New Books

The Care of Foreigners: How Immigrant Physicians Changed US Healthcare

By Eram Alam

For more than sixty years, the United States has trained fewer physicians than it needs, relying instead on the economically expedient option of soliciting immigrant physicians trained at the expense of other countries. In The Care of Foreigners, Eram Alam examines this migratory dynamic that began during the Cold War.

The passage of the Hart–Celler Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 expedited the entry of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) from postcolonial South Asia and sent them to provide care in shortage areas throughout the United States. Although this arrangement was conceived as temporary, over the decades it has become a permanent fixture of the medical system, with FMGs comprising at least a quarter of the physician labor force since the act became law. This cohort of practitioners has not been extensively studied, rendering the impacts of immigration and foreign policy on the everyday mechanics of US health care obscure. Alam foregrounds global dynamics embedded in the medical system to ask how and why Asian physicians—and especially practitioners from South Asia—have become integral to US medical practice and ubiquitous in the US public imaginary. (Read more at Johns Hopkins University Press)

Faculty Associate Eram Alam is an associate professor of the history of science at Harvard University.

Making Aid Work: Dueling with Dictators and Warlords in the Middle East and North Africa

Cowritten by Hicham Alaoui

With hardening authoritarianism and state capture by militias exacerbating the challenges faced by providers of development and political aid across the Middle East and North Africa, how can aid be made more effective? Can donors overcome the limitations of their outdated assistance playbooks? Analyzing the fraught relationships between Western aid providers and MENA recipients, the authors of Making Aid Work suggest innovative, practical approaches for overcoming the chronic limitations—and disappointing results—of assistance aimed at encouraging economic development and political reform in the region. (Read more at Lynne Rienner Publishers)

Advisory Committee member Hicham Alaoui is the founder and director of the Hicham Alaoui Foundation.

Capitalism: A Global History

By Sven Beckert

No other phenomenon has shaped human history as decisively as capitalism. It structures how we live and work, how we think about ourselves and others, how we organize our politics. Sven Beckert, author of the Bancroft Prize-winning Empire of Cotton, places the story of capitalism within the largest conceivable geographical and historical framework, tracing its history during the past millennium and across the world. An epic achievement, his book takes us into merchant businesses in Aden and car factories in Turin, onto the terrifyingly violent sugar plantations in Barbados, and within the world of women workers in textile factories in today’s Cambodia. 

Capitalism, argues Beckert, was born global. Emerging from trading communities across Asia, Africa, and Europe, capitalism’s radical recasting of economic life rooted itself only gradually. But then it burst onto the world scene, as a powerful alliance between European states and merchants propelled them, and their economic logic, across the oceans. This, Beckert shows, was modern capitalism’s big bang, and one of its epicenters was the slave labor camps of the Caribbean. This system, with its hierarchies that haunt us still, provided the liftoff for the radical transformations of the Industrial Revolution. Fueled by vast productivity increases along with coal and oil, capitalism pulled down old ways of life to crown itself the defining force of the modern world. This epic drama, shaped by state-backed institutions and imperial expansion, corresponded at no point to an idealized dream of free markets. (Read more at Penguin Random House)

Faculty Associate Sven Beckert is the Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University.

Lab Dog: What Global Science Owes American Beagles

By Brad Bolman

Intrepid, docile, and cloaked in coats of white, black, and tan, beagles were one of the most popular breeds in the United States in the twentieth century. From Snoopy to dog shows, many Americans loved and identified with beagles. But during the same period, as scientists searched for a standard research dog, beagles emerged as something else: an ideal animal for laboratory experimentation.

In Lab Dog, historian Brad Bolman explains how the laboratory dog became a subject of intense focus for twentieth-century scientists and charts the beagle’s surprising trajectory through global science. Following beagles as they moved from eugenics to radiobiology, pharmaceutical testing to Alzheimer’s studies, Lab Dog sheds new light on pivotal stories of twentieth-century science, including the Manhattan Project, tobacco controversies, contraceptive testing, and behavioral genetics research. Bolman shows how these experiments shaped our understanding of dogs as intelligent companions who deserve moral protection and socialization—and in some cases, daily medication. Compelling and accessible, Lab Dog tells the thorny story of the participation of beagles in science, including both their sacrifices and their contributions, and offers a glimpse into the future of animal experimentation. (Read more at the University of Chicago Press)

Weatherhead alum Brad Bolman is an assistant professor of history and environmental studies at Tulane University.

The Long Shadow of Extraction: The Origins of Indigenous Autonomy Demands

By Christopher L. Carter

From the onset of colonialism, Indigenous communities have faced seizure of their land, labor, and resources by non-Indigenous actors. In The Long Shadow of Extraction, Christopher Carter argues that the native groups’ resistance to extraction took distinct forms, and that this variation explains why some communities demanded autonomy while others demanded integration or assimilation. Countering existing scholarship that assumes a universal demand for autonomy, Carter shows that some Indigenous communities in fact refused government offers to recognize their local political authority and longstanding economic institutions.

Carter argues that contemporary Indigenous demands were forged in early twentieth-century efforts to resist extraction. Drawing on two emblematic Latin American cases, Peru and Bolivia, Carter shows that in communities where traditional Indigenous leaders organized resistance, ethnic mobilization occurred and gave rise to enduring demands for autonomy, or state recognition of Indigenous identities and institutions. In communities where unions and leftist parties organized resistance, class-based mobilization became the norm. This led communities to reject autonomy and demand instead integration (state recognition of Indigenous identities but not Indigenous institutions) or assimilation (state recognition of neither Indigenous identities nor institutions). Carter’s groundbreaking account of Indigenous resistance has important implications for understanding not only the historical emergence of autonomy but variations in identity-based mobilization in multiethnic democracies. (Read more at Princeton University Press)

Weatherhead alum Christopher L. Carter is an assistant professor of politics and the John L. Nau III Assistant Professor in the History and Principles of Democracy at the University of Virginia.

Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed

By Killian Clarke

Why do some revolutions fail and succumb to counterrevolutions, whereas others go on to establish durable rule? Marshalling original data on counterrevolutions worldwide since 1900 and new evidence from the reversal of Egypt's 2011 revolution, Killian Clarke explains both why counterrevolutions emerge and when they are likely to succeed. He forwards a movement-centric argument that emphasizes the strategies revolutionary leaders embrace both during their opposition campaigns and after they seize power. Movements that wage violent resistance and espouse radical ideologies establish regimes that are very difficult to overthrow. By contrast, democratic revolutions like Egypt's are more vulnerable, though Clarke also identifies a path by which they too can avoid counterrevolution. By preserving their elite coalitions and broad popular support, these movements can return to mass mobilization to thwart counterrevolutionary threats. In an era of resurgent authoritarianism worldwide, Return of Tyranny sheds light on one particularly violent form of reactionary politics. (Read more at Cambridge University Press)

Weatherhead alum Killian Clarke is an assistant professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Justice in the Balance: Democracy, Rule of Law, and the European Court of Human Rights

By Jessica Greenberg

Established as a post-World War II response to conflict and fascism, the European Court of Human Rights is routinely characterized as the most successful human rights institution in the world. Based in Strasbourg, France, its jurisdiction extends to over 700 million people on European soil across the forty-six Council of Europe member countries. The Court is the crown jewel of the Council, an international organization dedicated to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. And yet, for years, European institutions have been haunted by the specter of failure. In the shadow of rising populism, inequality, and war, faith in democracy and the rule of law has been shaken to its core. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted over eight years with human rights advocates, lawyers, and judges at the European Court of Human Rights, this book asks: What kind of justice is possible through law? (Read more at Stanford University Press)

Weatherhead alum Jessica Greenberg is a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Research Handbook on Privatisation

Coedited by Carsten Greve

Acknowledging the ongoing discussions surrounding the performance of both the public and private sectors, this Research Handbook explores the evidence and controversy within ‘traditional privatisation’ research and addresses emerging conversations within the privatisation debate. The Research Handbook tackles fundamental conceptual and definitional issues, frames privatisation within a broader set of ideas about the control of activities in the public realm by private actors and explores new privatisation battles. Contemporary areas covered range from entire health care systems, housing, urban planning and finance to areas such as the governance of the internet, the role of global private foundations and space exploration. Overall, this Research Handbook concludes that the topic of privatisation, and what it means for citizens in a democracy, is now more important and relevant than ever. (Read more at Edward Elgar Publishing)

Weatherhead alum Carsten Greve is a professor of public management and governance at Copenhagen Business School.

The Future Is Foreign: Women and Immigrants in Corporate Japan

By Hilary J. Holbrow

Japan is at the forefront of global population decline. The Future Is Foreign investigates how elite Japanese firms are responding to this unprecedented challenge. Hilary Holbrow argues that labor shortages push Japanese firms to hire more immigrants and women, and to ease excessive demands on all workers. At the same time, not all employees benefit equally.

Japanese women's enduring overrepresentation in low-status clerical roles reinforces gender biases that hold all women back. In contrast, the small but growing presence of white-collar Asian immigrant workers weakens the ethnic prejudices of their Japanese colleagues. Despite Japan's reputation for xenophobia, white-collar immigrant men disproportionally reap the dividends of Japan's shrinking population. (Read more at Cornell University Press)

Weatherhead alum Hilary J. Holbrow is an assistant professor of Japanese politics and society at Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University Bloomington.

Empty Vessel: The Story of the Global Economy in One Barge

By Ian Kumekawa

What do a barracks for British troops in the Falklands War, a floating jail off the Bronx, and temporary housing for VW factory workers in Germany have in common? The Balder Scapa: a single barge that served all three roles. Though the name would eventually change to Finnboda 12. And then to Safe Esperia. And later on, to the Bibby Resolution. And after that…in short, a vessel with so many names, and so many fates, that to keep it in our sights—as the protagonist of this fascinating economic parable—Ian Kumekawa has no choice but to call it, simply, the Vessel.

Despite its sturdy steel structure, weighing 9,500 deadweight tons, the Vessel is a figure as elusive and abstract as the offshore market it comes to embody: a world of island tax havens, exploited labor forces, free banking zones, Thatcherism, Reaganomics, and mass incarceration, where even the prisoners are held offshore. Fitted with modular shipping containers, themselves the product of standardized global trade, the ship could become whatever the market demanded. Whether caught in an international dispute involving Hong Kong, Nigeria, Indonesia, and the Virgin Islands—to be settled in an English court of law—or flying yet another foreign “flag of convenience” to mask its ownership—the barge is ever a container for forces much larger than even its hulking self. (Read more at Penguin Random House)

Weatherhead alum Ian Kumekawa is an Anniversary Fellow at the Center for History and Economics at Harvard University and a lecturer in history at MIT.

Soft Power and Charismatic Leadership in German-American Relations

By Hendrik W. Ohnesorge

This book examines the origin, development, and significance of soft power and charismatic leadership in German-American relations. Using a comparative-historical approach that spans more than five centuries of transatlantic interaction, it identifies, traces, and explains the forces of attraction between Germany and the United States of America. Taking into account political, security, economic, cultural, and personal dimensions, the book offers a comprehensive history of German-American relations.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part discusses the role of soft power in international affairs, outlines its mechanisms, and presents methodological approaches for its empirical analysis. The second part applies these insights to a case study of soft power in transatlantic relations, focusing on key historical milestones from the early sixteenth century to the present. Particular attention is paid to the post-Cold War period and the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. The third part synthesizes and contextualizes the findings, assesses recent developments, and outlines a future research agenda. An epilogue presents key lessons for developing an effective soft power strategy in 21st century global politics. (Read more at Springer)

Weatherhead alum Hendrik W. Ohnesorge is a managing director of the Center for Global Studies and senior lecturer at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Bonn.

The Nuclear Age: An Epic Race for Arms, Power and Survival

By Serhii Plokhy

The nuclear age came into existence with the explosion of the first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945. The inauguration of this new era was epitomized by the bomb’s principal creator, J. Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” Since then, the era of the atom has become the age of the bomb—or two bombs: atomic and hydrogen.

In The Nuclear Age, Serhii Plokhy, one of our preeminent Cold War historians, explores why governments have acquired and stockpiled nuclear weapons and reveals the global failure to reach meaningful nuclear arms treaties. Plokhy shows how, since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, the risk of nuclear war has never been so high: Russia threatens nuclear aggression in its war on Ukraine; China is constructing hundreds of new missile silos; and India and Pakistan are locked in ongoing nuclear competition. Plokhy also examines how more countries than ever have come within perilous reach of acquiring nuclear arms, while new technologies, such as hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence, make the nuclear landscape increasingly unpredictable. (Read more at W. W. Norton)

Faculty Associate Serhii Plokhy is the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University.

Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate

By Dani Rodrik

Dani Rodrik provides a bold new vision of globalization, one in which we accelerate the green transition to achieve a sustainable planet, shore up the middle class to restore democracy’s foundations, and hasten economic revitalization in the developing world to put an end to poverty. The rising tide of authoritarianism has demonstrated our inability to alleviate economic anxieties. Economic nationalism has raised the specter of increased protectionism and deteriorating prospects for economic growth. And automation and other new technologies have undercut the advantages of low-cost, unskilled labor in manufacturing and export-oriented industrialization. Rodrik reveals how we can restore prosperity through new forms of collaborative public-private action—to promote renewables and green industries, middle-class jobs, and enhanced productivity in labor-absorbing services—even in the absence of global cooperation. He explains why this new kind of globalization must also recognize the legitimate desire of governments to pursue their economic, social, and security interests autonomously. (Read more at Princeton University Press)

Faculty Associate Dani Rodrik is the Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School.

When Rebels Win: Ideology, Statebuilding, and Power After Civil Wars

By Kai M. Thaler

Many assume civil wars destroy state capacity. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya, for instance, victorious rebels perpetuated state weaknesses. Yet elsewhere, like in China and Rwanda, they built strong, capable states.

Kai M. Thaler argues that, to explain post-victory governance, we must look at rebel group ideologies: the ideas and goals around which a group is formed. Where a group's ideology falls along two key dimensions—programmatic versus opportunistic, inclusive versus exclusive—influences how it governs. Programmatic-inclusive groups seek to reach across territory and work with populations to implement goals, building the state to try to transform society. Opportunistic-exclusive groups, by contrast, prioritize personalized power and private wealth, neglecting statebuilding.

With rich evidence from Africa, Latin America, and Asia, When Rebels Win rethinks accounts of rebel behavior and post-war governance emphasizing factors such as resource availability or international intervention. Wartime rebel ideology, Thaler demonstrates, is not just "cheap talk"—and civil war can, counterintuitively, lead to stronger states. (Read more at Cornell University Press)

Weatherhead alum Kai M. Thaler is an assistant professor of global studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Career Choice and Gender in Selective High Schools: How Students Envision Their Futures

Coedited by Fumiya Uchikoshi

Even at preparatory schools where going on to university is considered a "natural" decision, disparities exist in career decisions due to gender, region, relationship with parents, etc. Based on interviews with high school students, both male and female, attending eighteen preparatory schools across the country, we explore the mechanisms of career choice. (Read more at Otsuki Shoten)

Academy Scholar Fumiya Uchikoshi received his PhD in sociology from Princeton University.