Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  A Kidnapped West - The Tragedy...

  Milan Kundera

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  “We should welcome the context Kundera gives for the struggles between Russia and Europe, and the plight of those caught between them. His defense of small languages, small cultures, and small nations feels pressing.”—Claire Messud, Harper's Magazine 
  “Kundera focuses on the relationship of Europe’s central ‘small nations’ like Czechoslovakia and Ukraine to Western culture and argues that their cultural identities were increasingly threatened.”—New York Book Review  
  A short collection of brilliant early essays that offers a fascinating context for Milan Kundera’s subsequent career and holds a mirror to much recent European history.  It is also remarkably prescient with regard to Russia’s current aggression in Ukraine and its threat to the rest of Europe. 
  Milan Kundera’s early nonfiction work feels especially resonant in our own time. In these pieces, Kundera pleads the case of the “small nations” of Europe who, by culture, are Western with deep roots in Europe, despite Russia imposing its own Communist political regimes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere. Kundera warns that the real tragedy here is not Russia but Europe, whose own identity and culture are directly challenged and threatened in a way that could lead to their destruction. He is sounding the alarm, which chimes loud and clear in our own twenty-first century. 
  The 1983 essay translated by Edmund White (“The Tragedy of Central Europe”), and the 1967 lecture delivered to the Czech Writers’ Union in the middle of the Prague Spring by the young Milan Kundera (“Literature and the Small Nations”), translated for the first time by Linda Asher, are both written in a voice that is at once personal, vehement, and anguished. Here, Kundera appears already as one of our great European writers and truly our contemporary. Each piece is prefaced by a short presentation by French historian Pierre Nora and Czech-born French political scientist Jacques Rupnik.

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  Getting to the Promised Land -...

  Kevin W. Cosby

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  Too often, all oppressed people in America are lumped together under the moniker people of color, as if each group's experience under the yoke of systemic racism has the same economic and social repercussions. But the American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) hold a unique claim to economic and reparative justice: for ADOS, after all, is the only group whose ancestors were forcibly brought to America, enslaved, built much of the wealth of the country, yet continue to be specifically excluded from the same social, political, and economic rights of other Americans. To that end, Rev. Dr. Kevin W. Cosby lays out the first theology of the ADOS movement, turning the traditional lens of Black liberation theology from Moses leading escaped Hebrew slaves in Exodus to other biblical leaders like Solomon, Daniel, and Nehemiah. 
   
   
   
  In the stories of Nehemiah and other biblical leaders, Cosby finds inspiration on how to rebuild Black America including the necessity of government reparations for ADOS. Cosby calls all Americans to move from a place of relative nonengagement and detachment to a place of active support of ADOS's efforts for justice and healing.

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  Authoritarianism and...

  Arlo Holders

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  This bundle consists of the following books: 
    - Totalitarianism Unmasked: Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state holds total control over every aspect of public and private life, leaving no room for opposition or individual freedoms. Unlike other forms of governance, where political competition and individual rights are somewhat preserved, totalitarianism demands absolute loyalty and conformity. The concept of totalitarianism emerged in the early 20th century, though its roots can be traced back to ancient and medieval periods. In its modern form, it is most closely associated with dictatorial regimes that arose in the aftermath of World War I and throughout the 20th century. 
    - Kleptocracy: Kleptocracy, derived from the Greek words kleptēs (thief) and kratos (rule), refers to a system of governance where leaders exploit their positions of power to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. It is a regime of theft, where corruption is not merely an incidental byproduct of governance but a fundamental aspect of its operation. In kleptocratic systems, the state becomes a tool for personal and collective gain for a small elite, often at the cost of societal well-being and economic development. 
    - Corporatism: Corporatism, as a political and economic system, refers to the integration of corporate and governmental interests, where the lines between the state and private enterprises often blur. It involves the collaboration of various sectors, such as businesses, government, and occasionally labor unions, to form policies and frameworks that benefit the economy and society, but sometimes at the expense of democratic processes. 
  Take advantage of this discounted box set right now!

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  The Shifting Twenty-First...

  Tevi Troy

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  The role and range of the American presidency has undergone significant changes in the twenty-first century, with George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden transforming the office in distinct ways. Many but not all of these changes stem from the numerous crises of this young century: 9/11 and the resulting war on terror, Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the social unrest of 2020. 
   
   
   
  While crisis brings rapid change, there are other factors at work as well. Increased polarization has led presidents of both parties to press existing rules and norms to their limits in an attempt to accomplish more during their brief tenures. The result is a lot of policy and structural change in a short period, including new cabinet departments, new election rules, and significantly increased spending and debt, among other things. For the most part, these changes have occurred with little thought to what it all means for the functionality and stability of our democratic institutions and, consequently, our nation's capacity to address the needs as well as the aspirations of the American people. The Bipartisan Policy Center's Tevi Troy has brought together a group of presidential scholars and political experts to address these important issues and to reflect on how the presidency has changed and what it might mean for the future.

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  A Measure Short of War - A Brief...

  William C. Wohlforth, Jill Kastner

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  In 2016, the United States was stunned by evidence of Russian meddling in the US presidential elections. But it shouldn't have been. Subversion—domestic interference to undermine or manipulate a rival—is as old as statecraft itself. The basic idea would have been familiar to Sun Tzu, Thucydides, Elizabeth I, or Bismarck. 
   
   
   
  It came as a surprise in 2016 because the sole superpower had fallen asleep at the wheel. But what's really new? Have we entered a new age of vulnerability? To answer these questions, and to protect ourselves against future subversion, we need a clear-eyed understanding of what it is and how it works. 
   
   
   
  In A Measure Short of War, Jill Kastner and William C. Wohlforth provide just that, taking the listener on a compelling ride through the history of subversion, exploring two thousand years of mischief and manipulation to illustrate subversion's allure, its operational possibilities, and the means for fighting back against it. With vivid examples from the ancient world, the great-power rivalries of the nineteenth century, epic Cold War struggles, and more, A Measure Short of War shows how prior technological revolutions opened up new avenues for subversion, and how some democracies have been fatally weakened by foreign subverters while others have artfully defended themselves—and their democratic principles.

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  Psychological Warfare - Using...

  Cito Harder

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  Psychological warfare is the deliberate use of tactics designed to influence, manipulate, and control the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of individuals or groups. It involves the strategic deployment of psychological tactics to achieve specific objectives, often with the goal of weakening the will, confidence, and decision-making abilities of an opponent. Unlike physical warfare, which relies on the use of force and violence, psychological warfare focuses on undermining an adversary’s mental state, creating doubt, confusion, fear, or anxiety. The concept of psychological warfare spans across military, political, social, and personal domains, and its methods are utilized to achieve both large-scale and individual objectives. 
  At its core, psychological warfare operates by exploiting the weaknesses of human perception, beliefs, and emotions. It seeks to manipulate how people think, feel, and act, often in ways that are subtle and hard to detect. Through the strategic use of information, misinformation, fear, and emotional appeals, psychological warfare can alter the course of events and influence outcomes in a way that physical force alone cannot achieve. This manipulation can be direct, as in the use of propaganda, or more covert, as in the use of gaslighting to distort reality and create confusion. 
  Psychological warfare can be seen in many contexts, from international conflict and military operations to corporate competition, political campaigns, and even personal relationships. For example, in warfare, psychological tactics are employed to break the enemy’s morale, instill fear, and create division within their ranks. In the political arena, psychological warfare is often used to manipulate public opinion, spread propaganda, and discredit opponents.

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