Dan Drezner, in response to the idea that aspiring leaders should read particular authors (Tom Friedman) asked people to suggest three books a President should read (Announcing the IR 101 Contest). Most respondents to Drezner have offered a list of books that no policy-maker will read (be honest, how many academics would read many of the books we read if we did not feel it was expected of us to read these books?).
So, here is my pathetic attempt at what a President should read. I start with the holy scriptures of Christianity, the Bible (which version some may ask, not realizing there is only one version that has many translations and to which some Christian sects/denominations have added material). The Bible is not just a morality tale or a list of laws to follow in one's daily life. The work, however, does paint as folly the understanding of man regarding the ultimate in heroics, not that one gives up his life for another, but that man as God's creation has failed and must be saved. The fact that man has failed should be remembered by every politician and every person in general as this fact explains a lot of rotten behavior. Ok, I'll take heat on this one, don't really care that I will take heat on this one.
Second, I would say that the President should read Chandrasekaren's Imperial Life in an Emerald City. I found this a very interesting read. While I thought about Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War) or Robert Gilpin (War and Change in World Politics), something Drezner laughs about because of the fact of the primary focus of politicians--getting re-elected, one a quality understanding of prudence and reality, the other a great realist read of the nexus of economy and politics causing change in the world (even has a little undertone of Marxist thought to flesh out the understanding of economy), I decided instead upon something more recently published that has lessons of importance for contemporary policy debate.
Finally, I would tell a President to read Hugo Slim's Killing Civilians. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. The President should at least be well versed in understanding what the use of force means--killing people. But, more than just killing, the President should be aware than the use of force means declaring two entire population (the population of the President's country and the population of the country where force is being applied) as subject to the perils of armed violence. Slim does a great job of carefully spelling out differing theories that explain the translation of force to violence against civilian populations.
So, what does your list look like?
So, here is my pathetic attempt at what a President should read. I start with the holy scriptures of Christianity, the Bible (which version some may ask, not realizing there is only one version that has many translations and to which some Christian sects/denominations have added material). The Bible is not just a morality tale or a list of laws to follow in one's daily life. The work, however, does paint as folly the understanding of man regarding the ultimate in heroics, not that one gives up his life for another, but that man as God's creation has failed and must be saved. The fact that man has failed should be remembered by every politician and every person in general as this fact explains a lot of rotten behavior. Ok, I'll take heat on this one, don't really care that I will take heat on this one.
Second, I would say that the President should read Chandrasekaren's Imperial Life in an Emerald City. I found this a very interesting read. While I thought about Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War) or Robert Gilpin (War and Change in World Politics), something Drezner laughs about because of the fact of the primary focus of politicians--getting re-elected, one a quality understanding of prudence and reality, the other a great realist read of the nexus of economy and politics causing change in the world (even has a little undertone of Marxist thought to flesh out the understanding of economy), I decided instead upon something more recently published that has lessons of importance for contemporary policy debate.
Finally, I would tell a President to read Hugo Slim's Killing Civilians. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. The President should at least be well versed in understanding what the use of force means--killing people. But, more than just killing, the President should be aware than the use of force means declaring two entire population (the population of the President's country and the population of the country where force is being applied) as subject to the perils of armed violence. Slim does a great job of carefully spelling out differing theories that explain the translation of force to violence against civilian populations.
So, what does your list look like?
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