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The New Social and Impact Economy: An International Perspective (Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies)
by Benjamin Gidron Anna DomaradzkaThis edited volume discusses the development of the new social and impact economy in ten countries around the globe. The new social and impact economy is an attempt to conceptualize developments after the 2008 economic crisis, which emphasized the pifalls of the Neo-Liberal economic system. In the aftermath of the crisis, new organizational entities evolved, which combined social and business objectives as part of their mission. Using data gathered by two recent international research projects—the ICSEM project and the FAB-MOVE project—the book provides an initial portrait of the forces at play in the evolution of the new social and impact economy, linking those to the past crisis as well as to Covid19 and comparing the emergence of the phenomenon in a varied group of countries. The book begins with an overview of the classical definitions of social economy and proposes a comprehensive concept of new social and impact economy, its characteristics, and sources. Ten country chapters as well as a comparative chapter on international social economy organizations follow. The volume concludes with an overall analysis of the data from the country chapters, forming a typology of social economy traditions and linking it to recent Post Capitalism trends. Creating a conceptual framework to analyze the new phenomena in social economy, this volume is ideal for academics and practitioners in the fields of social economy; social, economic and welfare policies; social and business entrepreneurship in a comparative fashion; social and technological innovation as well as CSR specialists and practitioners.
The New Socialist Handbook: Everything You Need to Know About Why It Matters Now
by Dan TuckerLearn the core principles of socialism -- one of the world's most misunderstood ideologies -- with this easy-to-follow guide for today's political conversation.From Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal, the U.S. is witnessing a leftward shift that hasn't been seen for decades. But how many Americans truly understand socialism and socialist principles? The New Socialist Handbook is a simple way to learn about this political system and bear witness to its current movement with an educated and informed mind. It discusses topics such as:Different types of socialism (democratic socialism vs. social democracy vs. eco-socialism, etc.);How socialism became a dirty word;Which countries are socialist or have socialist programs;The way socialism exists in the U.S. today (Medicare, Social Security, etc.);Socialist suggestions for today's issues (healthcare, infrastructure, economy, etc.);What can you do to bring about change? (getting involved in politics, educating yourself, demonstrating, etc.)Perfect for the engaged voter or the armchair political scientist, pundit, enthusiast, or anyone simply looking to get a better intellectual grasp on socialism, The New Socialist Handbook gives meaning and definition to the commonly misunderstood. Author Dan Tucker breaks down these topics in a clear, accessible way and without a political slant. Readers will come away with a better understanding of the history of socialism and what it means in our world today.
The New Sovereignty: Compliance with International Regulatory Agreements
by Abram Chayes Antonia Handler ChayesIn an increasingly complex and interdependent world, states resort to a bewildering array of regulatory agreements to deal with problems as disparate as climate change, nuclear proliferation, international trade, satellite communications, species destruction, and intellectual property. In such a system, there must be some means of ensuring reasonably reliable performance of treaty obligations. The standard approach to this problem, by academics and politicians alike, is a search for treaties with "teeth"--military or economic sanctions to deter and punish violation. The New Sovereignty argues that this approach is misconceived. Cases of coercive enforcement are rare, and sanctions are too costly and difficult to mobilize to be a reliable enforcement tool. As an alternative to this "enforcement" model, the authors propose a "managerial" model of treaty compliance. It relies on the elaboration and application of treaty norms in a continuing dialogue between the parties--international officials and nongovernmental organizations--that generates pressure to resolve problems of noncompliance. In the process, the norms and practices of the regime themselves evolve and develop. The authors take a broad look at treaties in many different areas: arms control, human rights, labor, the environment, monetary policy, and trade. The extraordinary wealth of examples includes the Iran airbus shootdown, Libya's suit against Great Britain and the United States in the Lockerbie case, the war in Bosnia, and Iraq after the Gulf War. The authors conclude that sovereignty--the status of a recognized actor in the international system--requires membership in good standing in the organizations and regimes through which the world manages its common affairs. This requirement turns out to be the major pressure for compliance with treaty obligations. This book will be an invaluable resource and casebook for scholars, policymakers, international public servants, lawyers, and corporate executives.
The New Spatiality of Security: Operational Uncertainty and the US Military in Iraq (Routledge Critical Security Studies)
by Caroline M. CroserThis book provides a rigorous critical analysis of how the US military operates in Iraq, exploring the spatial practices of violence. Contemporary critical analyses of the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan emphasise the hegemonic nature of the US military experience, while conventional military analyses focus on fixed categories such as ‘counter-insurgency’ or ‘network-centric warfare’. Drawing on fieldwork examining the use of a new command and control technology by 1st Cavalry Division (US Army) in 2004-2005, this book elaborates a more nuanced understanding of US military violence by exploring the changing (and sometimes incoherent) spatial practices through which violence was exercised. The author combines fieldwork with a spatial vocabulary of violence from the work of Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and methodological inspiration from the micro-observations of material semiotics in Science and Technology Studies to conclude that the US Army’s experience in Iraq has been neither as circumscribed nor as easily defined as critical theorists and conventional military analysts alike would suggest. This innovative book will be of much interest to students of critical security studies, strategic studies, military studies, social and spatial theory and IR in general. Caroline M. Croser is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, where she teaches defence studies.
The New Spirit of Capitalism
by Gregory Elliott Luc Boltanski Eve ChiapelloNew edition of this major work examining the development of neoliberalismIn this major work, sociologists Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello go to the heart of the changes in contemporary capitalism. Via an unprecedented analysis of the latest management texts that have formed the thinking of employers in their reorganization of business, the authors trace the contours of a new spirit of capitalism. They argue that from the middle of the 1970s onwards, capitalism abandoned the hierarchical Fordist work structure and developed a new network-based form of organization that was founded on employee initiative and autonomy in the workplace—a “freedom” that came at the cost of material and psychological security. The authors connect this new spirit with the children of the libertarian and romantic currents of the late 1960s (as epitomised by dressed-down, cool capitalists such as Bill Gates and “Ben and Jerry”) arguing that they practice a more successful and subtle-form of exploitation. Now a classic work charting the sociological structure of neoliberalism, Boltanski and Chiapello show how the new spirit triumphed thanks to a remarkable recuperation of the left’s critique of the alienation of everyday life that simultaneously undermined their “social critique.”In this new edition, the two author reflect on the reception of the book and the debates it has stimulated.
The New Spymasters: Inside the Modern World of Espionage
by Stephen GreyThe old world of spying-dead-letter boxes, microfilm cameras, an enemy reporting to the Moscow Center, and a hint of sexual blackmail-is history. The spymaster's technique has changed and the enemy has, too. He or she now frequently comes from a culture far removed from Western understanding and is part of a less well-organized group. The new enemy is constantly evolving and prepared to kill the innocent. In the face of this new threat, the spymasters of the world shunned human intelligence as the primary way to glean clandestine information and replaced it with an obsession that focuses on the technical methods of spying ranging from the use of high-definition satellite photography to the global interception of communications. However, this obsession with technology has failed, most spectacularly, with the devastation of the 9/11 attacks. In this searing modern history of espionage, Stephen Grey takes us from the CIA's Cold War legends, to the agents who betrayed the IRA, through to the spooks inside Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Techniques and technologies have evolved, but the old motivations for betrayal-patriotism, greed, revenge, compromise-endure. Based on years of research and interviews with hundreds of secret sources, Stephen Grey's The New Spymasters is an up-to-date exposé that shows how spycraft's human factor is once again being used to combat the world's deadliest enemies.
The New States of Abortion Politics
by Joshua WilsonThe 2014 Supreme Court ruling on McCullen v. Coakley striking down a Massachusetts law regulating anti-abortion activism marked the reengagement of the Supreme Court in abortion politics. A throwback to the days of clinic-front protests, the decision seemed a means to reinvigorate the old street politics of abortion. The Court's ruling also highlights the success of a decades' long effort by anti-abortion activists to transform the very politics of abortion. The New States of Abortion Politics, written by leading scholar Joshua C. Wilson, tells the story of this movement, from streets to legislative halls to courtrooms. With the end of clinic-front activism, lawyers and politicians took on the fight. Anti-abortion activists moved away from a doomed frontal assault on Roe v. Wade and adopted an incremental strategy--putting anti-abortion causes on the offensive in friendly state forums and placing reproductive rights advocates on the defense in the courts. The Supreme Court ruling on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016 makes the stakes for abortion politics higher than ever. This book elucidates how--and why.
The New Strategic Direction and Development of the School: Key Frameworks for School Improvement Planning (School Leadership)
by Brent Davies Linda EllisonSchools will not be able to continue to improve unless they move away from an over-concentration on the short-term and focus on the strategic nature of planning and development. The more targets, the less the effects - what we need is strategy and sustainability. This book links school improvement planning and strategic development for leadership enhancement as well as for management accountability. Short-term planning, in the form of target-setting plans aimed at improving standards, has gained increasing importance. While the book agrees that this is necessary, it puts forward the view that short-term planning is not sufficient for the longer-term development of the school. Sustainability and strategic development are of critical importance and for these the authors believe that a more holistic approach to planning is necessary. To that end, this book links short and longer-term planning in a framework, which supports the strategic development of the school. The authors are national experts in the field and in preparing this text have worked extensively with headteachers, deputy headteachers, governors and those participating in NPQH and masters programmes in educational leadership and management.
The New Structural Social Work: Ideology, Theory, Practice
by Bob MullalyThe New Structural Social Work reveals the shortcomings of conventional social work, which accepts and participates in the present social order rather than addressing the systemic social problems that exist within capitalist societies. Mullaly advocates for a progressive view of social work that is practiced within the social agency, outside of the agency, and within the personal lives of structural social workers.
The New Student Activists: The Rise of Neoactivism on College Campuses
by Jerusha O. ConnerMeet the new breed of student activists—uncompromising, focused, and connected.Activism is once again back on college campuses as students protest issues such as sexual assault, climate change, racial injustice, and student debt. It's perhaps unsurprising that the current political moment has triggered the rise of a new breed of student activist—uncompromising, focused, and connected. But many pundits have variously derided student activists as either "snowflakes," too fragile to encounter opinions that run contrary to their own, or as "social justice warriors" who aggressively fight against those who transgress the ever-changing bounds of political correctness. The New Student Activists moves beyond these simple stereotypes and convenient caricatures to examine the nuanced motives and complex experiences of real-life, present-day college student activists.Jerusha O. Conner offers insight into who these student activists are—the causes they care about, the strategies they deploy, the factors that motivate and sustain them, and the impact they have had on their campuses and beyond. Conner dubs today's student activists "neoactivists," who borrow from and build on the legacies of past generations of college student activists. Exploring when, how, and why this diverse group of students turned to activism, Conner examines the social and educational influences on their sociopolitical development. She also reveals the fraught but mutually transformative relationship between institutions of higher education and student activists in the contemporary moment. Written for anyone interested in better understanding the latest wave of student activism on campuses, The New Student Activists raises fascinating implications for developmental theory and higher education policy and practice.
The New Suburbanization: Challenge To The Central City
by Penny Peace Thomas M Stanback JrIn this book fourteen large metropolitan economies are examined to show how industrial composition and jobs have changed in central cities and suburbs since 1970. Driven by the shift in emphasis from goods toward services, both central cities and suburbs have undergone dramatic changes. The analysis shows that many large central cities have experienced wrenching transformations as a result of low growth or declines in employment and population. However, these cities have continued to be the focal point of economic activity within the metropolis, becoming more narrowly specialized in high-level services, which have yielded higher average earnings. These cities are becoming increasingly dependent on commuting suburbanites for their experienced and educated labor force. In the suburbs, the cumulative effect of continuous growth since World War II has brought a different sort of transformation. The composition of employment has broadened, with sharp increases in commuting from areas outside the suburbs. Major new centers of business, consumer, and social services have developed, giving rise to agglomeration economies and posing new challenges to the social and economic structure of the central city. The book also examines employment opportunities in central cities and in suburbs with special emphasis on jobs for blacks, women, and young workers. Analysis reveals the increasing importance of educational qualifications and the role of part-time work and focuses on the problems central city blacks face in gaining employment. The prospects for city dwellers seeking suburban jobs are often limited by housing and transportation restrictions. The book closes with a critical review of suggested policy alternatives that might increase access to employment for these workers.
The New Teacher’s Guide to OFSTED: The 2019 Education Inspection Framework (Ready to Teach)
by Jonathan Glazzard Samuel StonesWhat does the new OFSTED framework mean for new and trainee teachers? How will it change what happens in schools and classrooms? This new text guides new and trainee teachers through all they need to know about the 2019 OFSTED inspection. It supports them to understand and reflect on the context of the new framework - as professionals. It dispels many of the myths that new teachers will hear in schools and provides much needed clarity and detail. This book: · Explores the context of the publication of the new framework and what this might mean for schools and teachers · Supports teachers to understand how the framework links to what happens in classroom and to school level priorities from SLT · Includes examples of outstanding practice to learn from · Features a mythbusting section to help teachers to understand the facts about OFSTED · Supports new teachers to understand, prepare for and approach OFSTED inspections with confidence and clarity of purpose.
The New Teacher’s Guide to OFSTED: The 2019 Education Inspection Framework (Ready to Teach)
by Jonathan Glazzard Samuel StonesWhat does the new OFSTED framework mean for new and trainee teachers? How will it change what happens in schools and classrooms? This new text guides new and trainee teachers through all they need to know about the 2019 OFSTED inspection. It supports them to understand and reflect on the context of the new framework - as professionals. It dispels many of the myths that new teachers will hear in schools and provides much needed clarity and detail. This book: · Explores the context of the publication of the new framework and what this might mean for schools and teachers · Supports teachers to understand how the framework links to what happens in classroom and to school level priorities from SLT · Includes examples of outstanding practice to learn from · Features a mythbusting section to help teachers to understand the facts about OFSTED · Supports new teachers to understand, prepare for and approach OFSTED inspections with confidence and clarity of purpose.
The New Technocracy
by Anders EsmarkThe rise of populist parties and movements across the Western hemisphere and their contempt for ‘experts’ has shocked the establishment. This book examines how the ‘post-industrial’ technocratic regime of the 1980’s – of managerialism, depoliticisation and the politics of expertise – sowed the seeds for the backlash against the political elites that is visible today. Populism, Esmark augues, is a sign that the technocratic bluff has finally been called and that technocracy posing as democracy will only serve to exasperate existing problems. This book sets a new benchmark for studies of technocracy, showing that a solution to the challenge of populism will depend as much on a technocratic retreat as democratic innovation.
The New Terrain of International Law: Courts, Politics, Rights
by Karen J. AlterA compelling new look at the role of today's international courtsIn 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. The New Terrain of International Law charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics.The New Terrain of International Law presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, Karen Alter argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. Alter explains how this limited power--the power to speak the law--translates into political influence, and she considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.
The New Terrorism: Actors, Strategies and Tactics
by Stefan Goertz Alexander E. StreitparthIn light of asymmetrical security threats in western democracies as well as in conflict regions, this timely book examines the actors, strategies and tactics of Islamist terrorism and transnational organized crime around the globe. The authors develop an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the ideologies, forms of cooperation, and technological means used in new forms of terrorism. The book starts with an empirical analysis of the new Jihadism as a global Islamist theology and strategy. Furthermore, it investigates the interaction, cooperation and fusion of transnational organized crime and Islamist terrorism and highlights new communication technologies as vital tools for terrorism. Lastly, the book provides an analysis of asymmetrical strategies and tactics used by terrorist organisations, and of low-level terrorism. As such, it will appeal to all political scientists and criminologists studying terrorism, as well as to professionals at various national and international security services.
The New Testament in Muslim Eyes: Paul's Letter to the Galatians (Routledge Reading the Bible in Islamic Context Series)
by Shabbir AkhtarThis book explores Christian origins by examining a key New Testament epistle, Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches, seen by Christians as the charter of Christian liberty from the inherited Jewish law. The New Testament in Muslim Eyes provides a close textual commentary on perhaps the earliest declaration of Paul’s apostleship and of his undying commitment to the risen Christ. It notes the subtleties of the Greek original against the backdrop of an exciting glimpse of Quranic Arabic parallels and differences. It asks: Does Paul qualify as a prophet of Allah (God)? The thoughts of Paul are assessed by examining his claims against the background of Islam’s rival views of Abraham and his legacy. The Arabic Quran framed and inspired the life of the Arab Apostle, Muhammad, who was sent, according to Islam, to all humanity, Jewish and Gentile alike. Pauline themes are set in dialectical tension with the claims of the Quran. Akhtar compares and contrasts the two rival faiths with regard to: the resources of human nature, the salvation of the sinner, and the status of the works of the law. Both Christians and Muslims concur on the need for God’s grace, an essential condition of success in the life of faith. The core Pauline Christian doctrine of justification by faith alone is scrutinised and assessed from a variety of non-Christian, especially Islamic, stances. Providing an Islamic view of Christian origins, this book helps to build bridges between the two religions. It will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of Biblical Studies, Islamic Studies, and the Philosophy of Religion.
The New Third Rome: Readings of a Russian Nationalist Myth (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society #151)
by Jardar ØstbøDrawing on theories of political myth and concepts of nationalism, Jardar Østbø analyzes the content and ideological function of the myth of Russia as a Third Rome. Through case studies of four prominent nationalist intellectuals, Østbø shows how this messianic myth was used to reinvent Russia and its allegedly rightful place in the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Though it exists in many radically different versions, the Third Rome myth in general embodies particularism and rabid anti-Westernism. At best, it portrays Russia as an essentially isolationist country. At worst, it casts the country as superior to all other nations, divinely elected to rule the world.
The New Threat
by Jason BurkeJason Burke is one of the world's leading experts on militant Islam. He embedded with the Kurdish peshmerga (currently at war with ISIS) while still in college. He was hanging out with the Taliban in the late 1990s. He witnessed the bombing of Tora Bora in Afghanistan in 2001 firsthand.With the current emergence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, no one is as well placed as Burke-whose previous books have been chosen as books of the year by The Economist, the Daily Telegraph, and The Independent-to explain this dramatic post-Al Qaeda phase of Islamic militancy. We are now, he argues, entering a new phase of radical violence that is very different from what has gone before, one that is going to redefine the West's relationship with terrorism and the Middle East.ISIS is not "medieval," as many U.S. national security pundits claim, but, Burke explains, a group whose spectacular acts of terror are a contemporary expression of our highly digitized societies, designed to generate global publicity. In his account, radical Islamic terrorism is not an aberration or "cancer," as some politicians assert; it is an organic part of the modern world. This book will challenge the preconceptions of many American readers and will be hotly debated in national security circles.
The New Totalitarian Temptation
by Todd HuizingaWhat caused the eurozone debacle and the chaos in Greece? Why has Europe's migrant crisis spun out of control, over the heads of national governments? Why is Great Britain calling a vote on whether to leave the European Union? Why are established political parties declining across the continent while protest parties rise? All this is part of the whirlwind that EU elites are reaping from their efforts to create a unified Europe without meaningful accountability to average voters.The New Totalitarian Temptation: Global Governance and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe is a must-read if you want to understand how the European Union got to this point and what the European project fundamentally is. This is the first book to identify the essence of the EU in a utopian vision of a supranationally governed world, an aspiration to achieve universal peace through a global legal order.The ambitions of the global governancers are unlimited. They seek to transform not just the world's political order, but the social order as well-discarding basic truths about human nature and the social importance of tradition in favor of a human rights policy defined by radical autonomy and unfettered individual choice. And the global governance ideology at the heart of the EU is inherently antidemocratic. EU true believers are not swayed by the common sense of voters, nor by reality itself.Because the global governancers aim to transfer core powers of all nations to supranational organizations, the EU is on a collision course with the United States. But the utopian ideas of global governance are taking root here too, even as the European project flames into rancor and turmoil. America and Europe are still cultural cousins; we stand or fall together. The EU can yet be reformed, and a commitment to democratic sovereignty can be renewed on both sides of the Atlantic.
The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians
by Naomi Schaefer Riley<P>If you want to know why American Indians have the highest rates of poverty of any racial group, why suicide is the leading cause of death among Indian men, why native women are two and a half times more likely to be raped than the national average and why gang violence affects American Indian youth more than any other group, do not look to history. <P> There is no doubt that white settlers devastated Indian communities in the 19th, and early 20th centuries. But it is our policies today-denying Indians ownership of their land, refusing them access to the free market and failing to provide the police and legal protections due to them as American citizens-that have turned reservations into small third-world countries in the middle of the richest and freest nation on earth. <P>The tragedy of our Indian policies demands reexamination immediately-not only because they make the lives of millions of American citizens harder and more dangerous-but also because they represent a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with modern liberalism. They are the result of decades of politicians and bureaucrats showering a victimized people with money and cultural sensitivity instead of what they truly need-the education, the legal protections and the autonomy to improve their own situation. <P>If we are really ready to have a conversation about American Indians, it is time to stop bickering about the names of football teams and institute real reforms that will bring to an end this ongoing national shame.
The New Transit Town: Best Practices In Transit-Oriented Development
by Hank Dittmar Gloria OhlandTransit-oriented development (TOD) seeks to maximize access to mass transit and nonmotorized transportation with centrally located rail or bus stations surrounded by relatively high-density commercial and residential development. New Urbanists and smart growth proponents have embraced the concept and interest in TOD is growing, both in the United States and around the world.New Transit Town brings together leading experts in planning, transportation, and sustainable design--including Scott Bernstein, Peter Calthorpe, Jim Daisa, Sharon Feigon, Ellen Greenberg, David Hoyt, Dennis Leach, and Shelley Poticha--to examine the first generation of TOD projects and derive lessons for the next generation. It offers topic chapters that provide detailed discussion of key issues along with case studies that present an in-depth look at specific projects. Topics examined include:*the history of projects and the appeal of this form of development*a taxonomy of TOD projects appropriate for different contexts and scales*the planning, policy and regulatory framework of "successful" projects*obstacles to financing and strategies for overcoming those obstacles*issues surrounding traffic and parking*the roles of all the actors involved and the resources available to them*performance measures that can be used to evaluate outcomesNew Transit Town explores the key challenges to transit-oriented development, examines the lessons learned from the first generation of projects, and uses a systematic examination and analysis of a broad spectrum of projects to set standards for the next generation. It is a vital new source of information for anyone interested in urban and regional planning and development, including planners, developers, community groups, transit agency staff, and finance professionals.
The New Transnational Activism (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics Series)
by Charles Tilly Sidney Tarrow Douglas McAdamFrom labor organizers to immigrant activists, from environmentalists to human rights campaigners, from global justice protesters to Islamic militants, this book shows how ordinary people gain new perspectives, experiment with new forms of action, and sometimes emerge with new identities through their contacts across borders. It asks to what extent transnational activism changes domestic actors, their forms of claim making, and their prevailing strategies. Does it simply project the conflicts and alignments familiar from domestic politics onto a broader stage, or does it create a new political arena in which domestic and international contentions fuse? And if the latter, how will this development affect internationalization and the traditional division between domestic and international politics?
The New Triple Constraints for Sustainable Projects, Programs, and Portfolios
by Gregory T. HauganThe ongoing changes in population, climate, and the availability of energy have resulted in unprecedented threats and opportunities that all project and program managers, portfolio managers, and public planners need to be aware of. The New Triple Constraints for Sustainable Projects, Programs, and Portfolios offers a clear look at how these constra
The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin
by Steven Lee MyersThe epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president--the only complete biography in English - that fully captures his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history, by the former New York Times Moscow bureau chief. In a gripping narrative of Putin's rise to power as Russia's president, Steven Lee Myers recounts Putin's origins--from his childhood of abject poverty in Leningrad, to his ascension through the ranks of the KGB, and his eventual consolidation of rule. Along the way, world events familiar to readers, such as September 11th and Russia's war in Georgia in 2008, as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, are presented from never-before-seen perspectives. This book is a grand, staggering achievement and a breathtaking look at one man's rule. On one hand, Putin's many reforms--from tax cuts to an expansion of property rights--have helped reshape the potential of millions of Russians whose only experience of democracy had been crime, poverty, and instability after the fall of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Putin has ushered in a new authoritarianism, unyielding in his brutal repression of revolts and squashing of dissent. Still, he retains widespread support from the Russian public. The New Tsar is a narrative tour de force, deeply researched, and utterly necessary for anyone fascinated by the formidable and ambitious Vladimir Putin, but also for those interested in the world and what a newly assertive Russia might mean for the future. From the Hardcover edition.