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Every book Fareed Zakaria recommended on podcasts
Fareed Zakaria appears on The Ezra Klein Show discussing global politics, international relations, nationalism, and historical context. Across multiple appearances, he recommends several prominent books that explore society, power, and foreign affairs. Zakaria recommends G. John Ikenberry's A World Safe for Democracy to encapsulate the rules-based international order created by the United States. He highlights Reinhold Niebuhr's The Irony of American History to address the dangers of powerful nations believing they are entirely virtuous. For a novelistic perspective on idealism in foreign entanglements, he suggests Graham Greene's The Quiet American. Turning to domestic and cultural issues, Zakaria frequently returns to Walter Lippmann's A Preface to Morals to examine the modern loss of traditional faith during the jazz age, and he recommends Alan Ehrenhalt's The Lost City to understand the shift toward community-oriented living in Chicago. Additionally, to explain the roots of nationalism, he points to Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities. Finally, as a primer on China's past and present from 1850 onward, Zakaria recommends Orville Schell and John Delury's Wealth and Power, citing it as an effective conveyance of Chinese history.
Books recommended by Fareed Zakaria
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Wealth and Power
Why people recommend it: Wealth and Power by Orville Schell and John Delury is an authoritative historical narrative that explores China's tumultuous journey from the mid-nineteenth century to the modern era through the eyes of its most influential thinkers and leaders.
Recommended“a book that I read about China that I felt really conveyed some of China's past and present very well was a book called wealth and power by Orville shell and John delivery both Great China Scholars Great China Watchers and it's really the story of China from 1850 to the present”
Where to get it
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A preface to morals
A Preface to Morals is a 1929 philosophical work by Walter Lippmann that examines the spiritual and cultural crisis of modern secular society, particularly how the decline of traditional religious authority leaves individuals struggling to find meaning and stability.
Recommended“The one book that I have loved and have gone back to over and over is a book by Walter Lipman called a preface to morals. Uh it was written in the 1920s during the jazz age and he first identifies not first but he identifies very powerfully this problem of modern societies that you lose faith in religion and”
Where to get it
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A World Safe for Democracy
A World Safe for Democracy by G.
Recommended“The best scholar who's written on this is a guy named John Ikenberry at Princeton. And I think the book is called A World Safe for Democracy. And encapsulates what is this thing, the rules-based international order, the liberal international order that the US created.”
Where to get it
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Imagined communities
Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson is a seminal political science and sociology book that investigates the origins and rise of nationalism.
Recommended“and so the first one is Benedict Anderson's imagined communities which is still I think it was written in the early 80s but it's still this remarkable book that is able to explain why people are so nationalistic”
Where to get it
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The idea of India
The Idea of India by Sunil Khilnani is a historical examination that explores the foundations and evolution of India as a modern, decolonized nation-state.
Recommended“and for India there are so many but there's a wonderful short book called the idea of India by Sunil kelnani a young academic and probably not so young anymore but it's wonderfully written”
Where to get it
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The Irony of American History
The Irony of American History by Reinhold Niebuhr is a classic theological and political critique examining the moral perils of national power and righteousness.
Recommended“The second is a book by Reinhold Niebuhr called The Irony of American History. And it's really all about the great danger when you are powerful of believing you are virtuous and believing that you know, might is right.”
Where to get it
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The Lost City
The Lost City by Alan Ehrenhalt is a work of urban sociology and journalism in which the author returns to the Chicago neighborhoods of his youth to investigate why past communities felt so vibrant, cohesive, and deeply connected.
Recommended“There's a wonderful book called The Lost City by Alan Erin Halt, a journalist who went back to Chicago to wonder you wondering why the Chicago of his youth seemed so community oriented and why what what did they do that that was lost and he discovered that it was so community oriented because everyone was so poor they couldn't”
Where to get it
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The Quiet American
The Quiet American by Graham Greene is a classic novel set in Vietnam that explores the complexities of Western idealism and foreign intervention through the eyes of a disillusioned British journalist.
Recommended“And the final one in a similar vein is uh Graham Greene's book The Quiet American. Uh I think that one of the one of sometimes novels do it better than than anything else. It's a novel set in Vietnam through the eyes of a sour, dyspeptic, world-weary British journalist who sees this very idealistic American who believes that America”
Where to get it
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Make Me the Best Volleyball Player
Discussed“I was reading the New York Times um recently there was an article about Steve Bannon Donald Trump's Chief strategist who's having everybody read a book called the best and the brightest this is a book about how the smart Kennedy advisers uh got America into Vietnam and the the the moral of the book is meant to be or”
Where to get it
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The Best and the Brightest
The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam is a classic historical critique examining how the brilliant policy advisers of the Kennedy administration systematically led the United States into the Vietnam War.
Discussed“I was reading the New York Times um recently there was an article about Steve Bannon Donald Trump's Chief strategist who's having everybody read a book called the best and the brightest this is a book about how the smart Kennedy advisers uh got America into Vietnam and the the the moral of the book is meant to be or”
Where to get it
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The Children
The Children by David Halberstam is a sweeping historical account that chronicles the courageous young college students who spearheaded the pivotal sit-in movements and civil rights protests in Nashville during the 1960s.
Discussed“I was reading the New York Times um recently there was an article about Steve Bannon Donald Trump's Chief strategist who's having everybody read a book called the best and the brightest This is a book about how the smart Kennedy advisers uh got America into Vietnam and the the the moral of the book is meant to be or”
Where to get it
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The Rational Optimist
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley argues that human progress is driven primarily by trade, specialization, and the continuous exchange of ideas.
Discussed“There's this wonderful book by Matt Ridley about the you know why did human beings manage this extraordinary rise you know from being just just animals and the most important thing he points out is whenever we encountered diversity we we flourished you know just even scientifically”
Where to get it
Books Fareed Zakaria wrote
- The Future of Freedom
- Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present
- Age of Revolutions