This year’s list of top reads includes several on trade, environmental bottlenecks and foreign policy, as well as some compelling biographies and books on food and art. I read and listened to plenty of fiction also this year, but it was the non-fiction books that lingered with me. My wine books list can be found here. What spoke to you? What should I read in 2025?
Walking Out: America’s New Trade Policy in the Asia-Pacific and Beyond (2024) by Michael Beemans. Beemans, a longtime trade policymaker, uses the metaphor of “walking out” to highlight shifts in US trade policy, cautioning that it can quickly become walking away. It has one of the best write-ups I’ve seen of why TPP failed its political economy test, good analysis on the failure to renew preferences for developing economies (must read for those following AGOA debates) and why APEF and its companions have been unambitious in the Biden admin. Covering some of the same ground, but more triumphally is Robert Lighthizer’s No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America’s Workers (2023). Lighthizer, USTR for the first Trump admin, but passed over this time perhaps due to reluctance about using tariff threats for non-economic or non-trade goals, shares his take on what he sees as partial successes of Trump 1.0 trade policy and what is still to be done. Nonetheless, Lighthizer’s broader strategies will be influential, especially with his former chief of staff Jamieson Greer proposed for the post.
The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet by Brett Christophers(2024). Christophers makes a case for continued smart government investment in renewable energy even though costs have come down. He argues that the uncertainty over final selling prices for power lead to problematic tradeoffs in which utilities and builders prefer to sign long-term contracts with large corporate buyers. The tradeoffs are even greater now that data center demand is ballooning. This was one of several great energy and commodity books I dipped into as part of a good summer reading effort kicked off by the folks at Polycrisis. Also recommended was Laleh Khalili’s Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (2021) which I’ll write about elsewhere.
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue (2024) by Sonia Purnell. One of Purnell’s books on powerful women, especially those with World War 2 links. In this racy book she surveys the influence of Ambassador Pamela Harriman, which spanned a half-century, making a strong case about how her influence was greater than given credit. It raises some key questions about what spaces of and avenues to power were open to women in prior decades and also tells a key story about how Democrats emerged out of the wilderness of the 1980s. For me, there was a thrill in hearing more about some of Pamela’s aides and allies who continued her legacy – including many colleagues involved in the Pamela Harriman foreign service fellowships on whose board I serve.
How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare (2024) by Narges Bajoghli et al. This volume offers a deep dive in how sanctions impacted Iran’s economy, society and health outcomes. The authors cover a range of disciplinary areas and offer a rare glimpse into local data and experiences. Iran stands out as one of the most sanctioned economies and one with a long duration of intense sanctions and thus offers lessons for other relevant cases. Other good books that touched on sanctions include Saleha Mohsin’s Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order (2024). Mohsin’s book looks holistically at how dollar policy has evolved, and is highly recommended for any looking to better understand the Treasury Department, both the sanctions implementers and those beyond.
The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky (2024) by Simon Shuster. This biography of Zelensky leverages Shuster’s longstanding interviewing relationship with the leader to give more context to the ways that the war shaped Zelensky and vice versa. The book cuts between scenes of the first year of the war and the longer arc of Zelensky’s past and highlights fault-lines personally and politically that are developing. Plus fascinating to read about the Russian-language comedy competition circuit in which Zelensky rose to fame.
Focus: The ASML way – Inside the power struggle over the most complex machine on earth (2024) by Mark Hijink. The Dutch company ASML is a key node in semiconductor supply chains, as the dominant producer of lithography machines, becoming so critical that the Netherlands has been a key part of US efforts to limit China’s access to cutting edge technologies. This book highlights how the company became the last producer standing, made inroads with key players like TSMC and decided to keep its focus on few key products. A great read about industrial process and choices too! A good followup to Chris Miller’s Chip Wars which was one of my 2023 best reads. Check out the chat between the author and my CNAS colleague Emily Kilcrease too or if you don’t want to ready.
Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East (2020) by Philip Gordon. Gordon’s book is an important cautionary tale of US regime change efforts in the broader Middle East, highlighting how difficult it is to actually influence new regimes and serve broader US national security interests. Gordon’s book was one of a few written by Harris advisers and stands the test of time better than Rebecca Lissner and Mira Rapp Hooper’s An Open World, which had an interesting argument which now reads as very optimistic in light of global faultlines. Watch out for an upcoming review on some Trump advisor tomes.
Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food (2023) by Fuchsia Dunlop. Highly recommended as a book to better understand China via its food. Dunlop offers a comprehensive look at Chinese cuisine across time and region, digging into the cultural and social history involved. A book to dip into – some sections are based on the type of food, others by preparation technique (chopping is particularly important) and spicing type. She manages to pack a lot into her essays that leaves one wanting to go out for Chinese food or at least pick up a wok and test skills.
Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art (2018) by Mary Gabriel. This book sets as its topic the overlapping generations of women involved in Abstract Expressionism based mostly around New York City. Gabriel packs a lot into this compelling read (or listen in my case) about these women, how they interacted with the male artists of the time (their husbands for some) and tried to develop markets. Great as an audiobook but I did keep having to google the art work to better understand them. Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came to America (2022) by Hugh Eakin covers some of the same time. Using the lens of Pablo Picasso’s Art, Eakin highlights the history of how Modern Art was curated and collected in the US. He highlights the divides among collectors especially those that supported what became the Museum of Modern Art.
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s (2024) by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This book leverages the front-row seat Goodwin and her husband Richard had to US politics in the 1960s, especially during the Johnson presidency and 68 campaign. The book emerged from their joint project sifting through Richard’s papers and brings to life the difficult tradeoffs and challenges of that time. A really smart audio adaptation which intersplices recordings of various Kennedys, Johnson and others delivering some of the speeches that Dick Goodwin wrote. Lawrence O’Donnell’s Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics (2017) covers a narrower portion of this period, highlighting just how much was packed into the 1968 election cycle. There are some odd resonances with the 2024 cycle and fascinating to learn about this time when primary system was played and messaging so important. I didn’t realize Roger Ailes got his start in Conservative media back then for example.
Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America by Paola Ramos (2024). Ramos provides a key look at shifts among parts of the Latino electorate including the attractiveness of white supremacist views and anti-immigrant sentiment. Many elements relevant also to understanding other immigrant preferences. The book is strongest in its interviews including the former border guard whose status was not as solid as he thought.
Cleared for the Option: A Year Learning to Fly (2023) by Patrick Chovanec. My friend and China/macro expert Patrick Chovanec wrote a fascinating book about his efforts learning to fly planes. Rather different from most of what I read but an insightful look into what goes into studying flying.
Ziemba Insights 