CiteULike: bellavita's library [59 articles]

Leading Change

John Kotter — 2008-06-24T13:26:58-00:00

(15 January 1996)

In Leading Change, John Kotter examines the efforts of more than 100 companies to remake themselves into better competitors. He identifies the most common mistakes leaders and managers make in attempting to create change and offers an eight-step process to overcome the obstacles and carry out the firm's agenda: establishing a greater sense of urgency, creating the guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the change vision, empowering others to act, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains and producing even more change, and institutionalizing new approaches in the future. This highly personal book reveals what John Kotter has seen, heard, experienced, and concluded in 25 years of working with companies to create lasting transformation.

On Becoming a Leader: The Leadership Classic

Warren Bennis — 2008-06-24T13:24:16-00:00

With a new introduction by the authorWarren Bennis's formative years, in the 1930s and '40s, were characterized by severe economic hardship and a world war that showcased the extreme depths and heights to which leaders could drive their followers. Today's environment is similarly chaotic, turbulent, and uncertain. On Becoming a Leader has served for nearly fifteen years as a beacon of insight, delving into the qualities that define leadership, the people who exemplify it, and the strategies that anyone can apply to become an effective leader. This new edition features a provocative introduction on the challenges and opportunities facing leaders today, with additional updates and current references throughout.

Flirting with Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental

Marc Gerstein — 2008-06-24T13:03:02-00:00

(03 June 2008)

Chernobyl and Katrina. _Challenger_ and _Columbia_. BP and Vioxx. The Iraq War. Were these unavoidable misfortunes that no one could possibly have imagined? Hardly. All of them were disasters that could have been prevented, or whose damaging repercussions could have been mitigated. Despite warnings of impending disaster, preemptive action is rarely taken by those who have the ability to do so. How do smart, high-powered people, leaders of global corporations, national institutions, even nations, often get it so wrong? While most investigations focus on the technical causes of disaster, _Flirting With Disaster_ examines the psychological, social, and cultural impediments to whistle-blowing, showing what we can do to reduce the possibility of disasters happening at all. Analyzing such phenomena as bystander behavior and the butterfly effect, amid a series of instructive case studies--not only the aforementioned shuttle crashes, natural disasters, and industrial accidents, but also Arthur Andersen's shady accounting at Enron; the 1994 Mexican peso crisis that nearly caused an international monetary meltdown; and the American sub-prime lending crisis that emerged in August 2007, revealing the country's unhealthy dependence on consumer credit--Marc Gerstein, an organizational psychologist, urges a re-evaluation of the timidity, distorted thinking, errors of judgment and self-serving conduct that result in disasters from the boardroom to the halls of academe to the Oval Office. Daniel Ellsberg, renowned and respected for releasing the Pentagon Papers, offers a foreword and a powerful afterword addressing what happens "When Leaders are the Problem." _Flirting With Disaster_ is a must-read for those who want to foster truth- telling in their organizations, and head off-disasters in the making. At once alarming, entertaining and hopeful, this is a book that offers very real and practical lessons for everyday life.

Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11

Patrick Creed — 2008-06-24T12:57:18-00:00

(27 May 2008)

Amid all the stories of tragedy and heroism on September 11, there is one tale that has yet to be told–the gripping account of ordinary men and women braving the inferno at the Pentagon to rescue friends and co-workers, save the nation’s military headquarters, and defend their country. Pentagon firefighters Alan Wallace and Mark Skipper had just learned the shocking news that planes had struck the World Trade Center when they saw something equally inconceivable: a twin-engine jetliner flying straight at them. It was American Airlines Flight 77, rushing toward its target. In his Pentagon office, Army major David King was planning a precautionary evacuation when the room suddenly erupted in flames. Arlington firefighters Derek Spector, Brian Roache, and Ron Christman, among the first responders at the scene, were stunned by the sight that met them: a huge flaming hole gouged into the Pentagon’s side, a lawn strewn with smoking debris, and thousands of people, some badly injured, stumbling away from what would become one of the most daunting fires in American history. For more than twenty-four hours, Arlington firefighters and other crews faced some of the most dangerous and unusual circumstances imaginable. The size and structure of the Pentagon itself presented unique challenges, compelling firefighters to devise ingenious tactics and make bold decisions–until they finally extinguished the fire that threatened to cripple America’s military infrastructure just when it was needed most. Granted unprecedented access to the major players in the valiant response efforts, Patrick Creed and Rick Newman take us step-by-step through the harrowing minutes, hours, and days following the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon’s western façade. Providing fascinating personal stories of the firefighters and rescuers, a broader view of how the U.S. national security command structure was held intact, and a sixteen-page insert of dramatic photographs, Firefight is a unique testament to the fortitude and resilience of America.

The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain

George Lakoff — 2008-06-20T23:38:46-00:00

(29 May 2008)

In _What’s the Matter with Kansas?_, Thomas Frank pointed out that a great number of Americans actually vote against their own interests. In _The Political Mind_, George Lakoff explains why. As it turns out, human beings are not the rational creatures we’ve so long imagined ourselves to be. Ideas, morals, and values do not exist somewhere outside the body, ready to be examined and put to use. Instead, they exist quite literally inside the brain—and they take physical shape there. For example, we form particular kinds of narratives in our minds just like we form specific muscle memories such as typing or dancing, and then we fit new information into those narratives. Getting that information out of one narrative type and into another—or building a whole new narrative altogether—can be as hard as learning to play the banjo. Changing your mind isn’t _like_ changing your body—it’s the same thing. But as long as progressive politicians and activists persist in believing that people use an objective system of reasoning to decide on their politics, the Democrats will continue to lose elections. They must wrest control of the terms of the debate from their opponents rather than accepting their frame and trying to argue within it. This passionate, erudite, and groundbreaking book will appeal to readers of Steven Pinker and Thomas Frank. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in how the mind works, how society works, and how they work together.

Risk. Dan Gardner

Dan Gardner — 2008-06-20T20:36:25-00:00

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF

Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice

Eric Lichtblau — 2008-06-06T21:05:29-00:00

(01 April 2008)

In the aftermath of 9/11, President Bush and his top advisors declared that the struggle against terrorism would be nothing less than a war–a new kind of war that would require new tactics, new tools, and a new mind-set. _Bush’s Law _is the unprecedented account of how the Bush administration employed its “war on terror” to mask the most radical remaking of American justice in generations. On orders from the highest levels of the administration, counterterrorism officials at the FBI, the NSA, and the CIA were asked to play roles they had never played before. But with that unprecedented power, administration officials butted up against–or disregarded altogether–the legal restrictions meant to safeguard Americans’ rights, as they gave legal sanction to covert programs and secret interrogation tactics, a swept up thousands of suspects in the drift net. Eric Lichtblau, who has covered the Justice Department and national security issues for the duration of the Bush administration, details not only the development of the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program–initiated by the vice president’s office in the weeks after 9/11–but also the intense pressure that the White House brought to bear on _The New York Times _to thwart his story on the program. _Bush’s Law_ is an unparalleled and authoritative investigative report on the hidden internal struggles over secret programs and policies that tore at the constitutional fabric of the country and, ultimately, brought down an attorney general. _ _

Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency (Inalienable Rights)

Richard Posner — 2008-06-05T18:17:28-00:00

(01 September 2006)

Eavesdropping on the phone calls of U.S. citizens; demands by the FBI for records of library borrowings; establishment of military tribunals to try suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens--many of the measures taken by the Bush administration since 9/11 have sparked heated protests. In Not a Suicide Pact, Judge Richard A. Posner offers a cogent and elegant response to these protests, arguing that personal liberty must be balanced with public safety in the face of grave national danger. Critical of civil libertarians who balk at any curtailment of their rights, even in the face of an unprecedented terrorist threat in an era of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Posner takes a fresh look at the most important constitutional issues that have arisen since 9/11. These issues include the constitutional rights of terrorist suspects (whether American citizens or not) to habeas corpus and due process, and their rights against brutal interrogation (including torture) and searches based on less than probable cause. Posner argues that terrorist activity is sui generis--it is neither "war" nor "crime"--and it demands a tailored response, one that gives terror suspects fewer constitutional rights than persons suspected of ordinary criminal activity. Constitutional law must remain fluid, protean, and responsive to the pressure of contemporary events. Posner stresses the limits of law in regulating national security measures and underscores the paradoxical need to recognize a category of government conduct that is at once illegal and morally obligatory. One of America's top legal thinkers, Posner does not pull punches. He offers readers a short, sharp book with a strong point of view that is certain to generate much debate. OXFORD'S NEW INALIENABLE RIGHTS SERIES This is inaugural volume in Oxford's new fourteen-book Inalienable Rights Series. Each book will be a short, analytically sharp exploration of a particular right--to bear arms, to religious freedom, to free speech-- clarifying the issues swirling around these rights and challenging us to rethink our most cherished freedoms.

The Matador's Cape: America's Reckless Response to Terror

Stephen Holmes — 2008-06-05T00:32:36-00:00

(23 April 2007)

The Matador's Cape delves into the causes of the catastrophic turn in American policy at home and abroad since 9/11. In a collection of searing essays, the author explores Washington's inability to bring 'the enemy' into focus, detailing the ideological, bureaucratic, electoral and (not least) emotional forces that severely distorted the American understanding of, and response to, the terrorist threat. The author's breadth of knowledge about the War on Terror leads to conclusions about present-day America that are at once sobering in their depth of reference and inspiring in their global perspective.

Comparative Legal Approaches to Homeland Security and Anti-terrorism (Homeland Security) (Homeland Security)

James Beckman — 2008-06-04T19:42:44-00:00

From Social to National Security: On the Fabrication of Economic Order

Mark Neocleous — 2008-06-03T23:49:14-00:00

Security Dialogue, Vol. 37, No. 3. (1 September 2006), pp. 363-384.

This article explores some of the conceptual, political and historical links between social and national security. Social security and national security are not often talked about together, despite the recent surge of interest in widening the security agenda. The first aim of this article is to contribute to critical ways of thinking security by identifying the issues connecting social and national security. The second aim is to suggest that if there is any mileage in the idea of securitization' as a process, its primary example may lie in the realm of social security. The third aim is to link social security and national security via the notion of economic security, bringing together themes within international political economy and security studies in an argument about the fabrication of economic order. 10.1177/0967010606069061

The CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND THE REMAKING OF WORLD ORDER

Samuel Huntington — 2006-06-28T15:13:47-00:00

(28 January 1998)

The thesis of this provocative and potentially important book is the increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures--Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu, and African--in current struggles across the globe. Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist at Harvard University and foreign policy aide to President Clinton, argues that policymakers should be mindful of this development when they interfere in other nations' affairs. Based on the author's seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is a provocative and prescient analysis of the state of world politics after the fall of communism. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how "civilizations" have replaced nations and ideologies as the driving force in global politics today and offers a brilliant analysis of the current climate and future possibilities of our world's volatile political culture.

Understanding Terror Networks

Marc Sageman — 2005-06-16T06:54:11-00:00

(01 April 2004)

Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century

Marc Sageman — 2008-05-22T22:33:40-00:00

In the post-September 11 world, Al Qaeda is no longer the central organizing force that aids or authorizes terrorist attacks or recruits terrorists. It is now more a source of inspiration for terrorist acts carried out by independent local groups that have branded themselves with the Al Qaeda name. Building on his previous groundbreaking research on the Al Qaeda network, forensic psychiatrist Marc Sageman has greatly expanded his research to explain how Islamic terrorism emerges and operates in the twenty-first century. In _Leaderless Jihad_, Sageman rejects the views that place responsibility for terrorism on society or a flawed, predisposed individual. Instead, he argues, the individual, outside influence, and group dynamics come together in a four- step process through which Muslim youth become radicalized. First, traumatic events either experienced personally or learned about indirectly spark moral outrage. Individuals interpret this outrage through a specific ideology, more felt and understood than based on doctrine. Usually in a chat room or other Internet-based venues, adherents share this moral outrage, which resonates with the personal experiences of others. The outrage is acted on by a group, either online or offline. _Leaderless Jihad_ offers a ray of hope. Drawing on historical analogies, Sageman argues that the zeal of jihadism is self-terminating; eventually its followers will turn away from violence as a means of expressing their discontent. The book concludes with Sageman's recommendations for the application of his research to counterterrorism law enforcement efforts.

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

Ori Brafman — 2008-05-22T22:20:20-00:00

(05 October 2006)

**Understanding the amazing force that links some of today’s most successful companies** If you cut off a spider’s leg, it’s crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish’s leg it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. What’s the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women’s rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? How could winning a Supreme Court case be the biggest mistake MGM could have made? After five years of ground-breaking research, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom share some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. _The Starfish and the Spider_ argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,” which have a rigid hierarchy and top- down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,” which rely on the power of peer relationships. _The Starfish and the Spider_ explores what happens when starfish take on spiders (such as the music industry vs. Napster, Kazaa, and the P2P services that followed). It reveals how established companies and institutions, from IBM to Intuit to the US government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. The book explores: * How the Apaches fended off the powerful Spanish army for 200 years * The power of a simple circle * The importance of catalysts who have an uncanny ability to bring people together * How the Internet has become a breeding ground for leaderless organizations * How Alcoholics Anonymous has reached untold millions with only a shared ideology and without a leader The _Starfish and the Spider_ is the rare book that will change how you understand the world around you. BACKCOVER: **Advance praise for _The Starfish and the Spider_** “_The Starfish and the Spider_ is a compelling and important book.” —Pierre Omidyar, CEO, Omidyar Network and Founder and Chairman, eBay Inc. “_The Starfish and the Spider_, like _Blink, The Tipping Point_, and _The Wisdom of Crowds_ before it, showed me a provocative new way to look at the world and at business. It's also fun to read!” —Robin Wolaner, founder, Parenting Magazine and author, _Naked in the Boardroom_ “A fantastic read. Constantly weaving stories and connections. You'll never see the world the same way again.” —Nicholas J. Nicholas Jr., former Co-CEO, Time Warner “A must-read. Starfish are changing the face of business and society. This page-turner is provocative and compelling.” —David Martin, CEO, Young Presidents' Organization “_The Starfish and the Spider_ provides a powerful prism for understanding the patterns and potential of self-organizing systems.” —Steve Jurvetson, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson “_The Starfish and the Spider_ lifts the lid on a massive revolution in the making, a revolution certain to reshape every organization on the planet from bridge clubs to global governments. Brafman and Beckstrom elegantly describe what is afoot and offer a wealth of insights that will be invaluable to anyone starting something new—or rescuing something old—amidst this vast shift.” —Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future “_The Starfish and the Spider_ is great reading. [It has] not only stimulated my thinking, but as a result of the reading, I proposed ten action points for my own organization." —Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

Republic.com 2.0

Cass Sunstein — 2008-05-22T17:24:29-00:00

(20 August 2007)

What happens to democracy and free speech if people use the Internet to create echo chambers--to listen and speak only to the like-minded? What is the democratic benefit of the Internet's unlimited choices if citizens narrowly limit the information they receive, creating ever-smaller niches and fragmenting the shared public conversation on which democracy depends? Cass Sunstein first asked these questions before 9/11, in _Republic.com_, and they have become even more urgent in the years since. Now, in _Republic.com 2.0_, Sunstein thoroughly rethinks the critical relationship between democracy and the Internet in a world where partisan Web logs have emerged as a significant force in politics and where cyber-jihadists have embraced the Internet to thwart democracy and spread violence. Emphasizing the value of unplanned, unchosen encounters, the original _Republic.com_ provoked a strong reaction from cyber-optimists. In _Republic.com 2.0_ Sunstein answers the critics and expands his argument to take account of new developments, including the blogosphere, and fresh evidence about how people are using the Internet. He demonstrates that the real question is how to avoid "information cocoons" and to ensure that the unrestricted choices made possible by technology do not undermine democracy. Sunstein also proposes new remedies and reforms--focusing far less on what government should do, and much more on what consumers and producers should do --to help democracy avoid the perils, and realize the promise, of the Internet.

The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America

Susan Faludi — 2008-05-22T16:17:06-00:00

(02 October 2007)

**From the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author of _Backlash_—an unflinching dissection of the mind of America after 9/11** In this most original examination of America’s post-9/11 culture, Susan Faludi shines a light on the country’s psychological response to the attacks on that terrible day. Turning her acute observational powers on the media, popular culture, and political life, Faludi unearths a barely acknowledged but bedrock societal drama shot through with baffling contradictions. Why, she asks, did our culture respond to an assault against American global dominance with a frenzied summons to restore “traditional” manhood, marriage, and maternity? Why did we react as if the hijackers had targeted not a commercial and military edifice but the family home and nursery? Why did an attack fueled by hatred of Western emancipation lead us to a regressive fixation on Doris Day womanhood and John Wayne masculinity, with trembling “security moms,” swaggering presidential gunslingers, and the “rescue” of a female soldier cast as a “helpless little girl”? The answer, Faludi finds, lies in a historical anomaly unique to the American experience: the nation that in recent memory has been least vulnerable to domestic attack was forged in traumatizing assaults by nonwhite “barbarians” on town and village. That humiliation lies concealed under a myth of cowboy bluster and feminine frailty, which is reanimated whenever threat and shame looms. Brilliant and important, _The Terror Dream_ shows what 9/11 revealed about us—and offers the opportunity to look at ourselves anew.

The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things

Barry Glassner — 2008-05-22T16:12:55-00:00

(15 March 2000)

Americans are afraid of many things that shouldn't frighten them, writes Barry Glassner in this book devoted to exploding conventional wisdom. Thanks to opportunistic politicians, single-minded advocacy groups, and unscrupulous TV "newsmagazines," people must unlearn their many misperceptions about the world around them. The youth homicide rate, for instance, has dropped by as much as 30 percent in recent years, says Glassner--and up to three times as many people are struck dead by lightening than die by violence in schools. "False and overdrawn fears only cause hardship," he writes. In fact, one study shows that daughters of women with breast cancer are actually _less_ likely to conduct self-examinations--probably because the campaign to increase awareness of the ailment also inadvertently heightens fears. Although some sections are stronger than others, _The Culture of Fear_'s examination of many nonproblems--such as "road rage," "Internet addiction," and airline safety--is very good. Glassner also has a sharp eye for what causes unnecessary goose bumps: "The use of poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, the christening of isolated incidents as trends, depictions of entire categories of people as innately dangerous," and unknown scholars who masquerade as "experts." Although Glassner rejects the notion that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he certainly shows we have much less to fear than we think. And isn't that sort of scary? _--John J. Miller_

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Mohsin Hamid — 2007-11-24T17:44:57-00:00

(14 April 2008)

Mohsin Hamid's first novel, Moth Smoke, dealt with the confluence of personal and political themes, and his second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, revisits that territory in the person of Changez, a young Pakistani. Told in a single monologue, the narrative never flags. Changez is by turns naive, sinister, unctuous, mildly threatening, overbearing, insulting, angry, resentful, and sad. He tells his story to a nameless, mysterious American who sits across from him at a Lahore cafe. Educated at Princeton, employed by a first-rate valuation firm, Changez was living the American dream, earning more money than he thought possible, caught up in the New York social scene and in love with a beautiful, wealthy, damaged girl. The romance is negligible; Erica is emotionally unavailable, endlessly grieving the death of her lifelong friend and boyfriend, Chris. Changez is in Manila on 9/11 and sees the towers come down on TV. He tells the American, "...I smiled. Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased... I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees..." When he returns to New York, there is a palpable change in attitudes toward him, starting right at immigration. His name and his face render him suspect. Ongoing trouble between Pakistan and India urge Changez to return home for a visit, despite his parents' advice to stay where he is. While there, he realizes that he has changed in a way that shames him. "I was struck at first by how shabby our house appeared... I was saddened to find it in such a state... This was where I came from... and it smacked of lowliness." He exorcises that feeling and once again appreciates his home for its "unmistakable personality and idiosyncratic charm." While at home, he lets his beard grow. Advised to shave it, even by his mother, he refuses. It will be his line in the sand, his statement about who he is. His company sends him to Chile for another business valuation; his mind filled with the troubles in Pakistan and the U.S. involvement with India that keeps the pressure on. His work and the money he earns have been overtaken by resentment of the United States and all it stands for. Hamid's prose is filled with insight, subtly delivered: "I felt my age: an almost childlike twenty-two, rather than that permanent middle-age that attaches itself to the man who lives alone and supports himself by wearing a suit in a city not of his birth." In telling of the janissaries, Christian boys captured by Ottomans and trained to be soldiers in the Muslim Army, his Chilean host tells him: "The janissaries were always taken in childhood. It would have been far more difficult to devote themselves to their adopted empire, you see, if they had memories they could not forget." Changez cannot forget, and Hamid makes the reader understand that--and all that follows. --Valerie Ryan <HR class=bucketDivider noShade SIZE=1> A Conversation with Mohsin Hamid <A><IMG hspace=4 src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/authors/Hamid_Moshin_200._V12312312_.jpg" align=left vspace=4 border=0>Set in modern-day Pakistan, Mohsin Hamid's debut novel, Moth Smoke, went on to win awards and was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His bold new novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is a daring, fast-paced monologue of a young Pakistani man telling his life story to a mysterious American stranger. It's a controversial look at the dark side of the American Dream, exploring the aftermath of 9/11, international unease, and the dangerous pull of nostalgia. Amazon.com senior editor Brad Thomas Parsons shared an e-mail exchange with Mohsin Hamid to talk about his powerful new book Read the Amazon.com Interview with Mohsin Hamid <HR class=bucketDivider noShade SIZE=1> <div>A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter . . . Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love. </div>

Terror and Consent : The Wars for the Twenty-First Century

Philip Bobbitt — 2008-04-21T05:29:14-00:00

(01 April 2008)

An urgent reconceptualization of the Wars on Terror from the author of The Shield of Achilles (“magisterial”— The New York Times, “a classic for future generations”—The New York Review of Books). In this book Philip Bobbitt brings together historical, legal, and strategic analyses to understand the idea of a “war on terror.” Does it make sense? What are its historical antecedents? How would such a war be “won”? What are the appropriate doctrines of constitutional and international law for democracies in such a struggle? He provocatively declares that the United States is the chief cause of global networked terrorism because of overwhelming American strategic dominance. This is not a matter for blame, he insists, but grounds for reflection on basic issues. We have defined the problem of winning the fight against terror in a way that makes the situation virtually impossible to resolve. We need to change our ideas about terrorism, war, and even victory itself. Bobbitt argues that the United States has ignored the role of law in devising its strategy, with fateful consequences, and has failed to reform law in light of the changed strategic context. Along the way he introduces new ideas and concepts—Parmenides’ Fallacy, the Connectivity Paradox, the market state, and the function of terror as a by-product of globalization—to help us prepare for what may be a decades-long conflict of which the battle against al Qaeda is only the first instance. At stake is whether we can maintain states of consent in the twenty-first century or whether the dominant constitutional order will be that of states of terror. Challenging, provocative, and insightful, Terror and Consent addresses the deepest themes of governance, liberty, and violence. It will change the way we think about confronting terror—and it will change the way we evaluate public policies in that struggle.

Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World

RD Sagarin — 2008-04-18T20:00:33-00:00

(01 February 2008)

Arms races among invertebrates, intelligence gathering by the immune system and alarm calls by marmots are but a few of nature's security strategies that have been tested and modified over billions of years. This provocative book applies lessons from nature to our own toughest security problems--from global terrorism to the rise of infectious disease to natural disasters. Written by a truly multidisciplinary group including paleobiologists, anthropologists, psychologists, ecologists, and national security experts, it considers how models and ideas from evolutionary biology can improve national security strategies ranging from risk assessment, security analysis, and public policy to long-term strategic goals.

The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country

Howard Fineman — 2008-04-16T15:13:45-00:00

(22 April 2008)

Howard Fineman is one of our best-known and most trusted political journalists. Mixing vivid scenes and figures from the campaign trail with forays into four hundred years of American history, Fineman shows that every debate, from our nation’s founding to the present day, is rooted in one of thirteen arguments that–thankfully–defy resolution. It is the very process of never-ending argument, Fineman explains, that defines us, inspires us, and keeps us free. At a time when most public disagreement seems shrill and meaningless, Fineman makes a cogent case for nurturing the real American dialogue. Shouting is not arguing, Fineman notes, but often hot-button topics, media “cross-fires,” and blogs reflect the deepest currents in American life. In an enlightening book that cuts through the din and makes sense of the headlines, Fineman captures the essential issues that have always compelled healthy and heated debate–and must continue to do so in order for us to prosper in the twenty-first century. The Thirteen American Arguments run the gamut, from issues of individual identity to our country’s role in the world, including: • Who is a Person? The Declaration of Independence says “everyone,” but it took a Civil War and the Civil Rights and other movements to make that a reality. Presently, what about human embryos and “unlawful enemy combatants?” • Who is an American? Only a nation of immigrants could argue so much about who should become one. There is currently added urgency when terrorists are at large in the world and twelve million “undocumented” aliens are in the country. • The Role of Faith. No country is more legally secular yet more avowedly prayerful. From Thomas Jefferson to Terri Schiavo, we can never quite decide where God fits in government. • Presidential Power. In a democracy, leadership is all the more difficult — and, paradoxically, all the more essential. From George Washington to George W. Bush, we have always asked: How much power should a president have? • America in the World. Uniquely, we perpetually ask ourselves whether we have a moral obligation to change the world — or, alternatively, whether we must try to change it to survive in it. Whether it’s the environment, international trade, interpreting law, Congress vs. the president, or reformers vs. elites, these are the issues that galvanized the Founding Fathers and should still inspire our leaders, thinkers, and citizens. If we cease to argue about these things, we cease to be. “Argument is strength, not weakness,” says Fineman. “As long as we argue, there is hope, and as long as there is hope, we will argue.” Praise for The Thirteen American Arguments “A spectacular feat, a profound book about America that moves with ease from history to recent events. A talented storyteller, Howard Fineman provides a human face to each of the core political arguments that have alternately separated, strengthened, and sustained us from our founding to the present day.” –Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals “With a marvelous command of the past and a keen grasp of the present, Howard Fineman expertly details one of the great truths about our country: that we are a nation built on arguments, and our capacity to summon what Lincoln called ‘the better angels of our nature’ lies in undertaking those debates with civility and mutual respect. Few people understand politics as well as Fineman does, and this work is an indispensable guide not only to the battles of the moment, but to the wars that will go on long after this news cycle is long forgotten.” –Jon Meacham, author of Franklin and Winston “In an impressively thought-provoking original approach, Fineman revisits the great defining arguments that will deepen your understanding of America.” –Newt Gingrich, author of Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works “Howard Fineman proves that few things are as compelling as a well-argued debate. This book offers a thought-provoking way to look at America, its history, and our evolving public discourse.” –Arianna Huffington, author of Right Is Wrong “A perfect antidote to the old horse-race political journalism–a timely (and timeless) reminder of what’s really at stake in the race for the presidency.” –Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court “Howard Fineman guides the reader through the controversies that have haunted this nation since its inception. In the process he creates a fresh context for making sense of the 2008 campaign. Both scholars and students of politics can learn much from this book.” –Kathleen Hall Jamieson, co-author of unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation “A stimulating book that should be read by anyone who cares about the idea and arguments that made this country great, and which are critical to our future direction.” –David Boies, author of Courting Justice "America is “The Arguing Country, born in, and born to, debate,” claims veteran journalist Fineman in this brisk look at 13 debates that have driven (and riven) the nation from its inception, and continue to do so today. Arising from fundamental questions like “Who is a person?” or “What can we know and say?” or “What does it mean to pursue a more perfect union?” these 13 debates are perennial, undergirding each of the nation’s political controversies, and they are constitutive, defining nothing less than America’s national identity. If American political discourse frequently runs hot, it is because Americans are as passionate about these fundamental questions as they are different in their answers. Knowing that Fineman is an occasional guest on MSNBC’s Hardball, it is perhaps tempting to read this book as a particularly eloquent and historically informed apologia for the fiery point-counterpoint duels often seen on cable news channels. Yet Fineman openly acknowledges that the media sometimes hinders open debate, and it would be more accurate to describe Fineman’s work as itself an argument, urging perspective and optimism amid today’s overheated debates."–Booklist

Managing without Leadership : Towards a Theory of Organizational Functioning

Gabriele Lakomski — 2006-05-10T09:17:04-00:00

(12 January 2005)

A critical examination of leadership theories past and present, Managing without Leadership argues that leadership as traditionally understood does not explain organizational functioning. Bounded by empiricist assumptions and methodology, and including a narrow theory of mind as symbol processor, leadership theories are unable to support their claims about leaders and their actions. Drawing on coherentist epistemology, connectionism, and the theory of self-organizing dynamic systems, a naturalistic account of organizational functioning and organization design is explored that includes leaders as non-privileged agents in the cognitive fabric of organizational life.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Clay Shirky — 2008-02-25T02:31:48-00:00

(28 February 2008)

A revelatory examination of how the wildfirelike spread of new forms of social interaction enabled by technology is changing the way humans form groups and exist within them, with profound long-term economic and social effects-for good and for ill A handful of kite hobbyists scattered around the world find each other online and collaborate on the most radical improvement in kite design in decades. A midwestern professor of Middle Eastern history starts a blog after 9/11 that becomes essential reading for journalists covering the Iraq war. Activists use the Internet and e-mail to bring offensive comments made by Trent Lott and Don Imus to a wide public and hound them from their positions. A few people find that a world-class online encyclopedia created entirely by volunteers and open for editing by anyone, a wiki, is not an impractical idea. Jihadi groups trade inspiration and instruction and showcase terrorist atrocities to the world, entirely online. A wide group of unrelated people swarms to a Web site about the theft of a cell phone and ultimately goads the New York City police to take action, leading to the culprit's arrest. With accelerating velocity, our age's new technologies of social networking are evolving, and evolving us, into new groups doing new things in new ways, and old and new groups alike doing the old things better and more easily. You don't have to have a MySpace page to know that the times they are a changin'. Hierarchical structures that exist to manage the work of groups are seeing their raisons d'tre swiftly eroded by the rising technological tide. Business models are being destroyed, transformed, born at dizzying speeds, and the larger social impact is profound. One of the culture's wisest observers of the transformational power of the new forms of tech-enabled social interaction is Clay Shirky, and Here Comes Everybody is his marvelous reckoning with the ramifications of all this on what we do and who we are. Like Lawrence Lessig on the effect of new technology on regimes of cultural creation, Shirky's assessment of the impact of new technology on the nature and use of groups is marvelously broad minded, lucid, and penetrating; it integrates the views of a number of other thinkers across a broad range of disciplines with his own pioneering work to provide a holistic framework for understanding the opportunities and the threats to the existing order that these new, spontaneous networks of social interaction represent. Wikinomics, yes, but also wikigovernment, wikiculture, wikievery imaginable interest group, including the far from savory. A revolution in social organization has commenced, and Clay Shirky is its brilliant chronicler.

The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google

Nicholas Carr — 2007-12-10T16:28:31-00:00

(07 January 2008)

An eye-opening look at the new computer revolution and the coming transformation of our economy, society, and culture. A hundred years ago, companies stopped producing their own power with steam engines and generators and plugged into the newly built electric grid. The cheap power pumped out by electric utilities not only changed how businesses operated but also brought the modern world into existence. Today a similar revolution is under way. Companies are dismantling their private computer systems and tapping into rich services delivered over the Internet. This time it's computing that's turning into a utility. The shift is already remaking the computer industry, bringing new competitors like Google to the fore and threatening traditional stalwarts like Microsoft and Dell. But the effects will reach much further. Cheap computing will ultimately change society as profoundly as cheap electricity did. In this lucid and compelling book, Nicholas Carr weaves together history, economics, and technology to explain why computing is changing—and what it means for all of us.

System Failure - 2nd edition

Jake Chapman — 2008-04-04T19:09:54-00:00

The scale and complexity of public services makes them impossible to understand and manage using the centralising tools of 'rational' policy-making. For real improvements in delivery, governments must instead embrace systems thinking. The current model of public policy making is no longer right for a government that has set itself the challenge of delivery. Improvements are driven by central policy initiatives which assume a direct relationship between action and outcome – but this is a false assumption. Public services are complex adaptive systems which are subject to the law of unintended consequences, so intervention can make problems worse. That is why the carrot-and-stick approach to reform which links increased funding to tougher performance targets will not succeed in the long run. Renowned systems thinker Jake Chapman describes how the government's energetic attempts to force change from the centre are becoming counter-productive. The alternative is government based on continuous learning. This is increasingly important as the impact of communication technology and other accelerating social trends offers a moving target for public service reformers. Systems thinking offers a better model for change in complex organisations such as the health service or the railway network. Case studies provided by the NHS Confederation show the unintended and often bizarre consequences of introducing new policies without considering their impact on the whole system. Since the original publication of System Failure in 2001, many of its core ideas have been taken on by government. In this second edition, Chapman reflects on the experience of putting systems thinking into practice in public services, and explains why the changes he suggests are more difficult – and more urgent – than expected. Systems thinking at work When System Failure was published in 2002 struck a chord with a lot of people and it became a best selling pamphlet. It was reprinted in 2003 and then a second edition produced in 2004. Whilst its critique of much of government thinking was broadly accepted the pamphlet was criticised for not providing people with enough information to make the necessary changes. Jake Chapman responded by writing a short course for the Open University based on System Failure. The course, “Making Policies Work: systems thinking in government and management” is aimed at civil servants and public sector managers and provides them with the basic skills to use systems ideas in their everyday work. The course, first available in May 2005, is presented in May and October each year. The course is ten weeks long, is web-based and uses System Failure as the set book. More information about the course Making Policies Work: systems thinking in government and management. System Failure has also found its way into a post-graduate management programme at Hull University and is also included in a course at the Graduate School of Business at University of Cape Town.

Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities

Adam Kahane — 2008-04-04T18:07:03-00:00

(01 August 2007)

Adam Kahane spent years working in the world's hotspots, and came away with a new understanding of how to resolve conflict in a way that seems reasonable - and doable - to all parties. The result is Solving Tough Problems. Written in a relaxed, persuasive style, this is not a "how-to" book with glib answers, but rather, a very personal story of the author's progress from a young "expert" convinced of the need to provide cold, "correct" answers to an effective facilitator of positive change - by learning how to create environments that enable new ideas and creative solutions to emerge. The book explores the connection between individual learning and institutional change, and how leaders can move beyond politeness and formal statements, beyond routine debate and defensiveness, toward deeper and more productive dialogue. Both tough and inspiring, the book explores models, technologies, and examples that foster and facilitate "dialogues of the heart."

A New World Order

Anne-Marie Slaughter — 2006-06-21T13:45:40-00:00

(18 July 2005)

Global governance is here--but not where most people think. This book presents the far-reaching argument that not only should we have a new world order but that we already do. Anne-Marie Slaughter asks us to completely rethink how we view the political world. It's not a collection of nation states that communicate through presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and the United Nations. Nor is it a clique of NGOs. It is governance through a complex global web of "government networks."Slaughter provides the most compelling and authoritative description to date of a world in which government officials--police investigators, financial regulators, even judges and legislators--exchange information and coordinate activity across national borders to tackle crime, terrorism, and the routine daily grind of international interactions. National and international judges and regulators can also work closely together to enforce international agreements more effectively than ever before. These networks, which can range from a group of constitutional judges exchanging opinions across borders to more established organizations such as the G8 or the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, make things happen--and they frequently make good things happen. But they are underappreciated and, worse, underused to address the challenges facing the world today.The modern political world, then, consists of states whose component parts are fast becoming as important as their central leadership. Slaughter not only describes these networks but also sets forth a blueprint for how they can better the world. Despite questions of democratic accountability, this new world order is not one in which some "world government" enforces global dictates. The governments we already have at home are our best hope for tackling the problems we face abroad, in a networked world order.

Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

John Robb — 2008-03-27T18:38:04-00:00

(25 April 2008)

"Fast becoming a classic in the shadowy world of trigger pullers and three-letter agencies. Brave New War. . . is simply the single best available source on how to avoid losing this global struggle." —Thomas P. M. Barnett, Esquire "For my money, John Robb, a former Air Force officer and tech guru, is the futurists' futurist. Robb is convinced that technology will empower the little guy. The difference is that Robb thinks the little guy is just as likely to wear a mask and carry a Kalashnikov as he is to make home-brewed beer." —Slate In this groundbreaking book, controversial terrorism expert John Robb explains how the same technology that enabled globalization allows small, ad hoc bands of insurgents and criminals to wage a chaotic global war against larger adversaries. With chilling, real-world examples, he shows how terrorists can carry out inexpensive actions—like sabotaging an oil pipeline or knocking out a power grid—that disrupt vital systems and generate a huge return. Robb details how combating the shutdown of the world's oil, high-tech, and financial markets could cost us the thing we've come to value the most—global economic and cultural integration—and explains what we must do now to safeguard against this new method of global guerrilla warfare.

Curveball: Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War

Bob Drogin — 2008-03-25T18:33:36-00:00

(16 October 2007)

Curveball answers the crucial question of the Iraq war: How and why was America’s intelligence so catastrophically wrong? In this dramatic and explosive book, award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogin delivers a narrative that takes us to Europe, the Middle East, and deep inside the CIA to find the truth–the truth about the lies and self-deception that led us into a military and political nightmare. In 1999, a mysterious Iraqi applies for political asylum in Munich. The young chemical engineer offers compelling testimony of Saddam Hussein’s secret program to build weapons of mass destruction. He claims that the dictator has constructed germ factories on trucks, creating a deadly hell on wheels. His grateful German hosts pass his account to their CIA counterparts but deny the Americans access to their superstar informant. The Americans nevertheless give the defector his unforgettable code name: Curveball. The case lies dormant until after 9/11, when the Bush administration turns its attention to Iraq. Determined to invade, Bush’s people seize on Curveball’s story about mobile germ labs–even though it has begun to unravel. Ignoring a flood of warnings about the informant’s credibility, the CIA allows President Bush to cite Curveball’s unconfirmed claims in a State of the Union speech. Finally, Secretary of State Colin Powell highlights the Iraqi’s “eyewitness” account during his historic address to the U.N. Security Council. Yet the entire case is based on a fraud. America’s vast intelligence apparatus conjured up demons that did not exist. And the proof was clear before the war. Most of the events and conversations presented here have not been reported before. The portrayals–from an obdurate president to a bamboozled secretary of state to a bungling CIA director to case handlers conned by their snitch–are vivid and exciting. Curveball reads like an investigative spy thriller. Fast-paced and engrossing, it is an inside story of intrigue and incompetence at the highest levels of government. At a time when Americans demand answers, this authoritative book provides them with clarity and conviction. Just when you thought the WMD debacle couldn’t get worse, here comes veteran Los Angeles Times national-security correspondent Drogin’s look at just who got the stories going in the first place…Simultaneously sobering and infuriating–essential reading for those who follow the headlines. --Kirkus Reviews In this engrossing account, Los Angeles Times correspondent Drogin paints an intimate and revealing portrait of the workings and dysfunctions of the intelligence community. --Publishers Weekly Enter Bob Drogin's new book… an insightful and compelling account of one crucial component of the war's origins… Had Drogin merely pieced together Curveball's story, it alone would have made for a thrilling book. But he provides something more: a frightening glimpse at how easily we could make the same mistakes again…The real value of Drogin's book is its meticulous demonstration that bureaucratic imperative often leads to self-delusion. --Washington Monthly Drogin delivers a startling account of this fateful intelligence snafu. --Booklist But, again, the intelligence community was disappointing the Bush administration… Los Angeles Times correspondent Bob Drogin lays out the whole sorry tale in his forthcoming book, "Curveball: Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War." --Newsweek By the time you finish this book you will be shaking your head with wonder, or perhaps you will be shaking with anger, about the misadventures that preceded the misadventures in Iraq. This book is so powerful, it almost refutes its subtitle: The man called Curveball did not cause a war; he became a pretext -- one among many. -- George F. Will There used to be an old rule that *real* journalists lived by: 'All governments are run by liars, and nothing they say should be believed.' We've come a long way from those days, to a media that has been cowed into submission and accepting the 'official story.' Thank God for Bob Drogin and his refusal to believe. It's journalists like him and books like CURVEBALL that give many of us a sliver of hope that we can turn things around. --Michael Moore, Director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," and "Sicko" Curveball is the factual equivalent of Catch 22. It is impossible to read this book and then look at our world leaders without thinking, "F*ck. Oh f*ck. Oh my God, oh f*ck." --Mark Thomas, comedian and political activist …the biggest fiasco in the history of secret intelligence over 500 years. --Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day Of The Jackal, The Odessa File and The Afghan Bob Drogin struck journalistic gold in this story of a conman who told his intelligence handlers exactly what they wanted to hear. If this twisted tale could be read simply as a thrilling farce it would be pure delight -- but much more importantly, it is a history of our time. --Philip Gourevitch Bob Drogin is a brilliant reporter. In Curveball, he has produced a riveting and important investigation, full of startling and carefully documented detail, laying bare the anatomy of an intelligence failure and its contribution to a catastrophic war. --Steve Coll, author of GHOST WARS: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 Bob Drogin accomplishes what only the best reporters can; he forces you to wonder how he could possibly know that! If you want to know how the CIA could have possibly been so wrong about Iraq, here is a big part of the answer. --Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down A crucial study in the political manipulation of intelligence, understanding how Curveball got us into Iraq will arm us for the next round of lies coming out of Washington. --Robert Baer, author of See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism Here we go again: the self-deception, the corruption of intelligence, and the abuse of authority, amid a full cast of the usual suspects in the White House and the Pentagon. It's a crucially important story, and it comes wonderfully alive in Curveball. It would be almost fun to read if the message wasn't so important–and so devastating to the integrity of the American processes. --Seymour M. Hersh, author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib Curveball is a true story, marvelously reported, about a descent into the netherworld of deceit and duplicity, where the lies of a single man in an interrogation cell in Germany grew like a malign spore in the dark. When it emerged, on the lips of the President and the Secretary of State, it infected the course of world events. --Jonathan Harr, author of A Civil Action and The Lost Painting.

Doing Case Study Research: A Practical Guide for Beginning Researchers

Dawson Hancock — 2008-02-24T06:46:39-00:00

(11 August 2006)

This practical handbook guides beginning researchers through the stages of planning and implementing case studies. Starting with how to establish a rationale for conducting a systematic case study and identify literature that informs the research effort, this indispensable resource shows students how to determine an appropriate research design and conduct informative interviews, observations, and document analyses. It also describes methods for deriving meaning from data and communicating the results. Finally, the authors delineate the ways to verify the results attained. Students and advisors can use these easy-to-follow steps to shape a thesis, dissertation, or independent project from conceptualization to completion. Book Features: * A step-by-step approach that speaks directly to the novice investigator. * Many concrete examples to illustrate key concepts. * Questions, illustrations, and activities to reinforce what has been learned.

Case Study Research : Design and Methods (Applied Social Research Methods)

Robert Yin — 2006-04-24T21:38:17-00:00

(24 December 2002)

This new edition of the best-selling Case Study Research has been carefully revised, updated, and expanded while retaining virtually all of the features and coverage of the second edition. Robert Yin's comprehensive presentation covers all aspects of the case study method--from problem definition, design, and data collection, to data analysis and composition and reporting. Yin also traces the uses and importance of case studies to a wide range of disciplines, from sociology, psychology and history to management, planning, social work, and education. New to the 3rd Edition: <UL> <LI>Additional examples of case study research </LI> <LI>Discussions of developments in related methods, including randomized field trials and computer-assisted coding techniques </LI> <LI>Added coverage of the strengths of multiple-case studies, case study screening, and the case study as a part of larger multi-method studies </LI> <LI>Five major analytic techniques, including the use of logic models to guide analysis</LI></UL> This edition also includes references to examples of actual case studies in the companion volume Applications of Case Study Research, 2nd Edition (Sage, 2003).

The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (Indexed Hardcover, Authorized Edition)

National — 2008-03-16T22:05:07-00:00

(31 August 2004)

The result of months of intensive investigations and inquiries by a specially appointed bipartisan panel, The 9/11 Commission Report is one of the most important historical documents of the modern era. And while that fact alone makes it worth owning, it is also a chilling and valuable piece of nonfiction: a comprehensive and alarming look at one of the biggest intelligence failures in history and the events that led up to it. The commission traces the roots of al-Qaeda's strategies along with the emergence of the 19 hijackers and how they entered the United States and boarded airplanes. It details the missed opportunities of law enforcement officials to avert disaster. Using transcripts of cockpit voice recordings, the report describes events on board the planes along with the chaotic reaction on the ground from nearly every level of government. Going forward, the commission calls for a comprehensive overhaul of what it sees as a deeply flawed and disjointed intelligence-gathering operation. The creation of a post for a single National Security Director is recommended, along with the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center. The report finds fault with the approaches of both the Clinton and Bush administrations but, because they were a bipartisan panel and the problems described are so systemic and far-reaching, they stop short of assigning blame to any particular person or group. Credit must be given to how readable the report is. At more than 500 pages, the writing is clear and forceful and the information is made more accessible since it is fre from election politics and rancor. While the commission notes that future attacks are probably inevitable, a coordinated preventive effort along with a clear plan to respond with efficiency can offer Americans some hope in a post-9/11 world. --John Moe The authorized hardcover, indexed edition of the national bestseller. Nearly three thousand people died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In Lower Manhattan, on a field in Pennsylvania, and along the banks of the Potomoc, the United States suffered the single largest loss of life from an enemy attack on its soil. In November 2002 the United States Congress and President George W. Bush established by law the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission. This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, identify lessons learned, and provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism. This hardcover volume is the authorized edition of the Commission's final report, and includes a full index. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

Protecting the Homeland: European Approaches to Societal Security-Implications for the United States

2008-03-16T21:58:14-00:00

(01 January 2006)

Developing common or complementary approaches to what Europeans call societal security and what Americans call homeland security is a major priority for the transatlantic community in 21st century. Threats such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflict, state failure, and organized crime require a committed transatlantic partnership in order to be successful. Five European country case studies are offered here, along with implications for the United States. This book is the result of a collaborative effort between the Center for Transatlantic Relations and Johns Hopkins University SAIS in Washington, D.C., the Swiss Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich; and Crismart at the Swedish National Defence College. Contributors include Axel Hagelstam (National Emergency Supply Agency, Finland), Stein Hendriksen (Norwegian Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning), Jan-Philipp Kessler (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Jan Metzger (Zurich State Department of Economy), Thomas Pankratz (Austrian Ministry of Defense), and Anu Sallinen (Finnish Defense Staff).

Protecting the Homeland 2006/2007

Michael O'Hanlon — 2008-03-16T21:57:38-00:00

(01 April 2006)

Homeland security is among the most important, complex, and politically charged issues facing the United States today. Building on the insightful analysis of Protecting the American Homeland (Brookings, 2002 and 2003), this important new book examines the current homeland security concerns and the adequacy--or inadequacy--of policies designed to address them. Protecting the Homeland 2006/2007 reviews the current state of homeland security, assesses Americas remaining vulnerabilities, and suggests new policies to improve security in the United States. It presents specific recommendations for reforming intelligence; fostering international cooperation; increasing infrastructure and border protection; developing technology; and formulating countermeasures against specific types of aggression. Written with a sense of urgency, the book warns that while Americans can feel somewhat safer today than they did in 2001, much more needs to be done in improving the nations defenses against terrorism.

The Forgotten Homeland: A Century Foundation Task Force Report

Richard Clarke — 2008-03-16T21:55:59-00:00

(01 July 2006)

Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America, Revised Edition

Michael Scheuer — 2008-03-16T21:50:56-00:00

(30 November 2007)

This seminal work on modern terrorism assesses the changes and continuities in Osama bin Ladens thinking since 2002. In order to win the war against terrorism, argues Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIAs bin Laden Unit, we must first stop dismissing militant Muslims as extremists or religious fanatics. Formulating a successful military strategy requires that we see the enemy as they perceive themselveshighly trained and motivated soldiers who believe their cause is righteous. Scheuer shows that the war has accelerated the transformation of bin Laden and al Qaeda from man and organization to, respectively, a symbol of leadership and heroism and a worldwide movement.

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror

Michael Scheuer — 2008-03-16T21:50:00-00:00

(30 November 2007)

The war on terror has created near unanimity on many points, at least within the American press and political leadership. One essential point of agreement: al Qaeda specifically and radical Islamism in general are stirred by a hatred of modernity. Or as President George W. Bush has articulated repeatedly, they hate freedom. Nonsense, responds the nameless author of this work and 2003's Through Our Enemies' Eyes (the senior U.S. intelligence official's identity became an open secret by publication date). Indeed, he grimly and methodically discards common wisdom throughout this scathing and compelling take on counterterrorism. Imperial Hubris is not a book that will cheer Americans, regardless of their perspectives on the post-9/11 environment. We are, the author notes, losing the war on terror. Hawks will squirm as the author heaps contempt on U.S. missions in Afghanistan (too little, too late) and Iraq ("a sham causing more instability than it prevents"), but opponents of Bush administration policies may blanch at Anonymous' suggestion that what's needed is for the West to "proceed with relentless, brutal, and, yes, blood-soaked offensive military actions until we have annihilated the Islamists who threaten us." Quoting the at-all-cost likes of William Tecumseh Sherman and Curtis Lemay on one hand and contending that unrelenting military measures be accompanied by concessions to the ideology of the militants on the other are unlikely to curry widespread support from either side of the divide. And how will readers conditioned to references to Osama bin Laden as a deranged gangster or simple-minded fanatic with deep pockets digest the respect accorded "the most popular anti-American leader in the world today"? Imperial Hubris clearly wasn't written to win friends, though the author believes it's essential that his words influence people at the top. Whether it will is debatable, but that this blunt, forceful, urgently argued polemic recharges the discussion is a foregone conclusion. --Steven Stolder When Imperial Hubris first came out in 2004, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat was to believeat the urging of U.S. leadersthat Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. The now-classic showed that a growing segment of the Islamic world strenuously disapproves of specific U.S. policies and their attendant military, political, and economic implications and demonstrated that they will go to any length, not to destroy our secular, democratic way of life, but to deter what they view as specific attacks on their lands, their communities, and their religion. Imperial Hubris remains a must read for an in-depth look at Al Qaeda and the War on Terror.

The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack

Ronald Kessler — 2008-03-16T21:42:45-00:00

(13 November 2007)

“You make a mistake, there are dead people.” —FBI Special Agent Art Cummings, head of international counterterrorism operations Drawing on unprecedented access to FBI and CIA counterterrorism operatives, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler presents the chilling story of terrorists’ relentless efforts to mount another devastating attack on the United States and of the heroic efforts being made to stop those plots. Kessler takes you inside the war rooms of this battle—from the newly created National Counterterrorism Center to FBI headquarters, from the CIA to the National Security Agency, from the Pentagon to the Oval Ofﬁce—to explain why we have gone so long since 9/11 without a successful attack and to reveal the many close calls we never hear about. The race to stop the terrorists, Kessler shows, is more desperate than ever. Based on exclusive interviews with FBI Director Robert Mueller, CIA Director Michael Hayden, White House Counterterrorism Chief Fran Townsend, and dozens of key intelligence operatives at all levels, The Terrorist Watch: • tells the previously unreported story of how the United States helped thwart the 2006 London terrorist plot, broke up terrorist cells in Canada, and prevented numerous other attacks • reveals how the CIA and FBI have rolled up more than 5,000 terrorists worldwide since 9/11 • provides a stunning insider’s account from the FBI agent who spent eight months debriefing Saddam Hussein after his capture • pinpoints press leaks that have resulted in CIA agents’ deaths, caused foreign countries to stop cooperating on key investigations, and even tipped off Osama bin Laden to U.S. surveillance • destroys numerous media myths, such as the canard that the FBI and CIA still don’t cooperate on investigations • discloses the truth about the number of U.S. mosques where imans preach jihad • shows how the intelligence community has radically changed its mission—and how the media have misled the public about those changes Never before has a journalist gained such access to the FBI, the CIA, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the other agencies that are doing the unheralded work of ﬁnding and capturing terrorists. Ronald Kessler’s you-are-there narrative tells the real story of the war on terror and will transform the way you view the greatest problem of our age.

The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation

Philip Shenon — 2008-03-16T21:35:54-00:00

(31 January 2008)

In a work of history that will make headlines, New York Times reporter Philip Shenon investigates the investigation of 9/11 and tells the inside story of most important federal commission since the the Warren Commission. Shenon uncovers startling new information about the inner workings of the 9/11 commission and its relationship with the Bush White House. The Commission will change our understanding of the 9/11 investigation -- and of the attacks themselves.

Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them

John Mueller — 2006-11-25T19:14:03-00:00

(14 November 2006)

Why have there been no terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11? It is ridiculously easy for a single person with a bomb-filled backpack, or a single explosives-laden automobile, to launch an attack. So why hasn't it happened? The answer is surely not the Department of Homeland Security, which cannot stop terrorists from entering the country, legally or otherwise. It is surely not the Iraq war, which has stoked the hatred of Muslim extremists around the world and wasted many thousands of lives. Terrorist attacks have been regular events for many years -- usually killing handfuls of people, occasionally more than that. Is it possible that there is a simple explanation for the peaceful American homefront? Is it possible that there are no al-Qaeda terrorists here? Is it possible that the war on terror has been a radical overreaction to a rare event? Consider: 80,000 Arab and Muslim immigrants have been subjected to fingerprinting and registration, and more than 5,000 foreign nationals have been imprisoned -- yet there has not been a single conviction for a terrorist crime in America. A handful of plots -- some deadly, some intercepted -- have plagued Europe and elsewhere, and even so, the death toll has been modest. We have gone to war in two countries and killed tens of thousands of people. We have launched a massive domestic wiretapping program and created vast databases of information once considered private. Politicians and pundits have berated us about national security and patriotic duty, while encroaching our freedoms and sending thousands of young men off to die. It is time to consider the hypothesis that dare not speak its name: we have wildly overreacted. Terrorism has been used by murderous groups for many decades, yet even including 9/11, the odds of an American being killed by international terrorism are microscopic. In general, international terrorism doesn't do much damage when considered in almost any reasonable context. The capacity of al-Qaeda or of any similar group to do damage in the United States pales in comparison to the capacity other dedicated enemies, particularly international Communism, have possessed in the past. Lashing out at the terrorist threat is frequently an exercise in self-flagellation because it is usually more expensive than the terrorist attack itself and because it gives the terrorists exactly what they are looking for. Much, probably most, of the money and effort expended on counterterrorism since 2001 (and before, for that matter) has been wasted. The terrorism industry and its allies in the White House and Congress have preyed on our fears and caused enormous damage. It is time to rethink the entire enterprise and spend much smaller amounts on only those things that do matter: intelligence, law enforcement, and disruption of radical groups overseas. Above all, it is time to stop playing into the terrorists' hands, by fear-mongering and helping spread terror itself.

The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation

Stephen Flynn — 2008-03-16T21:32:11-00:00

(20 February 2007)

Why do we remain unprepared for the next terrorist attack or natural disaster? Where are we most vulnerable? How have we allowed our government to be so negligent? Who will keep you and your family safe? Is America living on borrowed time? How can we become a more resilient nation? Americans are in denial when it comes to facing up to how vulnerable our nation is to disaster, be it terrorist attack or act of God. We have learned little from the cataclysms of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina. When it comes to catastrophe, America is living on borrowed time–and squandering it. In this new book, leading security expert Stephen Flynn issues a call to action, demanding that we wake up and prepare immediately for a safer future. The truth is acts of terror cannot always be prevented, and nature continues to show its fury in frighteningly unpredictable ways. Resiliency, argues Flynn, must now become our national motto. With chilling frankness and clarity, Flynn paints an all too real scenario of the threats we face within our own borders. A terrorist attack on a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas into Boston Harbor could kill thousands and leave millions more of New Englanders without power or heat. The destruction of a ship with a cargo of oil in Long Beach, California, could bring the West Coast economy to its knees and endanger the surrounding population. But even these all-too-plausible terrorist scenarios pale in comparison to the potential destruction wrought by a major earthquake or hurricane. Our growing exposure to man-made and natural perils is largely rooted in our own negligence, as we take for granted the infrastructure handed down to us by earlier generations. Once the envy of the world, this infrastructure is now crumbling. After decades of neglect, our public health system leaves us at the mercy of microbes that could kill millions in the next flu pandemic. Flash flooding could wipe out a fifty-year-old dam north of Phoenix, placing thousands of homes and lives at risk. The next San Francisco earthquake could destroy century-old levees, contaminating the freshwater supply that most of California relies on for survival. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Edge of Disaster tells us what we can do about it, as individuals and as a society. We can–and, Flynn argues, we must–construct a more resilient nation. With the wounds of recent national tragedies still unhealed, the time to act is now. Flynn argues that by tackling head-on, eyes open the perils that lie before us, we can remain true to our most important and endearing national trait: our sense of optimism about the future and our conviction that we can change it for the better for ourselves–and our children. “Steve Flynn offers the answer not only to protecting America from terrorist attacks and natural disaster but also to revitalizing our democracy. This book is a must-read for all members of Congress, 2008 presidential candidates, and ordinary citizens who want to build a better and safer future.” –Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University Advance praise for The Edge of Disaster “Steve Flynn has done it again. Like America the Vulnerable before it, The Edge of Disaster is the must-read book for every American, elected official, and presidential candidate who is committed to ensuring that our nation continue to thrive in perilous times.” –Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia “Since 9/11, protecting our nation against a terrorist attack has consumed policy makers in Washington. What Stephen Flynn points out in The Edge of Disaster is that much of this effort has been directed overseas, often at the expense of our homeland and its much more likely areas of vulnerability. Laying out a series of potential disasters both manmade and natural, Flynn calls for a greater emphasis on preparedness and the ability of communities and the nation to recover. Painting an often frustrating and infuriating picture of missed opportunities, The Edge of Disaster is a call to action. The time to act is now. We can only hope that policy makers are listening.” –Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and former administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (2001-03) “Steve Flynn’s book makes the very persuasive argument that national security preparedness is linked to natural disaster preparedness. By investing significantly in our critical infrastructure, in citizen preparedness, and most importantly in leadership, we can be better prepared for all hazards. A great book that I highly recommend.” –James Lee Witt, former director, Federal Emergency Management Agency “Steve Flynn has become a relentless contributor to the dialogue on prioritizing the work of the post-9/11 security environment. The Edge of Disaster calls into question the neglect of domestic preparedness in favor of the Department of Defense-driven offensive in the global war on terrorism. The book offers provocative challenges to both our elected and our private-sector leaders, and both should read it thoroughly.” –Admiral James M. Loy, former commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, and former deputy secretary of homeland security

Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America

Anonymous — 2008-03-16T21:30:59-00:00

(01 May 2003)

<blockquote> The remarkable memoir of an Iraqi woman who escaped from captivity in Baghdad and became America's leading undercover counter-terrorist expert. </blockquote> Here is the story of an anonymous counter-terrorism expert, a young woman, who, in disguise, has penetrated front groups of anti-American terrorist organizations operating in this country. In this edge-of-the-seat memoir, she chronicles her escape from Iraq via Iran to Israel, following a great tragedy that befell her family at the hands of Saddam Hussein. She also details how she became involved in intelligence gathering for the United States, her adoptive country, while working for an antiterrorism group. With her unique insights into how terrorist groups veil their true operations by various means, she was able to infiltrate and identify dangerous terrorist organizations and entities working undetected in the United States. Terrorist Hunter provides fascinating and shocking information on how federal agencies, chiefly the FBI and the State Depart-ment, repeatedly ignored or mishandled important information she provided. She reveals her role in exposing terrorist supporters who the White House considered to be friends, in preventing the government from funding terrorist activities, and in the deportation of terrorists and their supporters. She also reveals how she discovered a billion-dollar scheme that rich Saudi Arabians set up to filter money to terrorist groups, through charities and businesses in the United States -- information that the FBI sat on for years, until after 9-11.

Strangers to Ourselves : Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious

Timothy Wilson — 2006-01-17T00:44:52-00:00

(15 May 2004)

"Know thyself," a precept as old as Socrates, is still good advice. But is introspection the best path to self-knowledge? Wilson makes the case for better ways of discovering our unconscious selves. If you want to know who you are or what you feel or what you're like, Wilson advises, pay attention to what you actually do and what other people think about you. Showing us an unconscious more powerful than Freud's, and even more pervasive in our daily life, Strangers to Ourselves marks a revolution in how we know ourselves.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell — 2006-10-06T02:14:28-00:00

(04 December 2006)

Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff In his #1 bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. In BLINK, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. How do we make decisions--good and bad--and why are some people so much better at it than others? That's the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in BLINK. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, examining case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the New Coke, Gladwell shows how the difference between good decision making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but rather with the few particular details on which we focus. BLINK displays all of the brilliance that has made Malcolm Gladwell's journalism so popular and his books such perennial bestsellers as it reveals how all of us can become better decision makers--in our homes, our offices, and in everyday life.

Citeulike: A Researcher's Social Bookmarking Service

Kevin Emamy — 2007-05-14T01:13:37-00:00

Ariadne, No. 51. (30 April 2007)

This article describes Citeulike, a fusion of Web-based social bookmarking services and traditional bibliographic management tools. It discusses how Citeulike turns the linear 'gather, collect, share' process inherent in academic research into a circular 'gather, collect, share and network' process, enabling the sharing and discovery of academic literature and research papers.