Geopolitik

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2024**From the Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of Ghost Wars, the inside story of America's long and ruinous relationship with Saddam HusseinThe Achilles Trap masterfully untangles the people, ploys of power and geopolitics that led to America's disastrous war with Iraq and, for the first time, details America's fundamental miscalculations during its ruinous, decades-long relationship with Saddam Hussein.Beginning with Saddam's rise to power in 1979 and the birth of Iraq's secret nuclear weapons programme, Steve Coll traces Saddam's motives through understanding his inner circle. He brings to life the diplomats, scientists, family members and generals who had no choice but to defer to their leader - a leader directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, as well as the torture or imprisonment of many more. This was a man whose reasoning was impossible to reduce to a simple explanation, and the CIA and successive presidential administrations failed to grasp critical nuances in his paranoia, resentments and inconsistencies - even when the stakes were incredibly high.Using unpublished and underreported sources, interviews with surviving participants, and Saddam's own transcripts and audio files, The Achilles Trap is a remarkable picture of a dictator who was convinced the world was out to get him and acted accordingly. A work of great historical significance, it is the definitive account of how corruptions of power, lies of diplomacy and vanity - on both sides - led to avoidable errors of statecraft: ones that would enact immeasurable human suffering and forever change our political landscape.

"The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 dawned what Francis Fukuyama called 'The End of History.' Three decades later, Jim Sciutto said on CNN's air as the Ukraine war began, that we are living in a '1939 moment.' History never ended-it barely paused-and the global order as we have known it is now gone. Great powers are reinvigorated and determined to assert dominance on the world stage. And as it escalates, this new order will affect everyone across the globe. Peace has been shattered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but in reality, this affects every corner of our world-from Helsinki to Beijing, from Australia to the North Pole. This is a battle with many fronts: on the Arctic floor, in the oceans and across the skies, and in cyberspace. Sciutto argues that we are witnessing the return of great power conflict, 'a definitive break between the post-Cold War era and an entirely new and uncertain one.' The world order that marked the last thirty years is shifting, and Sciutto details the realities of this new post-post-Cold War era, the increasingly aligned Russian and Chinese governments, and the flashpoint of a new, global nuclear arms race. With savvy, thorough reporting, he follows-up his 2019 bestseller, The Shadow War: Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America, which focused on the covert tactics of a hidden conflict. The Return of Great Powers is an analysis of a historic and visible shift in real time. And it poses a question: that as we consider uncertain outcomes, we ask whether the West and Russia and China can prevent a new World War"--

"The inside story of Biden's foreign policy team and their struggle to restore America's global influence in the aftermath of Trump. When Joe Biden assumed the United States presidency, he brought with him a team of all-star talent, perhaps the most experienced ensemble of policy experts in modern U.S. history. Their mission: repair America's damaged reputation abroad and decide the course of its global future. The challenges and risks could not have been greater. Around the world, adversaries were consolidating power, allies were drifting away, wars were raging, and climate change was accelerating, all while Russia was disrupting democracies and China was seeking to replace the U.S. as the world's preeminent power. Now for the first time since World War II, the United States risked falling from its unrivaled position. If Biden and his team failed, it would likely mark the end of an American era and the rise of a fractured and autocratic world order. In The Internationalists, acclaimed national security reporter Alexander Ward takes us behind the scenes to reveal the struggle to enact a coherent and effective set of policies in a time of global crisis. Against the failure of Afghanistan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Biden's all-star team-of-rivals must band together against incredible odds. Their successes, and their failures, will decide not just Biden's presidency. They will decide the very course of America's global future. As The Best and The Brightest chronicled the smoke-filled rooms of the Kennedy Administration, and The Rise of The Vulcans detailed the inner workings of George Bush's war machine, The Internationalists takes readers behind the scenes as Joe Biden and his cabinet embark on some of the most ambitious foreign policy initiatives of any president since Richard M. Nixon. Thanks to rigorous reporting and sources in the rooms where it happened, Ward delivers the first draft of history, the first definitive, unvarnished account of the Biden Doctrine, from the Fall of Kabul to the Rise of Kiev"--

In a characteristically explosive barrage, Ljubljana's most famous philosopher takes a passionate stance on the war in Ukraine, surveys the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and delivers detonations into a range of contemporary issues, from sexual politics in India to the prospects for a new Cold War. Ever attentive to moments where the bizarre and the epic join forces, among the questions Žižek considers here are: Is the giant orgy, planned to take place in Ukraine in the event of a Russian nuclear attack, really all that morbid? And what should society do, whether on the big screen or the battlefield, in preparation for the end of the world?Agree with him or not, Žižek rarely fails to provoke in a productive fashion. By examining matters through a lens that is bold and original, and often joyfully outlandish, Žižek helps us to better grasp a world in which, increasingly, the dominant motif is one of madness.

“Generelt en af de bedste og mest grundige aktuelle globale analyser […] Bør anskaffes i de fleste biblioteker der ønsker aktuel litteratur” – Dansk Biblioteks Center om den første udgave af Verdens Magter i 2014I 2014 lancerede RÆSON bogen “Verdens Magter”, der løbende opdateres og genudgives (senest i 2017). Den nye udgave – som udkom fredag 24. marts 2023 – er skrevet af 7 eksperter, der på bogens 352 sider giver et fuldstændigt overblik over verdens syv mest magtfulde stater. Formatet er nyt: 155 x 230 mm. Ny på forfatterholdet er Flemming Splidsboel Hansen (f.1968), hvis kapitel om Rusland afslutter bogen.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Unapologetically optimistic and bracingly realistic, this is the most inspiring book on ';ethical living' I've ever read.' Oliver Burkeman, Guardian ';A monumental event.' Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind ';A book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damn readable well that is a miracle for which he should be greatly applauded.' Stephen Fry Humanity is in its infancy. Our future could last for millions of years or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. As we approach a critical juncture in our history, we can make profound moral decisions about how humanity's course plays out. We can create positive change on behalf of future generations, to prevent the use of catastrophic weapons and maintain peace between the world's great powers. We can improve our moral values, navigating the rise of AI and climate change more fairly for generations to come. The challenges we face are enormous. But so is the influence we have. If we choose wisely, our distant descendants will look back on us fondly, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world that is beautiful and just.

Is the West prepared for a world where power is shared with China? A world in which China asserts the same level of global leadership that the USA currently assumes? And can we learn to embrace Chinese political culture, as China learned to embrace ours?Here, one of the world's leading voices on China, Kerry Brown, takes us past the tired cliches and inside the Chinese leadership - as they lay out a roadmap for working in a world in which China shares dominance with the West.From how, and why, China as a dominant superpower has been inevitable for many years, to how the attempts to fight the old battles are over, Brown digs deeper into the problematic nature of China's current situation - its treatment of dissent, of Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the severe limitations on its management of relations with other cultures and values. These issues impact the way the West sees China, China sees the West, and how both see themselves.There are obstacles to the West accepting a more prominent place for China in the world - but just because this will be a difficult process does not mean that it should not happen. As Kerry Brown writes: history is indeed ending, but not how the West thought it would.

Det faktum, at de herskende idéer vedrørende vildnis er den herskende klasses idéer, er lige så lidt grund til ikke at beskæftige sig med begrebet, som det samme faktum gør sig gældende vedrørende demokrati eller frihed eller retfærdighed for den sags skyld. Selvfølgelig kan vi have en marxistisk teori om vildnis: Hvis marxismen er almægtig, fordi den er sand, så bør den også kunne indeholde denne del af verden. Kan der også være en kosmopolitisk teori vedrørende vildnis? Kan der være en vildnis-dyrkelse for fattige? Kan vi forestille os et sted, hvor vildnis og retfærdighed mødes? Er det muligt at redde en vildnis-politik og -æstetik fra de forgangene århundreders eller måske endda årtusinders klassekamp? Jeg mener, vi kan svare ja til alle ovenstående spørgsmål.

Suveræn virus? Den kapitalistiske åndenød er Donatella Di Cesare seneste bog, og er en kort og koncis intellektuel vejviser til Corona-pandemien. Den udgør et af de første væsentlige bidrag til den filosofiske litteratur om pandemien, og er en bearbejdning af en række centrale temaer inden for politisk filosofi, herunder undtagelsestilstand, livets sårbarhed, grænseregimet, teknokrati, ekspertvælde, konspirationsteorier, demokrati, isolation og vejrtrækning.Donatella di Cesare (f. 1956) er en af Italiens mest fremtrædende og nulevende filosoffer. Hun er forfatter til en række bøger om forholdet mellem filosofi og politik, herunder Heidegger og jøderne: de »sorte hæfter« (2014) samt Tortur (2016). Senest har hun i den italienske presse kritiseret Giorgio Agambens kommentarer om Corona-virussens farlighed og hans sammenligning af vaccinepas med de nazistiske jødestjerner; en parallel som også har været genstand for omfattende kritik i Danmark.

... Der er megen råddenskab, som skal druknes på havets bund under genopbygningen af Latinamerika. De udplyndrede, de ydmygede, de fordømte er dem, der skal løse denne opgave. Det latinamerikanske problem er frem for noget et socialt problem. For at Latinamerika kan fødes på ny, må man begynde med at styrte dets herskere, land for land. Tiden til oprør og ændringer er nær. Der er dem, som tror, at skæbnen hviler i gudernes skød, men sandheden er, at den som en brændende udfordring arbejder i menneskets bevidsthed... Eduardo Galeano (1940 – 2015) regnes som en af Latinamerikas store forfattere og venstrefløjsprofiler. Især kendt for Latinamerikas Åreladning og trilogien: Ildens erindring. Latinamerika Åreladning blev udgivet i 1971. Bogen læses stadig for sin analyse af den globale ulighed – og sit blomstrende sprog. Bogen er historien om Amerika fra den europæiske erobring til det nutidige Latinamerika, og beskriver virkningerne af Europa og senere USA’s økonomiske udnyttelse og politiske dominans over regionen.

"NY BANEBRYDENDE BOG OM GEOPOLITIK I DANMARK Geopolitikken har ikke været nogen særligt værdsat videnskab i Danmark. Rudolf Kjellén synes ikke at have haft nogen indflydelse på danske geografer og politologer... Kampen om kloden. Global geopolitik før og nu... af Fritz Wolder er derfor en velkommen nyhed. Bogen er rigt illustreret med kort og fotos, samt har et udmærket design. Der findes en række betydningsfulde geopolitiske skoler, som hver for sig behandles af Wolder. Det drejer sig først om den engelske geopolitik, hvor Sir Halford Mackinder er hovedemnet... Over for britisk geopolitik stod ifølge Wolder kontinental geopolitik med navne som Friedrich Ratzel og Karl Haushofer... Men der fandtes ikke kun tysk geopolitik. Italien får sit eget kapitel i bogen, og der fandtes også en fransk geopolitik. Både i Italien og Frankrig spiller geopolitisk tankemåde i dag en betydningsfuld rolle i den politiske diskussion, noget indtil nu helt umuligt i Danmark og Sverige. Også moderne russisk geopolitik behandles i den nye bog i et særskilt kapitel. Med De Forenede Staters stilling som hegemon efter Sovjetunionens kollaps er amerikansk geopolitisk tænkning kommet i fokus. I kapitlet redegøres der for baggrund og den centrale tænker professor Nicholas Spykman, af nederlandsk herkomst... Den store trussel mod USA var ifølge Spykman, at "verdens-øen" ville blive domineret af én eneste fjendtlig magt, sådan som det truede med at ske under anden verdenskrig. Det er blevet sagt, at hvis George Kennan var containment-politikkens fader, så var Spykman dens gudfader. Men Wolder glemmer ikke den store amerikanske geograf Saul B. Cohen eller journalisten Walter Lippman, og også Zbigniew Brzezinski er taget med. På rosværdig vis har Wolder gjort opmærksom på kontinuiteten i den geopolitiske videnskab. Astropolitiken, dvs. geopolitik i det ydre rum, behandles i et særskilt og vigtigt kapitel. Her er den store pionér den amerikanske professor Everett Dolman, hvis bog Astropolitik. Klassisk geopolitik i rumalderen (2002) var et gennembrud for denne nye udvikling inden for geopolitikken. Wolders værk bør findes på biblioteker i hele Skandinavien. Det er et standardværk om geopolitikkens rolle før, i dag og i fremtiden". Bertil Häggman, direktør for Center for Research on Geopolitics (CRG), Sverige, februar 2012. ”Begrebet geopolitik blev skabt i 1899 af den svenske politolog R. Kjellén. Der findes mange definitioner af begrebet, som handler om stater, politik og geografi, og formålet med bogen er at vise, at der eksisterer en veletableret geopolitisk tradition og praksis med forskellige metoder til analyse af internationale relationer, et begrebsapparat og en særlig terminologi… Forfatteren er cand.mag. i historie og samfundsfag, og bogen er på et højt fagligt niveau og indeholder bl.a. en del henvisninger til yderligere litteratur og web-sider… Der findes ikke tilsvarende litteratur på dansk om begrebet geopolitik”. Lektørudtalelse af Bent Birk KristensenNysgerrig efter at vide mere? Så prøv AI (kunstig intelligens). Brug: bing.com - Tryk øverst: Copilot - Spørg om: Fritz Wolder Kampen om kloden Helikon

Journalist og kommentator David Trads udlægger den vestlige verdens krise mellem Putin og Trump.For første gang siden Anden Verdenskrig er der efter Ruslands invasion af Ukraine krig i Europa. En krig, der hvert øjeblik kan brede sig til et NATO-landog derved bringe Danmark i krig. Europa er klemt mellem et aggressivt Rusland og et kollapsende Amerika. Med Putin og Trump befinder vi os i tyrannernes tid. Vi skal igen kæmpe for friheden.Europa står i dag over for tre store, konkrete trusler: Fra Putins Rusland, der allerede har vist viljen til at angribe. Fra Trumps Amerika, som ikke vil angribe, men heller ikke forsvare den gamle verdensorden. Og fra Europa selv, som er svækket at Storbritanniens Brexit og trojanske heste som Ungarns præsident Orbán.Spørgsmålet er, hvorfor demokratiet taber?Og om vi er klar til Tredje Verdenskrig?David Trads folder svarene ud I tyrannernes tid.

Engang spillede ideologisk overherredømme en stor rolle for endiktator. I dag understøttes hans magt af sofistikerede netværk, derbestår af kleptokratiske strukturer, autonome sikkerhedsstyrker ogprofessionelle propagandister. Tidligere dannede lande politiske ogmilitære alliancer, men de moderne autokratier organiserer sig somet samarbejde mellem statsstyrede virksomheder, hvis formål førstog fremmest er at berige og konsolidere sig uden hensyntagen tilbefolkningen.Autokratier som Rusland, Kina, Venezuela, Cuba og Zimbabwe erfælles om at betragte USA som den store fjende. Men demokratiskestater trues også indefra af autokratisk adfærd, der underminererværdier og frihedsrettigheder.Efter autokraternes egen opfattelse er de tæt på at sejre ved hjælpaf de teknologier og taktikker, autokratierne kopierer fra hinandeni kraft af at have fælles økonomiske interesser og frem for alt i kraftaf deres vilje til ikke at afgive magt.Anne Applebaum malede i sin forrige bog, DEMOKRATIETS TUSMØRKE(2020), et billede i gråtoner. Hendes bekymringer gik på populismensog nationalismens skadelige fremmarch i Vesten. AUTOKRATI A/Sbeskriver den nyeste verdenspolitiske tendens; hvor den stammerfra, hvorfor den varer ved, hvordan den demokratiske verden oprindeligvar med til at bekræfte den, og hvordan vi nu kan besejre den.

I 16 år stod Angela Merkel i spidsen for den tyske regering, førte landet gennem talrige kriser og prægede med sine handlinger og holdninger politik og samfundsforhold, både i Tyskland og internationalt. Men Angela Merkels historie begyndte naturligvis længe før, hun blev kansler. I sine erindringer, skrevet sammen med sin mangeårige politiske rådgiver Beate Baumann, ser hun tilbage på sit liv i to tyske stater – 35 år i DDR, 35 år i det genforenede Tyskland. Så personligt som aldrig før fortæller hun om sin barndom og ungdom, om sine studier i DDR og det dramatiske år 1989, hvor Muren faldt, og hendes politiske liv begyndte.Hun lukker os ind i møder og samtaler med de mest magtfulde mennesker i verden og belyser anskueligt og præcist, hvordan beslutninger blev truffet i afgørende nationale, europæiske og internationale øjeblikke, som kom til at forme vores tid. Hendes bog giver et enestående indblik i magtens indre - og er en resolut forsvarsskrift for frihed.Om forfatteren:Angela Merkel, kansler i Forbundsrepublikken Tyskland fra 2005 til 2021, er den første kvinde nogensinde, der har bestridt landets mest magtfulde embede. Hun er født i Hamborg i 1954, men voksede op i DDR, hvor hun læste fysik og fik en doktorgrad. I 1990 blev hun valgt ind i den tyske forbundsdag. Fra 1991 til 1994 var hun minister for kvinder og ungdom, fra 1994 til 1998 minister for miljø, naturbeskyttelse og nuklear sikkerhed, og fra 2000 til 2018 leder af CDU, den kristendemokratiske union i Tyskland. Hun afsluttede sin aktive politiske karriere i 2021.

THE INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 'Important, perfectly timed and hugely necessary.' - The Guardian'Admirably Thorough and Persuasively Argued.' - The Irish Times'A must-read on how modern football works.' - Ian Wright'Brave, forensic and utterly gripping.' - Tom Holland______________________________The definitive account of how capitalism and the world's elite corrupted modern footballAs the 2022 World Cup in Qatar drew to a close, there was a bitter undercurrent to Argentina's triumph. Throughout the tournament, numerous allegations of sportswashing and financial misconduct had been made against the state of Qatar, moving what had previously been a smaller conversation into the worldwide spotlight. The question had been asked, who really owns and runs football? Journeying from Abu Dhabi to Newcastle, and onto London, Paris, Moscow and New York, journalist Miguel Delaney investigates the allegations of sportswashing and misconduct in the beautiful game. The result is a gripping account of how football has been taken over by the world's wealthiest businessmen, state-backed corporations, media tycoons and oil-rich oligarchs. From Neymar's £198 million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain and Abu Dhabi's construction empire in Manchester to failed Financial Fair Play constraints and the dawn of the European Super League, Miguel draws on exclusive interviews and unprecedented access to key stakeholders to produce an all-encompassing exposé of modern footballs highest echelons.Authoritative, riveting and eye-opening, States of Play reveals how football has become a tool for the world's elite.______________________________'Delaney's diligence and determination to hold authorities to account is the moral compass that the game needs.' - Andy Brassell'In this excellent investigation, Delaney reveals the ugly side of the beautiful game.' - Oliver Bullough'The most important football book of its generation.' - Jack Pitt-Brooke'An eye-opening and essential investigation into the forces shaping the world's most popular sport.' - Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg'This book tackles the major issue affecting football today with fearlessness and forensic scrutiny. An important investigation for our times.' - Laurie Whitwell'Majestic... the essential guide to how the people's game has become the plaything of the very rich and powerful.' - Jonathan WilsonMiguel Delaney's STATES OF PLAY was ranked in the Irish Times bestsellers list w/c 11th November 2024.

For years, one group of Americans has worked as foot-soldiers for the most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the process, they've not only entrenched dictatorships and spread kleptocratic networks, but they've secretly guided U.S. policy without the rest of America even being aware. And now, journalist Casey Michel contends some of them have begun turning their sights on American democracy itself.These Americans are known as foreign lobbyists, and many of them spent years ushering dictatorships directly into the halls of Washington, all while laundering the reputations of the most heinous, repressive regimes in the process. These lobbyists include figures like Ivy Lee, the inventor of the public relations industry - a man who whitewashed Mussolini, opened doors to the Soviets, and advised the Nazis on how to sway American audiences. They include people like Paul Manafort, who invented lobbying as we know it - and who then took his talents to autocrats from Ukraine to the Philippines, and then back to the White House. And they now include an increasing number of Americans elsewhere: in law firms and consultancies, among PR specialists and former lawmakers, and even within think tanks and universities.Many of these lobbyists have transformed into proxies for dictators and strongmen wherever they can be found. And for years, they've escaped scrutiny.In Foreign Agents, Casey Michel shines a light on these foreign lobbyists, and all the damage and devastation they have caused in Washington and elsewhere. From Moscow to Beijing, from far-right nationalists to far-left communists, from anti-American autocrats to pro-Western authoritarians, these foreign lobbyists have helped any illiberal, anti-democratic government they can find. And after decades of success in installing dictator after dictator, and in tilting American policy in the process, some of these lobbyists have now begun trying to end America's democratic experiment, once and for all.

With a new Afterword for the paperback edition, Jerusalem Post reporters Bob and Evyatar draw on confidential sources in Mossad, Israel's equivalent to our CIA, to tell the remarkable story of how Israel has used sabotage, assassination, cyberwar -- and, remarkably, diplomacy -- to forge a new Middle East and slow Iran's development of a nuclear weapon.

Stand-out theoretical and empirical explanation of the origins of the First World War by one of the great historians of international diplomacy

A decisive analytic critique of US foreign policy by one of America’s greatest historians