The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder

Peter Zeihan (Get this book)
Geopolitics, the influence of geography on nations, made the United States great and will keep it there, writes the author of this ingenious, optimistic overview of America's superpower status. Zeihan, founder of Zeihan on Geopolitics, adds that America hit the jackpot, geopolitically speaking, inheriting ."..the best lands in the world for a very low price in terms of blood, treasure, and time." He downplays the claim that American power is declining, pointing out that in 1945, we produced one quarter of the world's gross domestic product and spent as much on the military and controlled as much naval tonnage at the rest of the world combined. The change in 2014: zero. But some things are changing. Resources are diminishing, energy prices are rising, and demographics are inverting. Baby boomers are now retiring to collect benefits paid for by a shrinking number of younger, working taxpayers. Historical prognostication has a dismal record, but readers will find it difficult to put down this fascinating addition to the "rise and fall of nations" genre. Historical prognostication has a dismal record, but readers will find it difficult to put down this fascinating addition to the "rise and fall of nations" genre.--Kirkus

The Evolution of the Global Terrorist Threat: From 9/11 to Osama Bin Laden's Death

Bruce Hoffman (Get this book)
The world's leading scholars of terrorism investigate the organizational structures and operational links of Islamist terrorist movements around the globe. With contributions from 25 researchers, this richly annotated, scholarly compilation analyzes two dozen attacks and attempts in the West and the Muslim world, from highly successful bombings to plots derailed before they posed a major threat.While events since the death of bin Laden have complicated the picture, this book serves as a useful starting point for readers who wish to understand how to unravel and defuse terrorist threats.--Kirkus

The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House

Chuck Todd (Get this book)
Todd, the newly minted "Meet the Press"host and former NBC chief White House correspondent, provides an even-handed, concise, and thorough account of President Obama's first six years in the Oval Office. Todd frames his perspective with his choice of title President Obama "came to Washington on the strength of being a stranger to the city and to the political elites, but it hasn't always served him well." He covers in great detail the die-hard obstructionism, exemplified in Sen. Mitch McConnell's proclamation that his priority was to deny Obama a second term, that has characterized the Republican response to the president's agenda. There isn't a lot here that will be news to readers who follow politics closely no Bob Woodward type revelations but the thoughtful organization of material make this as good a summation of Obama's successes and failures, and the reasons for them, as anything else out there.--Publisher's Weekly

Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

Richard Whittle (Get this book)
They may soon be delivering this book to you, but for now, drones are anything but your friends. Put a laser, a cannon and some Hellfire missiles into an unmanned aircraft, and you have a potent killing machine. The impulse to create the unmanned drone came from an Israeli lab in response to a quite specific problem: namely, Soviet rockets with multistage radars aimed at Israeli jets by Syrian and Egyptian fighters. There's plenty of geekery befitting a Tom Clancy novel to keep readers entertained, with Whittle occasionally sliding into jargon-y prose. Such longueurs aside, Whittle's account comes to a pointed conclusion: Drone technology has already changed how we die, but what remains to be seen is how it "may change the way people live." For students of technological history and political wrangling alike, the book is endlessly interesting and full of implication.--Kirkus

The Shifts and the Shocks: What We've Learned--And Have Still to Learn--From the Financial Crisis

Martin Wolf (Get this book)
An editor for the Financial Times weighs in with a scholarly analysis of what caused the financial collapse of 2008 and provides suggestions to prevent a recurrence. Wolf offers a highly organized, detailed and, at times, somewhat dense text-at least for general readers. It's also a text with attitude. Although his view is global, he focuses often on the United States and on the United Kingdom and discusses sharply how (in the U.S.) partisan politics often trumped common sense before, during and after the crisis. He argues throughout that austerity plans were exactly the wrong things to implement and that government stimulus plans were too small to be as effective as they could have been. Closely reasoned, highly organized and logical-and stiffly challenging.--Kirkus

The End of Normal: The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth

James K. Galbraith (Get this book)
A renowned economist argues that the days of easy growth and full employment are over. Following the crisis of 2008, economists scrambled to "explain" the financial meltdown, variously blaming the government, banks or income inequality for the most severe setback since the Great Depression. Almost all have offered prescriptions for restoring economic health; almost all presume as normal a growth rate that, but for a blip in the 1970s, has persisted since the end of World War II. Galbraith dissents. We face a far different future, he insists, with the world economy no longer under the financial or military control of the United States and its allies, with energy markets costly and uncertain, new technologies destroying more jobs than they create and the private financial sector no longer supercharging growth. Under these new conditions, preserving post-WWII growth rates is impossible. A cleareyed, if dismaying analysis of the new normal, "a qualitatively different form of capitalism" for the 21st century.--Kirkus

Before the First Shots Are Fired: How America Can Win or Lose Off the Battlefield

Toni Zinni (Get this book)
Distinguished U.S. Marine Corps General (ret.) Zinni argues that the key to the U.S. military's success in battle lies in a combination of strategic decisions and actions that occur off the battlefield and often before the battle begins. Zinni illustrates his primer on the basics of formulating national strategy with examples taken from more than 50 years of military and national security experience. His full-bore critique of presidential administrations is organized chronologically from Kennedy to Obama. In the course of his analysis, Zinni names names and makes some bold and controversial assertions. He offers several solutions to the issues he raises, including the creation of a professional, civilian-led national security corps, and a complete legislative reorganization of the military's administrative departments to force "whole of government" strategic approaches to solving problems of national security. Zinni insightfully criticizes the decision-making process behind our national strategy and makes recommendations worthy of consideration.--Publisher's Weekly

The Opportunity Equation: How Citizen Teachers Are Combating the Achievement Gap in America's Schools

Eric Schwarz (Get this book)
Both a practical policy primer and a memoir, Schwarz persuasively demonstrates that the so-called educational achievement gap is rooted in opportunity and resources not willingness or ability and proposes accessible solutions to close the gap. With a keen and forthright eye, he employs his own experience as a child born into privilege to establish that if the advantages lavished on him were available to children from all points on the economic spectrum, achievement and prospects for future accomplishments would also be weighted equally. Schwarz offers an inspiring chronicle of scholarly triumphs and generous citizen activism, as well as a constructive blueprint for boosting achievement without abandoning public education.--Publisher's Weekly

Sustainability: A History

Jeremy L. Caradonna (Get this book)
Caradonna contends that our civilization is at a crossroads: Either we will maintain a business-as-usual approach and face inevitable collapse or adopt the path of sustainability.For the author, sustainability is a broader concept than just conservation. With social justice and human rights as its "social dimension," it covers "a broad range of domains: urbanism, agriculture and ecological design, forestry, fisheries, economics, trade, population, housing and architecture, transportation, business, education, social justice, and soon." Caradonna claims that environmental issues should not be treated separately from political or economic issues. A provocative treatment of an important subject.--Kirkus

Mass Incarceration on Trial: A Remarkable Court Decision and the Future of Prisons in America

Jonathan Simon (Get this book)
UC Berkeley criminologist Simon offers an eloquent critique of the American prison system and uses several Supreme Court cases to examine the development of new jurisprudence that might end mass incarceration. His sketch of the history of mass incarceration attends to interlocking issues, such as racial politics, the upheavals of the 1960s, and media influence on public opinion. In his case studies, he focuses on the way decisions have addressed human rights violations arising from the prison system, from overcrowding, to the failure to reduce crime, to the torture of being incarcerated with a terminal illness. Simon's accessible and powerful book deserves widespread attention.--Publisher's Weekly

Inequality in America: Race, Poverty, and Fulfilling Democracy's Promise

Stephen Maynard Caliendo (Get this book)
Despite our nation's founding on the ideals of equality, the wealth gap in the U.S. is widening at an alarming rate. Political science scholar Caliendo takes a historical and contemporary look at race and economic inequality in the U.S., drawing on research in a wide range of areas, including economics, education, sociology, psychology, criminal justice, and medicine. He explores the assumptions that are widely held about poverty in the U.S.that it is primarily due to character flaws, that government assistance mostly goes to minorities, and that poverty is urban-centered. Caliendo focuses on the politics behind poverty, the notions that separate liberals and conservatives on issues of privilege, meritocracy, individualism, and economic redistribution. This is a well-researched and insightful perspective on economic inequality and its conflict with American ideals.--Booklist

No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State

Glenn Greenwald (Get this book)
National Security Agency's vast warrantless surveillance operations last year after receiving top-secret documents from NSA contractor Snowden, who is briefly profiled here. Greenwald's breathless narrative is itself a spy story, complete with encrypted messages, cloak-and-dagger in Hong Kong, a possible CIA break-in at his house, the detainment of his partner on trumped-up terrorism suspicions, and furious wrangles with the mainstream press, which he denounces for its chumminess with officialdom. Greenwald's great reporting highlights the collusion of government, corporations, and media to undermine notions of privacy and democratic participation. --Publisher's Weekly

Where Does It Hurt?: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Fixing Health Care

Bush, Jonathan (Author), Baker, Stephen (With) (Get this book)
With the assistance of former BusinessWeek senior writer Baker, Bush, nephew of George H.W., offers an alternative to Obamacare based on his own experiences as CEO of athenahealth, Inc. Despite the author's family connections, this is by no means a vitriolic attack on the Affordable Care Act but rather an appraisal of why, in his opinion, it is not up to the necessary task of reforming the American health care system, since escalating costs (whether borne by individuals or government) are not sufficiently addressed. Likely to find its way onto the Republican platform but worthy of serious consideration on its own merits.--Kirkus

A Time to Attack: The Looming Iranian Nuclear Threat

Matthew Kroenig (Get this book)
Kroenig explains why we need to prepare to bomb Iran.This is no neoconservative cheerleading for another Middle East war; Kroenig knows that nobody has the stomach for that. As a former special adviser for Iranian affairs to the secretary of defense, however, he also fully understands the challenge that a militant Iran presents to American foreign policy goals worldwide, particularly the enforcement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and, thus, the prevention of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. If one accepts his premises-and not all analysts do-the logic of Kroenig's position is inexorable and the conclusion, as unavoidable as it is unwelcome.Aggressive title aside, this is a carefully argued call for action on a problem that is only going to get worse.--Kirkus

Border Insecurity: Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren't Making Us Safer

Sylvia Longmire (Get this book)
Throwing big money at the border with Mexico to build fences and buy high-tech gizmos isn't the way to achieve security, argues the author of Cartel. Drawing on her extensive Air Force training in criminal investigations, counterintelligence and counterespionage, Longmire provides an insightful tour of both southern and northern borders and neighbors as she demolishes the case that illegal immigration is the United States' biggest security problem. A compelling narrative that brings clarity to a subject shrouded in prejudice and obfuscation.--Kirkus

Social Insecurity: 401(k)s and the Retirement Crisis

James W. Russell (Get this book)
This is the story of how one individual fought bureaucracy and won. Along the way, Russell educates us about the fallacies inherent in our three-legged retirement system of Social Security, personal savings, and the employer pension 401(k) system. Although most of his battle is with the pension (defined benefit or DB) plan in the state of Connecticut, he manages to give readers an eyeful about Social Security and the issues with personal investing not only in the U.S. but also in Chile, the UK, and other countries. His homework is impressive. His campaign is truly a case history to be emulated, one that requires much patience and time.--Booklist

Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution

John Paul Stevens (Get this book)
The former Supreme Court justice proposes constitutional changes to restore the old republic. Provocative only begins to describe Stevens' program. Perhaps the most controversial is the constitutional amendment that, after surveying the history of amendments generally, he saves for last--namely, to rewrite the Second Amendment so that it indisputably speaks to the intention of the Founders. That plain talk extends to his arguments for limiting money given to those in power--overturning Citizens United in the bargain--and controlling states-rightist impulses to nullify federal authority and declare sovereign immunity. A refreshing set of opinions. One wishes that other retired justices would speak their minds so clearly, providing well-crafted arguments for others to take up.--Kirkus

The Road to Global Prosperity

Michael Mandelbaum (Get this book)
A distinguished analyst of international affairs looks at the future of the global economy and discovers mostly good news. Mandelbaum concedes the difficulty of accurate predictions, but he insists we know enough now about how the global economy works to identify the forces likely to shape it. He takes it as a given that, notwithstanding a backward step or two, the global economy will continue to grow if we can overcome political obstacles that stand in the way of prosperity. He begins by discussing global security, essential to the growth of free markets, and the continuing, if somewhat diminished, role of the United States as enforcer. All readers, though, will admire his firm grasp of economics and history, his startling analogies--for example, comparing the study of economics to the science of seismology--and his smooth, genial delivery of complex information. An incisive assessment of the political problems underlying our increasingly integrated world economy.--Kirkus

On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First-Century Struggle Against Resegregation

Carol Corbett Burris (Get this book)
An educator offers a bold prescription to promote equality in America's public schools. High school principal and educational researcher Burris delivers a strong critique of tracking, the practice of sorting students within schools or districts that gives them different access to learning. Drawing on numerous studies and her own experiences and interviews, Burris concludes that tracking causes segregation of those black, Latino and poor students who are identified as low achievers with limited intellectual prospects. Well-educated and economically advantaged parents feel that they deserve educational privileges for their children. Burris offers concrete advice for school leaders trying to counter such assumptions, and she argues persuasively that tracking undermines real educational achievement for all students. An important book that should be required reading for educators, parents and school boards.--Kirkus

The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown

Paul Taylor (Get this book)
An incisive survey of vast recent changes in American society and the ever-wider generation gap between baby boomers and millennials. In this well-written, data-rich book, Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center and a former Washington Post reporter, examines the demographic, economic, social, cultural and technological changes that are reshaping the nation. His key focus is on the problem of generational equity: "[A]s our population ages, how do we keep our promises to the old without bankrupting the young and starving the future?" Furthermore, he writes, the generations are "divided by race, politics, values, religion, and technology to a degree that's rare in our history." An authoritative report and required reading for policymakers.--Kirkus

A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition

Martin, Alyson; Rashidian, Nushin (Get this book)
Investigative journalists Martin and Rashidian offer a carefully researched, accessible survey of current debates about the decriminalization of marijuana. They present the history of cannabis prohibition and explain how the U.S. is currently governed by three different sets of state laws while the Feds, particularly through the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, continue to enforce the criminal federal laws. While the authors don't have definitive answers, they make a clear argument that decriminalization of marijuana (now fully legal in Colorado and Washington) will happen in many other states, if not everywhere. Changing marijuana laws doesn't seem as scary a proposition by the end.--Publisher's Weekly

Kicking the Kremlin: Russia's New Dissidents and the Battle to Topple Putin

Marc Bennetts (Get this book)
Engagingly grim, frequently absurdist portrait of Vladimir Putin and the popular protests against him, which are gaining steam. Moscow-based British journalist Bennetts maintains a cool, even tone throughout these portraits of the Putin oligarchs, who are determined to keep power, and the leaders of the dissident movements aiming to oust them. Bennetts insightfully portrays a Russia on the cusp of popular revolt.--Kirkus

The Muslims Are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror -

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"A widely researched argument about why the war on terror will have no success unless the West stops blaming Islam and starts locating the roots of political dissent. In fighting the war on terror, Kundnani (Terrorism Studies/John Jay Coll.; The End of Tolerance: Racism in 21st Century Britain, 2007) sees the governments of the U.S. and Britain as employing the same wrongheaded surveillance tactics that were created by the Russians and sharpened by the CIA, then the FBI, in cracking down on dissidents during the Cold War and the civil rights era. The problem, writes the author, is that Muslims have become an "ideal enemy," perceived by mainstream American and British societies as unable to assimilate properly due to the essential flaw in their religion: the inability to separate church and state. Policymakers view extremism as a "perversion of Islam's message," the twisting of what is essentially a benign religion into "an antimodern, totalitarian, political ideology." The truth is that most people are peace-loving and assimilationist, and Muslim communities have become a kind of "Asian model minority." Yet some of the youth, thwarted in their political expression, lash out in extremism--e.g., in the reaction to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the plight of the Palestinians against Israeli aggression. In the crackdown on anti-extremism, scholars of "radicalization"--i.e., the process by which Muslims move toward terrorism--zero in on a spurious "cultural-psychological predisposition" toward violence and disaffection that offers intelligence and law enforcement agencies a framework to work with but does not address what Kundnani believes is at the root of the unrest: poverty and oppression. His examples of the pernicious reach of many policing tools are useful, such as the Prevent model launched in Britain in 2004, provoking questions about privacy and discrimination. Kundnani frankly and refreshingly moves away from ideological symptoms and toward political causes in tackling extremism."  (Kirkus Reviews)

Inferno: An Anatomy of American Punishment

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"An eye-opening report about how the United States, with just 5 percent of the world's population, holds 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population. Ferguson (Law, Literature and Criticism/Columbia University; Alone in America: The Stories that Really Matter, 2013, etc.) charges that American prisons have "become an evil for all concerned." Federal, state and local governments spend $80 billion per year on a system that provides jobs for one out of nine state employees. In order to promote the system's growth, private prison companies, as well as the unions representing guards, have become a self-serving lobby wielding their clout over political decision-makers. As one example, Louisiana's privatized, for-profit system holds one out of every 86 of the state's citizens: three times more than in Iran, seven times more than in China and 10 times more than in Germany. The numbers jailed and the severity of the sentences-- including life without parole for nonviolent crimes--are no longer comparable to any of the countries that are peers and allies of the U.S. Overcrowding risks unrest, and financial costs have outgrown available revenue. Ultimately, writes Ferguson, U.S. prison policy has reached a breaking point. The author puts much of the blame on the politicians whose legislation brought about this state of affairs, and he calls their political desires "the punitive impulse in American society." He wants to know whether it is reversible, noting that it's "simply a fact that voters promote to high office those politicians who want tougher penalties." Ferguson dates the origins of this current, nearly intractable situation to a knee-jerk response to widespread urban riots 50 years ago. An important wake-up call about an emerging crisis that threatens to become a human rights scandal of global proportions."(Kirkus Reviews)

Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming

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"For most of the planet, the specter of global warming is ominous, but as journalist Funk reveals in this startling book, there are those who view the Earth's dangerous meltdown as a golden opportunity. Funk, who for traveled six years studying climate change, saw beyond the ecological disaster, profiling individuals and companies with an ambitious goal of turning a profit from a distressed planet one overwhelmed by carbon emissions at higher concentrations than at any time in the last 800,000 years. In alarming terms, he lists three major categories of global warming that need very little explanation the melt, the drought, and the deluge all of which have nations and citizens jockeying for position to cash in on the world's dwindling resources. Everybody is in the mix, according to Funk, from the Greenland secessionists betting on oil to set them free, Israeli wizards creating snows for barren ski slopes, South Sudanese warlords controlling precious farmland in a deal with fund managers, California firefighters teaming with insurance companies as the last barrier against wildfires, and a Dutch engineering firm's water-management ideas for securing a storm-ravaged New York City. Still, Funk's original, forthright take on the little-discussed profit-taking trend in the climate change sweepstakes is very unsettling."   (Publishers Weekly)

Kicking the Kremlin: Russia's New Dissidents and the Battle to Topple Putin

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"As 2011 came to a close, in what was a watershed moment, 100,000 took to Moscow's freezing streets to protest the election victory of United Russia - Vladimir Putin's party - amid widespread allegations of corruption and vote-rigging. A few months later, Pussy Riot hit headlines around the world when they were arrested following their anti-Putin demonstration in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. The vicious battle for Russia's soul continues to this day.
In the first book to take the reader straight to the beating heart of the opposition movement, journalist and long-time Moscow resident Marc Bennetts introduces a new generation of Russian dissidents, united by their hatred of Putin and his bid to silence all political adversaries. We meet a bustling cast of urban youth working to expose the injustices of the regime and a disjointed bunch of dissenters - from 'It Girl' hipsters to 21st-century socialists. Featuring rare interviews with everyone from Pussy Riot and top protest leaders to Kremlin insiders, Bennetts' compelling narrative is a high-octane account of the politics and subterfuge of modern-day Russia."  (Publisher Description)

Russians: The People Behind the Power

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"Former NPR Moscow correspondent Feifer (The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan, 2009) returns with an analysis of the Russian character derived from his family history and many years of research and travels. In a volume that's very current--the author delivers commentary on both Pussy Riot and Edward Snowden--Feifer presents a series of topics that, combined, paint a stark and only mildly hopeful portrait of Russia. Poverty, drinking, cold and punishment--these are among his principal subjects. Throughout, the author uses a variety of techniques: memoir, interviews with significant Russians and others in the region, summaries of key historical events, and anecdotes about and documents from family and friends (his father is also a writer about the region). Feifer is resolutely anti-Putin, condemning him continually for returning the country to some of its nastier ways after the fall of the Soviet Union and the elevation of hopes in the West. (He writes that Putin's abilities are "feeble at best.") In the opening chapter on poverty, the author offers some grim evidence about living conditions in the country: inefficient health care (HIV-AIDS is a major problem), racist hate crimes, the breakdown of infrastructure and corruption everywhere. Conversely, he follows with a chapter about the vast wealth in the country, mostly from energy; the author (and others) recognizes that Russia's dependence on energy income presents a long-term problem. The Russian fondness for vodka, writes the author, may be a cliche, but it's one based on oceans of evidence. Feifer chides the Russian government for doing little about the problem, and he writes about Russian families, the roles of women, the attitudes toward gays and other minorities, racism and anti-Semitism. He highlights the cronyism and the pervasive corruption, and he warns Western countries not to have any "illusions about what kind of country they are dealing with." Dark but skillfully painted pictures at an exhibition." (Kirkus Reviews)

Bitcoin Explained: Today's Complete Guide to Tomorrow's Currency

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"Everyone's Been Asking - What is Bitcoin? Learn the Ins and Outs of Bitcoin, the elusive new currency, including Bitcoin Mining, how to buy, sell and invest, and how you can achieve long term profits! Bitcoin has been brooding within the tech community over the last few years. However, within the past few months, Bitcoin has exploded into the mainstream and is being covered in every notable new source with commentary almost everyday. What is this mysterious currency? Most people (even those doing the reporting) understand very little about this internet phenomenon. Bitcoin is a decentralized "crypto-currency" that puts the power in the hands of the people and takes it away from the banks and government. Learn the ins and outs of Bitcoin. This book, Bitcoin Exposed, will teach you how to quickly get set-up with a Bitcoin account and reap all the rewards of this online currency. Bitcoin Exposed will teach you how to: Quickly get set-up with a Bitcoin wallet Buy goods over the internet with the click of a mouse Transfer money to friends Make completely anonymous transactions Bitcoin Mining and how to become a "Bitcoin Miner" Profit with Bitcoins and investing secrets Our BONUS Insight: An in-depth analysis of the current problems and potential pitfalls of Bitcoin, as well as the exponential profits early investors may reap from acquiring Bitcoins now. Note from Authors - Mark Solomon & Daniel Forrester ""Bitcoin is not just a way for hackers to buy obscure products on the internet. It has evolved into a robust, versatile online currency that anyone can use to buy products, trade, or increase their business's sales potential. Reap the benefits of becoming an expert on this new currency with this new tell-all book"""  (Publisher Description)

The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility ( Studies in Postwar American Political Development )

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"The United States has a long history of controversial political commentary, but recent years have seen a new genre of opinion characterized by outrageous innuendo and misrepresentation. Berry and Sobieraj (political science & sociology, respectively, Tufts Univ.), using a variety of well-documented qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct their research, chronicle the variety and types of outrageous commentary found across the political spectrum, from conservative to liberal. The authors draw on a variety of examples, including Rush Limbaugh's attack on Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke for advocating for health insurance coverage for contraceptives and Keith Olbermann's belaboring of Michelle Bachman's misstatement about sharing a hometown with John Wayne, in order to illustrate the hyperpartisan nature of some commentary. The growth in outrage-based opinion is attributed to decreasing regulation, new media outlets and formats, changes in popular culture, and the fear of engaging in political conversation in social settings. While the authors are careful not to imply a causal relationship, they link changes in commentary to the growing polarization of Congress and the incivility in politics. VERDICT Scholars in the fields of communication, political science, and sociology will welcome this detailed examination of the changes in public political discourse.-"  (Library Journal)

The New Black: What Has Changed--And What Has Not--With Race in America

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"Positing that the civil rights idea "has begun to unravel, " law professors Mack (Representing the Race) and Charles offer 11 essays from scholars, writers, and cultural critics on "postracialism consequent to Obama's election." Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres propose the fresh concept of "political race, " consisting of "a group of people who ultimately are defined by their politics rather than by their physiognomy, " while Cristina Rodriguez questions the applicability of civil rights principles to immigration reform. Jeannine Bell addresses the "tolerance-violence paradox" as violent racism occurs "in the same space and time as... increases in racial tolerance, " while Angela Onwuachi-Willig discusses the newsworthy arrest of Henry Louis Gates. Glenn Loury argues that "Obama's election has neither fulfilled King's dream nor does it usher in any sort of a new era, " and that "the imperatives of office in the position of the American presidency" take Obama away from the "black prophetic tradition." "Postracial America, " one contributor observes, "is the dream that we would prefer to believe, and the one that many would rather see depicted." Mack and Charles have staged an eminently readable event for wrestling with that idea." (Publishers Weekly)

The Price of Paradise: The Costs of Inequality and a Vision for a More Equitable America

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"Troutt (Law and Justice/Rutgers School of Law, Newark; The Importance of Being Dangerous, 2009, etc.) offers a controversial counter to the claim that social spending is an out-of-control government expense. The author writes that "localism," the autonomous local control of suburban communities, has increased costs of education and policing far beyond affordable levels and reinforced the economics of institutional racism. Troutt asks two important questions: "[W]ho really gets the most government subsidies?" and "[W]hy should I live near poor people?" He develops a convincing case that government subsidies are not just handouts to the poor, but in fact have subsidized middle-class lifestyles as well. Since the 1930s, these have been carried out through specially designed loan packages, tax deductions for mortgages and local property taxes, and the construction of the federal highway system. These subsidies have been under attack since the recent financial crisis. Troutt debunks as mere ideology the contention that suburban neighborhoods, considered to exemplify the American dream, have flourished only due to homeowner and community self-sufficiency and autonomy. He shows how, since the 1970s, Supreme Court decisions favoring local autonomy in zoning, land use and education have undermined the gains made by 1960s civil rights reforms. "By 1980," he writes, "localism had trumped the equality principle to reproduce formal segregation but in a non-racial way. For all its benefits, localism has a fatal flaw, narrow parochialism...its most destructive aspect." The author believes that subsidized suburban communities and poor, inner-city areas both need common interest solutions like those advocated 50 years ago by Martin Luther King Jr.; they should be based on interdependence instead of separation in economic and political relations. "Ultimately, this book is a rejection of our divisive assumptions, an argument about the profound interdependency of our lives," writes the author. A forcefully presented eye-opener sure to provoke controversy as well as interest."  (Kirkus Reviews)

Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War

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"Gates was U.S. secretary of defense from 2006-2011, serving in the cabinets of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama two presidents who had little else in common. Gates's confirmation was a repudiation of his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, and his initial mission was to reverse a looming defeat in Iraq. As Gates, in this richly textured memoir, tells it, the Department of Defense had "alienated just about everyone in town" and the new secretary "had a lot of fences to mend." This involved overcoming resistance to maintaining the military's "nontraditional capabilities" developed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile his efforts on behalf of Gen. David Petraeus and the Iraqi surge only exposed other intractable regional flash points. Gates "did not enjoy being secretary of defense," and his focus shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan, where "the foreign-policy team was splintering"; an agitated Israel; and an ever-difficult Iran. He also faced hot-button domestic issues like Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Gates frequently presents himself as the only adult in the room, but given his accounts of administration "micromanagement and operational meddling," a Congress that "up close... is truly ugly," frequent insider leaks, and a government suffering "paralytic polarization," his call for restoring "civility and mutual respect" is a cry from the heart." (Publishers Weekly)

Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power

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"New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has become a national Republican Party figure, famous for his blunt public statements, his willingness to confront powerful special interests, and his determination to change the ingrown, corrupt, backroom political culture of New Jersey. In just two years as governor, Christie has moved aggressively to reduce the state's ballooning deficit, rein in lucrative entitlements for teacher, police, fire, and public employee unions, cut out-of-control government spending, and create jobs by reducing counterproductive business regulations. But beneath Christie's combative public persona is an intensely loyal family man, whose deep roots in New Jersey shape his core values. Written by "New York Times "bestselling author Bob Ingle and fellow journalist Michael Symons, who have covered the governor's political career for more than a decade, "Chris Christie "offers the first inside portrait of this fascinating man.
Drawing on interviews with Christie himself, his wife, Mary Pat, his brother, Todd, his father, Bill, his uncle Joe, and many longtime supporters as well as political opponents, Ingle and Symons trace Christie's life. He grew up in New Jersey, surrounded by a big, roiling Italian-American family where his mother, Sondra, and grandmother Anne were powerful influences. Surprisingly, his political career nearly ended after a bruising loss in a local county campaign, but was revived when Christie was appointed United States Attorney for New Jersey. He soon became a feared prosecutor, and culminated an impressive string of successful cases with a multi-year investigation that resulted in the arrests of more than forty people, in one of the state's most notorious examples of political corruption.
Despite calls to run for president, Christie reiterated his commitment to reforming New Jersey. "Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power" goes behind the scenes to reveal his family life, his public life, and what the future might hold."  (Publisher Description)

The Demographic Cliff: How to Survive and Prosper During the Great Deflation of 2014-2019

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"Talk about timing the market: Demographer Dent (The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History, 2009, etc.) studies generational trends that suggest hard times are in store, particularly for younger people entering the workforce. Though the economy seems to be recovering, writes the author, this is a result of "endless government stimulus" that must come to an end. With the retirement of the baby boomer generation and the subsequent restrictions imposed on the economy by the fact that fewer workers will be replacing them, consumer spending will decline, since those workers will likely have less money to spend even as the boomers are in the "downward phase" in their own purchasing patterns. The "echo boomers," whose births are spread out from 1976 to 2007, will eventually replace the baby boomers, and they're significantly more numerous. Meanwhile, the Gen Xers--less than half the echo boomers' number--are going to have to pull a lot of weight. The near-term result? A "coma economy" such as Japan's. The good news, if it is in fact good news, is that China is not likely to overwhelm the West economically, since its demographic future is even more dire. The bad news for nativists is that in order to re-emerge economically, the United States will have to see a population growth to 420 million by 2060, and much of that will have to come from immigration, which is likely instead to slow in the coming "winter season." Dent closes by examining the place of social entitlements in a newly austere economic landscape; refreshingly, he urges that "there should be "a government-driven one-payer system for the most basic health care services for all," adding that the free market system is intended to benefit everyone, "not just the strongest." Provocative reading: a bad-case, if not worst-case, scenario that portends tough times ahead. Let's hope Dent is erring on the side of pessimism."  (Kirkus Reviews)

Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era

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"A study of what Kimmel (Sociology and Gender Studies/Stony Brook Univ.; Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, 2008, etc.) calls "aggrieved entitlement" and how it leads to the angry rhetoric and violence endemic to the United States today. The author is no stranger to thinking and writing about men in their cultural climate; in his latest book, he turns his gaze to the pervasive anger specifically white men experience. White men, he claims, have held the upper hand for so long that equalizing the playing field results in explosive rage over their situation rather than the quieter despair, anxiety and frustration that other men feel. "Theirs is the anger of the entitled: we are entitled to those jobs, those positions of unchallenged dominance," writes Kimmel. "And when we are told we are not going to get them, we get angry." From there, the author moves through manifestations of this rage, such as domestic violence, mass murder and involvement in white-supremacy activities. Kimmel's writing is open and engaging, reminiscent of a conversation with friends in a bar. This makes some of the disturbing content easier to digest and his arguments palatable even to those inclined to disagree with him. Though he admits his left-leaning bias, he writes, "I try to look into the hearts and minds of the American men with whom I most disagree politically....I do so not with contempt or pity, but with empathy and compassion." For the most part, the author succeeds, but he does himself a disservice by alienating readers, with an overwhelmingly liberal introduction and first chapter, who might otherwise see merit in his conclusion that these "angry white men have some justified grievances--even though they often aim their arrows at the wrong targets." Another worthwhile examination of important issues affecting men and, by extension, everyone else, from an author known for his insight into the subject."  (Kirkus Reviews)

Inequality for All (DVD)

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" A passionate argument on behalf of the middle class, INEQUALITY FOR ALL features Robert Reich--professor, best-selling author, and Clinton cabinet member--as he demonstrates how the widening income gap has a devastating impact on the American economy. The film is an intimate portrait of a man who's overcome a great deal of personal adversity and whose lifelong goal remains protecting those who are unable to protect themselves. Through his singular perspective, Reich explains how the massive consolidation of wealth by a precious few threatens the viability of the American workforce and the foundation of democracy itself. In this INCONVENIENT TRUTH for the economy, Reich uses humor and a wide array of facts to explain how the issue of economic inequality affects each and every one of us."  (Publisher Description)