoife Moore’s page turning book does a stellar job walking the reader through the still highly concentrated mechanisms by which the party, even under the leadership of its new younger post-Troubles generation, is run. No other political party in Europe is said to still consult or be influenced by an “Army Council” or have deep ties, including financially, with a gigantic diaspora with access to the halls of power in the US. No other party in Europe is widely understood to have skeletons in the closet quite as literally as Sinn Féin. Moore, despite the party having refused to assist her with the book (another trait no other European party tends to have), uses commendable investigative journalism to help a reader truly understand how Sinn Féin works and the Long Game it is playing toward power.
The party came close in 2020 to entering government in Dublin, scoring the highest (24%) of any party in the popular vote. And while they are very unlikely to get into government soon, it is a very realistic possibility that at some point in the next 10 years they will occupy government in both Belfast and Dublin – in that scenario, a referendum on Irish unity is almost certain. A decision by the people of North and South to unify would mean the UK losing one of its four constituent states, likely prompting another Scottish independence push, and very possibly provoke a return to intense political violence in Northern Ireland. Aoife Moore’s book is essential to understand where the UK and Ireland could be headed.
Colin Reed – International Security Analyst
Crises of the Republic – Hannah Arendt – 1972
In the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump in 2016, editions of Arendt’s famous “The Origins of Totalitarianism” sold out across the United States. While that work is deeply valuable, it is also a tomb of political philosophy, as overwhelming and indigestible as the monolithic brutalist mid-century regimes it pillories. A more accessible, and lesser known collection of Arendt’s essays, collected as “Crises of the Republic” in 1972, offer a deeper reading on some of the issues of political theory where Arendt shines. The tone and scope of these shorter works, often aimed at publication in magazines like The New Yorker, makes for more manageable reading in already-oppressive times, while offering cutting insights on pithy subjects such as “Lying in Politics,” “Civil Disobedience,” “On Violence,” and “Thoughts on Politics and Revolution.” Whether these topics appear especially relevant to today’s climate will be up to the reader, but Arendt is worth pursuing even when our politics seem at their healthiest.
The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order – Robert Kagan – 2024
The old cliche runs that history doesn’t repeat, but it almost always rhymes. Kagan’s history traces the early twentieth century, which finds the United States as one of the world’s richest, most populous, most technologically advanced nations. It was also a nation divided along numerous fault lines, with conflicting aspirations and concerns pulling it in different directions. And it was a nation unsure about the role it wanted to play in the world, if any. Rising authoritarian challengers, though, sought to undo the global order that had enabled America to prosper, forcing it to re-evaluate an isolationist streak and engage decisively in two world wars. History as a primer and contextualizing force for current events is always a safe bet, and this work offers many lessons for observers wondering what comes next in an era of contested global order.
The Age of Acrimony – John Grinspan – 2021
Trump’s return to power and the chaotic nature of current American politics has led many observers to conclude that things are worse than they’ve ever been, but historian John Grinspan reminds us that the United States has always had a tumultuous track record with self-government. The Age of Acrimony traces U.S. domestic politics from the end of its Civil War to the First World War, an era spanning some of the most violent, contentious, and partisan elections in the nation’s history. Along the way, Grinspan points to changes in our electoral system and politics which seemed impossible to achieve at the time, winking all the while at our modern moment in which it feels all too easy to toss up ones’ hands and declare the entire system a write-off. History that reminds us that we are not the first to travel these bumpy roads is always welcome, especially for those who seek to better understand where the United States may go in its coming political era.
The Achilles Trap – Steve Coll – 2024
Coll’s histories of America’s wars on terrorism (Ghost Wars and Directorate S) should be required reading for anyone interested in modern international security, and his latest work is no exception to the trend. Combining a journalist’s eye for characters and insider perspectives with a historian’s research thoroughness, Coll is to post-mortem political decison-making what Bob Woodward is to current events. Not just for Middle East experts, The Achilles Trap is for anyone who seeks to understand recent current events on the global security stage, particularly for those with an interest in how the United States security bureaucracy makes decisions (or, in many cases, avoids doing so).
Alex Smith – Asia Pacific and China Military Affairs Analyst
The Political Thought of Xi Jinping – Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung – 2024
Given the number of volumes published in China attributed to President Xi, not to mention the seemingly endless, slavish references to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era (to give its full title), describing the key tenets of what has become the governing ideology of China may seem like a daunting task. Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung of SOAS University, London, however, have boiled down the daunting political treatise to deliver an enlightening description and analysis. The authors examine the thinking behind the proto-ideology that has reversed China’s trend towards liberalisation in the 1990s and 2000s in favour of the unassailable control of the Party, united under the leadership of Xi and guided by his singular vision. The authors make the argument that rather than making China great again, the abandonment of the Party’s tradition of collective decision making has allowed some serious errors in policy making to occur in recent years, errors that could well work against the very goals Xi is meant to be working towards.
China Incorporated: The Politics of a World Where China is Number One – Kerry Brown – 2023
When it comes to China, the prolific Kerry Brown can always be relied on for clear and punchy analysis, and his 2023 book is no exception. China Incorporated challenges the simplistic and usually erroneous narratives that dominate discussion on China today, all while delivering some uncomfortable truths. Brown argues that China is not the evil villain seeking to spread its darkness across the world as it is often portrayed, but a significant and increasingly powerful actor with a fundamentally different set of values to those reflected by the current world order. Chapters address the question of what China wants from the world, and the far more overlooked quandary of what the world [ie the West] actually wants from China. A key argument is that China does not see its values as universal – unlike the West – and that rather than expending its energy imposing itself abroad, China’s priorities remain domestic, despite its growing ability to project power and the concerns this raises. China Incorporated covers a lot in its brief 176 pages, but its short length if anything adds to the weight of Brown’s sober and forceful analysis.
More book suggestions, sorted thematically, can be found below!
Thematic Reading List
Middle East
- Battleground: 10 Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East – Christopher Phillips – 2024
- The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine – Rashid Khalidi – 2021
- Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Identity, and Religion in Israel, 1925–2005 – Nadav G. Shelef – 2010
- Arabs: A 3000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes and Empires – Tim Macintosh-Smith – 2019
- A Line in the Sand: Britain, France, and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East – James Barr – 2012
- Hezbollah: A Short History – Augustus Richard Norton – 2018
- Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations – Ronen Bergman – 2019
- The Political History of Modern Iran – Ali Rahnema – 2023
- Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon – Kim Zetter – 2015
- Shah of Shahs – Ryszard Kapuściński – 1982
Asia
- On Dangerous Ground: America’s Century in the South China Sea – Gregory Poling – 2022
- Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy – Christophe Jaffrelot – 2023
- Hello, Shadowlands: Inside the Meth Fiefdoms, Rebel Hideouts and Bomb-Scarred Party Towns of Southeast Asia – Patrick Winn – 2019
- Asymmetrical Neighbours: Borderland State Building between China and Southeast Asia – Enze Han – 2019
- Infiltrating Society: The Thai Military’s Internal Security Affairs – Puangthong Pawakapan – 2021
- New Cold Wars: China’s rise, Russia’s invasion, and America’s struggle to defend the West – David E Sanger – 2024
- World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century – Dmitri Alperovitch – 2024
- Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China’s Superpower Future – Chun Han Wong – 2024
Africa
- Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously – Olúfemi Táíwò – 2022
- Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives – Siddharth Kara – 2023
- White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa – Susan Williams – 2023
Latin America
- The Years of Blood: Stories from a Reporting Life in Latin America – Alma Guillermoprieto – 2025
- Venezuela’s Collapse: The Long Story of How Things Fell Apart – Carlos Lizarralde – 2024
- Populista: The Rise of Latin America’s 21st Century Strongman – Will Grant – 2022
- Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul – Rowan Jacobsen – 2024
Russia & the Commonwealth of Independent States
- War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World – Hal Brands – 2024
- Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence – Yaroslav Trofimov – 2024
- Battleground Ukraine: From Independence to the War with Russia – Adrian Karatnycky – 2024
- The Wagner Group: Inside Russia’s Mercenary Army – Jack Margolin – 2024
Europe
- Kaput: The End of the German Miracle – Wolfgang Münchau – 2024
- Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 – Anne Applebaum – 2012
- Disputing Disaster: A Sextet on the Great War – Perry Anderson – 2024
North America
- How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States – Daniel Immerwahr – 2019
- Purpose and Power: US Grand Strategy from the Revolutionary Era to the Present – Donald Stoker – 2024
- The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq – Steve Coll – 2024
- Precision: A history of American warfare – James Patton Rogers – 2023
Global Relevance
- How to Survive a Crisis: Lessons in Resilience and Avoiding Disaster – Sir David Omand – 2023
- The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History – Iain Dale – 2024
- The Rare Metals War: the dark side of clean energy and digital technologies – Guillaume Pitron – 2023
- The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives – Ernest Scheyder – 2024
- Co-intelligence: Living and working with AI – Ethan Mollick – 2024
- Why War? – Richard Overy – 2024
- The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power – Daniel Yergin – 1991
Intelligence & Analysis
- Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West – Calder Walton – 2023
- The Hamas Intelligence War Against Israel – Netanel Flamer – 2024
- The President’s Kill List: Assassination and US Foreign Policy since 1945 – Luca Trenta – 2024
- The rise of devils: Fear and the origins of modern terrorism – James Crossland – 2024
- Intelligence Success and Failure: The Human Factor – Uri Bar-Joseph and Rose McDermott – 2017
- Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict – Matthew Hefler – 2024
- Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector – Lewis Sage-Passant – 2024
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Conclusion
Encyclopedia Geopolitica celebrated its 8th birthday last month, and we owe our success to our loyal and engaging readers, who have supported our work on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit. We are especially grateful to patrons of the site, who help fund our website and podcast running costs directly on Patreon, or indirectly via book purchases using our affiliate links. The site’s founder and editor, Lewis Sage-Passant, would also like to extend a special thanks to the hardworking team of analysts and co-editors, without whom the project could not continue. As a volunteer organisation, their contribution has been as critical as ever to this rather ambitious project!
This month, we also launched the third season of “How to get on a Watchlist“; our podcast on dangerous activities (and how states and organisations can counter them). We’ve been blown away by the success of the podcast, and want to take a moment to thank all of our listeners for their support!
We suspect that 2025 will bring more geopolitical shocks as the international tectonic plates continue to shift. We plan to keep bringing you insightful and informative articles on those niche and under-examined geopolitical developments that we have tried to accurately capture this year, and hope that these books will help you to understand the world’s challenges a little better. Thanks as always for reading!
Encyclopedia Geopolitica is a collaborative effort to bring you thoughtful insights on world affairs. Our contributors include Military officers, Geopolitical Intelligence analysts, Corporate Security professionals, Government officials, Academics and Journalists from around the globe. Topics cover diplomatic and foreign affairs, military developments, international relations, terrorism, armed conflict, intelligence, espionage and the broader elements of statecraft.
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