March 22, 2021

Homo Empathicus
By Alexander Görlach

As we witnessed through the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the growing political divide threatens democracy. Alexander Görlach traces the recent rise in populism to economic insecurity and the 2008 financial crisis, when the promises of liberal democracy were repeatedly broken. His book “Homo Empathicus” argues for a new social contract based on empathy and an ethic of participation to guide us through the economic and social challenges of the future.

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Partners of First Resort
By David McKean and Bart M.J. Szewczyk

Even before the Trump administration there were signs of fragmentation in trans-Atlantic relations. But where there are new challenges to the international liberal order there is an opportunity for a trans-Atlantic renaissance. In “Partners of First Resort” David McKean and Bart M.J. Szewczyk propose that U.S. and European leaders craft a new Atlantic Charter based on the shared interests and history that have produced peace and prosperity for the past seven decades.

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BPEA: Summer 2020
Edited by Janice Eberly and James H. Stock, with Guest Editors David Romer and Justin Wolfers

“Brookings Papers on Economic Activity” (BPEA) is an academic journal from the Brookings Economic Studies program featuring timely research on macroeconomic issues and policy. Celebrating BPEA’s 50th anniversary, this special Summer 2020 edition includes articles on the prospects for labor markets and consumer spending in 2021, whether safety net programs are enough to solve poverty, how emerging markets will respond to the global financial crisis, and more.

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War Time
Edited by Sten Rynning, Olivier Schmitt, and Amelie Theussen

Prolonged wars waged in recent decades by the United States and its allies have fueled the debate over the decline of the west. In “War Time,” war studies experts examine conflicting perceptions of time anchored within political and military institutions and the western attachment to fast-paced warfare at the expense of longer-term political solutions. This book provides a critical assessment of the evolution and future of western military power.

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Upcoming book talk

Marvin Kalb—Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War, with Jake Tapper

Politics & Prose Live!

Friday, April 9, 2021 6:00 PM EDT

More on Brookings books

Becoming a foreign correspondent during the Cold War. Kirkus Reviews calls Marvin Kalb’s forthcoming book “Assignment Russia” a “fond, generous memoir, which vividly delineates a bygone era of early journalism.”

Remembering the Fukushima disaster. “Meltdown” author Yoichi Funabashi discussed his book on the Brookings Cafeteria podcast. He also wrote a piece reflecting on the 2011 nuclear disaster for Japan Times.

Eliminate the bar exam. Clifford Winston, co-author of “Trouble at Bar,” recently wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal arguing for deregulation of the legal profession.

Weaponized interdependence. In a piece published by the Washington Post, Daniel Drezner outlines the reality of interdependence and economic statecraft in 2021. “The Uses and Abuses of Weaponized Interdependence,” edited by Daniel Drezner, Henry Farrell, and Abraham L. Newman, is available now.

Time and military strategy. The editors of “War Time” were interviewed on Chatham House’s Undercurrents podcast about the perception of time in western military strategy.

A new Atlantic Charter? David McKean and Bart M.J. Szewczyk, authors of “Partners of First Resort,” were interviewed by Andy Fitch of the Los Angeles Review of Books.