Theories of International Politics and Zombies (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel W Drezner Oliver Wyman Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Theories of International Politics and Zombies (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel W Drezner Oliver Wyman Audible Studios Books
What would happen to international politics if the dead rose from the grave and started to eat the living? Daniel Drezner's groundbreaking book answers the question that other international relations scholars have been too scared to ask. Addressing timely issues with analytical bite, Drezner looks at how well-known theories from international relations might be applied to a war with zombies. Exploring the plots of popular zombie films, songs, and books, Theories of International Politics and Zombies predicts realistic scenarios for the political stage in the face of a zombie threat and considers how valid - or how rotten - such scenarios might be.
Drezner boldly lurches into the breach and "stress tests" the ways that different approaches to world politics would explain policy responses to the living dead. He examines the most prominent international relations theories - including realism, liberalism, constructivism, neoconservatism, and bureaucratic politics - and decomposes their predictions. He digs into prominent zombie films and novels, such as Night of the Living Dead and World War Z, to see where essential theories hold up and where they would stumble and fall. Drezner argues that by thinking about outside-of-the-box threats we get a cognitive grip on what former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously referred to as the "unknown unknowns" in international security. Correcting the zombie gap in international relations thinking and addressing the genuine but publicly unacknowledged fear of the dead rising from the grave, Theories of International Politics and Zombies presents political tactics and strategies accessible enough for any zombie to digest.
Theories of International Politics and Zombies (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel W Drezner Oliver Wyman Audible Studios Books
It appears that those of us who remain human can survive the zombie apocalypse after all, if we’re lucky. Addressing what he describes as the “zombie gap” in the existing international relations literature, Drezner (a Tufts University professor and member of the Zombie Research Society) analyzes and compares various theories of international relations by looking at how each would predict the actions of states in the event of a plague of brain-eating zombies. Lest you think that the walking dead are not the kind of threat that can help illuminate political reality in the 21st century, keep in mind that some of the most vexing threats to world order occupying the strategic thinking of political and military leaders today are not the traditional concerns of invasion by another state. Think of threats like terrorists, piracy, failed state implosion, and, yes, zombies. OK, maybe zombies don’t occupy the same mental space as the other threats, but if they did, would there really be a different set of possible responses than those Drezner outlines? And that’s the serious, scholarly part of his argument. The nature of the challenges to international stability has changed, and it is worth asking whether or not states can operate in the same way as before in the face of those challenges. And if they can (or must), then which strategic approach will yield the best results?This book would be good as assigned reading in introductory classes in international politics in either high school or college. Seriously. As an entry point into the topic, a zombie invasion is as good as any other. Would the question be any different if the threat came from a massive invasion of Jinn, or perytons, or deranged hippogriffs? Not really, except for the shuffling step, the moaning, and the fondness for human brains. And because Drezner knows his zombie stuff, the book would also be a pretty good place to start for anyone interested in the topic of zombie literature and film.
Drezner is right. There is not nearly enough discussion of a possible zombie invasion in the international relations literature. Read this book, batten down your brain, and keep your powder dry.
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Theories of International Politics and Zombies (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel W Drezner Oliver Wyman Audible Studios Books Reviews
I bought this book as soon as it came out, being a fan of Drezner's FP work, and I was surprised by how funny I found it. I didn't have trouble reading it, and I don't think it's terribly technical or difficult to understand, though some of the aspects of some of the theories (like the buckpassing or blood-letting tactics in realism) might benefit from prior knowledge. Three years later, this book appeared in the book list for a graduate seminar and I reread it. I still find it a very entertaining book and was surprised again at how effective it is at getting down the basics of the major paradigms in IR/PoliSci.
If you've ever wondered why governments do what they do, or been confused by what exactly is meant by the terms realism, liberalism, neoconservativism, etc., this book is for you. Drezner takes a notoriously dry subject and makes it easy for the non specialist to understand how the world works in crisis situations. Readers need to understand that zombies are used only as a metaphor for the myriad threats to national and human security that exist in the world today; it's not really about zombies (though he provides an incredible lit review of the zombie cannon!
Ever since I first started studying International Relations I have felt the need for a layman's explanation of IR theory that would fill the gap between me attempting to explain the differences between realism and neorealism on the back of a beer coaster or recommending a read of something by Kenneth Waltz, Samuel Huntington or John J. Mearshimer. "Theories of International Politics and Zombies" offers the promise of being just that book - anything with Zombies in the title couldn't possibly be too academic and heavyweight, surely? A further advantage is that whatever your views of global warming, transnational capitalism or Islamic fundamentalism, most readers would agree that a Zombie outbreak would be a security problem deserving of state and international responses. (If your philosophical response to zombies would be to agree with Noam Chomsky that we just need to blame Wall Street and oppose anything Washington does, or with Pat Robertson that it would all be because of homosexuals, you might as well stop reading now).
After examining the Zombie literary and popular culture canon to identify the nature of the threat (think more along the lines of George Romero zombies rather than traditional Haitian ones), Drezner takes a chapter each to describe how states would respond if motivated by realist, liberalist, neo-conservative and constructivist policy, followed by further discussion of constraints on policymakers such as domestic politics and possible institutional or bureaucratic failings in the face of such a dynamic threat - liberally peppered with examples from such authoritative references as Night of the Living Dead,Shaun of the Dead and World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War. This is done with a generally light touch and some genuinely witty observations - my only real objection is that Drezner has let his own (non-zombie infested world) policy preferences shine through in the neo-conservative chapter, which is largely a thinly-veiled swipe at the military response to Iraq and Afghanistan. Fair enough, but a bit more discussion of the likely failings of the liberal UN peacekeeping force that turns up with timid rules of engagement that leads to it watching zombies eat the locals would have been just as amusing.
Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if I did get a couple of strange looks reading it in a crowded airport lounge (especially when I guffawed out loud at the wry footnotes explaining how neocons would just invade Iraq again "out of force of habit" or how the EU would eagerly take the opportunity to ban the import of UK beef). As a Zombie literature neophyte, I found this side of the book quite easy to follow, but I wonder if the IR side of the book - especially the occasional references to game theory - is still a bit too much of an in-joke for policy wonks and a bit off-putting for the wider public? I plan on inflicting this on unsuspecting workmates and friends to see what they think and will get back to you! Until then, four stars.
It appears that those of us who remain human can survive the zombie apocalypse after all, if we’re lucky. Addressing what he describes as the “zombie gap” in the existing international relations literature, Drezner (a Tufts University professor and member of the Zombie Research Society) analyzes and compares various theories of international relations by looking at how each would predict the actions of states in the event of a plague of brain-eating zombies. Lest you think that the walking dead are not the kind of threat that can help illuminate political reality in the 21st century, keep in mind that some of the most vexing threats to world order occupying the strategic thinking of political and military leaders today are not the traditional concerns of invasion by another state. Think of threats like terrorists, piracy, failed state implosion, and, yes, zombies. OK, maybe zombies don’t occupy the same mental space as the other threats, but if they did, would there really be a different set of possible responses than those Drezner outlines? And that’s the serious, scholarly part of his argument. The nature of the challenges to international stability has changed, and it is worth asking whether or not states can operate in the same way as before in the face of those challenges. And if they can (or must), then which strategic approach will yield the best results?
This book would be good as assigned reading in introductory classes in international politics in either high school or college. Seriously. As an entry point into the topic, a zombie invasion is as good as any other. Would the question be any different if the threat came from a massive invasion of Jinn, or perytons, or deranged hippogriffs? Not really, except for the shuffling step, the moaning, and the fondness for human brains. And because Drezner knows his zombie stuff, the book would also be a pretty good place to start for anyone interested in the topic of zombie literature and film.
Drezner is right. There is not nearly enough discussion of a possible zombie invasion in the international relations literature. Read this book, batten down your brain, and keep your powder dry.
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