Showing results by publisher "Audible Studios" in Comparative

Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.

Fukuyama examines the effects of corruption on governance, and why some societies have been successful at rooting it out. He explores the different legacies of colonialism in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and offers a clear-eyed account of why some regions have thrived and developed more quickly than others. And he boldly reckons with the future of democracy in the face of a rising global middle class and entrenched political paralysis in the West.

Andrei Lankov has gone where few outsiders have ever been. A native of the former Soviet Union, he lived as an exchange student in North Korea in the 1980s. He has studied it for his entire career, using his fluency in Korean and personal contacts to build a rich, nuanced understanding. In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state.

This groundbreaking book is the first to both identify the wide range of political risks that global firms face and show investors how to effectively manage them. Written by two of the world's leading figures in political risk management, it reveals that, while the world remains exceedingly risky for businesses, it is by no means incomprehensible. The authors provide a wealth of unique methods, tools, and concepts to help understand political risk, showing when and how political risk analysis works - and when it does not.

Is our democracy corroding? In this original, eloquent essay, Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens explore the ethics and politics of public debate—and the threat it now faces. In a healthy society we need the capacity to disagree. Yet Aly and Stephens note a growing tendency to disdain and dismiss opponents, to treat them with contempt. This toxic partisanship has been imported from the United States, where it has been a temptation for both left and right.

Estados Unidos como potencia económica es objeto de deseo mundial. Tanto entre las elites, que lo ven como lo más cercano a la utopía del libre mercado, la competencia y la privatización, como entre los más pobres, embebidos por un incesante imperialismo cultural que les graba a fuego el American Dream de la tierra de las oportunidades. Sin embargo, la realidad difiere bastante de la imagen que Washington proyecta ante el mundo, especialmente en el caso de la clase media y trabajadora.

Para aquellos que vivimos en su día la caída del Muro de Berlín y el colapso de la Unión Soviética, la situación actual nos plantea un enigma sorprendente: ¿cómo es posible que el mundo occidental, que había salido victorioso de la Guerra Fría, haya terminado perdiendo la partida ante las fuerzas antidemocráticas, tanto internas como externas? ¿Cómo es posible que la propia democracia liberal esté dando cada vez más muestras de colapso en Occidente, mientras en el resto del planeta resurgen con fuerza los totalitarismos que creíamos derrotados?

La "Trappola di Tucidide" è stata di recente evocata dal presidente Xi Jinping per esortare gli Stati Uniti e la stessa Cina a evitare il tipico confronto, dal prevedibile sbocco violento, che può innescarsi tra una potenza consolidata e una emergente, come accadde fra Sparta e Atene. Ripreso più e più volte da studiosi e policy maker, questo richiamo a dinamiche di un tempo lontanissimo suggerisce che molti ritengano il contesto internazionale attuale, nella sua essenza, non differente da quello di cui Tucidide scriveva.

Reagan, Thatcher, Mitterrand, Kohl, Clinton, Blair, Schröder, Berlusconi, Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy, Merkel, Renzi: nelle parabole di questi leader, accomunati dalla pretesa di rappresentare il nuovo e il cambiamento, si può cogliere il ruolo cruciale che gioca la narrazione nei sistemi politici. Attingendo alle scienze sociali, alla psicologia e alle neuroscienze, il libro illustra i meccanismi che rendono efficace lo storytelling per creare emozioni, identificazione e coinvolgimento con il leader narratore.

"Daniel Matamala ingresa, con la lucidez que lo caracteriza, al territorio siempre necesario de la deconstrucción inteligente de las tramas en que se articulan las elites políticas y económicas. Unas tramas que permiten leer un tejido social donde el poder del dinero avanza sobre el poder político para contaminarlo. La reunión de columnas que el libro presenta permite leer cómo operan los privilegios múltiples e incesantes que posibilitan que la ley se retire de las zonas más privilegiadas o trabaje débilmente, o sencillamente no opere." (Diamela Eltit)

Las señales estaban a la vista, no solo en las calles sino en todos y cada uno de los informes de organismos internacionales. No verlas era un acto voluntarioso de ocultamiento de la realidad. Son más que simples dolores de crecimiento asociados a la modernización de Chile, tan exitosa en algunos aspectos, como el combate a la pobreza o la liberalización de la vida social.

We Are Better Than This fundamentally reframes budget debates in the United States. Author Edward D. Kleinbard explains how the public's preoccupation with tax policy alone has obscured any understanding of government's ability to complement the private sector through investment and insurance programs that enhance the general welfare and prosperity of our society at large.

Tangled Titans offers a current and comprehensive assessment of the most important relationship in international affairs - that between the United States and China. How the relationship evolves will have a defining impact on the future of world politics, the Asian region, and the citizens of many nations. In this definitive audiobook, leading experts provide an in-depth exploration of the historical, domestic, bilateral, regional, global, and future contexts of this complex relationship. The contributors argue that the relationship is a unique combination of deep interdependence, limited cooperation, and increasing competition.

Forced to become a normal citizen, the exiled son of the late Shah of Iran attempts to provide understanding and direction for his country and its people.

Politicians are consistently voted the least trusted professional group by the UK public. They've recently become embroiled in scandals concerning sexual harassment and expenses. Every year, they introduce new legislation that doesn't do what it sets out to achieve - often with terrible financial and human costs. But, with some notable exceptions, they are decent, hardworking people doing a hugely difficult and demanding job. In this searching examination of our political class, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tries to square this circle.

In the face of the most perilous challenges of our time—climate change, terrorism, poverty, and trafficking of drugs, guns, and people—the nations of the world seem paralyzed.

The problems are too big, too interdependent, too divisive for the nation-state. Is the nation-state, once democracy's best hope, today democratically dysfunctional? Obsolete? The answer, says Benjamin Barber in this highly provocative and original book, is yes.

Here, political scientist Jakub J. Grygiel brings to light the importance of incorporating geography into grand strategy. He argues that states can increase and maintain their position of power by pursuing a geostrategy that focuses on control of resources and lines of communication.

Dopo il populismo serve una nuova idea di cittadinanza per salvare le nostre democrazie, un patto sociale che prenda sul serio le domande sollevate dall'onda sovranista ma offra risposte più eque ed efficaci. La grande ondata populista che ha portato al successo di Donald Trump, alla Brexit e al governo Cinque Stelle-Lega si è esaurita: la pandemia ha confermato in modo drammatico i limiti dei populisti al potere e la loro incapacità di mantenere le promesse.

A criticare la costruzione europea, dall'euro alla BCE, dal fiscal compact all'unione bancaria, sono spesso gli stessi che hanno firmato gli accordi a Bruxelles e li hanno poi ratificati nei rispettivi paesi. Fare dell'Europa il capro espiatorio di tutti i mali è però una strategia autolesionista che non solo alimenta i vari populismi, ma espone le forze politiche e i governi che l'adottano all'accusa di essere incapaci di battere i pugni sul tavolo a Bruxelles, di sapere cosa andava fatto e di non averlo fatto.