I’m currently watching the Legend of the Galactic Heroes anime, which, for those who don’t know, is a space opera that focuses on a never ending interstellar conflict between two factions, the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. Alongside its huge emphasis on military tactics, which I thoroughly enjoy, one thing that really stuck out to me was its strong applicability to International Relations and Foreign Policy.
For instance, >!the Alliance’s failed invasion of the Empire, whose intent was to liberate its outlier planets, but became a military, political, and humanitarian catastrophe!< reminded me about the terrible side effects of the United States’ foreign policy in the Middle East, especially after the Second Iraq War, as well as liberal international relations theory’s inclination to see geopolitics as a struggle between democracies and autocracies.
While I plan to read the books this show is based off of, I am interested in reading additional books that explore similar themes. I would prefer novels with plots heavily steeped in great power rivalries and foreign policy mistakes, but welcome any suggestions that scratches my International Relations nerd itch. I would also prefer books with moral complexity, especially when extremely hard decisions are made to ensure the state survives, but have morally questionable implications. I also typically enjoy fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction, but am open to additional genres.
Oh, nonfiction would be welcome too! I could use the excuse to add to my bookshelf’s political science section lmao.
by Heirof_Numenor
2 Comments
– Red Rising saga, especially the later books in the series
– The Expanse series
This one is less the military side of things, but *Babel* by RF Kuang is about an alternate reality 1830s fantasy England. It deals mostly with the morality of imperialism/colonialism and is set in the leadup to the First Opium War. It’s very heavy on the politics but less so in the sense of diplomats and leaders doing X and more on how the decisions of empire affect those oppressed by said politics, so it may or may not fit what you want. It’s certainly not gonna be like on the side of England on a moral level though.