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How do you think having so many women in positions of power has changed the impact and meaning of the novel? Are they powerful because they behave as men, or do they add difference in their actions and decisions? How is their agency specifically female?

How is China’s form of indirect neo-colonialism shown in the novel? Do you think it is less harmful to African countries than 19th century imperialism was? How does it impact global power dynamics with the West?

Do you think that romantic stories add or detract from the larger story the novel is telling? What do you think this says about gender and women in power?

Do you think that the US should still be ratifying treaties that require coming to the military aid of another country should it be attacked, like the treaties with South Korea and Japan discussed in this novel? Do they make the US more or less safe? What is the novel’s point of view?

Even though France’s role in Chad was important in the early part of the novel, it became less relevant as the key players were revealed to be the US and China, along with allies of each such as North and South Korea and Japan. Why do you think that international organizations like NATO and the UN played such an insignificant role in the novel? Do you think the world has entered a new era of superpowers, this time between China and the US? What does the novel say about this alliance network?

Abdul is in many ways the hero or protagonist of the story. Do you agree or disagree with this claim? What is his position geopolitically in the novel?

The setting of the Sahara Desert is an external antagonist in the novel. Following the bus journey from Chad to Libya, consider the ways in which it challenged Abdul and the other migrants, and explain how it is vanquished in the end.

This novel was published in 2021 and focuses largely on tensions between the US and China. How do you think Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine would have changed the plot of this story? How would its themes have been different?