Book picks similar to
Foundations of Futures Studies: Human Science for a New Era: History, Purposes, Knowledge by Wendell Bell
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Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East
Philip H. Gordon - 2020
The reasons for these interventions have also been extremely diverse, and the methods by which the United States pursued regime change have likewise been highly varied, ranging from diplomatic pressure alone to outright military invasion and occupation. What is common to all the operations, however, is that they failed to achieve their ultimate goals, produced a range of unintended and even catastrophic consequences, carried heavy financial and human costs, and in many cases left the countries in question worse off than they were before.Philip H. Gordon's Losing the Long Game is a thorough and riveting look at the U.S. experience with regime change over the past seventy years, and an insider’s view on U.S. policymaking in the region at the highest levels. It is the story of repeated U.S. interventions in the region that always started out with high hopes and often the best of intentions, but never turned out well. No future discussion of U.S. policy in the Middle East will be complete without taking into account the lessons of the past, especially at a time of intense domestic polarization and reckoning with America's standing in world.
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
John J. Mearsheimer - 2001
Mearsheimer, great power politics are tragic because the anarchy of the international system requires states to seek dominance at one another s expense, dooming even peaceful nations to a relentless power struggle. The best survival strategy in this dangerous world is to become a regional hegemon like the United States in the Western Hemisphere and to make sure that no other hegemon emerges elsewhere. In a new concluding chapter, Mearsheimer examines the course of Sino-American relations should China continue its ascent to greater economic and military power. He predicts that China will attempt to dominate Asia while the United States, determined to remain the world s sole regional hegemon, will go to great lengths to contain China. The tragedy of great power politics is inescapable."
Today's Revolution: Democracy
Ferdinand E. Marcos - 1971
It addresses itself, with depth and awareness, to those who believe in the destiny of their country, who feel that things are being done but don't know exactly what; that the country is going some place but don't know exactly where, and how. It illuminates hazy portions of the present by seeing these against the anguish of our past, perceiving in today's continuing crisis intimations of a future with dignity, hope and freedom.It invites the uncommitted to commit themselves to democracy, at the same time redefining for those already committed the value of their affirmation: that, stripped of the enticements of propaganda, communism is still the "biggest swindle in a democracy."Without heat, without cant, without despair, this book quietly and eloquently meets the challenge of revolution, and shows the way. For all who would be encompassed by disillusion, here is a profound treatise written by a man best qualified of all, who has lived in the vortex of the troubled present, swept awash by the dissonances of change, radicalism, violence—revolution, in short—but survived with faith and perception intact.
A World Transformed
George H.W. Bush - 1998
. . . An excellent book." -Eugene V. Rostow, The Wall Street JournalIt was a pivotal administration in the history of American foreign policy--for during George Bush's presidency a series of international events took place that had a profound impact on the course of America and on the future of world diplomacy. In A World Transformed, Mr. Bush and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, provide a fascinating account of a president and an administration faced with unprecedented obstacles and unrivaled opportunities as they forged a foreign policy at the end of the Cold War. Solidarity comes to power in Poland. East and West Germans dance on the wall that separated them for half a century. And on Christmas Day, 1991, the hammer-and-sickle flag descends from the Kremlin for the last time. It is also a candid analysis of a new chapter in foreign affairs, when the United States led an international alliance to confront the threat presented by Saddam Hussein and presented a dynamic response to the Tiananmen crisis. Balanced and intelligent, A World Transformed offers a landmark treatise on American foreign policy and international diplomacy from two of its principal architects."Reveals not only a wealth of detail about the main lines of foreign policy at the highest level during a most portentous period of our history, but also of the truly admirable characters of the men who made it." -The Philadelphia Inquirer"In a strong new book, the ex-president recalls dangerous days. . . . It should leave little doubt how lucky we were that we had such a seasoned hand on the tiller at a time when foreign policy really counted." -Michael R. Beschloss, Newsweek
Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age
Peter Paret - 1943
The diversity of its themes and the broad perspectives applied to them make the book a work of general history as much as a history of the theory and practice of war from the Renaissance to the present. Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age takes the first part of its title from an earlier collection of essays, published by Princeton University Press in 1943, which became a classic of historical scholarship. Three essays are repinted from the earlier book; four others have been extensively revised. The rest--twenty-two essays--are new.The subjects addressed range from major theorists and political and military leaders to impersonal forces. Machiavelli, Clausewitz, and Marx and Engels are discussed, as are Napoleon, Churchill, and Mao. Other essays trace the interaction of theory and experience over generations--the evolution of American strategy, for instance, or the emergence of revolutionary war in the modern world. Still others analyze the strategy of particular conflicts--the First and Second World Wars--or the relationship between technology, policy, and war in the nuclear age. Whatever its theme, each essay places the specifics of military thought and action in their political, social, and economic environment. Together the contributors have produced a book that reinterprets and illuminates war, one of the most powerful forces in history and one that cannot be controlled in the future without an understanding of its past.
The Last Warrior: Andrew Marshall and the Shaping of Modern American Defense Strategy
Andrew F. Krepinevich - 2015
For more than four decades he has served as Director of the Office of Net Assessment, the Pentagon's internal think tank, under twelve defense secretaries and eight administrations. Yet Marshall has been on the cutting edge of strategic thinking even longer than that. At the RAND Corporation during its golden age in the 1950s and early 1960s, Marshall helped formulate bedrock concepts of US nuclear strategy that endure to this day; later, at the Pentagon, he pioneered the development of "net assessment" -- a new analytic framework for understanding the long-term military competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Following the Cold War, Marshall successfully used net assessment to anticipate emerging disruptive shifts in military affairs, including the revolution in precision warfare and the rise of China as a major strategic rival of the United States. In The Last Warrior, Andrew Krepinevich and Barry Watts -- both former members of Marshall's staff -- trace Marshall's intellectual development from his upbringing in Detroit during the Great Depression to his decades in Washington as an influential behind-the-scenes advisor on American defense strategy. The result is a unique insider's perspective on the changes in US strategy from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day. Covering some of the most pivotal episodes of the last half-century and peopled with some of the era's most influential figures, The Last Warrior tells Marshall's story for the first time, in the process providing an unparalleled history of the evolution of the American defense establishment.
The Wisdom of Alexander the Great: Enduring Leadership Lessons from the Man Who Created an Empire
Lance B. Kurke - 2004
There is no more stunning example in history than Alexander the Great, whose leadership skills were so immense that they still resonate some 2,000 years later.The Wisdom of Alexander the Great reveals four leadership processes distilled from the life and extraordinary accomplishments of Alexander, King of Macedonia. Readers will learn how he:* reframed problems in order to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges* built alliances by using his strength to generate trust and respect, not just fear* established identity and ""branded"" himself a unifier, thus keeping the home base secure while continuing to expand his empire* recognized and assimilated the cultures and symbols of different peoples, becoming a powerful and trusted figure everywhere he wentThe Wisdom of Alexander the Great relates 34 riveting episodes from Alexander's expansion through Asia Minor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Middle East, the Persian Empire, and India. Each example, tied to a modern-day counterpart, imparts valuable lessons from the timeless legend of one of the greatest leaders in history."
Sexy Liberal!: Of Me I Sing
Stephanie Miller - 2015
With Arbitron ratings clocking over 3+ million listeners a week and simulcast daily in 37 million homes on Free Speech TV, where she is also the number one show, her strongest numbers are in the grand prize demographic of highly educated males 25-54, despite, or maybe because of , her status as an out gay woman. It probably explains the sublime effectiveness of her national billboard slogan: "Stephanie Miller...making men rise in the morning". Stephanie also headlined the country’s number one comedy tour, “Stephanie Miller’s Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour", as well as the number one comedy album, "Stephanie Miller's Sexy Liberal Comedy Album". She has recently had her second #1 comedy album in the country with her "Stephanie Miller's Happy Hour, Volume One". She frequents the Holy Trinity of cable news: CNN, MSNBC, and FOX, where she bursts the infallibility balloons of right wingers, often with one well-aimed pinpoint punchline. Here is SEXY LIBERAL!, which you can see as Al Franken rewritten by Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler horizontal on the desk of The Daily Show. Steph is the youngest child of Congressman William Miller of NY, Barry Goldwater’s running mate in 1964. We all know how that turned out. Though Steph was only 3, she shows here how that defeat affected her as much as it changed the Republican Party. It made her who she is. SEXY LIBERAL! is the book her 3,000,000 fans have been begging her to write. it’s both deeply personal and hilariously political. But most of all it is Stephanie’s unique voice, her jokes, her happy clappy optimism, and her truth that they tune in to day after day, that they download as a subscription podcast, that they buy tickets for, to see her unbleeped and in person. That’s what SEXY LIBERAL! delivers. Like an uncensored comedy drone right to your door!“Stephanie Miller is like ice cream for breakfast, or box-wine through a Krazy Straw: pure pleasure that some people say is bad for you, but you know better. Sexy Liberal! is deeply, deeply profane, big-hearted, surprising, and it might make you pee your pants a little. Just what you need! Read this book. Stephanie Miller for Everything, 2016!”--Rachel Maddow, host of The Rachel Maddow and author of Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power “Sexy Liberal! is a great book with mind-expanding astuteness and side-splitting humor. Stephanie Miller is so wondrously witty and wise you will want to quote her. But, first, you must read her. Buy this book and help Amazon at last turn a profit. --Lily Tomlin “Sexy Liberal! is inspired reading. It is laugh-enhancing and beyond thought-provoking! A must read. --Jane Wagner Reading Stephanie's book is like being on the best kind of dinner date. The conversation is smart, funny and politically insightful. And Stephanie's contribution bad either. Seriously, what a fun read. Stephanie, in her wonderfully self-deprecating way, lets you into her brilliant mind, her no BS take on the political scene, and life itself. Enter at your own risk.--Rob Reiner
NDTV Frauds V2.0 - The Real Culprit: A completely revamped version that shows the extent to which NDTV and a Cabal will stoop to hide a saga of Money Laundering, Tax Evasion and Stock Manipulation.
Sree Iyer - 2018
In this revamped version, as NDTV's transgressions have been ruled on in the courts, the reader gets a ringside view of what happens when Business colludes with Bureaucrats and Bent Politicians. How a corrupt cabal manages to keep delaying the inevitable by tying up the cases in courts. Fake narratives and honey traps to coerce and blackmail. NDTV and the owner (who is revealed in the book) have resorted to every means foul to deny the truth from coming out. A compelling read for everyone who wants to know how the system has been thoroughly corrupted and compromised in India.
Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis
Kenneth N. Waltz - 1954
He explores works both by classic political philosophers, such as St. Augustine, Hobbes, Kant, and Rousseau, and by modern psychologists and anthropologists to discover ideas intended to explain war among states and related prescriptions for peace.
Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State
Garry Wills - 1979
In "Bomb Power," Garry Wills reveals how the atomic bomb transformed our nation down to its deepest constitutional roots-by dramatically increasing the power of the modern presidency and redefining the government as a national security state-in ways still felt today. A masterful reckoning from one of America's preeminent historians, "Bomb Power" draws a direct line from the Manhattan Project to the usurpations of George W. Bush. The invention of the atomic bomb was a triumph of official secrecy and military discipline-the project was covertly funded at the behest of the president and, despite its massive scale, never discovered by Congress or the press. This concealment was perhaps to be expected in wartime, but Wills persuasively argues that the Manhattan Project then became a model for the covert operations and overt authority that have defined American government in the nuclear era. The wartime emergency put in place during World War II extended into the Cold War and finally the war on terror, leaving us in a state of continuous war alert for sixty-eight years and counting. The bomb forever changed the institution of the presidency since only the president controls "the button" and, by extension, the fate of the world. Wills underscores how radical a break this was from the division of powers established by our founding fathers and how it in turn has enfeebled Congress and the courts. The bomb also placed new emphasis on the president's military role, creating a cult around the commander in chief. The tendency of modern presidents to flaunt military airs, Wills points out, is entirely a postbomb phenomenon. Finally, the Manhattan Project inspired the vast secretive apparatus of the national security state, including intelligence agencies such as the CIA and NSA, which remain largely unaccountable to Congress and the American people. Wills recounts how, following World War II, presidential power increased decade by decade until reaching its stunning apogee with the Bush administration. Both provocative and illuminating, "Bomb Power" casts the history of the postwar period in a new light and sounds an alarm about the continued threat to our Constitution.