International Books

The Failure Factory: How Unelected Bureaucrats, Liberal Democrats, and Big Government Republicans Are Undermining America's Security and Leading Us to War

Bill Gertz

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Freedom & Security -> Intelligence
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Freedom & Security -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The U.S. government is in crisis.

With America’s attention fixated on who will step into the Oval Office in 2009, no one has noticed where the real power has shifted—to a vast network of unelected officials whose authority has grown wildly out of control. In his latest blockbuster book, acclaimed defense and national security reporter Bill Gertz exposes these astonishingly powerful leaders and their enablers in the political class—and their devastating impact on America's national security.

Gertz shows how entrenched liberal activists have become dominant even under an ostensibly conservative administration. And he names names of those who actively subvert official U.S. policy—including not only liberal Democrats but also a number of so-called Republicans who have joined this insidious “Blame America First” crowd.

The Failure Factory reveals:

• The shocking, previously untold story of the partisan bureaucrats who completely undercut the U.S. position on Iran’s radical Islamist regime
• Barack Obama’s disastrous national security policies—and his stable of advisers who have already put America at risk
• The recent showdown in the Pentagon that laid bare the U.S. government’s ongoing failures to tackle the threat of Islamist extremism
• Flagrant cases of sabotage by top State Department officials that have emboldened dangerous states like Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Communist China
• Stunning new intelligence failures—including one that may have allowed a terrorist group to penetrate the FBI and CIA
• How even the Bush White House was overrun with Democrats and liberal Republicans
• The legions of “Clinton generals”—top military brass whose careers blossomed during the Clinton administration—who make the United States more vulnerable
• How Democrats are exploiting the antiwar movement for political gain, with little regard for the potentially devastating consequences
• How the defense secretary’s public defiance of official U.S. policy could have gotten him fired—but instead went unchallenged

Based on scores of exclusive interviews and displaying the groundbreaking reporting that has made Bill Gertz’s previous books smash bestsellers, The Failure Factory offers a chilling look at the threats to our national security that exist within our own government.

In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India

Edward Luce

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Economic Conditions
Subjects -> History -> Asia -> India -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> World -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Interesting but biased view 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I am halfway through the book as of now but I do see an overall bias in the book highlighting the negatives. For example the author spends a huge amount of time describing UP & Bihar the northern states and how corruption is common then just a couple of pages on the south progressing.

When talking of the BJP rule the concentration remains on the right wing attitude and the development that happened during that time is completely ignored.

If you ignore the negative bias that the author has against India and it's governance the book is very well written and has a lot of interesting facts. Definetely a good read.

Editorial Review:

As the world's largest democracy and a rising international economic power, India has long been heralded for its great strides in technology and trade. Yet it is also plagued by poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and a vast array of other social and economic issues.

Here, noted journalist and former Financial Times South Asia bureau chief Edward Luce travels throughout India's many regions, cultures, and religious circles, investigating its fragile balance between tradition and modernity. From meetings with key political figures to fascinating encounters with religious pundits, economic gurus, and village laborers, In Spite of the Gods is a fascinating blend of analysis and reportage that comprehensively depicts the nuances of India's complex situation and its place in the world.

Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond

Don Cheadle, John Prendergast

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Subjects -> History -> Africa -> North Africa
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Current Events -> International
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Human Rights

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Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

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An Academy Award-nominated actor and a renowned human rights activist team up to change the tragic course of history in the Sudan -- with readers' help

While Don Cheadle was filming Hotel Rwanda, a new crisis had already erupted in Darfur, in nearby Sudan. In September 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell termed the atrocities being committed there "genocide" -- and yet two years later things have only gotten worse. 3.5 million Sudanese are going hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced by violence, and 400,000 have died in Darfur to date.

Both shocked and energized by this ongoing tragedy, Cheadle teamed up with leading activist John Prendergast to focus the world's attention. Not on Our Watch, their empowering book, offers six strategies readers themselves can implement: Raise Awareness, Raise Funds, Write a Letter, Call for Divestment, Start an Organization, and Lobby the Government. Each of these small actions can make a huge difference in the fate of a nation, and a people -- not only in Darfur, but in other crisis zones such as Somalia, Congo, and northern Uganda.

Living in Panama

Sandra T. Snyder

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Panama recently has assumed a new identity-destination for retirees and snowbirds looking for an interesting place to relocate. Expats coming to Panama is nothing new. Whether for business or pleasure, they have been arriving here for the 100 plus years of Panama's existence. They encounter a new country, new language and new culture. And, now they find Panama a dynamic country that is continually growing and changing which is both exciting and stressful. Living in Panama, the totally new, updated and expanded Second Edition is designed to add to the interest and reduce the stress while helping newcomers of all kinds settle in Panama. Over 340 pages of valuable information including guides to obtaining your driver's license, opening a bank account, paying utility bills, shopping, and just blending in. The expanded Panama-on-Line sections provide additional resources through web sites for everything from social clubs to wifi locations, from government offices to repair resources for everything from shoes to silver, from professional associations to social clubs. There is up-to-date information on newspapers, including several new ones in English, to radio stations, also in English, and new live theaters. As always, this new version provides answers to those often asked questions like, "why do Panamanians drive they way they do?"; "where are the schools for children?; the churches?; the shopping?. Whether you live in Panama City, Boquete, Volcan, or Coronado the answers are in this book. As Panama's desirable communities for new comers have developed and expanded so has the resource material in Living in Panama. Sandra T. Snyder continues to be the person to call when you want to know where to go to get the answers, ask where to find something, or who to contact, or how to solve a problem. An expatriate herself, she and her husband have lived in Panama for over twelve yeas and belongs to many of the clubs and organizations that make Panama a delightful place to live. She has had the same questions that others ask every day. The difference is, she has the answers and in Living in Panama, she shares her wealth of information. Living in Panama is an invaluable guide to anyone just arriving, relocating for business or a local looking for insider information.

Censored 2009: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007-08 (Censored)

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 21st Century
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Current Events -> Civil Rights & Liberties
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Current Events -> International

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 1.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Carefully orchestrated. . . . This well-researched work is highly recommended for most libraries."-Library Journal (starred review)

"Buy it, read it, act on it. Our future depends on the knowledge this collection of suppressed stories allows us."-The San Diego Review

"Required reading for broadcasters, journalists, and well-informed citizens."-Los Angeles Times

The best-selling Censored series-with over 150,000 copies in print-highlights each year's twenty-five most important underreported news stories, alerting readers to the negligence of corporate media and the resurgence of alternative media.

Peter Phillips, director of Project Censored, is an associate professor of sociology at Sonoma State University. He is known for his pieces in the alternative press and independent newspapers nationwide, such as Z Magazine and Social Policy.

Andrew Roth, associate director of Project Censored, is an assistant professor of sociology at Sonoma State University. His research explores how the conventions of journalism shape news content and coverage of environmental issues.

Project Censored, founded in 1976 by Carl Jensen, has as its principal objective the advocacy for and protection of First Amendment rights and the freedom of information in the United States.

Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World

Benjamin Barber

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Subjects -> History -> World -> 20th Century
Subjects -> History -> World -> General

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Total reviews: 71 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As soon as you hear the conceit of this book--that there are two great opposing forces at work in the world today, border-crossing capitalism and splintering factionalism, and that they are the two biggest threats to democracy--you know it rings true enough to be worth reading. Although capitalism could have only grown to current levels in the soil of democracies, Benjamin Barber argues that global capitalism now tends to work against the very concept of citizenship, of people thinking for themselves and with their neighbors. Too often now, how we think is the product of a transnational corporation (increasingly, a media corporation) with headquarters elsewhere. And although self-determination is one of the most fundamental of democratic principles, unchecked it has lead to a tribalism (think Bosnia, think Rwanda) in which virtually no one besides the local power elite gets a fair shake. The antidote, Barber concludes, is to work everywhere to resuscitate the non-governmental, non-business spaces in life--he calls them "civic spaces" (such as the village green, voluntary associations of every sort, churches, community schools)--where true citizenship thrives.

Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade

Bill Emmott

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> General AAS

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The former editor in chief of the Economist returns to the territory of his bestselling book The Sun Also Sets to lay out an entirely fresh analysis of the growing rivalry between China, India, and Japan and what it will mean for America, the global economy, and the twenty-first-century world.

Though books such as The World Is Flat and China Shakes the World consider them only as individual actors, Emmott argues that these three political and economic giants are closely intertwined by their fierce competition for influence, markets, resources, and strategic advantage. Rivals explains and explores the ways in which this sometimes bitter rivalry will play out over the next decade—in business, global politics, military competition, and the environment—and reveals the efforts of the United States to manipulate and benefit from this rivalry. Identifying the biggest risks born of these struggles, Rivals also outlines the ways these risks can and should be managed by all of us.

Man, the State, and War

Kenneth N. Waltz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Still worth reading after all these years 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book has legs! I read it first in graduate school in 1969. I was impressed with the argument then, and still appreciate its power now. He identifies a key problem as (page 12) "identifying and achieving the conditions of peace. . ." He notes that, over time, three separate views have dominated discourse on the causes of war (and how to achieve peace): (a) human nature is the root cause; (b) the structure of states is the key factor; (c) the international system itself is the major variable.

The book proceeds in a linear fashion. First, he examines the variety of arguments locating the cause of war in human nature. However, he also notes that to link human nature to war is not easily done (there is, of course, much debate over exactly what human nature is--or even if there is such a given nature), and that political matters must be taken into account. As he considers the contributions of the behavioral sciences, he notes that (page 79) "The more fully behavioral scientists take account of politics, the more sensible and the more modest their efforts to contribute to peace become."

The second level of analysis is the structure of states themselves. He notes that some have argued that if the state had a proper structure, then peace would result. He considers, for instance, liberal theorists of the 19th century who made that point. One problem: While trying to create more liberal states, what about those illiberal ones who may engage in conflict? What then? The structure of the state won't prevent self-defense. Indeed, some liberals, like Thomas Paine, wanted to use force to democratize the world.

The final level of analysis is the structure of the international system itself. The main point here is that that system can be termed "anarchy." There is no central force to prevent outbreaks of violence. So, violence will occur. Interestingly, he begins the chapter on international anarchy with a quotation from Cicero (page 159) "For what can be done against force without force." States need to protect themselves when there is no mechanism to maintain peace; they will act in their national interest when threatened. The end result is the possibility of war whenever a country might be threatened. In Waltz' words (page 227): "According to the third image, there is a constant possibility of war in a world in which there are two or more states each seeking to promote a set of interests and having no agency upon which they can rely for protection."

In short, all three levels (images) must be understood. None is irrelevant. But the key to understanding war is the state of international anarchy. The book holds up well over time. It still presents a useful message, albeit from the hard-nosed realist position. Neocons won't like the argument that changing the structure of states won't make a lot of difference as long as there is international anarchy. Anyhow, for those interested in a fairly hard-headed analysis, this book still serves a useful purpose.

Editorial Review:

What are the causes of war? To answer this question, Professor Waltz examines the ideas of major thinkers throughout the history of Western civilization. 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.

The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder

Alan S. Cowell

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

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In a page-turning narrative that reads like a thriller, an award-winning journalist exposes the troubling truth behind the world’s first act of nuclear terrorism.

On November 1, 2006, Alexander Litvinenko sipped tea in London’s Millennium Hotel. Hours later the Russian émigré and former intelligence officer, who was sharply critical of Russian president Vladimir Putin, fell ill and within days was rushed to the hospital. Fatally poisoned by a rare radioactive isotope slipped into his drink, Litvinenko issued a dramatic deathbed statement accusing Putin himself of engineering his murder. Alan S. Cowell, then London Bureau Chief of the New York Times, who covered the story from its inception, has written the definitive story of this assassination and of the profound international implications of this first act of nuclear terrorism.

Who was Alexander Litvinenko? What had happened in Russia since the end of the cold war to make his life there untenable and in severe jeopardy even in England, the country that had granted him asylum? And how did he really die? The life of Alexander Litvinenko provides a riveting narrative in its own right, culminating in an event that rang alarm bells among western governments at the ease with which radioactive materials were deployed in a major Western capital to commit a unique crime. But it also evokes a wide range of other issues: Russia's lurch to authoritarianism, the return of the KGB to the Kremlin, the perils of a new cold war driven by Russia's oil riches and Vladimir Putin's thirst for power.

Cowell provides a remarkable and detailed reconstruction both of how Litvinenko died and of the issues surrounding his murder. Drawing on exclusive reporting from Britain, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the United States, he traces in unprecedented detail the polonium trail leading from Russia's closed nuclear cities through Moscow and Hamburg to the Millenium Hotel in central London. He provides the most detailed step-by-step explanation of how and where polonium was found; how the assassins tried on several occasions to kill Litvinenko; and how they bungled a conspiracy that may have had more targets than Litvinenko himself. 

With a colorful cast that includes the tycoons, spies, and killers who surrounded Litvinenko in the roller-coaster Russia of the 1990s, as well as the émigrés who flocked to London in such numbers that the British capital earned the sobriquet “Londongrad,” this book lays out the events that allowed an accused killer to escape prosecution in a delicate diplomatic minuet that helped save face for the authorities in London and Moscow.

A masterful work of investigative reporting, The Terminal Spy offers unprecedented insight into one of the most chilling true stories of our time.

Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil

John Ghazvinian

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Oil & Energy
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Subjects -> History -> Africa -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Although Africa has long been known to be rich in oil, extracting it hadn’t seemed worth the effort and risk until recently. But with the price of Middle Eastern crude oil skyrocketing and advancing technology making reserves easier to tap, the region has become the scene of a competition between major powers that recalls the nineteenth-century scramble for colonization there. But what does this giddy new oil boom mean—for America, for the world, for Africans themselves?



John Ghazvinian traveled through twelve African countries—from Sudan to Congo to Angola—talking to warlords, industry executives, bandits, activists, priests, missionaries, oil-rig workers, scientists, and ordinary people whose lives have been transformed—not necessarily for the better—by the riches beneath their feet. The result is a high-octane narrative that reveals the challenges, obstacles, reasons for despair, and reasons for hope emerging from the world’s newest energy hot spot.