Chokepoints: How the Global Economy Became a Weapon of War
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Description
Delving into recent geopolitical history, Chokepoints unveils how the U.S. transformed global finance into strategic leverage. Drawing on Edward Fishman’s insider experience at the State and Treasury Departments, the book guides you through the development of a new toolkit—from cutting-edge sanctions to trade embargoes—targeting Iran, Russia, and China. With vivid storytelling and expert insights, Fishman profiles the architects behind these policies and explains how control over key economic chokepoints—like the U.S. dollar, semiconductors, and energy supply chains—has become the defining axis of power in the 21st century. A gripping, indispensable account of economic warfare shaping the global order.
- An instant New York Times bestseller, named among the Financial Times’ Best Summer Books of 2025 and The Economist’s Best Books of the Year.
- Widely praised as “brilliant and eye-opening” by The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Economist—a narrative study of modern sanctions as power projection.
Edward Fishman is a leading authority on economic statecraft, sanctions, and the intersection of business, economics, and national security. He currently serves as a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and an Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. Fishman is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Previously, he held senior roles in the U.S. government, including at the Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff, the Pentagon as an advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the U.S. Treasury Department as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. His work has been featured in prominent publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Politico, and NPR. Fishman is the author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, a New York Times bestseller that examines the strategic use of economic tools in U.S. foreign policy.
He holds a B.A. in History from Yale University, an M.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, and an MBA from Stanford University.