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Dare to Lead

This genre of book is not common on my shelf, the motivational / inspirational mass market type. I was given a few books after a recent career shift and am approaching them with a mindset of how I can develop better leadership skills. Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead (2019) was one. In the notes below, […]

Tags: #Inspiration #Leadership #Learning #Motivational #recognition

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The Dawn Of Eurasia

Bruno Macaes’ 2018 book, The Dawn of Eurasia: On the Trail of the New World Order, is mostly a travelog of Central Asia with a brief geopolitical introduction. Like his other book, it does not sweeten with time (similar to another of his books I read / reviewed). In the moment interesting, but approaching a […]

Tags: #Central Asia #Eurasia #International Relations #New World Order #Politics

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On Grand Strategy

Written by a Yale professor who co-taught courses on grand strategy for nearly two decades, this book (Grand Strategy, 2019) had significant potential to bring together years of teaching into an accessible book (published by a mass market press, not academic press). John Lewis Gaddis is extremely well read, and from diverse fields. The book […]

Tags: #Grand Strategy #John Lewis Gaddis #On Grand Strategy #Power #Strategic Studies #Strategy

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Russian Grand Strategy

An edited book published by Manchester University Press in 2022 attempted to gather together perspectives on Russian strategy, if there is one (a question the book starts off with). Andrew Monaghan is the editor of the book, Russian Grand Strategy in the Era of Global Power Competition. Some quotes: “Strategy is not simply about the […]

Tags: #Grand Strategy #Power #Russia #Russian #Strategy

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The Japanese Empire

Published by Cambridge University Press, this 2017 book (The Japanese Empire: Grand Strategy from the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War) was written by US Naval War College Professor S. C. M. Paine. The book notes some of the enabling factors for Japanese success, ranging from risk taking (p. 26), to rapidly expanding transportation infrastructure […]

Tags: #Development Studies #Empire #History #Japan

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The Myth of the Lazy Native

Written in 1977, this classic work by Syed Hussein Alatas is an early critique of knowledge production that relies on colonial records, which shows how identity narratives were linked to colonialist action in Southeast Asia. Notes: “A colonial scholar, journalist, or author is one with a colonial mind whether refined or vulgar. The products of […]

Tags: #Alatas #Colonial gaze #Colonialism #Knowledge #Power #Status

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