General Books - Page 15

Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy

Stephen M. Walt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Learned, Low-Key, Somewhat Disappointing 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I would not normally have bought this book, but the dogmatic criticisms of the work from what appear to be very angry Zionists compelled me to support the author and see for myself. I can certainly understand their objections: the author provides a very fine overview of how Israel has bonded and penetrated the U.S. Government at all levels including junior staff levels in both Congress and the Executive, and how this, in combination with what I consider to be an unholy alliance with the Christian Zionists (the author names Gary Bauer, Jerry Fallwell, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Tom Delay, and Richard Armey), has shifted U.S. policy between Palestine and Israel from being a balanced peacemaker to unleashing Israel and not holding it accountable. The author is at his best when discussing how to cease our support for Israel if they cannot be sincere in seeking a two-state or shared state solution. The author does not, as far as I could see, discuss the complete failure of the Arab nations to provide support to Palestine where it counts: aid, passports, land rights, etcetera.

On balance I was somewhat disappointed. The book is a tour de force at a very high level, but it is rather simplified, primarily state centric, an executive summary of a great deal of the literature, but missing important slices of the broader literature. Nothing here about the ten threats, twelve policies, or eight challengers.

The author does well at making the point that it is US actions, not US values, that are the catalyst for attacks, and he is quite explicit in discussing how specific terrorists attacks follow consistently from some specific US action in the Middle East. He lists the problems with US Foreign Policy, including double standards, short attention span, historical amnesia, and ambivalence about respect for international law, but there is not as much substance in this book as in, for example, David Boren's edited book on "Preparing American Foreign Policy for the 21st Century"--see my review for an 18 point summary--nor is there the fullest possible discussion of grand strategy. The author breaks new ground in defining strategies of opposition and strategies of accommodation (mostly state-centric) but all things being equal, I think Colin Gray's "Modern Strategy" is better.

The author is at pains to state that pro-Israel organizations, but not most American Jews themselves, egged the Administration on toward the elective invasion and occupation of Iraq. He tries very hard to be politically correct, to the point that the scholarship is weakened--note 97 on page 283, for example, avoids stating the obvious and documenting Greg Palast's "Best Democracy Monday Can Buy" case, i.e. that George Bush stole the Florida election in 2000.

The author touches lightly on the reality that you cannot do public diplomacy using dogma and propaganda--it must be based on substance, and he correctly identifies education as the key--something the Broadcasting Board of Governors not only does not understand, but they are actively keeping their head in the sand while the battle rages over where the Open Source Agency will be (in the spy world or in the diplomatic world).

Just when I thought the author was going to reach a cresendo, after a review of Joe Nye's soft power ideas, stating that no other state is capable of withstanding the full weight of US power, I ended up with a cream pull. No real discussion of how that full weight can be defined and manifested.

See also my reviews of Derek Leebaert's "The Fifty Year Wound," Jonathan Schell's "Unconquerable World," Chalmers Johnson's "Sorrows of Empire," Robert McNamara and James Blight "Wilson's Ghost," Tom Hammes "The Sling and the Stone," and Mark Hertsgaard's "The Eagle's Shadow," among many many other books.

Editorial Review:

How firm is America's grasp on global supremacy?

The United States currently wields unprecedented global power. Americans often assume that their global role is benevolent and their dominant position unchallenged, but other states are increasingly worried about U.S. dominance and are beginning to turn their concerns into action.

In this elegant and provocative new book, Kennedy School professor and renowned scholar Stephen M. Walt analyzes the different strategies that states employ to counter U.S. power or to harness it for their own ends. These responses threaten America's ability to achieve its foreign policy goals and may eventually undermine its dominant position. To prevent this, Walt argues, the United States must adopt a foreign policy that other states welcome, rather than one that reinforces their fear of American power.

Funding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement

Nicole Hoplin, Ron Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Money changes everything, especially in politics. Politicians, think tanks, and political parties would not be where they are without monetary gifts. Yet, when it comes to celebrating donors, the media often praise liberals for their selfless giving and criticize conservatives for their selfish hoarding. But Ron Robinson and Nicole Hoplin, leaders of Young America's Foundation, set the record straight in Funding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement. Part historical account of the conservative movement and part exposé about political philanthropy, Funding Fathers busts the myth that conservatives donate less money than democrats and exposes how the media, liberal organizations, and even conservatives perpetuate this lie. In Funding Fathers, Robinson and Hoplin reveal:

* How conservative donors have had as much influence on the conservative movement as people like Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley Jr.
* Why anonymous donations can do more harm than good to the conservative movement
* How donations benefiting conservative ideas are often misappropriated at universities across the U.S.
* How conservative politicians and organizations use donations more efficiently than liberals

Money matters. But it is not the size of the donation that counts, it is the impact it makes. Funding Fathers shows how the unsung heroes of the conservative movement have not only influenced the past, but also how they continue to shape the future.

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World

Barrington Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Examing Modernization 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Moore seeks to examine the paths to modernity adopted by various countries and the subsequent political outcomes. Principally, more concentrates on the emergence of democracy, fascism, and communism. Moore argues that each path to modernization is characterized by a certain level of revolution. The driving factor to the development of the political path is at which level in society does the revolution begin; the aristocracy (above), the bourgeoisie (middle), or the peasant (below)? As such, the dependent variable can be summed up as political systems, while the independent variables stem from class interactions (landed aristocracy, the state, bourgeoisie, and peasant). Of particular importance for Moore is the relationship between the landed aristocracy and the state. In situations where the aristocracy is weak, the potential for peasant revolution is great. In situations where the state is strong, it retains the coercive force to repress potential uprisings. These relationships, coupled with the relationship between agriculture and commerce - particularly whether or not the landed aristocracy has made a move towards the commercialization of agriculture.

Moore begins his work in discussing the capitalistic, democratic path to modernity as characterized by England, France, and the United States. In the case of England, the landed aristocracy moved towards the commercialization of agriculture. This essentially eliminated the wide peasant base from the equation, thus removing a potentially revolutionary class. Additionally, the move towards commercialized agriculture decreased the power of the absolutist Crown. Furthermore, the commercialization of agriculture leads to the development of towns and a trading class (bourgeoisie). Once combining forces, the landed aristocracy and the bourgeoisie were able to rebel against the Crown and demanded political recognition. Following a long civil war, a parliamentary (democratic) system of government was established. In this case, the emergence of the bourgeoisie was imperative for the democratic transition. This illustrates Moore's classic line "no bourgeoisies, no democracy."

In order to explain the path towards communism, Moore examines the case of Russia and China. In the case of Russia and China, the landed aristocracy failed to make the transition to commercialized agriculture. This failure led to the continued existence of massive peasant population. This massive peasant population created a tremendous barrier for the transition to democracy, and subsequently possessed a high revolutionary potential. With a weak state unable to function repressively, the environment was ripe for a revolution from below; a peasant revolution led to a communist government.

Moore's last path of modernization, fascism, is illustrated by case studies of Germany and Japan. Although Germany and Japan undertook a capitalist path to modernity, the outcome was drastically different from those nations achieving a democratic outcome. In Germany and Japan, the landed aristocracy formed a ready alliance with the burgeoning commercial and industrial classes. This allowed for the transition to commercial agriculture as well as an expansion in the industrial sphere. This transition, coupled with capacity of the state to repress rebellion and dissension allowed for the emergence of a fascist form of government.

In short, Moore seeks to explain the various paths to modernity; democracy, fascism, and communism. These paths to modernity are primarily driven by relations between class groups, and the type of transition to commercial agriculture.

Editorial Review:

Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World

New Foreword by Edward Friedman and James C. Scott

"A landmark in comparative history and a challenge to scholars of all lands who are trying to learn how we arrived at where we are now."
-The New York Times Book Review

Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans--Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild

Greg Palast

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Armed Madhouse 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Excellent book. Gives a lot of information on what is going on with Iraq and Oil.

Hits on point for which the real arguments are commonly diverted from 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

To me, the two most important points of the book had little to do with the U.S. election. The first relates to Iraqi oil. The few remaining Bush apologists simplify the concept of "war for oil" to mean that if Americans aren't looting the oil and coming home with a barrel under each arm then the war cannot possibly be "about oil". The issue is about CONTROL of oil. The battles between various American factions (neo-con enemies of OPEC vs. corporate friends of OPEC) is as important as any Sunni vs. Shia conflict. Being about oil means being about control means a lot more than just "getting" the oil.

The second is about the levees in New Orleans. It issue is about the levee failure not the hurricane directly. Did the levees failed when they should not have based on the government's effective guarantee of them? It appears the government failed at a responsibility it had taken upon itself. Greg does a good job making the argument that the administration had a fair warning that the levees were not up to the task they had been suggested to be. Also, as they failed, there was time to respond which was ignored. This failure to respond turns out to be to the benefit for many people (both Democrat and Republican). So much time is spent talking about the hurricane. The conservative reply has been to try to focus on the hurricane itself. George Bush cannot be blamed for the weather right? Failing that, blame the people themselves. Failing that, blame state and local officials. And finally failing that blame Brownie (offer up ONE bad guy in the Federal government who maybe have done a little better). All that diverts from the real problem. It was the levees, and it could have been avoided.

Editorial Review:

In his most provocative and caustically funny book yet, Greg Palast, author of the national bestseller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, once again gives us the straight scoop on the stories that Big Media won’t report. Digging up reams of documents marked “secret” and “confidential,” Palast provides the latest lowdown on Bush’s secret plans to seize Iraq’s oil, the fix planned for the 2008 election, who drowned New Orleans, and the horror and the humor of the War on Terror. With diligent detective work, moral outrage, and a keen sense of the absurd, Palast takes on the “armed and dangerous clowns that rule us” as only he can.

Looking backward, 2000-1887

Edward Bellamy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Good, but a bit boring 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed reading "Looking Backward." It speaks much about the problems facing America near the turn of the century; the problems that affected almost everyone in America every day. The problems of greedy monopolists is the most evident, but also others. The book is not as much as a story as it is the author laying out his groundwork for a perfect society with a story sort of, but not really, built around it. There is sort of a romace, but almost the entire book is characters telling the protagonist what the future is like. I do find it funny though. Back in the 19th century, authors GREATLY underestimated the technological progress of mankind. Just decades later, it was the opposite- and authors were greatly overestimating it.

not worth your time 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The book is (at best) a third rate utopian hack job, that maybe has some interest for those who have a special interest in utopian lit.

More an Economic Manifesto Than Great Fiction 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

** spoiler alert ** This book reads more like an economic manifesto than a work of fiction. A man from the late 1800s falls asleep and wakes up to find that he was in such a deep trance that it's now the year 2000. Nearly the entire book is a discourse on what has changed over the course of the century. Many of the changes really have happened, but most have not. Even though retirement at age 45 would be nice, the overall government-run utopia Bellamy suggests will never be possible unless human nature changes. I w...more This book reads more like an economic manifesto than a work of fiction. A man from the late 1800s falls asleep and wakes up to find that he was in such a deep trance that it's now the year 2000. Nearly the entire book is a discourse on what has changed over the course of the century. Many of the changes really have happened, but most have not. Even though retirement at age 45 would be nice, the overall government-run utopia Bellamy suggests will never be possible unless human nature changes. I would have enjoyed this book more if there was an actual storyline somewhere other than at the very beginning and very end of the book.

Changes That Have Happened:
*artificial lighting
*absence of chimneys and smoke for heating
*"credit cards"
*programs for listening to music live ... possibly internet since it's by telephone connection
*doctors may only practice if they've passed medical school
*radio alarm clock
*women in the work place
*church by phone connection (internet?)

Changes That Haven't Happened:
*the rise of monopolies choked out small businesses finally and finally gave rise to one company that owned everything (without any bloody revolution because the people all wanted it)
*governments aren't allowed to have enough power to use for maleficent causes
*Harder jobs have fewer hours and easier jobs have more hours to make it so that there is someone who wants to do every job
*every person is a common laborer during the first 3 years of their work service
*there is no buying nor selling
*there are no banks
*everyone has the same salary
*"the nation guarantees the nurture, education, and comfortable maintenance of every citizen from the cradle to the grave"
*free immigration because one country doesn't have to feed and clothe the person anymore and the other gets a free worker
*waterproof enclosed corridor appears during rainstorms for going out without an umbrella
*retirement at age 45
*free education up to age 21 (about grade 18)

Editorial Review:

Introduction by R. Jackson Wilson

Main Currents of Marxism (v. 1)

Leszek Kolakowski

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The commanding study of Marxism, now in one masterful volume with a new preface and epilogue by the author.

From philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly influential study of Marxism. Written in exile, this "prophetic work" presents, according to the Library of Congress, "the most lucid and comprehensive history of the origins, structure, and posthumous development of the system of thought that had the greatest impact on the twentieth century." Kolakowski traces the intellectual foundations of Marxist thought from Plotonius through Lenin, Lukacs, Sartre, and Mao. He reveals Marxism to be "the greatest fantasy of our century...an idea that began in Promethean humanism and culminated in the monstrous tyranny of Stalinism." In a brilliant coda, he examines the collapse of international Communism in light of the last tumultuous decades. Main Currents of Marxism remains the indispensable book in its field.

How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter

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Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

CAUTION: You’re about to enter the world of Ann Coulter

How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must), the instant New York Times bestseller, shows why Ann Coulter has become the most recognized—and controversial—conservative intellectual in years. Coulter ranges far and wide in this powerful and entertaining book, which draws on her weekly columns. No subject is off-limits, no comment left unsaid. She even includes a special chapter featuring the pieces that squeamish editors refused to publish—“what you could have read if you lived in a free country.”

In How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)—which features a brand-new chapter special to the paperback edition—Coulter offers her unvarnished take on:

• The essence of being a liberal: “The absolute conviction that there is one set of rules for you, and another, completely different set of rules for everyone else.”

• Her 9/11 comments: “I am often asked if I still think we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. The answer is: Now more than ever!”

• The state of the Democratic Party: “Teddy Kennedy crawls out of Boston Harbor with a quart of Scotch in one pocket and a pair of pantyhose in the other, and Democrats hail him as their party’s spiritual leader.”

• The “Treason Lobby”: “Want to make liberals angry? Defend the United States.”

• How far the Left has sunk: “Liberals have been completely intellectually vanquished. Actually, they lost the war of ideas long ago. It’s just that now their defeat is so obvious, even they’ve noticed.”

• And much more

Anarchism and Other Essays

Emma Goldman

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Emma Goldman's essays collected 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful.

I've heard from many people who are interested in reading books about anarchism (allthough i think the term "anarchism" is incorrect) that most books about anarchy are "heavy" and difficult to get through much less understand because they aim their content to readers that have a good backround of political understanding (its terminologies, its "schools" of thought, its currents and so forth..).

If this happens to be your problem then this book will be ideal if you want to discover what this political philosophy stands for and what its issues are and, indeed, have been for a long time.

Emma Goldman, a woman with as fiery a personality as they come, has put together here a number of essays about anarchy that are easy to comprehend and definately thought inspiring.
Despite this book having been first published in 1917 it loses nothing of its importance in the current state affairs as all of the issues Goldman deals with not only remain unsolved but they have -in the meantime- become a social burden or a social disaster much worse than back in her time. Oh, and back in her time things already looked bad enough.

What you get here is, summarily, the following:
-anarchy, what is it and what does it stand for? Beyond the mainstream media cliches anarchy stands for personal and societal freedom of the highest conceivable order. A freedom, anarchists insist, that is not a utopia. It's basically a hard lesson in crushing your illusions and opening unthought of doors of perception of what freedom really means. That would be then something other than being in a cage and having food thrown in. Even if the cage is invisible..

-Hard punching essays about the prison system and the everself-destructing notion of patriotism.. Funny how every line one reads in there could've been written yesterday. Not much has changed. After decades and decades of the imprisonment system has society become more law-abiding? That would be a thundering no. Why is that? As for patriotism, the incredible notion of dying for your country the same one that might be killing you slowly while draining you of all your resources and enslaving you in a wage system and a daily mindless-toil called "work" . here, Emma has to say a lot. There's always a reason to die if someone is going to make money out of it (that would be NOT you) and dress the whole "cause" up as patriotic..

-The hypocrisy of puritanism as well as the seemingly eternal joke of marriage and "love" are also given the treatment they deserve. In a society based on hypocrisy alltogether, you have to start on a personal level. You have to lose your personal chains before you attempt to free others. Your personal chains begin with the things you've been taught to hold most sacred (as is generally the case). The morals that are not yours. Whom do they really serve? The institutions that everyone notices they have fail and yet most continue to serve them. Why? How can this possibly be?

These are just some of the issues dealt with in Emma's essays.
A classic book that will basically reprogram your brain if you honestly think about the issues in it. But reprogrammed into what? Well, it will only reprogram you into thinking for yourself. For once. If you do, you'll find that the illusion you've been living in does indeed serve someone. Your long hard road to becoming an individual will thus commence.

Editorial Review:

Powerful, penetrating, prophetic essays on direct action, role of minorities, prison reform, puritan hypocrisy, violence, etc.

The Truth (with jokes)

Al Franken

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Total reviews: 486 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Al Franken’s landmark bestseller, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, was praised as a "bitterly funny assault" (The New York Times) that rang "with the moral clarity of an angel’s trumpet" (The Associated Press). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for all of us.

In these pages, Al reveals the alarming story of how:
* Bush (barely) beat Kerry with his campaign of "fear, smear, and queers," and then claimed a nonexistent mandate.
* "Casino Jack"Abramoff, the Republicans’ nearest and dearest friend, made millions of dollars off of the unspeakable misery of the poor and the powerless. And, also, Native Americans.
* The administration successfully implemented its strategy to destroy America’s credibility and goodwill around the world.

Complete with new material for this paperback edition, The Truth (with jokes) is more than just entertaining, intelligent, and insightful. It is at once prescient in its analysis of right-wing mendacity and incompetence, and inspiring in its vision of a better tomorrow for all Americans (except Jack Abramoff).

Karl Marx: Selected Writings

Karl Marx

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Selection of Marx's Writings. 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 19 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent selection of the writings of Karl Marx. This includes many writings which do not make it into the usual Marx/Engels Readers; Writings including Marx's Letters, his criticism of Bakunin, more writings on economics than in the usual Reader, and so on. One flaw of it, though, is that it does not contain the later writings of Engels writen after Marx's death. I suppose this is to be expected; It is after all *Marx's* writings, not Engels. However, the loss does not affect it much, and the book is still one of the most valuable tomes of Marxism I've bought. I'd recommend anyone interested in the thought of Karl Marx to get this book; If one is interested in both the writings of Marx and Engels, I'd recommend they get this book and the Marx/Engels Reader to supplement it. I have both, and both are fascinating.

Editorial Review:

This second edition of McLellan's comprehensive selection of Marx's writings includes carefully selected extracts from the whole range of Marx's political, philosophical, and economic thought. Each section of the book deals with a different period of Marx's life, allowing readers to trace the development of his thought from his early years as a student and political journalist in Germany up through the final letters he wrote in the early 1880s. A fully updated editorial introduction and bibliography has been included for each extract in this new edition.