Book Talk: Chrystia Freeland — Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider’s View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People

How should allies deal with a superpower they can no longer rely on? Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland joins CDDRL to discuss her new book, "Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider's View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People."

Freeland has seen these questions from two sides. As a foreign correspondent, she covered the rise of Russia's oligarchs in the 1990s. As a senior Canadian official, she helped renegotiate the trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The book draws on both careers to examine how power operates inside government, why trade, security and democracy can no longer be treated separately, and how democracies might build coalitions strong enough to resist authoritarian states and domestic oligarchs.

Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) Satre Family Senior Fellow and Mosbacher Director of CDDRL, Kathryn Stoner will moderate the conversation, focusing on democratic resilience, international political economy, U.S. foreign policy, Russia and Ukraine.  Audience Q&A will follow. Books will be available for purchase at the event.  

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Chrystia Freeland is Canada’s former Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Minister of Finance. With a background in Russian history, she first gained international acclaim as a foreign correspondent and editor for the Financial Times and Reuters, and later served as the deputy editor of The Globe and Mail. Her first book, Sale of the Century, told the story of the struggle between reformers and oligarchs in 1990s Russia. Her book, Plutocrats, established her as a leading voice on global economic inequality. After over a decade in federal politics, including a pivotal role in renegotiating the CUSMA, Freeland resigned from Parliament in early 2026. She has since served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics and an unpaid economic adviser to the Ukrainian government.