What happens when a democratically elected leader evolves into an authoritarian ruler, limiting press freedom, civil liberties, and religious and ethnic tolerance?India and Turkey are two of the world’s biggest democracies—multi-ethnic nations that rose from their imperial past to be founded on the values of modernity. They have fair elections, open markets, and freedom of religion.Yet this is an account of how the charismatic strongmen Narendra Modi, in In...

"A fascinating set of ideas . . . Politicians of all stripes should take note. And so should the people who vote for them." — Financial TimesWe know that our world is undergoing seismic change—but how can we emerge from the crisis as a better society?Over the past two centuries or so, capitalism has undergone profound changes—economic cycles that veer from boom to bust—from which it has always emerged transformed and strengthened. Surveying this turb...

A major new book by New York Times bestselling author and geopolitical forecaster George Friedman (The Next 100 Years), with a bold thesis about coming events in Europe. This provocative work examines “flashpoints,” unique geopolitical hot spots where tensions have erupted throughout history, and where conflict is due to emerge again.“There is a temptation, when you are around George Friedman, to treat him like a Magic 8 Ball.” —The Ne...

**Winner of the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest."I can’t imagine a more important book for our time." —Sebastian Junger**The world is blowing up. Every day a new blaze seems to ignite: the bloody implosion of Iraq and Syria; the East-West standoff in Ukraine; abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria. Is there some thread tying these frightening international security crises together? In a riveting account that weaves history with fast-moving reportage...

Geopolitics is a way of looking at the world: one that considers the links between political power, geography, and cultural diversity. In certain places such as Iraq or Lebanon, moving a few feet either side of a territorial boundary can be a matter of life or death, dramatically highlighting the connections between place and politics. Even far away from these 'danger zones' - in Europe or the US for example - geopolitics remains an important part of everyday life. For a country's location an...

Numbers dominate global politics and, as a result, our everyday lives. Credit ratings steer financial markets and can make or break the future of entire nations. GDP drives our economies. Stock market indices flood our media and national debates. Statistical calculations define how we deal with climate change, poverty and sustainability. But what is behind these numbers?In How Numbers Rule the World, Lorenzo Fioramonti reveals the hidden agendas underpinning the use of statistics a...

In this new Brookings Marshall Paper, Michael O'Hanlon argues that now is the time for Western nations to negotiate a new security architecture for neutral countries in eastern Europe to stabilize the region and reduce the risks of war with Russia. He believes NATO expansion has gone far enough. The core concept of this new security architecture would be one of permanent neutrality. The countries in question collectively make a broken-up arc, from Europe's far north to its south: Finland a...

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017Unique views from John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, and dozens of other world leaders reveal Canada and Canadians through their eyes.During the First World War, foreign leaders began addressing Canadians in our House of Commons and, ever since, have continued influencing how we think about our role in global affairs. For a century now, this parade of world figures has brought urgent messages about Can...

Throughout the Cold War, Africa was a theatre for superpower rivalry. That the U.S and the Soviet Union used countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to their own advantage is well-known. Sub-Saharan countries also exploited Cold War hostilities in turn. But what role did countries in North Africa play?This book offers an international history of U.S-Algerian relations at the height of the Cold War. The Algerian president, Houari Boumediene, actively adjusted Algeria's foreign policy to promote the...

In a time of darkening environmental prospects, frightening religious fundamentalism, and moribund liberalism, the remarkable and historically unprecedented rise of religious environmentalism is a profound source of hope. In A Greener Faith , Roger S. Gottlieb chronicles the promises of this critically important movement, illuminating its principal ideas, leading personalities, and ways of connecting care for the earth with justice for human beings. He also shows how religious env...

A blistering critique of the forces threatening the American intelligence community, beginning with the President of the United States himself, in a time when that community's work has never been harder or more importantIn the face of a President who lobs accusations without facts, evidence, or logic, truth tellers are under attack. Meanwhile, the world order is teetering on the brink. North Korea is on the verge of having a nuclear weapon that could reach all of t...

Individual foreign investment in Western nation states is a long-standing geopolitical issue. The expansion of the middle class in BRICS and Asian countries, and their increased activity in Western real estate markets as foreign investors, have introduced new and revived existing cultural and geopolitical sensitivities.In this book, Dallas Rogers develops a new history of foreign real estate investment by mapping the movement of human and financial capital over more than four centu...