“The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt against Elite Democracy” is the first internationally published book on the Filipino president that situates him within a broader context of US-China rivalry and global rise of populism.

It was selected among The Financial Times’ “Best of weekend long reads”, and described as “a superb monograph on the Duterte Phenomenon, grounded in political theory and Philippine history...”

The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) describes it as an important work which, “vividly describes the simmering public dissatisfaction with post-Marcos “elite democracy” that paved the way for Duterte’s rapid rise to power…’

The Mekong Review praises the book for it “offers important, deep context to a man and his methods at a time when the volume and speed of incendiary rhetoric render such deep research and thinking all the more necessary… Heydarian’s observations about Duterte’s courting of China have proved prescient”