Awais Reza is a shopkeeper in Lahore's Anarkali Bazaar -- the largest open market in South Asia -- whose labyrinthine streets teem with shoppers, rickshaws, and cacophonous music.But Anarkali's exuberant hubbub cannot conceal the fact that Pakistan is a country at the edge of a precipice. In recent years, the easy sociability that had once made up this vibrant community has been replaced with doubt and fear. Old-timers like Awais, who inherited his shop from his father and hopes on...

The role of social media in the events of the Arab Spring and its aftermath in the Muslim world has stimulated much debate, yet little in the way of useful insight. Now Haroon Ullah, a scholar and diplomat with deep knowledge of politics and societies in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, draws the first clear picture of the unprecedented impact of Twitter, Facebook, and other means of online communication on the recent revolutions that blazed across Muslim nations. 

What is driving political extremism in Pakistan? In early 2011, the prominent Pakistani politician Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by a member of his own security team for insulting Islam by expressing views in support of the rights of women and religious minorities. Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, was killed by gunfire and explosive devices as she left a campaign event in December 2007; strong evidence links members of extremist organizations to her slaying.These murder...

We all start out the same. Whether born in Damascus or Detroit, human beings begin life with similar DNA, common instincts for survival and a basic desire to learn and explore.So why do some young men and women grow up with plans to promote peace and prosperity, while others set out to harm or kill others? Every day we hear of people who try to disrupt our world, often violently. So what, exactly, is happening to our youth?Extremists never stop trying to fi...

In an unparalleled collaboration, two leading global thinkers in technology and foreign affairs give us their widely anticipated, transformational vision of the future: a world where everyone is connected—a world full of challenges and benefits that are ours to meet and to harness.Eric Schmidt is one of Silicon Valley’s great leaders, having taken Google from a small startup to one of the world’s most influential companies. Jared Cohen is the director of Google Ideas and a former a...

This New York Times bestseller explores what the world can learn from Israel's meteoric economic success.With a Foreword by Shimon PeresStart-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of seven.one million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources—produces more start-up com...

A firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements’ greatest strengths and frequent challengesTo understand a thwarted Turkish coup, an anti–Wall Street encampment, and a packed Tahrir Square, we must first comprehend the power and the weaknesses of using new technologies to mobilize large numbers of people. An incisive observer, writer, and participant in today’s social movements, Zeynep Tufekci explains in this...

“For my money, John Robb, a former Air Force officer and tech guru, is the futurists' futurist.”--"Slate"The counterterrorism expert John Robb reveals how the same technology that has enabled globalization also allows terrorists and criminals to join forces against larger adversaries with relative ease and to carry out small, inexpensive actions--like sabotaging an oil pipeline--that generate a huge return. He shows how combating the shutdown of the world's oil, high-tech, a...

What does it mean to be young and Muslim today? There is a segment of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims that is more influential than any other, and will shape not just the future of Muslims, but also the world around them: meet 'Generation M'.From fashion magazines to social networking, the 'Mipsterz' to the 'Haloodies', halal internet dating to Muslim boy bands, Generation M are making their mark. Shelina Janmohamed, award-winning author and leading voice on Muslim youth, investigates this...

Discover rare and interesting facts about Team of Teams by Stanley A. McChrystal!In Team of Teams, McChrystal, along with his colleagues, demonstrates how the problems they encountered while in Iraq can somehow relate to businesses and nonprofit organizations. Team of Teams has the potential to reconstruct organizations no matter the size. The strategy in the book has successfully transformed a variety of organizations such as hospital emergency rooms, or...

The al-Qaeda Franchise asks why al-Qaeda adopted a branching-out strategy, introducing seven franchises spread over the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. After all, transnational terrorist organizations can expand through other organizational strategies. Forming franchises was not an inevitable outgrowth of al-Qaeda's ideology or its U.S.-focused strategy. The efforts to create local franchises have also undermined one of al-Qaeda's primary achievements: the creation of a trans...

Effective strategic thinking requires a clear understanding of oneÆs external environment. Each organization has a unique environment, but as Ross Harrison explains in Strategic Thinking in 3D, any environmentùwhether in the fields of national security, foreign policy, or businessùhas three dimensions: systems, opponents, and groups.