Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare

EARLY PRAISE FOR CHOKEPOINTS"In Chokepoints, Edward Fishman delivers a gripping, first-hand account of America's efforts to weaponize the world economy against its resurgent adversaries. From the U.S. campaign to curtail Iran’s nuclear program to today's cutting-edge effort to stop China from accessing AI chips, Chokepoints is an unparalleled guide to America's use of sanctions and export controls over recent decades. Essential reading for understanding the new age of economic warfare."— Chris Miller, author of Chip War“Brilliant, timely, and impossible to put down, Chokepoints is one of those rare books that utterly changes how you see the world. Edward Fishman pulls back the curtain on the hidden world of economic warfare, telling the untold story of how a rogue group of U.S. officials quietly reinvented U.S. foreign policy. He puts readers in the room as policymakers experiment with sanctions and other once-obscure tools to fight the biggest geopolitical threats of the day: a nuclear Iran, a resurgent Russia, and an assertive China. Combining the insider knowledge of a practitioner, the analytical insight of a scholar, and the narrative instincts of a born storyteller, Fishman has written a book that is as engrossing as it is urgent. No one seeking to understand the global economy or America's role in the world can afford to ignore this indispensable page turner.”— Stuart A. Reid, Executive Editor of Foreign Affairs and author of The Lumumba Plot“Brilliant and eye-opening—weaving together economic, geopolitical, and strategic analysis. Edward Fishman’s riveting account of the global economic ‘battlefield’ sheds fascinating new light on our struggles with Iran, Russia, and China. An indispensable book for anyone who wants to understand current and future conflicts.”— General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army (Ret.), former Commander of U.S. and International Forces in Afghanistan and author of Team of Teams and My Share of the Task"Edward Fishman has done the impossible: he has written a book about America's strategic economic policies that is at once grand in scope, meticulously researched, and, above all, a lively and captivating read. Those interested in how the United States uses its economic power as a strategic weapon in today's dangerous and complex world need look no further. This book is a gem."— Robert Kagan, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, columnist for The Washington Post, and author of The Ghost at the Feast and Of Paradise and Power“Chokepoints is the best book on sanctions that I have ever read—a tour de force that illuminates in spellbinding detail how economic warfare is reshaping the world. Edward Fishman combines his deep knowledge of the subject with a dynamic, engaging writing style, recasting U.S. government technocrats as superheroes fighting high-stakes economic battles. Sanctions are at the center of geopolitical competition today. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand how the world works in the 21st century.”— Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Professor at Stanford University, and author of From Cold War to Hot Peace