Nina L. Khrushcheva, Kevin Rudd, and more for PS Read More

Nuclear Folly, by Serhii Plokhy; The Man Who Ran Washington, by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser; and more. The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Read More]( Welcome to PS Read More, a bi-weekly feature dedicated to enriching your bookshelf, with Project Syndicate contributors' help. In this week's edition, we share recommendations from Nina L. Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at The New School. We also highlight a recent work by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and bring suggestions from University of Oxford Chancellor Chris Patten and Philippe Legrain, Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics’ European Institute. Nina L. Khrushcheva Recommends... [The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, From Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit]( By [Ian Buruma]( Published last year, Ian Buruma’s latest book examines the Anglo-American relationship since World War II, and argues that the evocation of Winston Churchill as a model for courageous leadership in the name of freedom and democracy has usually resulted in faulty policies and unnecessary wars. Buruma, a Project Syndicate contributor and professor at Bard College, explains how, after losing its imperial grandeur, the United Kingdom began to cling to the US to avoid becoming irrelevant. The US has put far less stock in the relationship, though it has enjoyed the validation of its status as the new Anglo-Saxon great power. Buruma also explores the perpetual divisions – particularly in foreign policy – between the Anglo-American world and Europe, which has often been frustrated by what it views as a never-ending “claim to Anglo-American superiority.” This is a surprisingly slim volume for such a big topic – a can-read as well as a must-read. [The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III]( By Peter Baker and Susan Glasser Written by a journalist couple – Peter Baker of The New York Times (no relation to the book’s subject) and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker – this book tells the story of James Baker, who served as US Secretary of State during the pivotal years at the end of the Cold War. A deliberative doer, Baker showed a high level of political skill and policy expertise as he navigated this critical role, and the authors repeatedly describe him as a competent professional. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – which came after months of diplomatic meetings, with the US taking the lead – has made this biography all the more salient, as it reminds us just how rare Baker’s qualities have become in US politics and diplomacy in recent years. [Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis]( By Serhii Plokhy This book seems to become more timely by the day. Serhii Plokhy, a history professor at Harvard University, revisits the 1962 confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union to draw lessons for a world “sliding back into the nuclear brinkmanship characteristic of the 1950s and early 1960s.” In this “second nuclear age,” Plokhy warns, “there are world leaders prepared to take a more cavalier attitude toward nuclear weapons and nuclear war than Kennedy and Khrushchev in 1962” – a shift that heightens the risk not only of premeditated nuclear attack, but also of nuclear miscalculation. Putin, who announced last month that he had placed Russia’s nuclear forces on “high alert,” is one such leader. And though US President Joe Biden has chosen tough sanctions over military action, precisely to avoid World War III (and the nuclear attacks it would most likely entail), [not everyone in US politics]( is so level-headed. In fact, Biden’s [off-the-cuff declaration]( made while speaking in Warsaw recently, that Putin “cannot remain in power” shows that even he is not immune to the cavalier attitudes against which Plokhy warns. Don't miss Khrushcheva's recent [Say More interview]( in which she deciphers Vladimir Putin’s approach to negotiations with Ukraine, assesses the state of his propaganda machine, considers what an isolated Russia will mean for the West, and more. [Read more](. By a PS Contributor Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping’s China]( By [Kevin Rudd]( Rudd says: "War is never inevitable. In The Avoidable War, I dive into the world’s most consequential relationship: that between the US and China. I explain the two superpowers’ perceptions of each other, including the deep roots of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s worldview and the strategic imperatives of China’s Marxist-Leninist system, and consider how these perceptions could cause the relationship to devolve into an 'avoidable war.' To avert that outcome, I offer a detailed framework, which I call “managed strategic competition,” that would enable the US and China to manage the scope of their competition during this 'dangerous decade,' cooperate on pressing global challenges, and avoid a catastrophic conflict." Read Rudd's recent [Say More interview]( in which he shares insights from the book and predicts how the Ukraine war will affect the US-China relationship – and Taiwan's fate. [Read more](. More Contributor Recommendations From Chris Patten: [Defying the Dragon: Hong Kong and the World's Largest Dictatorship]( By Stephen Vines This is a brilliant – though dispiriting – account of the Chinese communists’ efforts to dismantle Hong Kong’s freedoms, and their vengeful campaign against advocates of democracy, such as Martin Lee and [Jimmy Lai](. While this book is inevitably depressing, it is also extremely well written and provides important insights into the CPC’s behavior. What the CPC does is bad, and its leaders are bad, too. We should not shy away from saying that bluntly. [Read more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- From Philippe Legrain: [Good Economics for Hard Times]( By [Abhijit V. Banerjee]( and [Esther Duflo]( Few economists have the academic credentials of a Nobel Prize, a willingness to test their ideas in the real world through rigorous experiments, or a commitment to implement their findings to make the world a better place. Banerjee and Duflo have all three. Their 2012 book, [Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty]( showed how cutting-edge economics can be used to improve the lives of the poor in low-income countries. This one repeats the trick for rich countries. Among other things, it marshals a convincing case for the benefits of openness to immigration. [Read more](. [Register now for our upcoming economics and finance event, Finance 3.0.]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.