WACHH BoOK CLUB

The Book Club is the newest addition to the World Affairs Council of Hilton Head (WACHH) program offerings. The Book Club presents an opportunity for us all to learn more broadly and deeply about both world affairs and domestic politics, to engage in stimulating discussions, and to make new friendships.

The Book Club is free and open to WACHH members and the public, but advance registration is required. Registration for each book club discussion will open one month in advance and is limited to 35 participants.

The Book Club meets the second Thursday of each month from 4:30 to 6:00 pm at The Island Rec Center Board Room, 20 Wilborn Rd, Hilton Head Island (next to the High school).

May 8, 2025

 Japan's Quiet Leadership by Mireya Solis  

Why has Japan emerged from the “lost decades” unscathed from the populist wave and a far more consequential actor in the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific? In answering this question, Japan’s Quiet Leadership provides a sweeping look at Japan’s domestic economic and political evolution, its economic statecraft, and the array of geopolitical challenges that have triggered a gradual but substantial shift in the country’s security profile. This deep dive into Japan’s trajectory over the last three decades underscores Japan’s hidden strengths in its democratic resilience, social stability, and proactive diplomacy; while reckoning with the profound challenges the nation faces: depopulation, rising inequality, voter disengagement, and threats to Asia’s long peace. The book traces the profound currents of change coursing through the Japanese polity and its external environment; and the myriad ways in which Japan’s experience has become more relevant to countries coping with slow growth, adverse demographics, adjustment to economic globalization, and the emergence of a powerful and assertive China.

Register here:   Book Club - Japan's Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific by Mireya Solis

June 12, 2025

 Freedom from Fear:  An Incomplete History of Liberalism by Alan Kahan  

Freedom from Fear offers a striking new account of the dominant political and social theory of our time:  liberalism. In a pathbreaking reframing of the historic debate, Alan Kahan charts the development of Western liberalism from the late eighteenth century to the present. Examining key liberal thinkers and issues, Kahan shows how liberalism is both a response to fear and a source of hope: the search for a world in which no one need be afraid.

Freedom from Fear reveals how liberal arguments typically rely on three pillars: freedom, markets, and morals.  But when liberals ignore one or more of these pillars, their arguments generally fail to persuade.  Extending from Adam Smith and Montesquieu to today's battles between liberals and populists, the book examines the twists and turns of the "incomplete" or unfinished liberal tradition while demonstrating its fundamental continuity. 

Registration opens 30 days before the scheduled Book Club meeting

July 10, 2025

 Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum  

We think we know what an autocratic state looks like.  There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police.  The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents.

But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality.  Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandist, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran.  Corrupt companies in one country do business with corrupt companies in another.  The police in one country can arm and train the police in another, and propagandists share resources and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America.  

Registration opens 30 days before the scheduled Book Club meeting  

August 14, 2025

 The new politics of Poland:  A Case of Post-Traumatic Sovereignty  by Jaroslaw Kuisz

The election of populist far-right party Law and Justice in 2015 marked a shocking break in Polish politics. A period of stability was brutally interrupted as Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his allies took over public media and launched a controversial ‘reform’ of the judiciary.

How was this illiberal turn possible after years of democratic development? Jaroslaw Kuisz, one of Poland’s leading liberal thinkers, digs deep into Polish history to propose an original analysis of the crisis. He reveals how centuries of statelessness have left Poles with a ‘post-traumatic’ attitude to sovereignty, making them wary of powerful foreign blocks, be it the EU, the Soviet Union or present-day Russia. This is a phenomenon populists have proved adept at exploiting.

Providing a brilliant account of Europe’s largest illiberal democracy, The new politics of Poland shines a light on the broader situation in East and Central Europe, offering valuable lessons for other countries experiencing the rise of populist right-wing movements.

Registration opens 30 days before the scheduled Book Club meeting

Past Book Club Selections

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