July - Chokepoints by Edward Fishman
What if America's most powerful weapon isn't a bomb — but a bank?
In Chokepoints, former State Department sanctions official Edward Fishman tells the epic story of how the United States turned the global economy into a weapon. Instead of troops and tanks, America now wields the dollar, SWIFT, semiconductors, and supply chains to confront adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran. Fishman takes you behind closed doors with the diplomats, lawyers, and financial experts who pioneered these strategies — and asks whether we're at risk of overusing the most powerful tool we have.
NYT bestseller. Financial Times Business Book of the Year finalist.
☕ 1:00–1:45 PM — Settle in, grab a drink
📖 1:45–4:00 PM — Moderated group discussion
We’ll dig into:
• Sanctions as Warfare — Are sanctions a humane alternative to war, or just war without the bombs? • The Dollar Weapon — How did US dominance of global finance become the ultimate chokepoint? And what happens when adversaries start building around it? • Iran → Russia → China — Fishman was on the Iran sanctions team and the first Russia lead at State. How did each campaign shape the next? • Overuse — The US imposes 3x more sanctions than any other country. Are we dulling our own blade? • From Shah’s Men to Chokepoints — For returning members: how does economic warfare compare to the covert operations we discussed last month?
🛠 How Our Book Club Works • Read the book — or audiobook, articles, podcasts, even summaries. • Didn’t finish? Come anyway! • First-timers welcome. Bring a friend.
🎬 Haven’t started the book? Start here:
• FREE 🎧 CFR’s President’s Inbox podcast with Fishman — great 30-min overview: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/new-era-economic-warfare-edward-fishman • FREE 🎥 Edward Fishman on YouTube (Part 1):
• FREE 🎥 The Dip Podcast — why America’s dollar weapon is losing its edge:
• 📖 Audiobook on Spotify (free with premium) or Audible • FREE 📝 Blinkist summary: https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/chokepoints-en