Moisés Naím

He’s convinced me—he writes about some things I have noticed and wondered about and his examples are taken not only from the US but from around the world, not only from politics but from business, finance, religion, and other spheres. This is a big picture look at a rapidly changing dynamic that is usually only considered from narrower perspectives. This book places you in the same uncomfortable place as consideration of global warming, the implications of DNA mapping of individuals, and show more increasing reliance on social media for information—I see it happening, I need to think about it, too little is understood and rationally discussed about the future implications of these changes. But this book gives you a framework for an awareness of these changes, and he does provide some ideas for how to recognize and counteract any negative effects of these power structure alterations. Stop focusing on rankings, as they seldom can predict power any more, make life harder for the “terrible simplifiers” (that catchphrase deserves to be a hashtag if anything does!), bring trust back and strengthen political parties. You may disagree with some things—but since finishing I have thought of it often, he has touched a nerve. show less

This book was a bit of a mixed bag. Illicit trade is definitely a massive issue right now. Some facets (e.g. piracy) more than others, although the less bad ones may help fund the more bad ones (e.g. human trafficking)). This is an important book but some parts were more interesting than others. Like I loved the chapter about human organs and wildlife (and art although it was less of a focus - yes all three were put together) while others were more of a struggle.

Written by a Venezuelan author who was an economic minister there, his first fiction book has an extraordinary air of accuracy—even if the love stories feel less than realistic. The book covers the defeat of President Perez by Hugo Chávez, and his rein of socialism that destroyed the vibrant country. He cozied up to Fidel Castro, and Cuba and the USA’s spies are busy at work there. So much is going on, it’s a slow read but very interesting.

This is somewhat simplistic book meant for a reader who hasn't been following world affairs during the last decade or so. I finished it, but it was largely a rehash of information and opinion I already knew. The author is annoyingly centrist and views things as a neoliberal. That isn't to say that what he is saying is in anyway wrong. It's not. There is a lot of stuff in here. It works just fine as a refresher, but it doesn't contain many new insights. It's observation is ultimately show more "Populism is out there, it's bad, but hopefully everyone will soon come back to trust the elites once again." show less