Politics Books

Wars begin when human beings choose to fight, and, consequently, a war must be directed at the enemy’s will to fight, says John David Lewis (1955-2012), a political scientist at Duke.  He chooses five books on war and foreign policy—from ancient Rome to  America's neoconservatives.

The author of Torture and Democracy gives a harrowing interview on the effects of violence, torture and trauma on the human being, 'torture has a slippery slope and once you authorise it, it rapidly runs out of control'

The leading Conservative strategist and Head of Americans for Tax Reform argues that liberals actively undermine what makes America great. He chooses five books to better understand conservative America

The Founder and Editor of National Affairs Magazine speculates how the founding fathers of Conservatism might have been nervous about Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement

The magazine editor, journalist and biographer of Ayn Rand selects five books that define the essence of libertarianism. Atlas Shrugged is first on her list.

The sociology professor and blogger at spiked-online.com says when society is faced with problems like homophobia, healthy eating or integration, for example, then we try to

Sam Tanenhaus, editor of The New York Times Book Review from 2004 to 2013, explains how the American right reinvented itself as a cultural counter-revolution and selects five books as backgrounders to conservatism.

Former British diplomat Mike Maclay chooses five books on the glamour, the reality and the future of the people trained in the canny art of diplomacy

The veteran British diplomat Jeremy Greenstock talks about the history and future of diplomacy. On Iraq: ‘The magnificent work that was done was largely wasted, and lives with it – both Iraqi and outsiders’

The Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations discusses diplomacy versus coercion and selects five essential books on international relations.