Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider's View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People

by Chrystia Freeland

A provocative and rare insider account of how a new generation of Western plutocrats maneuver power from behind closed doors—and how liberal democracy can fight back—from renowned journalist, activist, adviser, and policymaker, Chrystia Freeland.

Chrystia Freeland spent decades reporting how foreign dissidents and oligarchs, from Moscow to China and beyond, exploit economic upheaval and hollow out the lives of ordinary people. As a political leader and fierce negotiator, she brought these lessons into halls of power, only to encounter a new order of global elites and tyrannical regimes—this time in the West itself.

Now, at a time when authoritarianism is resurging around the world alongside rising tariffs, economic anxiety, and democratic instability, she shines a light on the current crisis of liberal democracy. With bold and unusual candor, Freeland exposes how deals are really made, how coalitions fracture when governments fail to deliver for working people, and argues that trade, security, and democracy can no longer be separated. Instead, democracies must build new alliances strong enough to resist foreign autocrats and homegrown oligarchs.

Part memoir, part polemic, Unreliable Boyfriend is a powerful investigation of leadership, ambition, compromise, and betrayal, from a public intellectual with a clear view into the dangers, and opportunities, of our unreliable relationship with the United States.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Canada

Audible Audio

Published October 13, 2026

About the author

Chrystia Freeland is the Global Editor-at-Large of Reuters news since March 1, 2010, having formerly been the United States managing editor at the Financial Times, based in New York City. Freeland received her undergraduate education from Harvard University, going onto St Antony's at University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She attended the United World College of the Adriatic, Italy, 1984-86.

A Ukrainian-Canadian, Freeland has worked in Kiev, Moscow, London, Toronto and currently in New York. She is the author of Sale of the Century, a 2000 book about Russia's journey from communism to capitalism.

She lives in New York City with her husband and their two daughters.

She has appeared three times as a panelist on Real Time With Bill Maher, on February 26, 2010, January 14, 2011, and again on May 27, 2011. She has also appeared on The McLaughlin Group and The Dylan Ratigan Show. Currently, she is periodically standing in for Arianna Huffington as a panelist on public radio's political debate program, "Left, Right & Center", produced by KCRW. (Huffington recently was named president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, a newly created unit of AOL, and at least for the time being is unable to appear every week.)

Reviews

[Shirley · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Good analysis of the current oligarchical situation vis-a-vis the US, Canada and world leaderships, based on her experiences as a financial reporter in Russia during the glasnost era, the selling off of Russian state assets for minimal cash, and her time as Canada’s finance minister. She knows the players and has observed then in their habitats.

Good insightful layperson’s explanation as to why the current tariffs hurt in internal US economy worse than the counties they’ve been imposed against, and where the Canadian leverage points are (aluminum).

Builds argument for globalism 2.0 based on careful choice of allies with mutual agreed values, and gathering on protective networks who will recommit to the sanctity of borders to protect against the bullies.

[Shane A · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Not as explosive as we all wished it to be. This book is less of a character assassination of Justin Trudeau and more of a list of scenes where we can go "that tracks."

Part 1 is essentially Plutocrats for Dummies; Part 2 is the most interesting re: Trump 1 and Freeland's time in Cabinet, including the turbulent times leading up to Justin Trudeau's resignation; and Part 3 is Economics in Trump 2 101.

Still a solid read, though, which I would recommend to all my fellow poli nerds.

[Sharon Ouderkirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not a fan of the Trudeau Liberals, although I always had respect for Chrystia Freeland (Canada's Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister until 2025) as a smart and tough woman. I liked that she stood up to Donald Trump, who hated her (Keep Going Chrystia!!). I liked that she couldn't be bested in Question Period even though I was cheering for the Conservatives at the time. I liked that she steadfastly stood by the Ukraine, which I also believed was an essential stand for Canada. In short, she was a role model as a woman who did not compromise or apologize for her existence. Her personal style could often be gratingly arrogant, but I also believed she paid a higher price for her arrogance than all the arrogant men did. Part of the reaction to her, I believed, is because the public does not have a lot of experience with strong, smart women who stand their ground.
Her most recent book is part memoir, but mostly politics. She has previously written about plutocrats and the worldwide issue of wealth being held by a few at the expense of the many, and she covers that ground as she explains how we got to the times that we currently live in. The rise of the Russian plutocrats, the impact of China who was invited to take part in the Western economic privileges, but did not change their way of doing business, the hollowing out of the middle class, and the good and bad results of globalization and trade are all addressed. I have to say I never really got how Trump won two elections, and now I do understand the economic conditions that made his promises a lifeline for Americans.
I found her book to be an eye-opener and a scary review of current politics. She provided examples of people urging her to make gifts to the Trump family in order to ease Canada's progress to a trade deal and corporate leaders who shunned people who spoke against Trump before Trump even reacted. It is a self-censorship that solidifies his power and has been going on for some time.
Much of the book is technical. I think the sections on trade were interesting but it wasn't a summer day to read it. I felt like I gained IQ points as I read along; I certainly gained a substantial amount of knowledge. There was a chapter on her resignation which was big news in Canada. In summary, she was clearly being set up by Justin Trudeau to take the fall for the mess of the 2026 budget, and she reached around and took the knife out of her back and threw it through his heart. She got out of politics as a Cabinet minister, and he resigned to the overwhelming applause of Canada. Many people thought she was disloyal, but I didn't think Trudeau deserved loyalty by that stage of the game. She did the right thing for Canada, and that is what her job was. Once again, I fully planned on voting against the Liberals and cheered loudly when Freeland and Trudeau left office, but I did have a secret smile for how well Chrystia handled herself against the master manipulator, Trudeau.
My respect for Freeland has increased after reading this book. She taught me a lot and I will read her other books as well. If you are interested in how the world got into the mess it is currently in, this book provides interesting details and background. I recommend it.

[Alana · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Good outline, she’s an economist at the end of the day and I learned more about what friend-shoring could look like.

Political nonfic is almost History by the time it’s published and I actually thought this got pretty up to date which was impressive. Some editing errors like repeated parts ( I submitted feedback to libro.fm) but overall very interesting to rage in my head about.
I personally hold more social values and would have appreciated a more socio-economic hope for the future from her than this forever growth mindset . Canada will play its cards I suppose. I actually don’t love the boyfriend analogy also- because who’d be going back to that!?

I also wanted a tad bit more tea ngl but I’ll take the small cup we get.
Also appreciated the at least 3 Atwood mentions :) I think she could really lean into her journalism background with all her experience and give us more :)

[Freddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and timely review of the state of the world, economically, and geopolitically, as told by someone who was fortunate (?) enough to have been in all of the rooms where it happened.

Unreliable Boyfriend was an interesting and informative read, but Chrystia Freeland would have benefited from a stricter editor. It gets a bit wordy in parts, and sometimes she jumps around in the timeline. Too often I had to flip back a few pages to remind myself whether I was reading a context-providing flashback, or an illustrative aside.

Well worth reading, though, and, if you were thinking of reading it, the time to read it is now. Current events are moving quickly past it.

[Arieanna · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Feels like it should be required reading

[Connie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Great analogy for boyfriend, abusive partner, girl nextdoor, morth american bed partner. Etc
Clever examples to help explain policies. Enjoyed that Christia was the narrator.