Book Description
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION is one of the most widely adopted books for both undergraduate and graduate levels. The basis of the appeal is the three part framework of management, politics, and the law. Its theme is that all three perspectives are central to public administration, and that ignoring one or another leads to failures in both the practice of and in academic treatments of the field. This edition continues to refer to these three perspectives, but it divides management into two subsets: traditional and "the new public management".
Customer Reviews:
Difficult reading, very "wordy".......2006-12-15
This book was a required text for my PA course. It was very wordy and at times difficult to understand due to the repetitious content. I feel that there is probably a more straight forward style of writing than this one. Not for the student who is just beginning a public administration course, some back ground would be helpful if this text is to be used. However, it contains "Introduction" in its title. Well! I 'don't know about that? Great info, however, difficult reading.
mosgt boring book ever........2006-11-06
This is the most repetative book I have ever read. Just reading the intro to any chapter is all you really need, within the chaper, the author will state the exact same thing 3-5 times. I give it three starts because there is a lot of good information, it is just not well presented.
Good Graduate Level Text.......2005-10-27
This was a required text book for one of the classes in my master of public administration program (MPA). I found it to be extremely useful for understanding both the historical evolution of public administration and the current practice. The emphasis on the (sometimes conflicting) managerial, legal, and political perspectives of each aspect of public administration works nicely if you are also learning the Hamiltonian, Madisonian, and Jeffersonian perspectives on the founding of the government. I always find it useful to understand and remember how things work if I get a good explanation of why it is so--this book does a good job of balancing the how/why.
It's not a text for the casual reader, but if you are a graduate student, plan to be (or already are) a public manager, or just want a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of public administration, this book will serve you well.
Since I know some students don't buy books on their syllabi for financial reasons or for stubbornness, my recommendation is to get the book. It also makes a great reference for the papers you'll have to write.
Public Administration.......2000-05-21
Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector is a textbook that explicitly examines and explains the three major issues of public administration: management, politics, and law. It is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. In addition, this book identifies the differences in roles involved in public administration. For example, it describes the difference between the managerial and leadership roles in delivering public services. It discusses the traditional management style versus the New Public Management style in dealing with accountability on the part of administration, as well as the public.
Amazon.com
Amid his efforts to expose the Russian mob, Robert I. Friedman learned from the FBI that "the most brilliant and savage Russian mob organization in the world" had put a $100,000 price on his head. Reading Red Mafiya, it's not hard to see why: this is a brave book about a troubling subject. Friedman, a freelance journalist, describes the research behind it: "I ventured into the Russians' gaudy strip clubs in Miami Beach; paid surprise visits to their well-kept suburban homes in Denver; interviewed hit men and godfathers in an array of federal lockups; and traveled halfway around the world trying to make sense of their tangled criminal webs, which have ensnared everyone from titans of finance and the heads of government to entire state security services." Their racket involves heroin smuggling, weapons trafficking, mass extortion, and casino operation, among other activities. "Blending financial sophistication with bone-crunching violence, the Russian mob has become the FBI's most formidable criminal adversary, creating an international criminal colossus that has surpassed the Colombian cartels, the Japanese Yakuzas, the Chinese triads, and the Italian Mafia in wealth and weaponry," writes Friedman. They've even penetrated professional hockey, as Friedman shows in an eye-opening chapter ("Federal authorities have come to fear that the NHL is now so compromised by Russian gangsters that the integrity of the game itself may be in jeopardy").
Red Mafiya benefits from a breezy narrative in detailing a master criminal operation whose influence on the United States is growing rapidly. Russian mobsters already have siphoned off millions of dollars in foreign aid meant to prop up their country's economy--and they may have a more direct impact on American national security concerns in the years ahead: "The Russian mob virtually controls their nuclear-tipped former superpower," writes Friedman. Now, there's a scary thought. Lifting the Iron Curtain seems to have been a mixed blessing: it let freedom in, and organized crime out. --John J. Miller
Book Description
"In North America alone there are now thirty Russian crime syndicates operating in at least seventeen U.S. cities, most notably New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver. The Russians have already pulled off the largest jewelry heist and insurance Medicare frauds in American history, with a net haul exceeding $1 billion. They have invaded North America's financial markets, orchestrating complex stock scams, allegedly laundering billions of dollars through the Bank of New York, and coolly infiltrating the business and real estate worlds.
"The Russians didn't come here to enjoy the American dream," New York state tax agent Roger Berger says glumly. "They came here to steal it." -From the Introduction From an award-winning investigative journalist comes an astonishing exposi of Russian organized crime, its growing power in the United States, and its terrifying implications for the rest of the world.
In the past decade, from Brighton Beach to Moscow, Toronto to Hong Kong, the Russian mob has become the world's fastest-growing criminal superpower. Trafficking in prostitutes, heroin, and missiles, the mafiya poses an enormous threat to global stability and safety. The black-market corruption of the Brezhnev era proved the perfect breeding ground for organized crime. Beginning in the 1970s, Soviet ?migr?s--including a large number of felons and murderers the USSR was happy to get rid of--began arriving in the United States and quickly established themselves as a major criminal force in New York, Las Vegas, and elsewhere. But it was the breakup of the Soviet Union that made the
Russian mob what it is today. In a weakened, impoverished Russia, it quickly became the dominant power. And it has now spread to every corner of the United States, infiltrating its banks and brokerage firms--and American law enforcement is just waking up to this enormous problem. No journalist in the world knows more about the Russian mob in America than Robert Friedman. At great risk to himself, he has made connections with a number of top criminals who have gone on record about their activities for the first time. The result of his discoveries is a revelation: the Red Mafiya is everywhere. The implications--for law enforcement, the economy, foreign policy, for the American people themselves--are staggering."
Customer Reviews:
Good information, poorly organized.......2007-10-04
An account of the Russian Mafiya is an daunting task that requires a great deal of research. While I have no doubt that many of the statements in this book are true, the book suffers from a terrible lack of organization. It seems as though Friedman decided to write this book in a stream-of-conscious format. The format problem is damaging to the credibility of the book because it can confuse readers.
The evolution of the Russian Mafiya, which is located at the conclusion of chapter 5, should really open the book. Instead, Friedman jumps right into a prison interview with little primer before the important text. The main thesis alleges that the KGB stashed much of the money after the fall in the Soviet Union in as many places as possible. Among these places was organized crime, which has been diversifying since the 1970's. The problem was exacerbated when the Soviet Union fell. And because many of these Russian are Jewish, they seek asylum in Israel.
One of the move informative chapters discusses the extortion practices that mafiya associates exhibited with Russian NHL player. The media seems woefully unaware of any problem. This chapter is toward the middle of the book, sandwiched between prison interviews, illegal schemes, and biographies of members. The format left me with little frame of reference or time line regarding this developing problem. The book could benefit from a return to an editor.
Very Factual and in NO WAY anti semitic........2007-08-07
Contrary to some of the comments mentioned by those giving this book low marks; this book is extremely accurate and in NO WAY anti semitic. Some stated that this book was anti semitic because it did not talk about the good side of the Russian-Jew Imagre. NEWS FLASH!!! This book is about the Russian Mob! The book is about BAD GUYS! Who says the author has to talk about the honest and good Russian-Jew imagre?? Secondly those who said the content was embellished or un-believable obviously do not have any knowledge on the subject of the Russian Mafia. Myself being involved in law enforcement at the state and federal level for 23 years, I can attest that nothing is sensationalized in this book. As for the person who claimed to have been written about in the book.. GIVE ME A BREAK!
for lack of "0" star option.......2007-04-29
Bottom line: this is not what you'd expect - 90's Russian mafia in the West stories. I was duped into... by the title 7 years ago... and pissed of by the good reviews which I saw now.
The great robbing of Russia and the spill-overs into the world have nothing to do with the hoodlum stories of this book.
Publishers do that: once a topic gets media attention... publish anything related.
CRAP!
Quite Shocking!.......2006-10-07
This is quite shocking of how the mafia is able to buy off members of both major political parties in the U.S. along with other Western nations such as Israel. I would also recommend reading Double Cross about Sam and Chuck Giancana the two mafia bosses whom had the Kennedys in their pockets.
Inciteful and Highly Readable.......2006-05-12
A real eye-opener. Friedman writes about some pretty ruthless, cruel people. I don't know how the author could have possibly obtained all the information that he did; he is a brave man. I hope he's still alive, and will be amazed if he is, given the nature of the people about whom he has written. Friedman describes Russian Mafiya types operating in Toronto, near to where I live -- very unnerving. Mind you, if you live in NYC, Miami, Denver, San Francisco or Los Angeles, you are not alone...
Book Description
Does America, as George W. Bush has proclaimed, have a special mission, derived from God, to bring liberty and democracy to the world? How much influence does the Christian right have over U.S. foreign policy? And how should America deal with violent Islamist extremists?
Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state and bestselling author of Madam Secretary, offers a thoughtful and often surprising look at the role of religion in shaping America's approach to the world. Drawing upon her experiences while in office and her own deepest beliefs about morality, the United States, and the present state of world affairs, a woman noted for plain speaking offers her thoughts about the most controversial topics of our time.
Customer Reviews:
Ultimate Answer.......2007-10-06
I must confess I have been following her public life since she became Secretary of State. I am her most avid reader having read her memoir six times. I ended my last reading on that book almost two weeks ago, and I finished reading the mighty and the almighty in five days last friday. To the point, I expected her second volume not to be a research work, it seems as though if I had to talk about the Middle East in school, this book would definitely be my guidance on that matter.
Now in all seriousness, I expected this book to be more about her accomplishments in government, and her sharp insights regarding recent events. This book could've just as easily be called 'The Mighty, The Almighty and Middle East Conflicts'. Do NOT get me wrong, I am all for that, I do believe the Middle East is, will and has shaped the world in every single way. Religion must be taken seriously into account as a player in world events, definitely. I am not against the content nor the topics of this book. I just wanted it to be more 'Madeleiney', if you will.
Mrs. Albright, if you are, or someone who knows you, reading this, I want you to know I expect your third book to be the ultimate answer to today's US Government Administration failures.
An Admirable Lady!.......2007-09-16
I think very highly of Madeline Albright and respect her accomplishments very much. I feel that the book is a little difficult to read though and I had a hard time sticking with it. It is however filled with lots of facts and events that make it worth the dedication.
Return to High American Ideals.......2007-08-26
This book may be directed to the "choir," as other reviewers have noted, but even the choir needs some encouragement from time to time. We've been through a rough 8 years.
I'm with her in her final comment: "I will never accept, however, that the United States is not better than we have been these past few years; nor will I stop believing (or praying) that we will recover our balance and begin again -- and soon -- to command the world's respect, and our own."
Human beings are religious animals, and we do perceive things differently. It is important to be tolerant of the beliefs of others; many of us are seeking God the best way we know how.
Politics and religion are both valid aspects of human life, but they are not the same thing.
Intelligent work about the subtleties of foreign policy wrt religion.......2007-07-17
Ms. Albright starts the book by providing background on how Americans have best handled religion in general. She gives several quotes from the founding fathers:
"George Washington disclaimed any interest in whether people were 'Mohametans, Jews or Christians of any sect, or Atheists.' His sole concern was that they should have the right to exercise freedom of worship, expression, and thought."--Page 18.
She then almost ventures into political heresy by giving a meaningful historical-political context to the Jewish-Palestinian conflict: (I had not been aware of the extent to which power elites in the world had gotten on board the Zionist mission.)
The remainder of the book is full of background about Judaism, Christianity, but especially Islam, that few are aware of--certainly not the current gang at the helm. Well worth the read, though Ms. Albright does not appreciate, or acknowledge anyway, the role of the CIA in creating the "world of terror."
...
For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]
Brian Wright
Copyright 2007
Terrific.......2007-07-08
A great book written by a knowledgeable person. I treasured it and have shared it with friends.
Amazon.com
Donald Trump doesn't pull any punches when he surveys the American political scene: Pat Buchanan's "totally lost it," Al Gore is "an able, underrated man who seems confused," and Bill Bradley is simply a "disaster." But the real estate tycoon has some ideas of his own about how the United States should be run, and he shares them with the potential electorate for the 2000 presidential race in The America We Deserve. There aren't too many surprises here: Trump lambastes the government bureaucracy that's made a mess of the civic infrastructure, particularly the public school systems; he supports creating opportunities for business developers (both large and small); and he's tougher than tough on crime. He's also prepared to come down hard on America's enemies abroad, such as China, North Korea, and Cuba. Among the more interesting aspects of his platform is his desire to do away completely with soft money in campaign financing and allow unlimited personal contributions--along with full disclosure of political contributions, updated daily on the Internet.
The America We Deserve is an effective combination of Trump's straight-shooting personality and policy-wonk data points. As another American presidential campaign heats up, Trump raises issues that will force voters to give serious consideration to what they want in a candidate. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
In his most recent book, The America We Deserve Donald Trump shares his vision of the future. Donald Trump can afford to be more plainspoken than most politicians. He is not compromised by alliances and not connected to special-interest groups. In the political game, the politicians, the lobbyists, even the media get their marching orders from their financial backers. Trump has one financial backer: Trump. Throughout The America We Deserve, Trump points out problems and offers sensible, practical solutions. To help him formulate his ideas into well-researched and workable policies, Trump has secured the support and counsel of a group of domestic and foreign policy advisers, all with White House or senior policy experience. In his book, Trump lays out his concerns and solutions, virtually a platform on the major political issues facing our country. But this is not a dry, public-policy book. This is Donald Trump taking on the issues in his no-nonsense, unvarnished manner, offering populists, provocative, and sometimes dramatic solutions that no other politician would dare put foward. In three best-selling books, Donald Trump used stories of his deal-making and his dazzling life to captivate readers with his vision of just how far you can go if you dream the American Dream. In the America We Deserve, Trump takes all that he has learned from his successes, his failures, and his extraordinary comeback and uses those lessons to build a vision of what needs to be done to ensure that the American Dream he dreamed continues to be a possibility for everyone.
Customer Reviews:
One of Donalds best books ever! A must read, no matter what you think of the guy........2007-10-10
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I can say I was very surprised, captivated and motivated into action after reading this book. With the many different sides of Donald Trump in the public eye, this side may be one you have never seen nor heard completely. This isn't a book about The Donald, this is a book about The America We Deserve and should be living in today. A must read for everyone who believes that things aren't going the way they should be and looking for something actionable to do about it.
Truly the America We Deserve.......2007-09-18
I had heard such great things about this book that I had to read it. I was about 7 years too late, but I still think the book is good and worth reading. My only debate was Trump's weak argument to correct the school system. He really didn't have a plan to correct it other than stop feeding more money into the system. Other than that one area, the book was very appealing. I think his idea of having our country run the way a successful business CEO operates is worth a shot.
The best idea in the book is Trump's plan to impose a one time 14.25% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $10 million, which is a mere 1% of our population. This tax money would be used to pay off our national debt and restore the social security program. I know this tax would probably not be able to pay off our national debt today, but this is the kind of idea that would only evolve from the CEO of a company that has goals to meet in terms of the overall bottom line of their company's annual performance. Ideas of taxation on the richest individuals in America are far better than creating additional debt for our country, so that's why I agree with Trump that someone with a great business mind should run for President.
Another interesting chapter in the book was his prediction of another terrorist attack that would make a previous one in New York look feeble. A lot of the chapter mentioned the bioterrorism that we would encounter (i.e. anthrax), and I actually had to check the copyright on this book when I read this chapter.
I do recommend reading this book, but be aware that it's a bit outdated. The plans for national debt, social security, freedom from terrorists are outstanding. It makes you wonder how things might have turned out different for America had Trump run for President.
Who Can Disagree With The Title?.......2005-09-09
I think most anyone would agree with Mr. Trump that the America he describes within this book would be an ideal nation. The problem is, Donald Trump does not know anymore than anyone else about how to achieve the problems he very practically identifies. The math of what's lacking in this book could be described with an equation like this: A+X=C. A is where we are today in the America we have, C is the "America we deserve" now what is X that would get us to C? I have no idea. I wish someone knew.
But as far as Trump's observations go, he is frequently correct and in his "idealistic pragmatism" he has an observant eye when it comes to citing certain less than ideal, even intolerable, situations.
I liked Trump's comment that money is not the key to fixing America's education system. He demonstrated how in real dollars we spend more on education these days than in the recent past and yet see less achievement in return. His biting, dead-on observation that the teachers' union's position that salary increases for classroom instructors would elevate teachers' performances is akin to them saying, "Bribe us more and we'll agree to put more effort into the job we're already taking money to try our hardest at now."
VERY good point!
Trump was also correct in this 1999 book in foreseeing another terrorist attack on New York City that would make the 1993 World Trade Center attack seem minor. That predicition came tragically true on September 11, 2001. His warnings to prepare for further attacks are more true in 2005 than they were in the Clinton Years. As I'm writing this, Hurricane Katrina is in the headlines and the lack of coordinated management in helping its victims shows how unprepared this mighty nation truly is for disasters of a monumental scale. I'm sure our ever-patient foes are learning from this and I hope we Americans are as well.
But lest I come across as doling out more praise to Donald Trump than his book, sound though it is, merits, I have to come around to the fact that Trump's critial troubleshooting does not contain enough suggestions of how to improve the things he says are wrong. He's a smart man, not without faults, but he understands how business operates and I wish he had provided more insights in this book into how we can reach the hypothetical point C that would be the United States he takes delight in describing in his writings.
Classic Trump prose mixed with logic and wit.......2003-11-16
It's about time a guy like Donald Trump published this book. Whether you love him, hate him, or want him to fix his hair, The Donald presents fresh takes on age-old arguments and explains why he has what it takes.
While every other candidate in 2000 was writing books about their youths, military service, or whatever else, Trump uses his get-down-to-business style to attack issues (and people) and offer quick-witted solutions. The fact that I disagree on a few points does not take away from the quality of the book. If you want a straight-shooting tome from a guy who takes care of things himself, The America We Deserve is a must-read.
Trump beat Gore and he didn't even run!.......2003-11-10
According to surveys taken at that time, Trump was ahead of Gore and just behind G.W.Bush. No doubt if Trump would have run, Gore would have blamed him too!
After reading this book (actually re-reading) I really wish Trump would have run for President. He has some very good views on how to make this country stronger and certaintly would b e a better choice than the comedy team (RE: Democrats) that are running.
I particularly like Mr. Trumps ideas on how to save social security.
Mr. Trump, if you are reading this, you should consider running in 2004. Mr. Bush could use some real competition. Obviously right now, he doesn't have any. Your views could make for a stronger America.
Amazon.com
"Hutus kill Tutsis, then Tutsis kill Hutus--if that's really all there is to it, then no wonder we can't be bothered with it," Philip Gourevitch writes, imagining the response of somebody in a country far from the ethnic strife and mass killings of Rwanda. But the situation is not so simple, and in this complex and wrenching book, he explains why the Rwandan genocide should not be written off as just another tribal dispute.
The "stories" in this book's subtitle are both the author's, as he repeatedly visits this tiny country in an attempt to make sense of what has happened, and those of the people he interviews. These include a Tutsi doctor who has seen much of her family killed over decades of Tutsi oppression, a Schindleresque hotel manager who hid hundreds of refugees from certain death, and a Rwandan bishop who has been accused of supporting the slaughter of Tutsi schoolchildren, and can only answer these charges by saying, "What could I do?" Gourevitch, a staff writer for the New Yorker, describes Rwanda's history with remarkable clarity and documents the experience of tragedy with a sober grace. The reader will ask along with the author: Why does this happen? And why don't we bother to stop it? --Maria Dolan
Book Description
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.In April 1994, the Rwandan government called upon everyone in the Hutu majority to kill each member of the Tutsi minority, and over the next three months 800,000 Tutsis perished in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the war in Rwanda, a vivid history of the tragedy's background, and an unforgettable account of its aftermath. One of the most acclaimed books of the year, this account will endure as a chilling document of our time.
Customer Reviews:
Compelling.......2007-09-22
My prep for going to Rwanda was reading this book. This is a snapshot of the state Rwanda was in during the 100 days and the aftermath. However, much has been done to repair the damage. This is a time of reconciliation and healing. Go to Rwanda and see for yourself. It will change your life.
Will really let you see into this tradgedy........2007-05-29
What a great book. Such insight and it really helps you understand what happened in Rwanda. Especially the history of all the long ago violence and things that have happened over the years. Great book and a must read for everyone.
This could happen everywhere or anywhere in the world. Can really open your eyes into how much we all could be killers or saviors at any one time.
Highly recommended.
The Heartbreak of Hate.......2007-04-10
Gourevitch's jarring telling of the atrocities of hate hit with an imact of severe sorrow. The overwhelming scale of the murders in Rwanda are incomprehensible. It is sad to realize that in this age people allow hate and propoganda to rule their lives.
Excellent Book.......2007-03-27
This book was very well written and informative about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda.
Heartbreaking stories from Rwanda.......2007-03-19
This is a superb book, a collection of interviews and incidents from the genocide in Rwanda. There are portraits of unimaginable betrayal, brutality and horror, but also of heroism--the owner of the Hotel Rwanda, for instance. The description of the conduct of the "refugee" camps is particularly useful as a warning on what is likely to happen in the next crisis, and should force us to re-examine our ways of providing relief for people in distress across the world.
Amazon.com
According to Robert Baer, the center of the global economy is a "kingdom built on thievery, one that nurtures terrorism, destroys any possibility of a middle class based on property rights, and promotes slavery and prostitution." This kingdom also sits on one quarter of the world's oil reserves, thus ensuring that it receives the full support and protection of the U.S. government. Sleeping With the Devil details the hypocritical and corrupt relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and the potentially calamitous economic consequences of maintaining this Faustian bargain. As Baer makes clear, the U.S. has been aware of problems within the bitterly divided Al Sa'ud family for years, but has ignored the facts in order to keep lucrative business deals afloat. (The amount of money the royal family spends to influence powerful American politicians and lobbyists is staggering.) Particularly damning are his details regarding Saudi Arabia's support of militant Islamic groups, including al Qaeda. The ruling family funnels millions of dollars to such groups in order to dissuade them from overthrowing the monarchy--a protection scheme that is shaky at best, given the hatred most citizens feel for the ruling family. To prevent economic disaster that could come from either a local uprising or an interruption in the flow of oil due to terrorism, Baer raises the possibility of the U.S. seizing the Saudi oil fields and forcing a regime change on its own terms: "An invasion and a revolution might be the only things that can save the industrial West from a prolonged, wrenching depression," he warns.
Baer spent 21 years with the CIA, much of it in the Middle East, so he is an informed guide to this complex subject. His alarming book deserves to be read for raising many important and troubling questions. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
“Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place that spawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient and deeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family that can’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on?”
In his explosive New York Times bestseller,
See No Evil, former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politics drastically compromised the CIA’s efforts to fight global terrorism. Now in his powerful new book, Sleeping with the Devil, Baer turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how our government’s cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally and America’s dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerable to economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts of terrorism.
For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a “harmony of interests.” America counted on the Saudis for cheap oil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative business relationships for the United States, while providing a voracious market for the kingdom’s vast oil reserves. With money and oil flowing freely between Washington and Riyadh, the United States has felt secure in its relationship with the Saudis and the ruling Al Sa’ud family. But the rot at the core of our “friendship” with the Saudis was dramatically revealed when it became apparent that fifteen of the nineteen September 11 hijackers proved to be Saudi citizens.
In
Sleeping with the Devil, Baer documents with chilling clarity how our addiction to cheap oil and Saudi petrodollars caused us to turn a blind eye to the Al Sa’ud’s culture of bribery, its abysmal human rights record, and its financial support of fundamentalist Islamic groups that have been directly linked to international acts of terror, including those against the United States. Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U.S. intelligence community, Baer vividly portrays our decades-old relationship with the increasingly dysfunctional and corrupt Al Sa’ud family, the fierce anti-Western sentiment that is sweeping the kingdom, and the desperate link between the two. In hopes of saving its own neck, the royal family has been shoveling money as fast as it can to mosque schools that preach hatred of America and to militant fundamentalist groups—an end game just waiting to play out.
Baer not only reveals the outrageous excesses of a Saudi royal family completely out of touch with the people of its kingdom, he also takes readers on a highly personal search for the deeper roots of modern terrorism, a journey that returns time again and again to Saudi Arabia: to the Wahhabis, the powerful Islamic sect that rules the Saudi street; to the Taliban and al Qaeda, both of which Saudi Arabia helped to underwrite; and to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most active and effective terrorist groups in existence, which the Al Sa’ud have sheltered and funded. The money and arms that we send to Saudi Arabia are, in effect, being used to cut our own throat, Baer writes, but America might have only itself to blame. So long as we continue to encourage the highly volatile Saudi state to bank our oil under its sand—and so long as we continue to grab at the Al Sa’ud’s money—we are laying the groundwork for a potential global economic catastrophe.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state -- a place that spawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient and deeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family that can't get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on?"
In his explosive New York Times bestseller, See No Evil, former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politics drastically compromised the CIA's efforts to fight global terrorism. Now in his powerful new book, Sleeping with the Devil, Baer turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how our government's cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally and America's dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerable to economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts of terrorism.
For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a "harmony of interests." America counted on the Saudis for cheap oil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative business relationships for the United States, while providing a voracious market for the kingdom's vast oil reserves. With money and oil flowing freely between Washington and Riyadh, the United States has felt secure in its relationship with the Saudis and the ruling Al Sa'ud family. But the rot at the core of our "friendship" with the Saudis was dramatically revealed when it became apparent that fifteen of the nineteen September 11 hijackers proved to be Saudi citizens.
In Sleeping with the Devil, Baer documents with chilling clarity how our addiction to cheap oil and Saudi petrodollars caused us to turn a blind eye to the Al Sa'ud's culture of bribery, its abysmal human rights record, and its financial support of fundamentalist Islamic groups that have been directly linked to international acts of terror, including those against the United States. Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U.S. intelligence community, Baer vividly portrays our decades-old relationship with the increasingly dysfunctional and corrupt Al Sa'ud family, the fierce anti-Western sentiment that is sweeping the kingdom, and the desperate link between the two. In hopes of saving its own neck, the royal family has been shoveling money as fast as it can to mosque schools that preach hatred of America and to militant fundamentalist groups -- an end game just waiting to play out.
Baer not only reveals the outrageous excesses of a Saudi royal family completely out of touch with the people of its kingdom, he also takes readers on a highly personal search for the deeper roots of modern terrorism, a journey that returns time again and again to Saudi Arabia: to the Wahhabis, the powerful Islamic sect that rules the Saudi street; to the Taliban and al Qaeda, both of which Saudi Arabia helped to underwrite; and to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most active and effective terrorist groups in existence, which the Al Sa'ud have sheltered and funded. The money and arms that we send to Saudi Arabia are, in effect, being used to cut our own throat, Baer writes, but America might have only itself to blame. So long as we continue to encourage the highly volatile Saudi state to bank our oil under its sand -- and so long as we continue to grab at the Al Sa'ud's money -- we are laying the groundwork for a potential global economic catastrophe.
Customer Reviews:
EXCELLENT FAST REVIEW of US/Saudi Politics (In Ketab ra kheli khubeh...Jedan Migham!).......2007-09-07
Easy 1-2 day read...a book you CAN'T put down! Excellent writing style with occasional humorous comments by Baer. An entertaining book, as well as informative!
The only negative aspect in reading many reviews here, is the failures of many to recognize that this publication is ONLY ONE example of internal causes and weaknesses of the US Government and corporate powers that I feel have led to potentially serious current and future economic concerns and failures in US policy, especially in regards to further class splitting and the more recent revelation of a diminishing middle class in the US! (The "Fall of Rome" kept resonating throughout this book!) Readers MUST remember that this is an example of a limited perspective of limited causes towards the deterioration of our nation's infrastructure...there are MANY OTHER contributing factors than just the examples Baer presents in his book in regards to "related terrorism", especially as Baer points out with regard to State Department Policy, as well as Department of Justice failures to address governmental weaknesses and lacking policy and logistics!
Baer does an EXCEPTIONAL job in pointing out the potential weaknesses that DO currently exist, especially in regards to policy cohesion (or lack thereof) between agencies, professionals, and related concerns. Personally, I feel that many attorneys and law makers are just as terroristic as "Islamic Extremists"! It seems that our "security" has become quite the political issue of the day, only to be revealed by some of Baer's direct and accurate statements!
It is awesome to see this representation of how "HUMAN GREED", not just "WESTERN GREED" exists in ALL parts of the world, as presented by Baer who addresses deeper causes of "radical religious extremism"! "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" resonates with examples of such worldly advice, not strictly against "western" ideology! A few Islamic extremists might remember that they just might be destroying innocent citizens in the west who COULD stand up against what "greed" has done to ALL HUMANS, not just their cause!!! I don't know too many Christian radicals who can justly rationalize the bombing of abortion clinics and killing of doctors as a fair representation of "right to life"!! I think that MANY Islamic extremists are also paddling upstream in a cement boat in much of that same ignorance that ANY extremist religions represent!
Unfortunately, "terrorism" has become just another "political catchphrase" and marketing strategy to distract the average citizen from deeper truths they really would want to avoid, very similar to the 'Zebras' running around in Kenya, Russia, Iran, Arabia and the Sudan, et alii...and just as freely in DC! The saddest aspect that Baer reveals is how GOOD CITIZENS are thwarted from truthful statements and records from the Zebras who are running circles around American Constitutional rights and the corruptions of "rule of law" in our courts, government and conglomerates with their own greedy agendas, absent of considerations for cause and effect, and especially towards those of us who voted for them in the first place, hoping for better integrity universally, instead of limited political and financial interests!
There is a lesson to be learned about "American Complacency"...it might just eventually put us in the same boat as the extremists who are attacking from both sides of the spectrum!
I have known many good foreigners and many bad ones...but I have known bad fellow Americans as well, especially ones with power and money to destroy our lives! I am glad to have seen Baer address that aspect of UNIVERSAL HUMAN NATURE in his book, as a recognition that "it's NOT the RACE, RELIGION or CULTURE, but it's the PERSONAL INTEGRITY within EACH OF US that REALLY matters!
The old adage, "give them enough rope, and they'll hang themselves", has really meant that the power struggle is in who is holding that extra rope! For Saudis, it's their misuses of power and wealth by a greedy Monarchy who seems to care nothing about "efficiently running a country for its own best interests" vs. personal greed. For Americans, it's those in government and corporate sectors who really are NOT looking out for AMERICA'S best interests, but simply their own greedy agendas! Decent "religious" people of ALL religions recognize this basic truth we share together! It's just too bad that so many "religious leaders" have implemented and instilled violence with a fanatical agenda to address their OWN agendas, and not truly the REAL Will of God! The same principal holds true in secular societies with relation to "good" social and personal behaviors vs. "bad" behaviors. Baer is brilliant in bringing this to light on such a large scale!
I hope some of those in power learn to do the right thing, like throw the REAL criminals in prison who are responsible for being traitors to our good country, as well as holding accountable those that Baer brings to light in his work! I think this book should be required reading in business ethics classes, as well as PoliSci classes! The 'political' implications of a national struggle for control of "National Security" vs. privacy becomes quite evident in Baer's book! Take a deeper look!
You will NOT regret buying this book, unless you can't handle the truth!
We have met the enemy and it is us .......2007-07-19
If one wants to understand at least part of the reason why things have not gone so well since 9/11 one would do well to read this book. Baer tells a woeful tale of corruption and cover-up in describing U.S.- Saudi relations. The Saudis according to Baer have put a lot of Americans on their payroll , and not only private individuals but those who serve in the CIA and State Department. Saudi bribery of Americans is paralleled by Saudi bribery done at home. The House of Saud and it's thirty- thousand princes have sold the educational system of the kingdom to the religious fanatics, who also happen to be major-exporters of Islamic terrorism. The fact that the Saudis are supposedly America's close ally while at the same time funding Terror is also underlined by the large Saudi presence among the suicide- bombers in Iraq.
Where all this is going to go is not clear, though Baer seems to feel the corrupt, oppressive rule of the House of Saud will in the not distant future come tumbling down.
Required Reading For All Voters.......2007-06-24
Sleeping with the Devil is written from Baer's own perspective as an intell and ex-intell officer. After having read portions of some academic books on this subject, this is one of the easiest and most compelling reads you're going to get on it, exactly because it approaches it from a personal standpoint of emotional reactions upon acquiring each bit of information. He is clearly not happy about the conclusions this information forces him to, but trudges on for the sake of truth and possible solutions.
What's the gist of this book? The U.S. political system, our intelligence & counterintelligence apparatus, the energy economy, the defense industry, and policy towards the Middle East are sinfully broken. Our officials have increased their standard of living and that of their friends by consorting with oil Arabs. Those Arabs have made huge defense contracts they cannot afford that fill U.S. elites' pockets. They also pump as much oil as possible to drive prices down to keep these U.S. officials elected.
The same Arabs are surrounded by radicals who want to overthrow them, so they fund them but force the terrorists overseas to funnel their hatred towards the West. All this time, the said wealthy Arabs are taking bribes and skimming off the top in order to live a life of debauchery, thus inciting even more fundamentalists inside their own country to hate them, causing an even greater need to appease them with more funds and push them out of the country towards us.
The United States has manipulated its way into getting our troops into the region in order to ensure this status quo. A concerted and bipartisan effort has been made to use the FBI and other agencies to help dissuade investigation of our Arab allies and help quiet descent. Americans are dying, the common Arab is poor and oppressed, but U.S. and Arab elites are staying influential and getting rich off it.
There is much, much more to it, but you need to read it for yourself. I will tell you the conclusions are not pretty. The United States is facing a crisis. We have political powers who are keeping information classified for the purpose of, at the worst, covering up corruption, or at the very least, severe impropriety in both southwestern Arabia and back home. The solutions suggested by Baer were self-reform by the politicians and corporate big-wigs, and, brace yourself, an outright invasion of a 400 mile stretch of oil real estate that includes Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
While the self-reform was always unlikely, the invasion was not. However, it is a downright impossibility now. If we did, Muslims everywhere would turn against us, not just ideologically, but in a material sense. A third invasion of an Arab country, especially the one with the two most holy of Islam's sites, would not go well in light of the disaster in Iraq. It doesn't matter how sparsely populated that 400 mile stretch is. Furthermore, the American elites would have to be complicit in something they have a vested interest in preventing. Without the Sheikhs and Saudi royalty in the loop, the current scheme would dissolve. It'd be great for the average American and Arab, but if the politicians didn't have an incentive to stop this before, they don't have one now. They'll just keep milking this until the bitter end.
But the bitter end is coming whether we like it or not. The House of Saud will fall. Oil prices will rocket. The American economy will tank. We do not have the oil the public seems to think we have. We are not a Russia. China is a non-issue. They are a dependent and have almost no internal energy production infrastructure. Whoever needs cheep, cut-throat goods, they'll do business with. Russia, on the other hand, has enormous reserves and has the potential to regain its status in such a scenario.
So we can't invade that 400 mile strip. The politicians won't reform. There will be no required alliance with the Shiites, as shown with all the rhetoric towards Iran. And the inevitable is on the way. What do we have left? I would posit that the only solution left is to bring 'em home...all of them. It's unfortunate. I hate having to say this. However, it's clear the USA needs to protect our boarders, ports, and airports and hunker down. All the money we save from halting further major military exploits should be pumped into pure electric cars, fission nuclear power plants, and fusion nuclear power research. Domestically-produced oil products should be used only for heavy machinery, aircraft, and smaller machines like lawn mowers.
I do not think this is a similar situation to Japan at the end of WWII. They kept their emperor, police, and enough of their infrastructure to meet the basic necessities of life and prevent civil unrest. The Japanese government was part of the transfer. Iraq is almost complete anarchy. At this point, we are a distraction. The Sunnis and Shia should be fighting against Al Queda, not against us. They'll fight against each other regardless of what we do because we are not willing to commit the war crimes necessary to bring them under control...thank God. Someone else will fill that role. He'll likely be another Sunni, because a Shiite leader would have no reason not to just exterminate the minority.
Stopping terrorism should be a law enforcement and intelligence mission, with the military playing only a support role. The purpose of the U.S. military is to defend us, not invade countries and idiotically attempt to force democracy on people. Remember, it's "of the people, by the people", not "of a foreign nation, and by a foreign nation". This new fixation on counterinsurgency is a sickness that will ruin the military culture and rot its strategic defense capabilities from the inside out. Baer's correct that forcing democracy in the region will only cause more problems, but military action there of any kind is now outdated.
I fear that none of what we say matters, though. Those in power will keep exploiting this situation until the end. And when the crash occurs, they'll be the ones least affected. The rich Arabs will have their resorts and prostitutes, the Americans will have their seats on various corporate boards and lucrative speaking engagements. It doesn't even matter whether they're an exile from their kingdom, scapegoat, or red herring whistleblower. They'll all be taken care of.
Then again, maybe that's the best solution after all. If you just keep letting enough Americans die, the terrorists will avoid overthrowing their own governments and the rest of us will continue getting our cheap oil. Since the politicians are most likely to do exactly that, I am crossing my fingers that these deaths happen only in overseas war zones and not back here...and no one I know or love. I suppose the Bush mantra of "If we don't fight them over there we'll be fighting them at home" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Isn't it nice to know that doing your part comes down to nothing more than crossing your fingers?
A great overview of shared corruption.......2007-06-13
Robert Baer has a very easy style and good anecdotes, which is helpful when entering the briar-patch of financial back-scratching relationships between US corporate leaders and politicians (all of them), with Saudi royals and businessmen, and the trickle-down of money and protection to terrorists.
Other (newer) books examine some of the specific relationships more extensively, and where Baer suggests possible unhealthy connections, he's usually understating the reality. What his book paints far more vividly than any of the others is the pervasiveness and severity of the ethical rot at the very core of both our government, and the Saudi government.
In 'See No Evil' he lambasted the Clinton White House for selling our security and our foreign policy for oil largesse -- in this book he has realized that the Bush WH is at least as bad, if not worse, and indeed all the administrations since Nixon have been up to their eyeballs in totally bipartisan oil-for-US policy trades. AIPAC can only dream.
He does have one oddly naive aspect, it seems to me -- he talks as if we introduced corruption to the Saudis. Perhaps he hangs on to the romantic fantasy of the Bedouin, but bribery, plundering, extortion and graft were part of the Arab tribal warlord culture for a thousand years before we showed up, and still is. Look at Arafat, Asad, Hariri, Mubarak, the Shah, Saddam -- we didn't teach the Arabs anything about corruption except more sophisticated banking and money-laundering techniques -- which, btw, they are now much better at than we are. If we hadn't been there, the French, Germans, Russians, or Brits would have gleefully wallowed in the same obscene level of corruption.
He makes an important point in his two non-fiction books that al Qaeda is essentially a PR front, something that gives name/face recognition to a truly vast, loose network of 'franchises.' They are all derived from and guided by the subtle, incredibly dangerous Muslim Brotherhood, which is funded by the Gulf States. AQ and Hamas are the above-ground mushrooms; MB is the vast subterranean web. The Sunni MB at times has worked very closely with Shia Iran, which directly runs Hizbullah, a group I think Baer underestimates somewhat as to global terrorist influence and impact.
Compelling non-fiction.......2007-05-21
Mr. Baer gives a very readable account of the ties that form an almost incestuous U.S. - Saudi relationship, in which America has for years pretended to neither see nor hear - and hence speak - no evil about the dark side of the Saudi kingdom's rulers.
Mr. Baer's book came out at the time of the second war with Iraq when many must have been wondering how the events of September 11th, 2001 justified the invasion. Fifteen of the 18 hijackers that attacked U.S. targets that day were Saudis. The other three were Egyptian.
For a fictionalized story that posits a very different U.S. - Saudi relationship, take a look at SAUDI MATCH POINT, a story that has America taking off the kid gloves in its treatment of the Saudis. In fact, the U.S. goes overboard, and in a twist, uses an impending hostage-taking as a convenient excuse to invade and seize control of Saudi Arabia's vast oil facilities and reserves. The novel is available online from Blacksmith Books.
Book Description
This innovative text offers a new way of understanding public relations and other types of strategic communication. Following the pragmatic, in-depth approach of the first edition, this text presents a step-by-step unfolding of the planning process most often used in public relations practice. Drawing from his experience in professional practice and in the classroom, author Ronald D. Smith walks readers through the critical steps for the formative research, strategic and tactical planning, and plan evaluation phases of the process.
Complete with clear explanations, relevant examples, and practical exercises, this text identifies and discusses the various decision points and options in the development of a communication program. Both classic public relations situations and current, timely events are presented in cases and examples throughout. This second edition offers new examples and updates on research, and provides new discussions on critical topics, including stereotyping and statistics.
As a classroom text or a resource for professional practice, this volume provides a model that can be adapted to fit specific circumstances and used to improve effectiveness and creativity in communication planning. It serves as an accessible and understandable guide to field-tested procedures, offering practical insights that apply to public relations campaigns and case studies coursework.
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorite campaign textbooks.......2006-01-04
It is a comprehensive textbook with a nice blend of theory and practice. Right now, it's one of my favorites. I find the sections on strategy and evaluation weak, but the parts on formative research and tactics are really good. I use it for my campaigns class along with "Strategic Public Relations Management" by Weintraub Austin and Pinkleton. I recommend it as an appopriate textbook for an undergraduate PR campaigns class, but I don't think it can stand alone.
Amazon.com
We live in an era where image is nearly everything, where the proliferation of brand-name culture has created, to take one hyperbolic example from Naomi Klein's No Logo, "walking, talking, life-sized Tommy [Hilfiger] dolls, mummified in fully branded Tommy worlds." Brand identities are even flourishing online, she notes--and for some retailers, perhaps best of all online: "Liberated from the real-world burdens of stores and product manufacturing, these brands are free to soar, less as the disseminators of goods or services than as collective hallucinations."
In No Logo, Klein patiently demonstrates, step by step, how brands have become ubiquitous, not just in media and on the street but increasingly in the schools as well. (The controversy over advertiser-sponsored Channel One may be old hat, but many readers will be surprised to learn about ads in school lavatories and exclusive concessions in school cafeterias.) The global companies claim to support diversity, but their version of "corporate multiculturalism" is merely intended to create more buying options for consumers. When Klein talks about how easy it is for retailers like Wal-Mart and Blockbuster to "censor" the contents of videotapes and albums, she also considers the role corporate conglomeration plays in the process. How much would one expect Paramount Pictures, for example, to protest against Blockbuster's policies, given that they're both divisions of Viacom?
Klein also looks at the workers who keep these companies running, most of whom never share in any of the great rewards. The president of Borders, when asked whether the bookstore chain could pay its clerks a "living wage," wrote that "while the concept is romantically appealing, it ignores the practicalities and realities of our business environment." Those clerks should probably just be grateful they're not stuck in an Asian sweatshop, making pennies an hour to produce Nike sneakers or other must-have fashion items. Klein also discusses at some length the tactic of hiring "permatemps" who can do most of the work and receive few, if any, benefits like health care, paid vacations, or stock options. While many workers are glad to be part of the "Free Agent Nation," observers note that, particularly in the high-tech industry, such policies make it increasingly difficult to organize workers and advocate for change.
But resistance is growing, and the backlash against the brands has set in. Street-level education programs have taught kids in the inner cities, for example, not only about Nike's abusive labor practices but about the astronomical markup in their prices. Boycotts have commenced: as one urban teen put it, "Nike, we made you. We can break you." But there's more to the revolution, as Klein optimistically recounts: "Ethical shareholders, culture jammers, street reclaimers, McUnion organizers, human-rights hacktivists, school-logo fighters and Internet corporate watchdogs are at the early stages of demanding a citizen-centered alternative to the international rule of the brands ... as global, and as capable of coordinated action, as the multinational corporations it seeks to subvert." No Logo is a comprehensive account of what the global economy has wrought and the actions taking place to thwart it. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
With a new Afterword to the 2002 edition. No Logo employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing—and the powerful potential of a growing activist sect that will surely alter the course of the 21st century. First published before the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, this is an infuriating, inspiring, and altogether pioneering work of cultural criticism that investigates money, marketing, and the anti-corporate movement.
As global corporations compete for the hearts and wallets of consumers who not only buy their products but willingly advertise them from head to toe—witness today’s schoolbooks, superstores, sporting arenas, and brand-name synergy—a new generation has begun to battle consumerism with its own best weapons. In this provocative, well-written study, a front-line report on that battle, we learn how the Nike swoosh has changed from an athletic status-symbol to a metaphor for sweatshop labor, how teenaged McDonald’s workers are risking their jobs to join the Teamsters, and how “culture jammers” utilize spray paint, computer-hacking acumen, and anti-propagandist wordplay to undercut the slogans and meanings of billboard ads (as in “Joe Chemo” for “Joe Camel”).
No Logo will challenge and enlighten students of sociology, economics, popular culture, international affairs, and marketing.
“This book is not another account of the power of the select group of corporate Goliaths that have gathered to form our de facto global government. Rather, it is an attempt to analyze and document the forces opposing corporate rule, and to lay out the particular set of cultural and economic conditions that made the emergence of that opposition inevitable.”—Naomi Klein, from her Introduction
Download Description
Once a poster boy for the new economy, Bill Gates has become a global whipping boy. The Nike swoosh is quickly losing its cachet, equated now with sweatshop labor. Teenage McDonald's workers are joining the Teamsters. What's going on? NO LOGO explains why some of the most revered brands in the world are finding themselves on the wrong end of a spray-can, a computer hack, or an international anti-corporate campaign. NO LOGO uncovers a betrayal of the central promises of the information age: choice, interactivity, and increased freedom. Instead, job security and consumer choice have been swallowed whole by companies who enlist us as their human billboards and spokesmen. Equal parts cultural analysis, political manifesto, mall-rat memoir, and journalistic expose, NO LOGO is the first book that both uncovers the sins of corporations run amok and explores and explains the new resistance that will change consumer culture in the 21st century.
Customer Reviews:
Informatively frustrating.......2007-08-17
It was well written exploring many aspects of branding, culture jamming, and production.
This book will leave you with frustration and questioning how you change change something, and what CAN you buy that isn't made from Export Processing Zones.
It does give great information but yet leaves you frustrated and feeling helpless that you can't change the current conditions or avoid buying products made in places like china, el salvador, indonesia where they treat their workers worse than dirt.
Insight into an Ad-driven culture.......2007-07-14
This book offers a deep insight on how advertising are creeping into our lives, even conveyed to us in a subliminal way. If left unchecked, the corporations would be the authors our culture. It also showcases the exploits of major corporations in employment.
However, one must be critical when reading the book, as some of the things Naomi bashes on, such as the Starbucks expansion strategy, are genuine business strategies. In some cases, we have to be realistic and not blindly adopt and anti-corporation stance.
The first 3 chapters, No Space, No Choice, and No Jobs are exceptionally informative, but the last chapter, No Logo, falls short and descends into a boring rant on countermeasures that in my opinion, are far from effective and often, impractical.
Buy the book, read the first 2, skip the last.
Anti-Corporate Handbook.......2007-05-20
What are the effects of multinational corporations in the Branding Age? Naomi Klein tackles that in this seminal work on the subject. While somewhat dated (published in 2000), it gives the most comprehensive picture of the transition corporations have undergone from providing competent products and services to providing ubiquitous branding and advertising to produce loyalty and sell peripherals. This book gives the total picture of the devastation left in the wake of total corporate dominance in the U.S., Canada, and worldwide.
As she details, what has emerged in the last half of the 20th century is a new kind of totality - an economic imperialism spearheaded by Nike, The Gap, McDonalds, Shell, and Microsoft and their lawyers, contractors, and advertising agencies. As they break open markets, crush competition, and lower wages across the globe they've gotten so powerful as to dictate to scores of countries what their trade and economic policies are going to be. These policies are always anti-Union and terrible for workers, leaving nations worse off than before they were Industrialized and Advertised - creating massive wealth gaps and uneven distributions across the board.
The four major sections of the book: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, and No Logo, each show in example after example, case study upon study that advertising is the product now and the more money spent in that avenue, the more profitable the corporation can be while taking every opportunity away from the poor and disenfranchised, forcing horrible conditions and worse jobs on them, and decreasing their access to health care and nutrition. This is not an accident. This is a concerted policy foisted upon the world through the corporate enforcement arm of the WTO, World Bank, and U.S. Military.
Is it hopeless? Well, civil disobedience is one way to combat the trends and takeover and Klein offers many suggestions and examples in this book. However even she admits that the situation is bleak.
Good luck . . . and good read.
- CV Rick
NO LOGO will fundementally alter the way you think about the world........2006-11-04
Naomi Klien's treatise on the anti-corporate movement of the last decade provides tremendous insight into the philosophies behind today's anti-corporate culture, and more importantly, the "branded" society that has spawned it. Well written and intelligent on every level, NO LOGO carefully tracks such disturbing phenomenons as the disappearance of public space, the rise of corporate censorship, and the transformation of living wage jobs for Americans into sweatshop labor in the third world. If you are completely unfamiliar with today's cultural rebellion against corporate control, NO LOGO serves as an excellent introduction, clearly outlining the dubious marketing trend of promoting "brands not products" such that you will never be able to watch commercials the same way again. If you are a seasoned WTO protester or billboard adbuster, NO LOGO will provide you with all the philosophical and factual ammo necessary to start converting your friends away from their unthinking materialistic lifestyle. This book is a must read for anyone who considers themselves and independently thinking consumer, as well as anyone who is interested in the latest cultural rebellion taking place among today's young and disenfranchised.
The Third World has always existed for the comfort of the First.......2006-11-03
Naomi Klein sketches perfectly the major shift in corporate strategy today: transnational companies are not interested in production anymore, only in branding: products are made in factories, brands in the mind. Branding creates big margins, production in home countries meager earnings.
This strategy causes monstrous layoffs in the First World and creates EPZ (Export Processing Zones) in the Third World.
In the First world, corporations transformed themselves in `engines of wealth growth' for their shareholders, instead of `engines of job growth'. `CEO's of the 30 companies with the largest announced layoffs saw their total compensation increase by 67%.'
The jobs they need are predominantly outsourced, or are McJobs (no `adult wages') and temporary stop-jobs.
The First World stirs fierce competition between Third World countries in order to get rock-bottom prices for their `branded' products, creating colossal margins in the home countries.
Wages in EPZs are so low that most of the money is spent on shared dorm rooms and basic food. Workers cannot afford the consumer goods they produce.
Another aspect of our branded world is the sheer size of the (trans)national corporations created by relentless mergers and acquisitions. Their size permits them to decide what items (also magazines, DVDs) should be stocked in a store, in other words, they create a new kind of censorship.
Big mergers in the media landscape allow conglomerates to produce their own news and in this sense jeopardize basic civil liberties.
While Naomi Klein's analysis of our consumer planet is very revealing, the remedies she proposes are rather innocent, epidermic, symptom healing or too general: ad and brand busting, radical ecology (Reclaim the Streets), anti-globalization and anti-corporate mass protests, boycott, building greater critical social consciousness. Individual actions like attacking in court (Shell in Nigeria), revealing Nike's sweatshops or denouncing McDonald's food are ultimately not more than temporary needle pricks in elephant skins.
What the world needs is a global vision, which we can find in the works of Joseph Stiglitz or (for a view from the South) Walden Bello.
Highly recommended.
Book Description
Appropriate for courses in public policy, social services, and government management, Public Administration, 7/e, offers conceptual readings paired with real-world case studies. These contemporary examples of administrative work cover topics such as decision making, ethics, administrative power, communications, and implementation of policy.
Book Description
As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive: “It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living.”
Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies, corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting the most basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight,
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.
Customer Reviews:
Busting the Myth of Redemptive Violence.......2007-09-01
This book and its message is NOT an assertion that all war is inherently wrong and that there is no distinction between the administration of justice and the return of evil for evil. It is an assertion that aggressive militarism, the glorification of warfare, the failure to recognize that it is born of sin and human failure and the pimping of it by religious and political institutions is misguided at best and possibly disastrous when not discerned and/or allowed to go unchecked by Godly, moral reflection.
Very often, pacifism is equated with passiveness, even though there is no linguistic link between the two words. Therefore, the application of pacifism, or anything approaching pacifism, is regarded as disastrous.
In a certain sense perhaps pacifism and passiveness are similar. To be passive means to receive or be subject to an action without responding or initiating an action in return. But passiveness also implies that one is not participating, that one is inert. In this sense nothing could be farther from the truth.
At any rate, Hedges does not profess to be a pacifist- although I believe in a certain sense of the word that he is. Nowadays I consider myself a pacifist or peacemaker with regards to warfare. What that means to me is not a belief that all violence is always wrong no matter what. It does mean that I judge any given situation with a spiritual discernement. It means that I choose violence as a solution last... not first. It means that I do not hate my enemies, but rather love them and consider my ultimate enemy not my fellow man... but the spiritual forces of darkness in the celestial realm as the Bible teaches. It means that I know that the power to give life is far greater than the power to kill and destroy. It means that I think eternally and act spiritually inasmuch as I am able as a weak and pitiful sinner and carnal man. It means that I leave room for God's plan and God's sovereign right to vengeance before my own. It means that I do not fear death... and am thus not controlled by fear in my actions or reactions... inasmuch as I am able. I believe that this book ul;timately reveals that Mr. Hedges feels essentially the same way.
Chris Hedges is the son of a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Thomas Hedges. He has a B.A. in English Literature from Colgate University and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, where he studied under James Luther Adams. Thus, Mr. Hedges' view of the world and of warfare are undoubtedly colored by theology. Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, where he spent fifteen years.
Hedges' has a stinging, no punches pulled, no holds barred style of writing that I personally find very strong and inspiring. This book "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning", is one of the few books that so deeply inspired me that I read it straight through as quickly as possible. The book left me a bit disenchanted and in a brooding mood in the end. The realization of the validity of Hedges' perspective and cultural commentary is a bitter pill to swallow for anyone who values true freedom and moral truth. This is heavy material for a moral, freethinking person to reflect on.
Here are two excerpts from the book that I discovered when skimming through it at the bookstore that made me buy this book:
1. "We make our heroes out of clay. We laud their gallant deeds and give them uniforms and put colored ribbons on their chests for acts of violence they commit or endure. They are our repositories of glory and honor- of power, self righteousness, patriotism and self worship - all that we want to believe about ourselves. They are our plaster saints of war- the icons we cheer to defend us and make us and our nation great. But they are part of our civic religion- our love of power and force. Our belief in our right as a chosen nation to wield this force against the weak and rule. This is our nation's idolatry of itself- and it has corrupted our religious institutions just as it has corrupted religious institutions in other nations- fusing the will of God with the will of the State to create a potent and deadly form of idolatry."
2. "War from a distance seems noble. It gives us a feeling of belonging, of comradeship, of power, a chance to play a small bit in the great drama of human history. It promises to give us an identity as a warrior, a patriot, a believer- as long as we go along with the myth- the one the war makers need to wage war. But, up close, war is a soulless void. The world of war descends to barbarity, perversion, pain and an unchecked orgy of death. It is a state where human decency and tenderness is crushed- where those who make war work overtime to reduce all love and sensitivity to smut and filth.
In war the moral order is turned upside down. All that is repulsive and feared in peacetime is lauded and cheered in war. The noise, the stench, the cries of pain, the eviscerated bodies, the bloated stinking corpses spin us into another universe. And in this moral void, often blessed by the church or the mosque or the synagogue- the hypocrisy of our social conventions, our strict adherence to religious edicts and virtues and utter refusal to honor others comes unglued. War, for all its horror, has the power to strip away the trivial and the banal, the empty chatter and self righteous obsessions that fill our days. It lets us see."
Whether you agreee with Mr. Hedges' take or not... his offering is/should be an important part of the dialog on these topics. I give the book my highest endorsement.
Prescient.......2007-08-12
A well argued work, the most amazing thing about it in hindsight is how while written before the Iraq invasion, and without once referring to its immenence, Hedges predicted so much of what has occurred in Iraq--how the 9/11 victims would become martyr fodder, the destruction of Iraqi culture, the connection between torture and pornography, the inciting of latent and rather benign ethn
Public Affairs & Administration
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Classics of Public Administration
Public Administration: Concepts and Cases
Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It (Basic Books Classics)
Sources: Notable Selections in American Government (Classic Edition Sources)
Handbook of Public Law and Administration (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series)
