Readers’ Responses to Our Question (88)

For those who have not read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, they should read it at the same time they should read The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins.
This way, causes and effects relating to Globalization and Free Trade can be compared and judged. There is no need for conspiracy theories as the facts jump out at you.
It becomes apparent that Globalization and Free Trade did not evolve in any natural economic way but was driven by powerful forces inside governments and big business. It certainly demonstrates and attack on real Free Enterprise.

Who said we had to compete like this in a global economic arena? John Perkins makes Thomas Friedman look like he's telling fables. He ends up being just a good teller of stories made for consumption for those who want to keep making money using the impoverished workers of the world as commodities.

For more - Explore the lost worlds in the Globalist Flat World at http://tapsearch.com/flatworld/ and http://www.bizarrepolitics.com/

I would recommend "Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy" by Barrington Moore, Jr. With all the chaos in the world today, with super powers trying to impose their will on others, forcing democracy down people's throats, some countries touting their nuclear weapons, while others' ambition to acquire the same are being forestalled, it is time leaders realize, from history, that both dictatorship and democracy are internal movements which will happen when the conditions are fertile.

"Old Tim's Estate" by T.R. St.George. It is the first of 9 books
"The Eddie Devlin Compendium".(www.Xlibris.com). I find it difficult
to describe the pleasure I felt reading these books.
The author T.R. St.George really knows how to write. Try and see!

the world he is about to create for himself? The work of fiction called

"Market Forces," by Richard K. Morgan....is set in the future about 40 years. It's topic is about how corporations have replaced the government as controlling agencies. What they invest in is controlling the markets though insurrection, and conflict. They back the Lebanese or the Israeli according to how they want to play the market. They have corporations that are called Conflict Investment firms.

The world is divided up into peasants and corporate tech vit's. 5% of the world enjoy a good life, the rest are kept subservient to their dream.

People have pretty much become pawns of the corporate world and their choices limited by their loss of government and a voice.

com plicit congress and corrupt executive branch, looking ahead a few years.

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I would recommend Bruce Feiler's, "Where God Was Born. A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion," which provides spiritual and political insights into the current conflict in the Middle East.

I have played a sound track from Pink Floyd's The Wall, over and over:

We don't need no education,....
We don't need no self-control....

And I have been wondering whether the lyrics have in fact taken effect ever since being published in late 1970s. The teenagers of those days are now very much in the business of making policy and world affairs analysis! Chances are that they have taken the lyrics to heart!

I watched a documentary video last night that was certainly not enjoyable summer viewing, but seems somehow powerful and relevant. It is an old 1976 film called ÔøΩGeneral Idi Amin DadaÔøΩ. Director Barbet Schroeder trailed Uganda's vicious dictator for a month, collecting astonishing footage of the large man in green fatigues coaxing crocodiles, plotting an attack on the Golan Heights, and lecturing doctors on the practice of medicine. The film provides a glimpse into a disturbed mind, and speaks to the human consequences of the exercise of unbridled power both within Uganda and beyond.

Since no one in this blog is admitting to bubblegum summer reading, I'll go ahead and throw in "The Case For Goliath: How America Acts As The World's Government in the Twenty-first Century" by Michael Mandelbaum.

From the Washington Post's review: "But the core of Mandelbaum's case — that U.S. power is so important to the world that the international order would badly fray without it — is provocative and valuable, given how pervasive the notion has become at home and abroad that the United States is the world's parasite, or predator, or both. Strained analogies aside, Mandelbaum's analysis is generally sure-footed and often original... The Case for Goliath is an important and wise book. It is a reminder of how much depends on the American role in the world and how important is the (sometimes tenuous-seeming) bipartisan consensus in favor of it. I wish that this book would become a bestseller in France, Germany and other sullen U.S. allies. Those audiences in particular could stand to hear Mandelbaum's spot-on conclusion about other countries' posture toward U.S. "world government": "They will not pay for it; they will continue to criticize it; and they will miss it when it is gone.""

Oh, and a book that I've loved is "Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives" by Ted Gup. It's the stories behind the "nameless stars..." An interesting and enjotable read!

Hell Healing and Resistance: Veteran's Speak - a book that is fascinating, yet very sad. Weaves stories from veterans of many different wars and countries, you could change the names and the essence is still the same - war is horror. Raises many questions, when will we ever learn?

For a good introduction to one of the many reasons that countries around the globe have to hate us, try "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins and for a sometimes humorous and always disturbing summary of what is wrong with this country and where we have and continue to go wrong, try "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Plalast.

Studies recommence in a few days, and I'm still far from finished reading through a substantial amount of literature filling up my small flat. You've got daily newspapers and various magazines to check, and then suddenly new major events pop up out there in reality, so times tends to fly. The best book, nevertheless, that I've read this summer is "The Cold War" by John Lewis Gaddis, which hit the bookstores last year. Another great book, which I embarrasingly haven't read in full yet is Niall Ferguson's "Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire". Both books are strongly recommended. They're both very readable and arguably add useful insight to current international affairs. But every day I'm also looking with great appetite at book that someone gave me about the old Roman empire by an infamous Danish author, and I'm in the middle of Bernard Lewis' "What went wrong" as well as "After the Washington Consensus: Restarting Growth and Reform in Latin America" by Pedro-Pablo Kyczynski & John Williamson, which was published back in 2003. Looking at the Latin American newsstream, however, many people will possibly agree that it remains quality book.

How about I came, I saw, I rode my bike by George W. Bush or A bird in the hand is better than a friend in the bush by Dick Cheney? Or Hillary Hambone Clinton's biography I want it all—correctly of course? Or Gina Beaverforce Davis's book I too can be president? Or the protocals of the learned elders of Iran by Mahmoud Ajaminajahadajihadi? Or cave bats by Osama Bin Laden? Or...There are lots of books to recommend. Thanks everyone for recommending some decent books. I made a list and will certainly get around to some of them.

If you want to understand today's messy world, I'd suggest:

THE BIBLE. Although everyone talks about it all the time, very few people have actually read it. Among other things, it contains answers for many important questions. It explains why Israel claims to be "God's chosen people" and why Palestine is regarded as "the promised land". It also explains in great detail why some people see some merit in killing and dying in the name of God, from Abraham through David all the way down to Jesus.

THE KORAN. Mandatory reading for anyone who sincerely attempts to understand Islam, the religion with the largest following in today's world. Reading it may also help us understand why Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali, why Lou Alcindor became Kareem Abdul Yabbar, and why Cat Stevents turned into Yusuf Islam. And also why Osama bin Laden is still out there.

My only advise: read these monumental works with the clean, inquisitive mind of a fourth-grade kid. Ask yourself lots of whys and why nots. You'll see it's very interesting and revealing.

The Culture of Critique by Kevin MacDonald after Sept 11th I decided to find out What the hell happened to my country, the path has led me to this book and there's still a long journey ahead.

Political Order in Changing Societies (The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series) (Paperback)
by Samuel P. Huntington

Written more than 30 years ago, but relevant as ever. Paperback edition with a new forward. If you are looking to mIake some sense of the political disorder that is evident in many parts of the world today, Huntington's masterpiece is your guide. He describes how states are formed, how instability arises, and provides the clearest roadmap I have ever come across for developing countries to find stablility and responsive government. Nearly every page in this book is directly relevant to the developments in today's world, from Iraq to Africa, and even to US domestic politics.

In all the Iraq analysis I've read and heard I have never seen this book mentioned, and yet it may be the most important analysis for understanding the "political science" behind our predicament there, and our future wars in the post-cold war period of disorder.

Can anyone suggest a book with warning signs of mental breakdown, or
incapacation. Specifically of leaders. Specifically of presidents.
Anyone who saw the news conference at Camp David today needs such.
Time to get serious.

In these times where terror-strickeness is like taking an aphrodiasc before making love.In these times where you need to bomb children to prove to the world that you are a democratic country.I think we must get back to school to learn democracy from square-one. I'd rather suggest to carry an article by Nobel laureate Amrtya Sen, Democracy as a Universal Value.
(Available: http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/jod/10.3sen.html)

For light-hearted, fast-paced summer fun reading: The Pirate's Daughter, by Robert Girardi. A contemporary page-turning adventure novels with pirates, history, love, historical, geo-political, and societal twists, and just a lot of fun (with just enough truth lodged in there so you don't feel you wasted your time).

For more serious fare: The Quiet American by Graham Greene. Spookily relevant in parallel ways to today; beautifully written; love and war and international politics. I wanted to flag every other page for quotes. Not difficult to read on the beach either!

Summer is a good time for reflection (as well as escape). I am reading a variety of books on Venice and I believe Garry Wills' Venice: Lion city offers an insightful and intelligent portrait. The subtitle - The Religion of Empire - resonates (in my mind at least) with the US democratization mythology and its self-proclaimed political uniqueness. Venice, however, relied upon intelligent diplomacy in addition to military prowess to sustain a republican system for over 1000 years. We have a long way to go.

I agree with Yousuf Hashmi about reading one holy book, and would suggest the Bible. It has had a greater life-changing impact on me than any other book I've ever read. I would specifically recommend Matthew, John, Acts, Romans, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Job, Genesis, and Exodus as individual books of the Bible to make sure and read.

Two additional books I would suggest are "Socrates Meets Jesus" by Peter Kreeft (for fiction), and "A Conflict of Visions" by Thomas Sowell—which has been recommended by someone else already.

The Day The World Came To Town — 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this to everyone. It was written by Jim Defede and was published by Harper Collins Publishers Inc. in 2002. It will make you feel terrific about the human race.

I just started "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers. It's on The Modern Library list of 100 best novels, the Time Magazine list of 100 best novels, and a past Oprah Book Club selection.

I just finished the very moving play "Long Day's Journey Into Night" by Eugene O'Neil. The play won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and O'Neil won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Do I have to? Can't I just watch TV and get myopic slices of information and call it the truth?? They have very nice colour presentations, beautiful cosmetic surgery and make-up and 90 second blurbs! Aside from all of that, you can't take books on airplanes (at least to and from London) as, God forbid, you might learn something! Better to spend your time buying duty free items on board like a bottle of booze, because they don't allow you to bring along water with the sandwich that you packed!

David Ignatius has already picked out what I was going to do, so I'll just have to start writing my owm manuscript about how we got to the point were the media is now an inseparable and confirmer of government that is conveying the views of the government, instead of its doubter, investigator and challenger? I have also been searching Amazon.com for a print of Saddam's personal diary from 1980's. The chapter about shaking hands with Donald Rumsfeld should be fascinating as well as details about commissions exchanged for a pipeline deal pushed by Rummy.

Don Quixote. Written masterfully in the early 1600s, hilarious and insightful with our own reality-bending knight-errant in the White House. Sancho Panza as the Democratic party, talk amongst yourselves.

Don Quixote. Written masterfully in the early 1600s, hilarious and insightful with our own reality-bending knight-errant in the White House. Sancho Panza as the Democratic party, talk amongst yourselves.

Irrespective you are a believer or non believer I recommend you that at least you must read one holy book of any religion in your own langauge.

In this materalistic world where truth become a precious commodity you may encounter the basic fundamental and universal truths and the wisdom taught thousands of years before.

these books will not convert you or change your beliefs neither will have any magical effect but will give you more wisdom and power of truth in your day to day life

I have spent the past month of this summer re-reading War and Peace because I wanted to savor the romance I remember from my first reading many years ago. Instead, I was surprised to be captivated by Tolstoy's depiction of war and his theories regarding it. I couldn't help but see certain parallels between Napoleon's invasion of Russian (as described in the novel) and Bush's invasion of Iraq, among other things. Tolstoy has Napoleon thinking as he prepares to enter Moscow, "I will give them just laws, teach them the meaning of true civilization, and make generations of boyars remember their conqueror with love." At another point, one of Tolstoy's characters/historical personages (Count Rostopchin) says, "One need only posit some threat to the public tranquility and any action can be justified." As I near the end of the book, though, I am happy to report the pages are still saturated with more than enough romance for a delightful summer read and enough polemic to satisfy political junkies.

Anyone would would like to know how not to run an organization/operation is well advised to read, "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq" by Thomas Ricks. In fact, I would hope that both the Center for Army Lessons Learned and Harvard Business School develop case studies of this fiasco. Harvard might dedicate the study to its impeachable alumnus and call it Bush's Analysis when Requiring Force (BARF).

Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick, relates what really happened between the English settlers and the Native Americans, both good and bad. It has more than a few lessons for us in the present when dealing with cultures we are not familiar with.

Also, The Rise of American Democracy from Jefferson to Lincoln. This will help everyone understand that politics didn't start in 1992 or 1994, and, as hard as it may be to believe, politics in America was much more heated and polarized in the late 1850's than it is today.

For the serious types, Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Really gets into the minds of religious zealots of all stripes. For the true Summer readers...very light...The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. What fun! and a great quick read.

Clemente. It's the summer and I refuse to be bogged down in politics, war, speculation on the end of mankind. Save that crap for the school year. Clemente is so vivid.

"The Princess Bride," by William Goldman the book is amazing, humour, joy and inventiveness....and some deep insights about pain. The movie is about 1/15 as good as the book. Diana Gabaldon pens some interesting romantic history that is sex y as well. "SnowCrash" by Neal Stephenson, anything he writes is strong and lucid.

1.At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien. It's stranger than The Third Policeman.
2.Frog by Stephen Dixon. Just so you can have a Dixon under your belt.
3.Appointment in Samarra & BUtterfield 8. It's Prohibition America and everyone knows where to get a drink.
4.Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme. Because your idea of the short story should be put on its head.
5.The Dead Father by Donald Barthelme. Because your idea of the novel should be put on its head.

"Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya", by Caroline Elkins.
It is rather disturbing to see how the British colonial authorities in Kenya, when faced with the Mau Mau uprising during the twilight years of their empire, resorted to many of the same brutal interrogation techniques the US is now using on our prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo. Perhaps it is inevitable that a superpower will ultimately be faced with a foe that resorts to irregular warfare. And just as inevitably, said superpower will resort to morally repugnant tactics in an ultimately failed effort to control a world that really was always beyond its control, while its leaders insist upon "staying the course" for fear of appearing weak. A good book. A sad lesson - and one that has gone unlearned for too long.

Gosh - Almost everyone is so serious. To me, "summer reading" implies a book that engages the mind without any connections to WORK. The first book that popped into my head was The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann. No connection to today's wars - - - until you get to the closing pages, and then an underlying meaning of the book hits you like an epiphany. Of course, you can't go wrong with Marquez or Trollope. For the latter, I recommend The Small House at Allington —- almost nothing happens for hundreds of pages. Like The Magic Mountain, it takes its time to tell the reader a story; a leisurely trip downriver, watching life on the riverbanks from your cozy raft.

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

It's haunting.

By accident, I picked up a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez entitled "The General in His Labyrinthe" which turned out to be a most fascinating read about the last days of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of present day Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. The book has elegant prose and imagery; but, most captivating is the telling of how Bolivar, after successfully fighting against colonial Spain, decided to "give up" the power to rule over the "liberated" lands. A must reading for Bush & his cabal.

We know we don't HAVE to read something about Iraq to learn about the human condition, Dave from Washington, DC. We choose to. I read fiction too. It just so happens that the last novel I read, "The Great Fire" by Shirley Hazzard, didn't leave me panting for more. So I didn't suggest it to others. But now I'm suggesting it to you, because it's not about Iraq or cognitive psychology.

"When Affirmative Action Was White" by Ira Katznelson

I would suggest Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card because it is a good reminder that no matter how different we are, all beings want the same things. It is also full of interesting moral dilemas like when is genecide justified - if ever. Aside from that it is a brillian Sci-fi adventure with lots of unexpected twists by a writer with an obvious curiousity about human nature and the ramifications of such. A cool story and a good food for thought as well.

I have just started reading "Authentically Black" by John McWhorter. John McWhorter is an associate professor of linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. The book is not your typical blacks are victims rehortic and why everyone should read it. I find it quite apropos in light of race bater Cynthia McKinney's primary loss in Georgia's 4th district.

I would suggest anything by Karen Armstrong, particularly "The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism". It traces religious fundamentalism in the three major religions from 1492 until present day, and provides a great base to understanding the Israel-Palestine conflict, Islamic radicalism, and the fundamental beliefs of the Christian Right in this country.

For a non-Iraq summer read, consider Ivan Doig's This House of Sky, an autobiography that follows Doig from his motherless childhood, herding sheep in Montana, to his faculty position at the University of Washington. A beautifully written, sensitive book. You'll like it.

Personally, I'd go with the Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. It's intended for older children, but he beautifully retells Milton's Paradise Lost while keeping you interested with plot plot plot, which is what I like for a relaxing summer read.

Otherwise, Caramelo by Sandra Cicernos is one book I couldn't put down even a little bit.

If you want something bite-sized, try Quick Fiction (www.QuickFiction.org) — a journal of flash fiction (work less than 500 words). A little flash, a little nap, a little swim. A heavenly combination.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I recommend The Persian Puzzle, which I've been reading in bits over the past couple of weeks. I think very few academics can write such a dense, comprehensive analysis as this with such a graceful, light prose that it never drags at all. We all can think of plenty of political writers who manage to dull the most fascinating historical events - Ken Pollack can truly make the claim of being as much a writer as a political expert.

If it's fiction you prefer for a bit of escapism, you can't go wrong with The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, or anything by Isabel Allende.

Fareed Zakaria's "The Future of Freedom" would be on my short list for a single book. So would Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat". I've just started "Fiasco" and I'm initially impressed.

For those interested in longer books, Robert Caro's books on Johnson are amazing. Caro is flat out the best biographer alive. I've read all guys out there, McCullough and the rest, and no one is close. As for current day relavance, understand Johnson then you understand DeLay. Learn about the beginnings of Brown & Root, and you get a clear picture of Haliburton and their KBR subsidiary today.

Suskind's "One Percent Doctrine" is the best book I've read explaining the logic behind White House actions.

As for fiction, "Cold Skin" by Albert Sanchez Pinol is an interesting book. Remember the book on WWI Kennedy read which gave him insight on what not to do during the Cuban Missle Crisis? This is reinactment of that idea in an entirely fictional setting. Very interesting.

I've read about a book a week for years, and these were the political ones I'd probably select from.

including the "Reality Dysfunction." or David Bohm's book "Wholeness and the Implicate Order," or for a lark John Gardners book "Grendel, the Beowulf legend from the Monsters Point of View," "Conecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court," by Mark Twain, "SlaughterHouse Five," by Kurt Vonnegut or "The Illuminated Rumi" by Coleman Barks and Michael Green.......I saw Coleman Barks reading his translations of Rumi, at the National Cathedral in Washington DC, accompanied by musicians...magical

America's "War on Terrorism" by Michel Chossudovsky

Any book by David Halberstam is always a delightful and informative read. Especially "The Fifties", which, while very American, is one of the few books that I keep returning to again and again. Keeping in tune with the decade, Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is riveting in a different vein and also a perfect summer read.

I tossed aside all the serious, analytical and doomsday books and picked up Anthony Trollope's Palliser series. These novels are wonderful stories and a reminder that human nature does not change. The characters send hand-written letters and notes instead of emails to each other but the communications are as well understood today as in the mid-19th Century. The novels' characters are memorable - Lady Eustace, for one. The diamonds were her own, weren't they? She is a character many authors since have wished they imagined. And for those who need a political fix even in August, Lady Glencora runs a political salon the envy of London. So to the summer reader, I encourage you to jump into the world of Anthony Trollope. It's as fine a resort as one can imagine.

I will recommend a book written by Ex-President of USA Mr. Jimmy Carter ëOur Endangered Valuesí. He enlightened the current situation of the World and American policy to solve these issues very beautifully. You will find the actual problems/challenges of the World and recommendations to tackle these issues logically.

This book will remind Americans their real goals and their forgotten Values.

my god. you dont have to read something about iraq, 15th century warlords, or cognitive psychlology to learn something about the human condition. After you've read the fA section, listened to NPR, typed up your blog, passed around political emails, downloaded some punditry to your ipod, read thw Economist, and watched CNN, why not read a story, something that makes you think about things outside the realm of the newsworthy?

Try Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.

You can buy both of the following books at Amazon.com for the indicated prices.

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present
by Andrew Gordon
format: Paperback
ISBN: 0195110617
price: $34.95

The Czech Republic (Nations in Transition)
by Steven Otfinoski
format: Hardcover
ISBN: 081605083X
price: $40.00

The book about Japan is intended for adults.

The book about the Czech Republic is intended for children in middle school or high school.

My gosh! Given that we are about to be saturated in politics and more and more ME unpleasantries - before then - I wish to avoid any "deep" book as much as possible and hope I have better things to do than read! But...if weather goes bad, if others are laid up ill or from an injury associated with summer fun, sun, or overly vigorous sex...my recommendation is escapist. Wait 'till later to mire yourself in political analysis, the latest global warming prophecies...read something you can enjoy that takes you away to a happy place!

3 ideas.

1. Grogan "Marley & Me: Life With the World's Worst Dog". (A dog owner or wanna have a dog again wannabe owner must!)
2. Ian M. Banks "The Algrebraist". (Grand "hard" science fiction escape drama.)
3. John Steinbeck "Log From The Sea of Cortez". (Steinbeck's largely unknown and truly great marine biology research, ecological travel adventure. A journey from of he and a few friends from California all about the Sea of Cortez in 1939. The critters and people interacted with. In a lost era, where some things are all too familiar to us today, others lost in that particular time.)

For children in middle school or high school, I strongly recommend the following book. It is written specifically for that age group, but you can enjoy reading the book with your children.

The Czech Republic (Nations in Transition) (Hardcover)
by Steven Otfinoski
ISBN: 081605083X

Like Japan, the Czech Republic is a good standard to which you can compare other nations like Iran and other Middle Eastern nations.

By reading this book, your kids will learn how successful nations develop. As they grow older and become more interested in world affairs, your kids can use the Czech Republic as a gold standard against which they can benchmark failed societies like those in the Middle East.

Unlike the world of the 1970s, the world of the future needs citizens who are equipped with the knowledge to understand the different cultures of the world. The citizens of the West (which includes Japan and, in the future, Thailand) need this knowledge to vote for the right government policies dealing with pressing international issues (like Islamic terrorism).

To give your kids this vital knowledge of the world, we should first teach our kids examples of successful societies and cultures. Teach them what works before we show them what does not work. Teach them respect for the achievements of successful societies.

The Soviet government ended its oppression of the Czechs in 1989, which is 10 years before the American-backed dictator of Iran was discarded. Even though the Czechs had a 10-year head start (over the Iranians) in determining their destiny, the Czechs have a created a far more prosperous society than the Iranians. The average Czech is about 2.5x wealthier than the average Iranian.

The Czechs created a liberal democracy with a free market. The Iranians created a brutal theocracy that exports terrorism. Note that the Czech Republic endured 45 years of Soviet oppression. Why did the Czechs succeed yet the Iranians fail? (Why did the Japanese succeed yet the Iranians fail?)

Buy the book. Teach your kids.

I may be a bit off the mark with my recommendation, but here goes. I love sports, and enjoy reading about such. Try the Sports Illustrated book "1954 - 2004: Fifty Years of Sports Illustrated Writing." It includes articles written by some of the magazine's most august contributors, such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Frank DeFord, L. Jon Wertham, etc. Topics run the gamut from boxing to football, sport fishing to dog shows, to everything in between.

is a Kurdish man from Iraq, chauvinist or traditional if he treats the wife "as if" she is less important than he is in public...

how about a punjabi man?

cognition is a process that requires that we be able to see our cultural perception, I would ask that you check out some books on "Cognitive Psychology," and "Cognitive Philosophy" or how our world view is attached to our interpretive and perceptive processes.

w/o knowing that having a rule_based or belief_based system is manipulatible... good guys obey the rules, bad guys use them, your executive branch and complicit congress "use" you and the rules to their benefit

Pantajali should be read in conjunction with a good text on Raja Yoga, as well as with "Light of the Mahamudra," by Tsele Natsok Randrol

and to understand the art of discussion, "The Book of Five Rings," by miyamoto musashi as translated by Cleary

Right now I am reading Lippman's "public opinion"—a decent book on how easily propaganda takes root, etc.—and the Yoga sutras of Patanjali. Both are interesting. I just finished reading one of the Flashman books—Flash for freedom—which gave me some insight into the slave trade although I am not sure how accurate the Flash books are. No real reason why I happen to be reading these books at the moment and no real reason to recommend them other than it helps to read every now and then. If you expect a single book to shed light on our world problems today I suspect you will be disappointed (from what I understand from my wide reading over the years). You need to read and experience a lot and then just maybe you can sense the direction of things and how to turn them on a positive course (if things are going badly). Kind of like knowing many songs and then when those first couple notes are heard...you know which way things are going. I can tell you a real crappy book I read recently: Howard Gardners book on education—something "discipline" or other. It was that bad (not worth remembering). Rubbish as the Brits say. Maybe he has something with his theory of multiple intelligences but his book on education betrayed quite a lack of intelligence. I read it in two days and it was a struggle (nothing at all to chew on). Maybe postglobal can suggest some books. Especially where we can get data to make informed decisions on current affairs (top secret data from the NSA would be nice....).

Japan was rebuilt from scratch, one of the reasons that people were buying steel from Japan instead of America during the 80's was that they had new factories.

Japan also had for a number of years a reputation for making things poorly.

They realized this and made some effort to understand the concept of quality, which they got from an American author, who was ignored in America.

There is also in Japan a degree of devotion to the corporation that is historic, that does not exist here.

They almost defeated us in the Industrialization War, but did not, and their stock market has been in shambles ever since..........

There is no comparison between anything Japanese and anything muslim...

When a intellect doesn't know what it is looking at then any conclusion that it draws must be discarded.......

Even the simplest minds can understand this. Do not take advice from a house which has no honor.

.

leads to a deeper understanding without trying to pontificate. I particularly enjoy the Author Neal Stephenson for the layers of complexity that he is able to achieve as he masters the story line(s). He's written "Cryptomoncion," and "The Baroque Cycle," which are quite good, but one that really touches on the use of polls and propaganda to control perceptions and elections that is a good yarn is, "Interface," by Neal Stehphenson and J. Frederick George.

An interesting thing about this read is that on some level it captures the spirit of "image making," and it's ultimate failure at the hands of authenticity and clarity. Check it out, it'll make your head spin, sort of like a Jason Bourne novel, without the assassin cliches'

Books of Note: re Iraq, Depleted Forests & Global Warming.
Anthony Shadid, The Night Draws Near; George Packer, Assassins Gate.
Both insightful and carefully crafted reads relating to the saga
now being played out in Iraq. I've read at least ten on the subject
and these two are the jewels - so to speak - on a very dark subject.
John Valliant, A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed and Jonathan
Raban's Passage to Juneau. Visit the last of America's last great forests and travel the Northwest's Inside Passage in both of these
sterling texts. Charles Wohlforth, The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change and Gretel Ehrlich, The Future of Ice. Inupiaq Eskimos venture on increasingly perilous whale hunts and scientific researchers struggle withe the elements
of the frozen arctic. Climate change and global warming cause both groups to come to grips with creeping dramatic changes in glaciers, ice floes, air-water temps, tundra, fauna, flora and native lifestyles. Ehrlich's plea: "Changes surround us. To live fully in this world as it is should be our common aspiration, not to dominate and improve but to be co-residents...to live and learn to read the sacramental text of the landscape."

For those interested in what our land looked like prior to the European invasion, the book 1491 by Charles C. Mann is recommended. Disabuse yourself of the "forest primeval" myth and the myth of native Americans living in complete harmony with nature. These were people like you and I after all and willing to transform the land for their own benefit. Anthropologists and archeologists have know this for a while and now it is in a form for the rest of us.

For a long meaty Iraq read, "Cobra II". Your jaw is guaranteed to drop at some of the anecdotes. For a quick, much more personal Iraq read, "The Fall of Baghdad" by Jon Lee Anderson. To escape from Iraq, I'm reading John Lewis Gaddis's short synopsis of the Cold War, "The Cold War".

This is a great topic, I'm enjoying seeing what other PostGlobal aficionados are reading right now. (I think I may be persuaded to drop the cash now on a copy of "Fiasco" rather than waiting for it to show up in the library.) Many people are recommending both beach reading and a heavier option, so I'll do that too.

Like a lot of readers I like mystery novels for my light entertainment and I never go wrong with Barbara Hambly's excellent Benjamin January novels, set in 19th century New Orleans. I just read and particularly recommend "Sold Down the River", the fourth in the series. It is a well researched and nuanced depiction of plantation life and the Old South told from the perspective of the slaves' cabins. The images and lessons from the book will haunt me for a long time to come.

On the "heavier" side I found John Richardson's "Paradise Poisoned" an absolutely fascinating read the first time through and it continues to stimulate me every time I refer back to it. Written by an American economist over a period of 18 years, "Paradise Poisoned" is an examination of the inter-relationship of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict and its economic development. Richardson uses SL as a test case for many oft-floated hypotheses about education, employment, democracy, governance, group identity, and violence and he comes to some exciting, evidence-based conclusions that are applicable beyond the island's shores. The book is interesting both for Richardson's conculsions and for his methods, and the empirical scholarship and humble practicality he displays provide an admirable palliative to (forgive me, Messrs. Ignatius and Zakaria) the opinionated, subjective puffery we often see masquerading as conflict analysis in the popular media.

A Peace to End All Peace is a wonderful history of the break-up of the Ottoman Empire during / after World War I, which led to the artificial creation by the European powers, led by England, of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. A fascinating tale showing history being made by people who DON'T know what they are doing, whose repercussions are evident in today's conflicts.

I'm, 2/3 through Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow and it's frightening hos much of the book can be applied to the Bush administration's fumbling of the Iraq war. I'm, reading it at the same as Imperial Hubris by Anonymous which really brings the parallels to light.

A summer reading list has a school-assignment connotation to it, while the beach-reading list is more bubble-gum for the mind (all work and no play makes the brain really sluggish). 20,000 Leagues under the Sea fits both lists nicely. Just don't skip those fish descriptions; you'll need the info later.

Barbara Tuchman, that much-missed historian, wrote a book entitled "Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour". To even begin to understand the extreme hatred afoot in the Middle East, we really have to go way back and study forward.

I read her "Guns of August earlier in the year and shall follow "Bible and Sword" with the more recently published "1918: Six Months That Changed the World" by Margaret MacMillan."

Heavy summer reading is balanced by beach or balcony reading and you won't go wrong with any mystery by Robert Crais or Allan Furst.

My own summer reading is mostly junk, junk, junk—especially detective novels by Lawrence Block. With one exception: I got interested in President Bush's use of the term "Islamo-fascist," and so have been re-reading Ernst Nolte's famous "Three Faces of Fascism" to see if what Bush says makes any sense. Warning: I may inflict my conclusions on Washington Post op-ed readers.

"A Conflict of Visions" by Thomas Sowell. It does a great job of explaining why liberals and conservatives - both with sincere and laudatory goals - are diametrically opposed on so many critical issues facing the world today, due to inhertently different views of human nature and human institutions. If more people would read this book, I think that there would be less of a tendency to "demonize" the opposition, and a better basis for intelligent discussion and resolution of issues. My second choice would be "The Birth of Plenty" which does a fantasitic job of explaining how prosperity has developed - and what four basic "pillars" must be in place for a society to prosper. Its important from both an historical perspective and to understand implications for the future. Both are great books.

*ANYTHING* by Terry Pratchett, especially "Small Gods" and "Lead To Gold". After that, the Old Testiment books "Ecclesiastes" and "Zechariah". Mr. Prachett is a brilliant satirist and I cannot figure out how I missed reading his books for all of these years. The Bible, but especially these two books, are incredible.

Reading of Zechariah restated everything that is happening today. The Edomites (Arabs) have been at war with Israel for more than 3000 years with the exact same tired claims by the Arabs on Israeli land, the same hatred, the same sickening desire to harm and murder is laid out.

Ecclesiates reinforces the folly of mankind seeking security and transitory gratification. It is a lot better and a lot more inciteful than any of the garbage being passed off as profound political and social anaylsis. I think the only reason it isn't more widely read is becasue of the stigma of Fundimentalist Christianity. Get past it! It's well worth the read...again and again. Only genuine reflection and an overwhelming desire to change will break the cycle of history, but as the author of Eccesiastes says "...there is nothing new under the sun..." and it is not likely that we will break the chains of habit, even suicidal ones.

Benchmarking nations (i.e., comparing two nations) is a vital component of analyzing the progress of societies. One of the best standards of comparison is Japan.

I strongly recommend that you read a book about the history of modern Japan, focusing on the period from the Meijing Restoration until 2006. One good book is the following.

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present
by Andrew Gordon
ISBN: 0195110617

At the end of World War II, much of Japan was smouldering wreckage due to Allied bombing. Further, Japan has no natural resources.

In 1947, the Japanese established the modern government of Japan. In the ensuing 27 years, the Japanese built a prosperous democracy with a free market. In 1974, Japan was a relatively good place in which to live.

Numerous nations in the Middle East have plenty of natural resources: e.g., oil. Consider Iran. In 1979, the Iranians established the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the ensuing 27 years, the Iranians built a repressive, authoritarian theocracy that exports terrorism. Iran is a terrible place in which to live.

Comparing Iran to Japan, we know that the Iranians are totally 100% responsible for the failure of their society.

For gosh sakes! The question is about summer reading. Summer reading is lazy, happy, sun-drenched. Blood-boiling fury can wait until the fall elections. For a read summer read, I recommend Water for Elephants. A circus, a girl, a boy, an evil husband, dwarves, freaks, liberty horses and a darling elephant. I loved it.

How about a book on Sick Societies...i.e. about enjoying the war mongering Isralies mongering among themselves. Can't get along among themsleves, can't get along with anyone else in the world.Why doe America support that?

"Babylon by Bus" by Ray LeMoine and Jeff Neumann. The most unique perspective of all the Iraq books. See them tonight at Olsonn's Books in Dupont at 7.

"This delightful book is Innocents Abroad meets Fear and Loathing. The story of Jeff and Ray, two Valium-popping, hard-drinking, Red Sox-loving twenty-something do-gooders on their own buddy trip inside the mess of post-liberation Iraq is compulsively readable, hilariously irreverent, very sad, and very real all at once, and, for all the right reasons, it could well become a cult phenomenon." ? Jon Lee Anderson, author of The Fall of Baghdad

Thomas Ricks' "Fiasco." For a person with classic textbook blood pressure, 120/80, Ricks' well-researched and compellingly written nonfiction work brings my blood to a boil. There are few heroes—Petraeus, Shinseki, Garner, the common foot soldier. Ricks skewers just about evey other name that looms large in the short history of the Iraq war—Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, Franks, Sanchez, Bremer.

Last night I was reading the chapter titled "CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority): Can't Produce Anything." How tragic that while the U.S. government was setting up a Club Fed-Med in the Green Zone, Iraqis couldn't even get basic services such as garbage pickup and water delivery. This book should be on eveyone's summer reading radar screen.

This Summer, I discovered a jewel of a novel that I should like to share with those seeking a narrative that includes, the high-seas, Polynesian environs, a romp through an uncharted region reminiscent of Twains, "Huckleberry Finn," the sailor life aboard an 18th century ship, the prejudices and societal fears between the differing citizens and tribes on an island paradise, survival, but mostly a read for those longing for an escape from the worries of the day, a respite, a "rush" of adventure. If this synopsis intrigues you, at the moment, this summer, then, "Typee" by Herman Melville will surely deliver.

This Summer, I discovered a jewel of a novel that I should like to share with those seeking a narrative that includes, the high-seas, Polynesian environs, a romp through an uncharted region reminiscent of Twains, "Huckleberry Finn," the sailor life aboard an 18th century ship, the prejudices and societal fears between the differing citizens and tribes on an island paradise, survival, but mostly a read for those longing for an escape from the worries of the day, a respite, a "rush" of adventure. If this synopsis intrigues you, at the moment, this summer, then, "Typee" by Herman Melville will surely deliver.

I highly recommend "In the Shadow of the Prophet" by Milton Viorst.

It's a phenomenal read. Individual chapters are dedicated to the development of political Islam related to a historical event, in a particular country, a particular feature of Islam. The book came out in 2000, but the chapters on Egypt and the Muslims of France are just astonishingly prescient.

I can't recommend this book enough to anyone who wants to understand the modern Middle East and how it has arrived where it is today. The development of political Islam is a fascinating story, and I have not found it told better or in a more engaging way than by Viorst. The book is filled with first-hand interviews he conducted with some of the most important thinkers behind political Islam, and their perspectives are coherent and passionate, sometimes inspiring sometimes disappointing.

The best novel I have read this summer is T. C. Boyle's "Talk, Talk." He turns one of our contemporary fears about technology into an interesting muse on the nature of identity.

Thomas Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem. It may not be proper to recommend a book by a NYT writer on the Washington Post site, but the question was for a summer reading book and I can think of no other that is more relevant to this summer specifically. Though the book is from the late 1980s (mine is an updated version from the mid-90s), it paints a brilliant picture of Lebanese politics and history that should serve as the background to any more up-to-date books. In the book's first half Friedman gives an account of the murky waters that gave rise to Hezbollah. The second half is a wider lens study of the motivations and character of Israeli policy. For summer reading very currently relevant, read this book.

I'm reading (and thoroughly enjoying) "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq" by Thomas Ricks, a fascinating, in-depth analysis of the runup to the war in Iraq and the resulting crisis that we now find ourselves. I find the military perspective quite compelling for those of us who are rarely exposed to the interworkings of our government defense and state departments.

For those students (and parents) who have time for one last summer read before the semester kicks off, I recommend "The Future of Success: Working and Living in the New Economy" by Robert Reich. It's a quick read that explains what has been happening in the world with respect to technology and globalization and how that has impacted the way we live and work. Reich's advice may prove useful for those who are choosing majors or who will be starting their job search soon. I don't have researched evidence to back my assertion up, but I get the feeling that most students who aren't government/politics majors will leave college without knowing what globalization is really all about and how it's going to affect them and their careers.

Yikes. I thought The End of History one of the most fatuous things I had ever read, and rather doubt that people suspicious of Muslims today will find much reassurance in tales of Muslims who died over 600 years ago.

My own choice is one I'd hold up as a contrast to the public statements and ghostwritten memoirs of recent American Presidents and Secretaries of State: Dean Acheson's memoir Present at the Creation. It's entertaining to think about what Acheson might have said about Bush administration diplomacy, and much easier to imagine if one has read his account of foreign policy made by people who knew what they were doing.

In this world where Muslim extremism is on the front page every day, it's easy to think of Islam as a barbaric faith followed by fanatics. To correct this, I suggest that people read Maria Menocal's book *The Ornament of the World*, which deals with the cultural and literary achievements of Muslim Spain between the years 750 and 1300. The work not only displays the cultural legacy that the West owes to the Muslims, but also paints a picture of a society in which Muslims, Jews and Christians could live and work together in peace and harmony.

The End of the History, of Francis Fukuyama. The most important book on politics of the last sixteen years. Just brilliant.