Zombies vs. The World: A Book Review
Enter zombies.
Daniel W. Drezner, Professor of Political Science at Tufts and frequent contributor to Foreign Policy magazine, has undertaken the noble and novel task of preparing us all for the zombie apocalypse by teaching us how the world would react to such an outbreak. His book Theories of International Politics and Zombies builds on an article he originally wrote for FP back in 2010.
The basic premise is simple: We all know that zombies like to eat brains. We, with our tasty, tasty brains, do not want that to happen. We create and sustain governments to protect us from all sorts of threats, so we should expect government to protect us from zombies as well. Therefore, it’s worth knowing how the governments of the world might react should the dead decide to walk the earth.
Let me be clear: this book is brilliant. It combines copious research into both the science and history of the zombie culture with a concise, approachable, but thorough treatment of the most important international theories in the field. Legitimate and insightful analyses of popular culture and crisis management are peppered with quick, clean humor.
I do think the book stops short of its potential. Drezner is committed to a brief, snappy treatment of each topic, but there is little in the way of connecting material or comparative analysis of the different theories aside from an unending quest to find new ways to say “the Undead.” And while he has certainly done his homework into the zombie mythology, he is less than rigorous in his assumptions, so the realistic possibilities for planning based on his analysis are limited. (Even barring a true zombie invasion, the case is incredibly useful in modelling other crises, such as pandemics.) All the same, these are minor concerns, mere nitpicks on a work that is entertaining and enlightening to zombie enthusiasts, political scientists, and neophytes alike.
The book weighs in at just over 100 pages, so you can finish it in a weekend and be better off for it. While it might not shatter your conception of the UN, it will leave you better equipped the next time you get into an argument with an International Relations major. And it might just convince you to keep a crowbar by the bed, just in case you need to bash some heads.
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The book Theories of International Politics and Zombies is available now. You can find it on Amazon here.