Karthik on International Relations

Daniel W. Drezner, professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, has a come out with a new book — “Theories of International Politics and Zombies“.

Of all the books that I’ve read on IR, I must say that this has been the most unique — and the most fun.

While the title may seem light-hearted and quite deadbeat, Drezner addresses the basics of IR theory in a fun and engaging manner.

One of the many reasons I am a fan of this book is because it uses a hitherto unknown/impossible scenario (i.e. the ghouls coming back alive) to address contemporary IR scenarios. As a proponent of Talebian philosophy who believes in the need to be prepared for the unlikely and extraordinary (such as the realpolitik of a ghoulish uprising), I find this book to be delightfully interesting.

This topic is more serious than one would realize. For instance, would Hillary’s liberal policies mean that she would demand equal treatment of the dead and the undead-alike, or would she want the dead to, err, stay dead? How would that work? Would pacifists and animal rights activists consider zombies to be dead or alive? And what if Hillary turned zombie? Would that change her opinion? And in fact, what if the President turned into a zombie? I bet that would work great with the conservatives! And what about other countries? How would they react? What could this mean to our food supply? What would this mean to immigration? Ahh, questions, questions.