Can the international economic and legal system survive today鈥檚 fractured geopolitics? Democracies are facing a drawn-out contest with authoritarian states that is entangling much of public policy with global security issues. In Global Discord, Paul Tucker lays out principles for a sustainable system of international cooperation, showing how democracies can deal with China and other illiberal states without sacrificing their deepest political values. Drawing on three decades as a central banker and regulator, Tucker applies these principles to the international monetary order, including the role of the U.S. dollar, trade and investment regimes, and the financial system.
Combining history, economics, and political and legal philosophy, Tucker offers a new account of international relations. Rejecting intellectual traditions that go back to Hobbes, Kant, and Grotius, and deploying instead ideas from David Hume, Bernard Williams, and modern mechanism-design economists, Tucker describes a new kind of political realism that emphasizes power and interests without sidelining morality. Incentives must be aligned with values if institutions are to endure. The connecting tissue for a system of international cooperation, he writes, should be legitimacy, creating a world of concentric circles in which we cooperate more with those with whom we share the most and whom we fear the least.
"This is an important book."鈥擬artin Wolf, Financial Times
"Ambitious and illuminating."鈥擭iall Ferguson
"I recommend strongly. . . the book both for those . . . studying or thinking about international relations but also for those . . . who are currently or may want in the future to engage in . . . policy."鈥擩ohn Bew, Professor of History and Foreign Policy, King鈥檚 College London; and Foreign Policy Advisor to the UK Prime Minister
"A book full of clever intellectual maneuvers."鈥擜drian Wooldridge, Bloomberg
"Keynes famously said that policymakers are distilling the frenzy of past academic scribblers. [Paul Tucker is] the rare policymaker who goes on to become an extraordinary scribbler."鈥擫awrence H. Summers, Bloomberg Television
"An important new book. . . . Global Discord is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the prospects for 21st-century geopolitics, and possible trade-offs facing the West."鈥擵ic Duggan, Irish Times 鈥嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧��
"An extremely important and striking book in many ways. It makes a contribution in terms of political ideas, and so is of interest to students of the history of political thought, but also political economy, international relation, and of course . . . major and important geopolitical policy recommendations and analyses."鈥擱ichard Bourke, University of Cambridge
"[A] fascinating . . . [and] commanding book."鈥擠avid Westin, Bloomberg Television
"The book has extraordinary sweep and breadth of learning. It straddles the line between academic work and rigorous book for generalists. . . . Invigorating."鈥擪rishna Guha, Financial Times
"[Tucker] likens the relationship between America and China to that between Britain and France between 1688 and 1815. . . . The parallel is instructive because it is a reminder that the rivalry is one with which the world is likely to have to live for decades to come."鈥擲imon Nixon, The Times
"We need serious strategic thinking about how the situation is changing and what to do about it. One of the few people earnestly engaged in that project is Paul Tucker."鈥擩uliet Samuel, The Telegraph
"Wide-ranging and erudite."鈥擠iane Coyle, Enlightened Economist
"A true tour de force."鈥擩ack Snyder, author of Human Rights for Pragmatists
"A tremendously rich book. One of the most interesting books in terms of how [it] combines[s] various aspects of international politics that I have read for a very long time."鈥擜rne Westad, Yale Professor
"I learned a lot and can only applaud the breadth of vision and ambition. Bravo."鈥擪evin Gardiner, Society of Professional Economists
"The great achievement of this profound and important book is that it offers a way of thinking about international politics that helps us to know what better decisions will look like. It might even assist some of those charged with making such decisions to do a better job. Books like this do not come along very often; when they do, one can only hope they are read as widely as possible."鈥擯aul Sagar, The Critic
"This is a lovely book."鈥擩eff Colgan, Richard Holbrooke Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs, Brown University
"A must-read for anyone wanting to understand the various possible trade-offs for 21st-century geoeconomics."鈥擳.C.A. Ranganathan, Book Review
"Global Discord is one of the most comprehensive and judicious books on [international affairs]. It seamlessly combines political theory, International Relations theory, international law, international political economy and a wealth of experience that Sir Paul Tucker accumulated during a long career as a central and international banker."鈥擯eter Wilson, International Affairs
鈥淧aul Tucker writes with the erudition of a scholar and the realism of a practitioner. Connecting political theory, economics, history, and international relations, he sketches possible futures for the global system while nudging the reader toward an international order that must pass a legitimacy test within democracies. This book packs a powerful argument鈥攃ommon sense yet radical in its implications.鈥濃�擠ani Rodrik, author of Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy
鈥淚n this extraordinarily impressive book, Paul Tucker makes a strong case for how the international economy should be dealt with in the context of geopolitics. Tucker is a rare thinker, combining in-depth knowledge in economics, political science, and moral and political philosophy with extensive experience at the highest levels of international finance. I know of no one else who could have written a book of the scope and depth of Global Discord.鈥濃�擜llen Buchanan, Duke University
鈥淭ucker develops a totally novel theory of international relations that foregrounds conditions of cooperation and gives priority to the questions of legitimacy and the legitimation of power. A highly valuable contribution to realist political thought.鈥濃�擬att Sleat, author of Liberal Realism
鈥淲ith a thoughtful analysis that is remarkably wide and deep in scope, Paul Tucker offers an insightful liberal response to systemic global problems that have been the traditional focus of realists in international relations.鈥濃�擱oger Myerson, Nobel Laureate in Economics
