International Books - Page 7

Michael E. Porter on Competition

Michael E. Porter

List Price: $39.95 By: Harvard Business School Press Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $7.29

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> By Publisher -> Harvard Business School Press -> International
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> By Publisher -> Harvard Business School Press -> Marketing
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Exports & Imports

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For the past 15 years, Michael Porter's work has defined our fundamental understanding of competition and competitive strategy. Presented here for the first time as a collective whole are a dozen articles: two entirely new articles and ten of Porter's articles from the "Harvard Business Review". The collection includes a framing introduction from Porter. As a collection, these essays assume a new strength and significance, with each piece augmenting and supporting a complete picture of Porter's perspective on modern competition. To read through this collection is to experience Porter at work: we see first hand as his important theories take shape, deepen, and evolve over time. Organized around three primary categories: Competition and Strategy: Core Concepts, The Competitiveness of Location, and Competitive Solutions to Societal Problems, these articles develop the building blocks that define competitive strategy as we know it. With his unique ability to bridge economics with management, Porter addresses the important issues of competition, from its relationship with environmental regulation to the counterintuitive role of geography in the global economy. It is a "Harvard Business Review" book.

Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul For Saudi Crude

Robert Baer

Amazon Price: $21.86 List Price: $29.95 In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. By: Random House Audio Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $14.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> International -> Diplomacy

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 127 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Probably the best argument to by a Hybrid... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

... and one more reason to be angry an the gas pump. This book was much better. or should I say revealing than I thought it was going to be. Mr. Baer's knowledge of the subjects and the way he weaves the reader through this tangled web of money. oil. backroom deals, blind eyes turned against the actions of our so-called "allies", and the way Washington politics works is a true wake-up call. The book is jammed with information and is kind of like a tell-all, revealing many of our leaders as just more powerful people who are looking out for their own interests while everyone else is getting bent over. The book would probably need to be read a couple of times to truly understand all the information.

I am giving it 5 stars even though the book really pissed me off. What I don't know is what I am most angry at? That part of my gas money will find its way over to the Middle East, or that we Americans are truly trapped by our dependence on foriegn oil, or that just about every politician who is someone (and many of the high ranking employees of the government) are in the pockets of the Saudi's and/or Big Oil, or that other than a few cars sold, many manufacturers still refuse to develop cars with better mpg. Hey Ford, GMC and Chevy, you know why you keep having losses year after year and are losing out to Toyota? It is because you have not designed a dependable, efficient fleet of cars most people want.

Back to the book. Everyone interested in Washington politics, the energy crisis, etc. should read this book. It may just make you mad, but getting mad may just be the first step to action. By the way, I just sold my gas guzzling SUV.

Editorial Review:

Former CIA operative Robert Baer examines the dangers behind America's collaboration with Saudi Arabia. Nominally based on a "harmony of interests" - the Saudis sold their oil to the American government very inexpensively - what we offered in exchange has damaged our position in the Middle East and left our country vulnerable to economic and terrorist threats. Baer goes behind the scenes to show how the U.S. willingly overlooked the corruption of the Saudi royal family, its financing of violent Islamic fundamentalist groups that spread hatred of the West throughout Saudi society, and its bribery of American officials. From a close-up with a corrupt Arab family to the inside scoop on how we helped fund the Taliban, Baer shows what's at stake in our pursuit of oil.

America's Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between the United States and Its Enemies

George Friedman

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Broadway Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $5.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Current Events -> Terrorism
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Freedom & Security -> Intelligence
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Freedom & Security -> International Security

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Dubbed by Barron’s as “The Shadow CIA,” George Friedman’s global intelligence company, Stratfor, has provided analysis to Fortune 500 companies, news outlets, and even the U.S. government. Now Friedman delivers the geopolitical story that the mainstream media has been unable to uncover — the startling truth behind America’s foreign policy and war effort in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond.

Stratfor, one of the world’s most respected private global intelligence firms, has an unmatched ability to provide clear perspective on the current geopolitical map. In America's Secret War, George Friedman identifies the United States’ most dangerous enemies, delves into presidential strategies of the last quarter century, and reveals the real reasons behind the attack of 9/11—and the Bush administration’s motivation for the war in Iraq. It describes in eye-opening detail America’s covert and overt efforts in the global war against terrorism: Not only are U.S. armies in combat on every continent, but since 9/11 the intelligence services of dozens of nations have been operating in close partnership with the CIA.

Drawing on Stratfor’s vast information-gathering network, Friedman presents an insightful picture of today’s world that goes far beyond what is reported on television and in other news media.

Al Qaeda’s war plans and how they led to 9/11

The threat of a suitcase nuclear bomb in New York and how that changed the course of the war.

The deal the U.S. made with Russia and Iran which made the invasion of Afghanistan possible – and how those deals affect the United States today.

How fear and suspicion of the Saudis after 9-11 tore apart the Bush-Saudi relationship and why Saudi Arabia’s closest friends in the administration became the Saudi’s worst enemies.

The real reasons behind George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq and how WMD became the cover for a much deeper game.

How the CIA miscalculated about Saddam Hussein’s and Iran’s real plans, leaving the U.S. bogged down in the war.

How the war in Iraq began with a ruse, pretending that a “target of opportunity” attack on Saddam Hussein had presented itself.

The real story about why the U.S. raises and lowers its alert status and why the United States can’t find and destroy al Qaeda.

The strategic successes that are slowly leading the United States to victory

America's Secret War is an unprecedented look at the new world war being waged behind-the-scenes today. It is sure to stir debate and capture headlines around the world.

The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina

Frank Rich

Amazon Price: $10.38 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Press HC, The Amazon Marketplace: 186 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Marketing & Sales -> Public Relations
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 21st Century
Subjects -> History -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 142 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

New York Times columnist Frank Rich examines the trail of fictions manufactured by the Bush administration from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, exposing the most brilliant spin campaign ever waged.

When America was attacked on 9/11, its citizens almost unanimously rallied behind its new, untested president as he went to war. What they didn't know at the time was that the Bush administration's highest priority was not to vanquish Al Qaeda but to consolidate its own power at any cost. It was a mission that could be accomplished only by a propaganda presidency in which reality was steadily replaced by a scenario of the White House's own invention-and such was that scenario's devious brilliance that it fashioned a second war against an enemy that did not attack America on 9/11, intimidated the Democrats into incoherence and impotence, and turned a presidential election into an irrelevant referendum on macho imagery and same-sex marriage.

As only he can, acclaimed New York Times columnist Frank Rich delivers a step-by-step chronicle of how skillfully the White House built its house of cards and how the institutions that should have exposed these fictions, the mainstream news media, were too often left powerless by the administration's relentless attack machine, their own post-9/11 timidity, and an unending parade of self-inflicted scandals (typified by those at The New York Times). Demonstrating the candor and conviction that have made him one of our most trusted and incisive public voices, Rich brilliantly and meticulously illuminates the White House's disturbing love affair with "truthiness," and the ways in which a bungled war, a seemingly obscure Washington leak, and a devastating hurricane at long last revealed the man-behind-the-curtain and the story that had so effectively been sold to the nation, as god-given patriotic fact.

Plan of Attack

Bob Woodward

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 74 new & used starting at $0.74

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Middle East -> Iraq
Subjects -> History -> Military -> Iraq War
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Federal Government

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 255 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Plan of Attack is the definitive account of how and why President George W. Bush, his war council, and allies launched a preemptive attack to topple Saddam Hussein and occupy Iraq. Bob Woodward's latest landmark account of Washington decision making provides an original, authoritative narrative of behind-the-scenes maneuvering over two years, examining the causes and consequences of the most controversial war since Vietnam.

Based on interviews with 75 key participants and more than three and a half hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush, Plan of Attack is part presidential history charting the decisions made during 16 critical months; part military history revealing precise details and the evolution of the Top Secret war planning under the restricted codeword Polo Step; and part a harrowing spy story as the CIA dispatches a covert paramilitary team into northern Iraq six months before the start of the war. This team recruited 87 Iraqi spies designated with the cryptonym DB/ROCKSTARS, one of whom turned over the personnel files of all 6,000 men in Saddam Hussein's personal security organization.

What emerges are astonishingly intimate portraits: President Bush in war cabinet meetings in the White House Situation Room and the Oval Office, and in private conversation; Dick Cheney, the focused and driven vice president; Colin Powell, the conflicted and cautious secretary of state; Donald Rumsfeld, the controlling war technocrat; George Tenet, the activist CIA director; Tommy Franks, the profane and demanding general; Condoleezza Rice, the ever-present referee and national security adviser; Karl Rove, the hands-on political strategist; other key members of the White House staff and congressional leadership; and foreign leaders ranging from British Prime Minister Blair to Russian President Putin.

Plan of Attack provides new details on the intelligence assessments of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and the planning for the war's aftermath.

Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989

Michael R. Beschloss

Amazon Price: $18.48 List Price: $28.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 122 new & used starting at $0.48

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Presidents & Heads of State
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 63 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Conquerors

Michael Beschloss has brought us a brilliantly readable and inspiring saga about crucial times in America's history when a courageous President dramatically changed the future of the United States.

With surprising new sources and a dazzling command of history and human character, Beschloss brings to life these flawed, complex men -- and their wives, families, friends and foes. Never have we had a more intimate, behind-the-scenes view of Presidents coping with the supreme dilemmas of their lives.

You will be in the room with the private George Washington, braving threats of impeachment and assassination to make peace with England. John Adams, incurring his party's "unrelenting hatred" by refusing to fight France and warning his enemies, "Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war." Andrew Jackson, in a death struggle against the corrupt Bank of the United States. Abraham Lincoln, risking his Presidency to insist that slaves be freed.

Beschloss also shows us Theodore Roosevelt, taunting J. P. Morgan and the Wall Street leaders who dominated his party. Franklin Roosevelt, defying the isolationists -- and maybe the law -- to stop Adolf Hitler. Harry Truman, risking a walkout by top officials to recognize a Jewish state. John Kennedy, the belated champion of civil rights, complaining that he has cost himself a second term. And finally, two hundred years after Washington, Ronald Reagan, irking some of his oldest backers to seek an end to the Cold War.

As Beschloss shows in this gripping and important book, none of these Presidents was eager to incur ridicule, vilification or threats of political destruction and even assassination. But in the end, bolstered by friends and family, hidden private beliefs and, sometimes, religious faith, each ultimately proved himself to be, in Andrew Jackson's words, "born for the storm."

Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

Noam Chomsky

Amazon Price: $9.60 List Price: $24.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Metropolitan Books Amazon Marketplace: 73 new & used starting at $3.34

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 21st Century
Subjects -> History -> Middle East -> Iraq
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> History & Theory

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 97 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The world’s foremost critic of U.S. foreign policy exposes the hollow promises of democracy in American actions abroad—and at home

The United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene against “failed states” around the globe. In this much anticipated sequel to his international bestseller Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky turns the tables, charging the United States with being a “failed state,” and thus a danger to its own people and the world.

“Failed states” Chomsky writes, are those “that do not protect their citizens from violence and perhaps even destruction, that regard themselves as beyond the reach of domestic or international law, and that suffer from a ‘democratic deficit,’ having democratic forms but with limited substance.” Exploring recent U.S. foreign and domestic policies, Chomsky assesses Washington’s escalation of the nuclear risk; the dangerous consequences of the occupation of Iraq; and America’s self-exemption from international law. He also examines an American electoral system that frustrates genuine political alternatives, thus impeding any meaningful democracy.

Forceful, lucid, and meticulously documented, Failed States offers a comprehensive analysis of a global superpower that has long claimed the right to reshape other nations while its own democratic institutions are in severe crisis, and its policies and practices have recklessly placed the world on the brink of disaster. Systematically dismantling America’s claim to being the world’s arbiter of democracy, Failed States is Chomsky’s most focused—and urgent—critique to date.

Globalization and Its Discontents

Joseph E. Stiglitz

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 78 new & used starting at $3.28

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> History & Theory
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> International -> Relations
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Practical Politics

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 109 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This powerful, unsettling book gives us a rare glimpse behind the closed doors of global financial institutions by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. Renowned academic economist Joseph E. Stiglitz served seven years in Washington, as chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and as chief economist at the World Bank. In this book, Stiglitz recounts his experiences in such places as Ethiopia, Thailand, and Russia. He finds repeatedly that the International Monetary Fund puts the interests of its "largest shareholder," the United States, above those of the poorer nations it was designed to serve. This insider's account of global economic policy will be hailed for its courage and honesty. Those seeking to understand why globalization has engendered the hostility of protesters in Seattle and Genoa will find the reasons here. While this book includes no simple formula on how to make globalization work, Stiglitz provides a reform agenda that will provoke debate for years to come.

The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die

John B. Izzo

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $3.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Management & Leadership -> Motivational
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Management & Leadership -> Negotiating
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good spur to tackling the Big Picture components of a life well-lived 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

No one ever said on their deathbed, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

I saw this book at an airport bookstore and was intrigued by the title. Author John Izzo, a former Presbyterian minister, undertook to interview about 200 people (mostly elderly) about the ingredients for living a fulfilled life. The results he has distilled into five separate precepts.

These may not necessarily be "secrets," in that we have all likely heard them expounded from time to time. Still, the reinforcement is helpful. Each chapter on one of the "secrets" closes with a short list of practical tips and questions for how to implement these steps into your daily life. That is the kicker - not knowing but doing.

"Five Secrets" is a useful spur for all of us to slow down, step back from our busy-ness and to invest time and effort in those things in our lives that really matter.

Editorial Review:

What are the secrets to finding happiness? Why do some people live well and die happy? John Izzo asked thousands of people to identify the wisest person they knew. "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" shares what he learned from over 200 people aged 60-106 whom others said had found the meaning in life. From town barbers to Holocaust survivors, from aboriginal chiefs to CEO's, these people had over 18,000 years of life experience. With warmth and wit, this book shares the "Five Secrets" to a happy and purpose-filled life which Izzo distilled from listening to these stories. Dr. Izzo also shows the reader how to put these secrets into practice in our lives. This book will make you laugh, bring you to tears, and inspire you to discover what matters long before you die. Based on a highly acclaimed TV series appearing on public television, this book takes the reader on a heart-warming and profound journey to find lasting happiness.

On War

Carl von Clausewitz

Amazon Price: $26.95 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Princeton University Press Amazon Marketplace: 72 new & used starting at $2.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Military -> Strategy
Subjects -> History -> Military -> Weapons & Warfare -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> Military -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Geo-Political Student 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Very well written. A must have book for any student or practicioner of the Art and Strategy of War and/or the History of War.

Strategy ? - This book is required reading. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This classic is required reading for any scholar or other person interested in strategic thinking, military command and decision making, leadership of large scale or complex endeavors.

The Definitive Von Clausewitz 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I purchased the Everyman's Library edition of Von Clausewitz's On War for my husband, who is a military officer. He was deeply dissatisfied with the Penguin edition, which is awful in every respect, and so I went in search of an unabridged publication. The Everyman's library version is affordable at around twenty dollars, and expertly translated by the Princeton scholars Howard and Paret (who have a much more expensive but otherwise identical Princeton press edition published). It includes the entire unfinished work, including the books that focus on specifics of military tactics left out of the Penguin edition.
My only complaint about this excellent edition, which incidentally features a very helpful "how to read this book" section, is that it is somewhat cheaply bound and may not hold up to prolonged and intense study over the years. It would be nice to have an attractively bound copy for display in a library or office, as well. I fear we may begin to lose pages if we are not careful, but at twenty dollars, the book is replaceable. Steer clear of penguin, and go straight to Howard and Paret. You won't be sorry.

Editorial Review:

On War is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work's first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, statesmen, and intellectuals.