Politics

How The West Came To Rule

This is a 2015 book that seeks to reorient the history of capitalism by Anievas and Nisancioglu. Published by Pluto Press, “How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism” offers depth of conceptual, historical and theoretical analysis to challenge dominant narratives (following the financial crisis, which – if the idea persisted – […]

Tags: #Capitalism #History #Politics #Power

Thought Provokers

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

Thought Provokers

Resilient Statehood

New book edited by myself and Alexandra Wilson. Full book is available as Open Access: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-92-0221-8 Introduction: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-92-0221-8_1 Framework: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-92-0221-8_8 Lessons for Resilience Today: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-92-0221-8_9

Tags: #Development Studies #International development #Politics

Research

Singapore: A Very Short History

A widely read, and apparently common undergraduate reading text, on Singapore is Alvin Tan’s “Singapore: A Very Short History, From Temasek to Tomorrow”, which was first published in 2000 and updated in a 2022 edition. I picked this up in Singapore looking to understand more about the political economy, and this did not deliver much […]

Tags: #Development #History #Policy #Politics #Singapore #Strategy

Thought Provokers
Political Power and Environmental Sustainability in Gulf Monarchies

Political Power and Environmental Sustainability in Gulf Monarchies

Tobias Zumbraegel completed a PhD with a focus on politics and sustainability in Qatar, Saudi and Kuwait, which was revised / expanded and published as “Political Power and Environmental Sustainability in Gulf Monarchies” in 2022 with Palgrave. The basis of the study is existing literature and 53 interviews. Given it is a doctoral dissertation at […]

Tags: #Arabian Gulf #GCC #Politics #Sustainability #Tobias Zumbraegel

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Education in Afghanistan

Education in Afghanistan

From his doctoral work, Yahia Baiza wrote “Education in Afghanistan: Development, Influences and Legacies since 1901” (2013), published by Routledge. The book covers more than a century (1901-2012), structured around the political eras of the period. As much as this book is about education, it is equally about the context of each time period. This […]

Tags: #Afghanistan #Education #History #Policy #Politics

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The Politics of Ethnicity in Ethiopia

The Politics of Ethnicity in Ethiopia

Part of the Reading Ethiopia series This book was written by Lovise Aalen in 2011 and it is unfortunate that I had not read this book until now, given the geography and topics covered (apologies Dr Aalen if you are out there). The author says this book explores a unique experiment in institutionalizing the politics of […]

Tags: #Ethiopia #Ethnicity #Ethnofederalism #Governance #Politics

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The Power of Geography

The Power of Geography

Tim Marshall, a political-economy and geography journalist, has penned a number of best selling books related to geography (or using geography as an entry point to discuss nation-states). His 2021 book “The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World” is the first I have read of his books. The book […]

Tags: #Future Studies #Geography #Geopolitics #Politics #Tim Marshall

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Age of Revolutions

Age of Revolutions

Written by Fareed Zakaria (yes, the CNN one), “Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present” (2024) runs through a selection of European history (Netherlands, Great Britain, France) to make a case for liberalism, participatory governance, markets and innovation in the rise of powerful nations (or their downfall). The title of this book […]

Tags: #Age of Revolutions #Fareed Zakaria #History #Politics #Revolution

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Beginning with Heidegger

Beginning with Heidegger

Millerman draws our attention to Heidegger as a source of key philosophical and political contributions that have shaped thought since his contributions in Beginning with Heidegger (2020). I came across Millerman via Dugin, some of whose books he has translated into English. This book is a slightly modified version of Michael Millerman’s 2018 PhD thesis with the […]

Tags: #Heidegger #Millerman #Philosophy #Political Theory #Politics

Thought Provokers