This is a thought-provoking book about foreign policy, with a rather dense texture.
The authors define geoeconomics (GE) as “the use of economic instruments to promote and defend national interests, and to produce beneficial geopolitical results; and the effects of other nations’ economic actions on a country’s geopolitical goals” (@20). GE is “both a method of analysis and a form of statecraft” (id.), but it is neither geopolitics per se, nor is it foreign economic policy.
To illustrate (examples are mine, not the book's): (1) If geopolitics is “a method of foreign policy analysis that seeks to explain, understand and predict international political behavior primarily in terms of geographical variables” (@24), then relatively speaking it emphasizes the “geo” while GE emphasizes the economics. For example, consider how you might impose more liberal human rights in another country. If you were Napoleon (to the extent his legal system tended to follow his conquests), or perhaps the US in 2003 (to take the then-prevailing narrative about the tyrant Saddam at face value), you’d use military force; whereas if you were taking a GE approach, you might use economic sanctions. (2) To see the difference between GE and foreign economic policy, contrast the case above with one where punitive economic methods, such as a “border tax,” are used not to force human rights improvements, but for coercing the renegotiation of a trade treaty like NAFTA, in order to fix trade imbalances. Use of economic instruments for economic ends isn’t GE.
The authors do acknowledge, though, that the distinctions sometimes get fuzzy, particularly between economic interests and security interests. Again, to illustrate with my own examples: Suppose the US were to repudiate NAFTA, or to impose an economic blockade on Mexico, each on the grounds of getting a “better deal” for the US; and suppose this caused the Mexican economy to collapse. Then an impoverished and angry population on our border could create national security problems, not just economic ones. Conversely, trade that helps maintain economic stability in Mexico can be helpful for improving security. And that seems to be the case: even during the 2016 US political campaign, with its incendiary accusations of criminals coming across the border from Mexico, no one was claiming that *terrorists* from Mexico were contributing to “this American carnage.”
After establishing what GE is and isn’t, the authors next discuss the main instruments of GE: trade policy, investment policy, economic and financial sanctions, cyber attacks, development aid, financial and monetary policy, and energy and commodities. The rest of the book then focuses mainly on the policies of China, Russia and the US. The gist is that China and Russia are very good at using pretty most of the instruments in the GE armory; whereas the US, while it once was proficient at GE, in recent decades has abandoned it in favor of using economic means for economic ends, and military means for geopolitical ends.
This isn’t a fast read at all — every paragraph is a dense thicket of facts. And if facts are fast becoming objects of nostalgia as I write this, that isn’t the only wistful aspect to the book: one of the authors had served as an ambassador under Secretary of State Clinton, who had appeared to be open to restoring a GE perspective to US policy. Perhaps the authors were hoping that this book would help to shape statecraft of the 21st Century Clinton White House. In any case, judging by the early weeks of the Trump Administration, the book’s lessons don’t seem yet to have fallen onto receptive ears: the past segregation of economic means for economic ends and armed means for geopolitical ones looks like it will continue for a while.
But there’s a more important respect in which this book carries resonances of the 2016 election. Usually GE measures are meant to change the behavior of the leaders of the target nation. But what about the impact on ordinary people? The authors never consider at length the effect of economic measures on the general population of the target countries. Their perspective is very aerial and lacking a human touch — exactly the sort of mandarin attitude that made it hard for people to warm up to the Clinton candidacy. While I’m agnostic about whether the Trump Administration will improve on this (especially given that some advisers, while ditching academic theory, seem to have replaced it with not just aerial but celestial visions of apocalyptic holy war), it’s easy — and a bit chilling — to see why the Clinton team had such a tough time.
A couple of minor issues: The authors call John Maynard Keynes an “early neoclassical economist” (@178), when he was neither a neoclassical, nor, if he had been, would he have been an early one. The book has extensive endnotes, but no list of references. And the title is puzzling. If it’s intended to be from Clausewitz, it’s mangled: Clausewitz wrote that war is *politics* by other means. Michel Foucault ironically inverted the formula, to the effect that politics is “war by other means.” Could this be what the authors meant? But actually, this book doesn’t adopt such a paranoid vision at all.
The authors’ personal politics notwithstanding, the book itself is even-handed and of value to a wide audience, provided readers have the patience to swim in its streams of policy prose. It certainly will have you thinking more deeply about the nightly news, and about whether there might be a better way for the US, or whatever country you live in, to conduct its foreign affairs.
Buying Options
| Digital List Price: | $20.50 |
| Print List Price: | $21.00 |
| Kindle Price: |
$9.99
Save $11.01 (52%) |
Add to book club
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club?
Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
OK
War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft Kindle Edition
by
Robert D. Blackwill
(Author),
Jennifer M. Harris
(Author)
Format: Kindle Edition
|
Robert D. Blackwill
(Author)
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
|
|
Price
|
New from | Used from |
-
LanguageEnglish
-
PublisherHarvard University Press
-
Publication dateApril 11, 2016
-
File size913 KB
![]() |
Customers who read this book also read
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A readable and lucid primer…The book defines the extensive topic and opens readers’ eyes to its prevalence throughout history…[Presidential] candidates who care more about protecting American interests would be wise to heed the advice of War by Other Means and take our geoeconomic toolkit more seriously.”―Jordan Schneider, Weekly Standard
“War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft is [Blackwill and Harris’s] blueprint for how the United States national security apparatus can better wield the economic tools at its disposal. It is, in military parlance, about putting the big ‘E’ in the DIME (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, Economic) equation back into balance with the other ways in which a great power projects power.”―Nikolas K. Gvosdev, National Interest
“Robert Blackwill and Jennifer Harris do policymakers a service by reminding them of the importance of geoeconomic tools. In a world increasingly affected by economic power, their analysis deserves careful consideration.”―Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State
“A brilliant, comprehensive study of how economic measures have been―and should be―used to pursue geopolitical objectives. War by Other Means should be required reading for all presidential candidates and their foreign policy advisors.”―General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus, Chairman, KKR Global Institute and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
“The economic aspect of foreign policy will be crucial to the next president’s success. She or he will need to reckon with Blackwill and Harris’s powerful arguments.”―Lawrence H. Summers, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University and former Secretary of the Treasury
“An urgent message that other countries are using economic measures to achieve their geopolitical objectives. Absent an effective U.S. response, we will increasingly be required to rely on military force to protect our vital interests.”―John Deutch, Emeritus Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and former Deputy Secretary of Defense
“In War by Other Means, Robert Blackwill and Jennifer Harris build a very persuasive case for why the U.S. should make much more vigorous use of its economic and financial muscle to advance its geopolitical interests. This book should be required reading for anyone involved in making foreign policy.”―Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lords of Finance
“Although this thoroughly researched book is designed more for students of international relations and policymakers than casual readers, it is worth buying. Confident about the American mission in the world, the book is a lesson about how creative thinking can promote our interests without risk to blood and treasure.”―Tom Rogan, Washington Free Beacon
“Geoeconomics, the use of economic instruments to advance foreign policy goals, has long been a staple of great-power politics. In this impressive policy manifesto, Blackwill and Harris argue that in recent decades, the United States has tended to neglect this form of statecraft, while China, Russia, and other illiberal states have increasingly employed it to Washington’s disadvantage.”―G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
“War by Other Means is an important and interesting contribution to U.S. statecraft in the unipolar world.”―Christopher J. Fettweis, H-Net Reviews --This text refers to the paperback edition.
“War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft is [Blackwill and Harris’s] blueprint for how the United States national security apparatus can better wield the economic tools at its disposal. It is, in military parlance, about putting the big ‘E’ in the DIME (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, Economic) equation back into balance with the other ways in which a great power projects power.”―Nikolas K. Gvosdev, National Interest
“Robert Blackwill and Jennifer Harris do policymakers a service by reminding them of the importance of geoeconomic tools. In a world increasingly affected by economic power, their analysis deserves careful consideration.”―Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State
“A brilliant, comprehensive study of how economic measures have been―and should be―used to pursue geopolitical objectives. War by Other Means should be required reading for all presidential candidates and their foreign policy advisors.”―General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus, Chairman, KKR Global Institute and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
“The economic aspect of foreign policy will be crucial to the next president’s success. She or he will need to reckon with Blackwill and Harris’s powerful arguments.”―Lawrence H. Summers, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University and former Secretary of the Treasury
“An urgent message that other countries are using economic measures to achieve their geopolitical objectives. Absent an effective U.S. response, we will increasingly be required to rely on military force to protect our vital interests.”―John Deutch, Emeritus Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and former Deputy Secretary of Defense
“In War by Other Means, Robert Blackwill and Jennifer Harris build a very persuasive case for why the U.S. should make much more vigorous use of its economic and financial muscle to advance its geopolitical interests. This book should be required reading for anyone involved in making foreign policy.”―Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lords of Finance
“Although this thoroughly researched book is designed more for students of international relations and policymakers than casual readers, it is worth buying. Confident about the American mission in the world, the book is a lesson about how creative thinking can promote our interests without risk to blood and treasure.”―Tom Rogan, Washington Free Beacon
“Geoeconomics, the use of economic instruments to advance foreign policy goals, has long been a staple of great-power politics. In this impressive policy manifesto, Blackwill and Harris argue that in recent decades, the United States has tended to neglect this form of statecraft, while China, Russia, and other illiberal states have increasingly employed it to Washington’s disadvantage.”―G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
“War by Other Means is an important and interesting contribution to U.S. statecraft in the unipolar world.”―Christopher J. Fettweis, H-Net Reviews --This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
Robert D. Blackwill is Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jennifer M. Harris is Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
Jennifer M. Harris is Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B01EAGEYI8
- Publisher : Harvard University Press (April 11, 2016)
- Publication date : April 11, 2016
- Language : English
- File size : 913 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 376 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #262,227 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
123 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2017
Report abuse
Verified Purchase
16 people found this helpful
Helpful
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2017
Verified Purchase
For me, the most valuable, albeit alarming and depressing, section of the book is the cataloging of the relentless Chinese geoeconomic assaults on most of the southeast Asian nations and on many other countries worldwide. Without shouting or hyperbole, the authors report how the Chinese have insinuated themselves so deeply in the economies of many countries, that these now face ruinous retaliation if they take positions opposing Chinese actions. The US, while employing geoeconomics tools in the past, has largely abandoned them in favor of military resources and options. A big reason for this, although not fully explored in the book, is that geoeconomic policies in furtherance of US foreign policy might adversely affect corporate interests and profits. China, on the other hand, views geoeconomic policies that may make no immediate economic sense as a powerful, relatively inexpensive tools, when employed in tandem with military power.
Another chilling chapter details Chinese and Russian successes in cyberwarfare, and explains why the US has the most to lose in this arena.
The final section of the book outlines a program of geoeconomic policies the US could adopt to respond to our adversaries’ actions and to promote our own interests, such as passage of the TPP and steps to counteract Russian adventurism. Sadly, the prospect of these ever being implemented seems vanishingly remote after today’s events
Another chilling chapter details Chinese and Russian successes in cyberwarfare, and explains why the US has the most to lose in this arena.
The final section of the book outlines a program of geoeconomic policies the US could adopt to respond to our adversaries’ actions and to promote our own interests, such as passage of the TPP and steps to counteract Russian adventurism. Sadly, the prospect of these ever being implemented seems vanishingly remote after today’s events
12 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
At times I felt like I was reading poetry. Turning a jejune topic into a captivating page-turner is the stuff of magic.
I particularly liked the historical perspective of Geoeconomics. An excerpt:
"In return for favorable borrowing terms, the British crown under William III provided legal sanction for London credit markets and judicial enforcement of contract obligations, even obligations against the crown. By binding the crown as subject to credit obligations, British rulers succeeded in opening up new, vastly more affordable financing streams and flexibility that “in turn greatly strengthened its options in war and other forms of international competition,” Suri explains. 163 The chief lessons learned by William III and his successors are at least as relevant today."!
I particularly liked the historical perspective of Geoeconomics. An excerpt:
"In return for favorable borrowing terms, the British crown under William III provided legal sanction for London credit markets and judicial enforcement of contract obligations, even obligations against the crown. By binding the crown as subject to credit obligations, British rulers succeeded in opening up new, vastly more affordable financing streams and flexibility that “in turn greatly strengthened its options in war and other forms of international competition,” Suri explains. 163 The chief lessons learned by William III and his successors are at least as relevant today."!
11 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
Good review of current contests for preeminence of world power, emphasizing of economic issues as more important that military force. Great detail of issues. A bit of bias in emphasizing American prominence over others, though it acknowledges the disadvantages of the current military budgets. China's growing role is reluctantly acknowledged. A little vague on next directions in world development and role of growth of international organizations and their future roles.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
he book's reasonable thesis is that the United States must stop relying on predominantly military force to achieve its foreign policy goals, and instead use economic tools, including trade deals, sanctions, and economic aid. No doubt I read this book with great interest, flipping page to page, but I think it was more because I was waiting for Blackwill and Harris to give me a fleshed out, justifiable policy solution for the U.S. Very strong on painting how other countries are using these tools, though.
My full review here: (...)
My full review here: (...)
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2017
Verified Purchase
An important topic that the author covers in depth; however, if you're not an economist there will be areas that are inadequately explained, which is why I gave it four versus five stars.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2018
Verified Purchase
The author points out that the US has forgoten that a systematic use of economic instuments to accomplish geopolitical objects and increasingly resorts in the use of military force.
That may work for less powerful countries but it will be impossible to attempt it with China.
That may work for less powerful countries but it will be impossible to attempt it with China.
Top reviews from other countries
Blikker
5.0 out of 5 stars
True Diplomacy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2017Verified Purchase
An important guide to understanding the world and its interconnectivity. I learned a lot.
Miles McDonald
3.0 out of 5 stars
Academic Speak to show how America should be more like China
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2020Verified Purchase
The book sent shivers down my spine. It opened my eyes to things happening in SE Asia (courtesy of China) and then went on to suggest that America do the same.
LaFayette76
5.0 out of 5 stars
Très bon livre
Reviewed in France on March 19, 2017Verified Purchase
Robert Blackwill traite un sujet bien trop peu abordé à savoir comment les Etats ne sont la guerre financière. L'expérience de l'auteur apporte un point de vue très éclairant sur la finance internationale
Go global
4.0 out of 5 stars
当面の国際関係のトレンドを測るために必要
Reviewed in Japan on November 22, 2020Verified Purchase
現在の国際関係を知る必読書の一つ。
What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
















