Reading room

It is sometimes difficult to know what books to read on international issues; thankfully the AIIA has Reading Room: the online book review section of the Australian Journal of International Affairs. Literature reviewed includes international relations, security or history, among other topics.
To suggest a title for review or to offer to review, contact australianoutlook@internationalaffairs.org.au.

09 Oct 2025
This book celebrates the transitions of Vietnam and Poland from central planning to market economies as triumphs of capitalism, but
01 Oct 2025
European security experts sometimes assume that NATO-style multilateral institutions should be the gold standard for defense cooperation everywhere, but the
25 Sep 2025
Sparding's historical analysis of US-German relations reveals a persistent pattern of American expectations for Germany to mature into a "responsible
24 Sep 2025
Dr Martin Hess’s The Politics of Police Diplomacy: The Australian Experience is a study of the international roles played by
11 Sep 2025
In "Tracing the Undersea Dragon: Chinese SSBN Programme and the Indo-Pacific", Commodore (Dr) Amit Ray sets out with the ambitious
10 Sep 2025
This work by Allan Behm shares its locus with other works that deal with the Australian-US alliance; it is marked
10 Sep 2025
‘The biggest purchase order in history’ is how one former mining CEO describes the energy transition’s demand for minerals and
02 Sep 2025
“Deterrence from Depth: SSBNs in India’s Nuclear Strategy” by Anubhav Shankar Goswami is a timely and crucial study that addresses
28 Aug 2025
Women are present in international affairs in ever greater numbers. In recent memory, Australia, the US, and the UK have
28 Aug 2025
‘…bright, vivacious, intelligent and not of a particularly high moral standard.’ Desmond Alexander of the Commonwealth Investigation Branch describing his
25 Aug 2025
A new biography strips away the myth of Sir Basil Liddell Hart, revealing a man whose brilliance as a strategist
22 Aug 2025
In The Diary of a Rogue Diplomat, Bruce Mabley delivers a sharp critique of Canadian diplomacy and Western foreign policy.