IR Quandries in "Harsh Mistress"

I thought one of the most intriguing parts of this book was not the whole narrative related to the revolution -- although Mike's practical omnipotence was pretty cool, the fact that he could do everything, and predict the future, all at once -- but rather the relationship formed by the new post-revolutionary lunar power with the Authority on earth. Although the loonies had won sovereignty locally over the political chieftans, it was clear from the beginning that the real power lay in Earth -- in the mother land, if you'd like. The fight of two separate battles for the sake of sovereignty has a lot of political antecedents -- Cuba, for example, comes to mind. Many Latin American countries, as well.

It was also interesting how my political reading of the book changed as its plot developed. For the first hundred pages or so I was interpreting it as a pro-bolschevik "viva la revolucion" sort of handbook for any revolutionary, with the themes progressing into sort of a Cold War atmosphere after the new nation is established and a sort of "arms race" develops. Later still I started reading it as a glorification of colonial independence, and then as sort of the opposite of a glorification of the same. It was an interesting, dynamic, and I'd say altogether thought-provoking book. Plus Heinlen was really, really well versed in computer science for the time this was written.