Hot off the Presses

Not for the Faint-hearted: A Personal Reflection on Life, Politics and Purpose 1957–2007

By Kevin Rudd, Senior Fellow

Macmillan Australia (October 2017)

In 2007, Kevin Rudd became only the third Labor prime minister since the Second World War, after Whitlam and Hawke, to win government from opposition. In doing so he also defeated, and unseated, John Howard, the longest-serving conservative prime minister since Menzies.

So who was the man behind the phenomenal success of the Kevin07 campaign? This Mandarin-speaking professional diplomat, committed Christian, and self-described policy wonk, who grew up as the son of a dairy farmer in rural Queensland to become the 26th prime minister of Australia?

This is the first time we hear from the man himself, in his own words, about what makes him tick. This is an optimistic book, written with passion, conviction and insight. It is the first in a two-volume autobiography.

“Kevin Rudd’s story is riveting, invariably intelligent, occasionally grandiose and frequently shrewd….”

—Robert Manne, The Sydney Morning Herald

The Cold War: A World History

By Odd Arne Westad, S. T. Lee Professor of U.S. - Asia Relations, Harvard University

Basic Books (August 2017)

The Cold War offers a new perspective on a century when great power rivalry and ideological battle transformed every corner of the globe. The Cold War may have begun on the perimeters of Europe, but it had its deepest reverberations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, where nearly every community had to choose sides. And these choices continue to define economies and regimes across the world.

Stunning in its breadth and revelatory in its perspective, this book expands our understanding of the Cold War both geographically and chronologically and offers an engaging new history of how today’s world was created.

“…[A]bly synthesizes contemporary scholarship to produce an accessible narrative that provides a fresh perspective on the conflict’s pervasive global influence.”

—Publishers Weekly

Windfall: How the New Energy Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America’s Power

By Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Simon & Schuster (September 2017)

Windfall is the boldest profile of the world’s energy resources since Daniel Yergin’s The Quest. Meghan L. O’Sullivan reveals how fears of energy scarcity have given way to the reality of energy abundance. This abundance is transforming the geo-political order and boosting American power.

This book describes how new energy realities have profoundly affected the world of international relations and security. New technologies led to oversupplied oil markets and an emerging natural gas glut. This did more than drive down prices. It changed the structure of markets and altered the way many countries wield power and influence.

“A lucid and provocative look at the geopolitics of energy and the shifts and dislocations it is likely to produce.”

—Kirkus Review

International Security in the 21st Century: Germany’s International Responsibility

Edited by James D. Bindenagel, Matthias Herdegen, and Karl Kaiser, Senior Associate, Transatlantic Relations Initiative, Future of Diplomacy Project

Contemporary Issues in International Security and Strategic Studies

Bonn University Press (July 2017)

Failing states, conflicts over distribution, terrorism, and the refugee crisis represent only some of the challenges facing scholars and political leaders today.

In this book, acclaimed experts from Germany and abroad offer a panorama of the international security threats of the 21st century. With a particular focus on the role of Germany, these experts present strategic approaches through which these challenges can be tackled in the most effective and sensible way, thus providing new impulses for the security policy debate in Germany.

For more on Belfer Center books, go to belfercenter.org/books.

Compiled by Susan Lynch, ISP/STPP