New Books Network
Diplomatic History
Asian Review of Books January 13, 2022

Kashmir at the Crossroads

Inside a 21st-Century Conflict

Sumantra Bose

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
“Kashmir” carries the burden of being known as one of the world’s biggest flashpoints. If a novel, TV show, or video game wants an easy international crisis, there’s a good …

Diplomatic History

Subscribe:

Interviews with scholars of diplomatic history about their new books.

Early Modern History December 24, 2021

The Dragoman Renaissance

Diplomatic Interpreters and the Routes of Orientalism

E. Natalie Rothman

Hosted by Ian Hathaway
The Dragoman Renaissance: Diplomatic Interpreters and the Routes of Orientalism (Cornell UP, 2021) is a fascinating study of a crucial early modern cadre of "go-betweens:" the Istanbul-based diplomatic translator-interpreters, known …
Genocide Studies December 24, 2021

The Crime of Aggression

The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats

Noah Weisbord

Hosted by Jeff Bachman
On July 17, 2018, starting an unjust war became a prosecutable international crime alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Instead of collective state responsibility, our leaders are now …
Political Science December 23, 2021

Criminalizing Atrocity

The Global Spread of Criminal Laws Against International Crimes

Mark S. Berlin

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Political Scientist Mark Berlin’s new book, Criminalizing Atrocity: The Global Spread of Criminal Laws Against International Crimes (Oxford UP, 2020), examines the process through which laws against international crimes are established …
General History December 22, 2021

Mapping, Connectivity, and the Making of European Empires

Luis Lobo-Guerrero, Laura Lo Presti, and Filipe Dos Reis

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Luis Lobo-Guerrero is one of the three editors of this volume—Mapping, Connectivity, and the Making of European Empires (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021)—and one of the six contributing authors. He wrote the …
British Studies December 22, 2021

Britain at Bay

The Epic Story of the Second World War: 1938-1941

Alan Allport

Hosted by Mark Klobas
Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict's first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles questions …
Chinese Studies December 21, 2021

Disaggregating China, Inc.

State Strategies in the Liberal Economic Order

Yeling Tan

Hosted by Keith Krueger
Once you understand that markets require public institutions of governance and regulation in order to function well, and further, you accept that nations may have different preferences over the shape …
Eastern European Studies December 17, 2021

International Intervention and the Problem of Legitimacy

Encounters in Postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina

Andrew Gilbert

Hosted by Christian Nielsen
In International Intervention and the Problem of Legitimacy (Cornell UP, 2020) Andrew C. Gilbert, who is assistant professor in anthropology at the University of Toronto-Mississauga, argues for an ethnographic analysis of international …
Genocide Studies December 21, 2021

Sharing Responsibility

The History and Future of Protection from Atrocities

Luke Glanville

Hosted by Jeff Bachman
The idea that states share a responsibility to shield people everywhere from atrocities is presently under threat. Despite some early twenty-first century successes, including the 2005 United Nations endorsement of …
Political Science December 20, 2021

Secession and the Sovereignty Game

Strategy and Tactics for Aspiring Nations

Ryan D. Griffiths

Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty
Secession and the Sovereignty Game: Strategy and Tactics for Aspiring Nations offers a strategic theory for how secessionist movements attempt to win independence. The rules and informal practices of sovereign …
Law December 15, 2021

Aid Imperium

United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia

Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr.

Hosted by Jane Richards
The United States is the world's largest donor of foreign aid, and in this profound analysis, Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. demonstrates the links between human rights protections and the provision …
British Studies December 13, 2021

Merchants

The Community That Shaped England's Trade and Empire, 1550-1650

Edmond Smith

Hosted by Joseph Krulder
In the century following Elizabeth I's rise to the throne, English trade blossomed as thousands of merchants launched ventures across the globe. Through the efforts of these "mere merchants," England …
Asian Review of Books December 9, 2021

All Roads Lead North

China, Nepal and the Contest for the Himalayas

Amish Raj Mulmi

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
On the sidelines of COP26, Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as part of an effort to find a way to rebuild ties between …
Diplomatic History December 8, 2021

Reagan, Congress, and Human Rights

Contesting Morality in US Foreign Policy

Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard

Hosted by Grant Golub
Reagan, Congress, and Human Rights: Contesting Morality in US Foreign Policy (Cambridge UP, 2020) traces the role of human rights concerns in US foreign policy during the 1980s, focusing on …
Central Asian Studies December 7, 2021

Decolonizing Central Asian International Relations

Beyond Empires

TIMUR. DADABAEV

Hosted by Luca Anceschi
This month we discuss the post-coloniality of Central Asia's International relations with Timur Dadabaev, the author of Decolonizing Central Asian International Relations: Beyond Empire (Routledge, 2021). This book, which brings together …
Genocide Studies December 6, 2021

Humane

How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War

Samuel Moyn

Hosted by Kelly McFall
Is it possible that efforts to make war more humane can actually make it more common and thus more destructive?   This tension at the heart of this query lies at the …
Nordic Asia Podcast December 3, 2021

Rethinking China's Humanitarian Diplomacy before and during Covid-19

Lauri Paltemaa and Hermann Aubié

Lauri Paltemaa and Hermann Aubié

Hosted by Satoko Naito
As the Covid-19 pandemic spread to Europe and other parts of the globe in spring of 2020, the Chinese government started reporting donations of Personal Protective Equipment as well as …
General History December 3, 2021

When France Fell

The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance

Michael S. Neiberg

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
According to US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the "most shocking single event" of World War II was not the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but rather the fall of …
Southeast Asian Studies December 1, 2021

The First Vietnam War

Violence, Sovereignty, and the Fracture of the South, 1945-1956

Shawn F. McHale

Hosted by Patrick Jory
When people think of the “Vietnam War” they usually think of the hugely devastating and divisive conflict between North Vietnam and a United States-backed South Vietnam that finally ended in …
Political Science November 29, 2021

Following the Leader

Alliance Design, Security Strategies, and Institutional Emulation

Raymond C. Kuo

Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty
Nations have powerful incentives to ensure that their military alliances are well-structured. Successful military alliances set long-lasting foundations for global and regional order, while unsuccessful ones can perpetuate and widen …