Books Folder - 2008 onwards!!!

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 04 May 2012 07:19

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 05 May 2012 07:58

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 09 May 2012 08:36

Peter R. Lavoy, "Asymmetric Warfare in South Asia: The Causes and Consequences of the Kargil Conflict"
English | ISBN: 0521767210 | 2009 | 426 pages |

The 1999 conflict between India and Pakistan near the town of Kargil in contested Kashmir was the first military clash between two nuclear-armed powers since the 1969 Sino-Soviet war. Kargil was a landmark event not because of its duration or casualties, but because it contained a very real risk of nuclear escalation. Until the Kargil conflict, academic and policy debates over nuclear deterrence and proliferation occurred largely on the theoretical level. This deep analysis of the conflict offers scholars and policymakers a rare account of how nuclear-armed states interact during military crisis. Written by analysts from India, Pakistan, and the United States, this unique book draws extensively on primary sources, including unprecedented access to Indian, Pakistani, and U.S. government officials and military officers who were actively involved in the conflict. This is the first rigorous and objective account of the causes, conduct, and consequences of the Kargil conflict.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 May 2012 20:27

W. G. Clarence-Smith, "Islam and the Abolition of Slavery"
English | ISBN: 0195221516, 1850657084 | 2006 | 320 pages |

Contemporay debates about Muslim slavery occur in a context of fierce polemics between Islam and other belief systems. While Islamic groups had an ambivalent and generally muted impact on the legal repudiation of slavery, a growing religious commitment to abolition was essential if legislation was to be enforced in the twentieth century. Drawing on examples from the whole 'abode' of Islam, from the Philipines to Senegal and from the Caucasus to South Africa,Gervase Clarence-Smith ranges across the history of Islam, paying particular attention to the period from the late 18th century to the present. He shows that "sharia-minded" attempts to achieve closer adherence to the holy law restricted slavery, even if they did not end it. However, the sharia itself was not as clear about the legality of servitude as is usually assumed, and progressive scholars within the schools of law might even have achieved full emancipation over the long term. The impact of mystical and millenarian Islam was contradictory, in some cases providing a supportive agenda of freedom, but in other cases causing great surges of enslavement. The revisionist Islam that emerged from the 18th century was divided. "Fundamentalists" stressed the literal truth of the founding texts of Islam, and thus found it difficult to abandon slavery completely. "Modernists,' appealing to the spirit rather than to the letter of scripture, spawned the most radical opponents of slavery, notably Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the Islamic William Wilberforce. Once slavery had disappeared, it was the Sufi mystics who did most to integrate former slaves socially and religiously, avoiding the deep social divisions that have plagued Western societies in the aftermath of abolition. In this important new book, Clarence-Smith provides the first general survey of the Islamic debate on slavery. Sweeping away entrenched myths, he hopes to stimulate more research on this neglected topic, thereby contributing to healing the religious rifts that threaten to tear our world apart in the 21st century.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 13 May 2012 22:02

George Kennan had to leave the US State dept due to his differences with Dulles. He joined Robert Oppenheimer's Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. The institute boasted of people like Einstein, von Neumann, Godel etc. The mathematicians and physicists objected to the appointment of Kennan because he had no scholarly accomplishments. Oppenheimer's influence helped him to get in, but Oppenheimer asked him to produce scholarly output. The result was a great book "Soviet-American relations, 1917-1920: Russia Leaves the war", which quickly won 4 prizes and removed all doubts about his abilities. It is considered one of the best books for understanding Russia during/around the Russian Revolution.

The book is available free:

Soviet-American relations, 1917-1920 volume 1 (Russia Leaves The War)

Soviet-American relations, 1917-1920 : volume 2 (The Decision to Intervene)

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 21 May 2012 16:07

Into 40 pages of The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Kodansha Globe) - very riveting.

- Some unkind references to Asians though - one sentence had " ..the (British) men discussed, with an un-Asiatic degree of precision, the details of their respective routes"
not sure if he talking only about maps.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 May 2012 23:12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia is a geopolitical book by Alexander Dugin. The book has had a large influence within the Russian military, police, and statist foreign policy elites[1] and is used as a textbook in the General Staff Academy of Russian military

The book was co-authored by General Nikolai Klokotov of the General Staff Academy.[1] Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, head of the International Department of the Russian Ministry of Defence, apparently advised in the project.[1] Klotov stated that in the future the book would "serve as a mighty ideological foundation for preparing a new military command."
Dugin has asserted that the book has been adopted as a textbook in many Russian educational institutions

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 May 2012 08:33

Some chapters of Tony Judt's biography can't be understood unless you have read 10-15 books on Marxism/European History. It is a high-funda book.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 23 May 2012 06:51

Does anyone know if a hard copy of Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi are available. It is apparently supposed to be online at the British Museum but I have not found it yet.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 23 May 2012 08:09

Book review: The Crisis of Zionism by Peter Beinart

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 24 May 2012 08:44

Books on West Asia

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 May 2012 20:43

sanjaykumar wrote:Does anyone know if a hard copy of Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi are available. It is apparently supposed to be online at the British Museum but I have not found it yet.

Only some parts:

British Library:
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex ... 20vrb.html

Columbia Uty:
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/prit ... court.html

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 25 May 2012 08:33

On the Queen of U.K.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 26 May 2012 06:49

On Islam in the West

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 28 May 2012 20:41

My life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance by Emanuel Derman
http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Quant-Ref ... 0471394203

Book written in 2004, stumbled onto it recently. The author is a Ph.D physicist-turned Quantitative analyst on Wall St., now a prof. in Columbia univ.

He came to the US to do grad studies in Physics. After graduation, he tried to make a career of physics with several post-doc stints in Oxford, Rockefeller and other places. As with many physicists, he started off (in his own words) with ‘dreams of being another Einstein’, then ‘would settle’ for being a Feynman and finally realized that just getting a full-time professorship was a challenge.

The attraction (to me) of this book was his introspection and ferment as he realized that he would not be doing physics for a lifetime, and going over to the ‘dark side’ into the world of commercial R&D (Bell Labs) and finally Wall St. His analysis of the cultures and mindsets of physicists in academia (who are in it, perhaps idealistically, for the love of the subject and research), the hierarchical bureaucracy of Bell labs where he worked at their Business Systems group, and finally, his work at Wall St. which straddled pure quant stuff (Black-Derman-Toy model for pricing bond options) and more mundane tasks of coding programs.

A good read for anyone who i) wants a perspective on what physicists do in Wall St. ii) is interested in experience of a person who crosses over from research in hard sciences into finance, and iii) cultural clash between working in a research environment where advancing knowledge is the sole focus vs. a Wall St. environment where making money fast is the sole goal. The final chapter gives his take on how mathematical models should be used (which, as I see it, is perhaps the only fundamental connection between physics and wall st- formulation and solution of mathematical equations that describe behaviour of systems).

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 30 May 2012 08:37

On Foreigners in Afghanistan

On US Militarism

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 01 Jun 2012 09:10

The World Island: Eurasian Geopolitics and the Fate of the West (Praeger Security International) [Hardcover]
Alexandros Petersen

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Praeger; 1 edition (February 18, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0313391378
ISBN-13: 978-0313391378

The 20th century was dominated by three visions of Eurasian geopolitics: "The World Island," "Containment," and "Prometheism." The World Island: Eurasian Geopolitics and the Fate of the West posits a fourth vision of Eurasian geopolitics: the 21st-century Geopolitical Strategy for Eurasia.

Through an original and comprehensive analysis and synthesis of the ideas of Sir Halford Mackinder, George Kennan, and Jozef Pilsudski, this title reestablishes fundamental Western strategic objectives. It analyzes the state of and potential for Western engagement with China, Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, and other Eurasian states and sets out what is at stake for the West in the Eurasian theater. Promoting a robust strategy to further and protect essential Western values, the author argues for the development of trade and energy links, coupled with the promotion of good governance and the facilitation of policy independence, integration, and Western-orientation among the Eurasian nations.

Petersen has vast knowledge of Eurasia and displays his almost encyclopedic knowledge effectively to advance his case... A lively, diverse book about a lesser-known area of the world, it offers a challenging set of policy recommendations with the backup of the work of earlier realist thinkers. – Choice

A sweeping, succinct and convincing argument for Transatlantic unity. With Europe's energy needs increasing, the emergence of China, the uncertainty of Russia's future, and NATO's involvement in Afghanistan Petersen makes clear that we ignore Eurasia at our peril. For those who want to understand the vital importance of Eurasia Petersen's strategy could not have come at a better time. - Dr. Liam Fox, British Secretary of State for Defence (2010- )

The control of the Eurasian landmass and especially America's role in that formula will determine much of the shape of geopolitics for the next century. This book enlightens us to the nature of that challenge. - Dr. John Hillen, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs

Insightful and disconcerting analysis: essential reading for anyone concerned with Western security. - Edward Lucas, International Editor, The Economist; bestselling author of The New Cold War

Alexandros Petersen has clearly captured the 'new world order' that is evolving in the early years of the 21st Century. Alexandros' vivid description of the rise of the East in the global geo-strategic landscape offers Western policy makers a prescriptive for what must be addressed if Western powers intend to remain influential in a multi-polar world. - General Charles "Chuck" F. Wald, former Deputy Commander, United States European Command

With scholarly verve and a clear analytical eye, Alexandros Petersen revisits some of the great geopolitical theorists of the past two centuries. He shows why grand strategy and geography still matter in Europe and Eurasia and argues convincingly that the political tectonics of this part of the world continue to shape foreign policymaking. The World Island will be of interest to anyone who cares about the peoples and fractured polities of the former Soviet space. - Charles King, Professor and Chairman of the Faculty, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and author of The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 01 Jun 2012 09:15

http://chinaincentralasia.com/resources/

Central Asia is the thickest piece of cake given to the modern Chinese by the heavens." ~ General Liu Yazhou of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA)

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 01 Jun 2012 09:33

Anne-Marie Slaughter on 21st Century Foreign Policy

Terror Tagging of an Iranian Dissident Organisation by Raymond Tanter

Peter Beinart’s "The Crisis of Zionism" and Its Critics.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 Jun 2012 19:58

Pierre Lizée - A Whole New World: Reinventing International Studies for the Post-Western World
Published: 2011-08-16 | ISBN: 0230280390 | 288 pages |

The consequences of the rise of emerging powers like China and India is becoming the most important topic of debate in international studies. This book focuses on the impact that these changes have on the way we study international politics: if international politics is changing, should we also change international studies?

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 07 Jun 2012 21:20

Very interesting
The emotional and fear factor in each country is a good indicator how the world will shape up

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012 ... 025-12.asp

World @2025
Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are the ingredients of the new global dynamic
BOOK REVIEW
AHMED NAZEER MOTTA
SmallerDefaultLarger

Book: The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are Reshaping the World,
Author: Dominique Moisi,
Publisher: Doubleday, New York
Year: June 2010
Pages: 176 +xii

‘The Geopolitics of Emotion’ adds a different dimension to the way the world has been divided, and examines political trends through the prism of emotion. Professor Moisi argues that it is the feelings of fear, humiliation, and hope that are reshaping world politics, and it is these sentiments which are just as influential as the cultural, social, and economic factors that breed political conflict. Moisi suggests that the world is divided into three groups of nations: those that are motivated by hope, those that are driven by resentments born of humiliation, and those whose primary attitude is that of fear.
The first emotion studied by Moisi is hope. Hope means confidence. In Moisi’s view, this hope is translated into cultural openness and confidence. China, as a prime example of the culture of hope will lead to the eclipse of the US. Another Asian example of hope comes from India, a dazzling country - from an outsider’s perspective - which faces deep internal contradictions. Even though China and India share many commonalities, the origins of their pride and confidence are different: the imperial past for China and a bright vision of the future for India.
However, it would be fallacious to assume that all Asian countries belong to the culture of hope: the author excludes Japan as being “beyond” the culture of hope and uses Pakistan as an example of a country which has not reached that point yet. When he often talks of “Asia”, he actually means just China and India and not other like Central Asian countries, the Koreas or successor states of the Raj other than India.
The culture of humiliation is exemplified by the Islamic world, later redefined as the Arab-Islamic world. For Moisi, humiliation means impotence, being confined to a future that is in stark contrast to the glorified past.
The Arab-Islamic world is not the only global region facing such a dichotomy. As the author points out, this dichotomy can induce two types of behavior. One possibility is the “I’ll show you I can do it” behavior, found in South-East Asia, which gives birth to powerful competition. The other side is the despair of the “if I can’t reach you, I will drag you down” kind. According to Moisi, it is here that the Arab-Islamic World finds itself.
The French scholar ascribes this despair to the fact that the region is both demographically on the rise and politically humiliated. The region has been plagued with incapable leaders who, instead of taking responsibility, are constantly looking for scapegoats. The main cause of this grave situation is the historical decline of the Arab-Islamic world, a process which started with the failure to capture Vienna, continued with colonization in the region and was ultimately reinforced by the establishment of the State of Israel and by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The climax was reached during the Six-Day War, when the Arab states lost all hope.
Moisi reminds us, the sense of humiliation is not only negative; as seen, it can be successfully used as a diplomatic weapon by Arab countries against their former colonizers and by Israel against Europe. Moisi however rejects claims that the problem lies in Islam given that Islam has produced many intellectuals who argued against the feeling of humiliation. He also states that the Arab-Islamic world is culturally declining because of “despots and fundamentalists” sharing interest in curbing the free expression.
In the Arab and Muslim world, he writes how these societies feel trapped in a culture of humiliation, which feeds into Islamic extremism, leading to hatred of the West. Meanwhile, much of Asia has been able to concentrate on building a better future, creating a culture of hope.
The Fear: Finally, the culture of fear pertains to the Western world. The main reason is that, for the first time in the past three centuries, the West is not the trendsetter – globalization no longer belongs to the Western World. It is this fear that unites Europe and the West. Moisi acknowledges that, while fear is indispensable for survival, it can become excessive and incapacitating. The fear did not start with the attacks of September 11, but was rather exacerbated by these events.
The high point of hope in Europe was marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall; the feeling of hope has been deteriorating ever since. The key moment for Europeans to completely change their positions was, according to the author, the breakup of Yugoslavia which brought a war to the backyard of Europe (war that Europeans were not able to cope with). Fear in Europe stems from “the other” and, paradoxically enough, the more we need “the others” – as part of the workforce, for example – the more we reject them emotionally. This fear of “the other” is epitomized by the debate about the accession of Turkey to the European Union.
Russia, Israel, Africa and Latin America: Moisi devotes an entire chapter to hard cases, where all three emotions are entwined. The first examined case is Russia, a country obsessed with its tragic flaws. Humiliated since the fall of the USSR, Russia exhibits the xenophobic fear of “the other” (such as Chechnya) and displays hope in its most material form. For the Russian leadership, democracy, according to Moisi, is a sign of weakness. A parallel between Russia and Iran can be easily drawn. Nevertheless, Iran is on the rise while Russia is facing a rapid decline.
The other analyzed hard case is Israel, a state which shares the vulnerability feature with Russia due to its demographic and regional political realities. In the subchapter on Israel, Moisi makes the most surprising comparison of the whole volume: he states that the source of Israel’s humiliation is Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. Apparently, this wrongdoing can be traced back to the mistreatment of Jews in the past in the same way to abused children abusing their own children.
Africa is the third hard case, a world region slowly emerging from the abyss. Contemporary deals are, however, signs of politicians’ efforts to remain in office. Moisi points to South Africa as a success story and again alludes to the maltreatment of Palestinians by the Israel by expressing his desire for the rise of a Palestinian version of Nelson Mandela.
The fourth case is embodied by Latin America, which shows less despair, but also less hope. Brazil, the only shining example, especially from a financial standpoint, is unfortunately plagued with violence.

Possible Scenarios:
In the final chapter, Moisi offers two possible scenarios for the world in 2025. He states that if fear takes over the globe, catastrophic events would ensue: more unrest in the Middle East, use of biological terror, a shutdown of borders, the weakening of neo-protectionist United States, the almost complete dissolution of the European Union, a partial resurge of Russia’s former empire, wars in Asia, nuclear armament of Japan, the fall of Africa, and chaos in Latin America. In a nutshell, life would be like in the Early Middle Ages. On the other hand, if hope prevails, there would be peace in the Middle East, the UN would undergo a significant reform, the United States would become “a senior partner” around the world instead of a policeman, Russia would envision its future in the West, China would be on the path of the rule of law, Africa would develop and MERCOSUR would become a full-fledged entity. Strangely enough, Lebanon would unite with Syria.
At the conclusion of his argument Moisi offers two imaginary scenarios of how the world might look in 2025: one where the culture of fear has been dominant, and one where the culture of hope has held sway. There are no prizes for guessing which is preferable.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 10 Jun 2012 14:43

http://europeangeostrategy.ideasoneurope.eu/

Emerging Powers in the 21st Century

Published on 6 June 2012 by James Rogers
Book review: The European Union and Emerging Powers in the 21st Century

Edited by Thomas Renard and Sven Biscop

Ashgate – £55.00

A few weeks ago, I received a book to review from two of my colleagues in Brussels. It is their latest edited volume published by Ashgate and currently available at the special rate of £44.00 from the Egmont Institute. As an edited volume, their book contains offerings from all the ‘usual suspects’, who have taken it upon themselves to write about European foreign, security and defence policies from a quasi-strategic perspective. They offered me a complimentary copy, on the condition that I wrote a review for this blog – my apologies if it has been a long while coming!

I must confess that I have not yet read the entire book, but I have read a fair amount of it. By and large, it is well-edited, and each contribution is well-written. It is particularly kind of Jolyon Howorth – in his provoking chapter on grand strategy – to cite a short piece I conjured up a few years ago, which called for a European Security Council to be formed. My argument was that this would help to guide European Union interaction with the outside world, much as the American and British national security councils now do, for both the United States and United Kingdom respectively. The chapters by Tomas Ries and Janis Emmanouilidis are also worth a mention.

Now, any book review would not be complete without some critique. As an edited volume, this book contains a number of perspectives, so it is hard to criticise any particular part. As with any edited volume – even good ones like this one – there are bound to be bits and pieces that a given reader will both agree and disagree with. If one theme runs throughout the book, however, it is that a multilateral order, as opposed to a multipolar world system, will take hold in the years ahead. To some extent this is a caricature on my part, but contains a colonel of truth. I’m afraid – as anyone who reads this blog will know – that I do not share this view. I believe that the world as we know it – which for the past twenty years, has been relatively secure – has emerged because of the concerted efforts of the United States and United Kingdom. These two countries have, since the end of the Second World War, been able and willing to configure a new order, by providing a relatively benign environment in which multilateral institutions, such as the European Union, have been able to flourish. The world we live in today is a product of their hegemony, which has made an indelible mark on both space and time.

Conversely, I think that, should those two countries lose their primacy, the world (and Europe) is likely to become a far coarser and more disorderly place – like a jungle, or, at the very least, like the cut-throat multipolar world of the early twentieth century. Most of the contributors from this book – for the most part – do not agree with me: they believe that the major powers will come together to find ‘common solutions’ to ‘global problems’ and that strategic competition on a global scale will be more of the exception instead of the rule.

While I think they are mistaken, I only hope they are right and that I am very wrong; or, at least, that they are correct in predicting the emergence of a multilateral world order, where the major powers – including the European Union – work together for the common good. However, the problem is: what do we do if it does not work out that way? What should Europeans do then?

My own prejudice aside, The European Union and the Emerging Powers in the 21st Century is a worthy book to acquire and read, particularly by any student of European studies. It provides an excellent snapshot of one of the pre-eminent European perspectives on the European Union’s place in the world, and from a range of authors.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Jun 2012 08:35

The late Christopher Hitchens blasts Mother Theresa!!!

Christopher Hitchens, "The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice"
ISBN: 1455523003 | 2012 | | 128 pages

"A religious fundamentalist, a political operative, a primitive sermonizer, and an accomplice of worldly secular powers. Her mission has always been of this kind. The irony is that she has never been able to induce anybody to believe her. It is past time that she was duly honored and taken at her word."

Among his many books, perhaps none have sparked more outrage than THE MISSIONARY POSITION, Christopher Hitchens's meticulous study of the life and deeds of Mother Teresa.

A Nobel Peace Prize recipient beatified by the Catholic Church in 2003, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was celebrated by heads of state and adored by millions for her work on behalf of the poor. In his measured critique, Hitchens asks only that Mother Teresa's reputation be judged by her actions-not the other way around.

With characteristic elan and rhetorical dexterity, Hitchens eviscerates the fawning cult of Teresa, recasting the Albanian missionary as a spurious, despotic, and megalomaniacal operative of the wealthy who long opposed measures to end poverty, and fraternized, for financial gain, with tyrants and white-collar criminals throughout the world.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 12 Jun 2012 10:22

On Egyptian Writing

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 12 Jun 2012 23:00

Isnt Diana Eck the same lesbian women who was responsible for Subramanian swamy's ouster from Harvard ?

Book review: India - A Sacred Geography

By Sudheendra Kulkarni, India Today

When Marxist and other Hindu-bashing scholars, at least some of them sponsored by the well-funded evangelists' conversion industry, debate the 'Idea of India', they will be discomfited by the profound meaning of the following passage, on page 443, in Diana L. Eck's latest gem of a book INDIA: A Sacred Geography: "Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in Ahmedabad, once described to me the first-ever yatra that women of SEWA took, as soon as they were able to save just enough money to take the first trip of their hardworking lives. It was not a trip to Mumbai or any glossy tourist destination, but a tirthayatra by bus through Rajasthan to Krishna's Vrindavan, and its participants included both Hindu and Muslim women."

What has made countless people in India, down the ages, trek to shrines near and far in fulfilment of their sense of duty-not externally imposed but internally willed duty? What has made India the world's most multi-religiously vibrant nation? Why are pilgrimages so important in our national life that, as this book by Harvard's star professor (author, earlier, of the much-acclaimed Banaras, the City of Light) reveals, it is "through these sacred pilgrimages that India's very sense of nation has emerged "? What is it about India that the Hindus in a village ceremoniously welcomed their Muslim neighbours when the latter returned from Haj pilgrimage?

"The pilgrim's India," Eck writes, "reaches back many hundreds of years and brings to us an astonishing picture of land linked not by the power of kings and governments, but by the footsteps of pilgrims." India's unification was accomplished by the wanderings of pilgrims-from Hinglaj Mata Temple (now in Baluchistan) to Dhakeshwari Temple (now in Bangladesh), from Sharika Devi's shrine near Srinagar in Kashmir to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.

Eck's book conclusively shows that India is shaped not by the modern notion of a nation-state, "but by the extensive and intricate interrelation of geography and mythology (around rivers, shores, mountains, forests) that has produced this vast landscape of tirthas". Jawaharlal Nehru said this even more authoritatively-Rahul Gandhi, please note-in his historic address at AICC's Madurai session in October 1961 (not quoted, surprisingly, by Eck): "India has, for ages past, been a country of pilgrimages. All over the country, you find these ancient places, from Badrinath, Kedarnath and Amarnath, high up in the snowy Himalayas down to Kanyakumari in the south. What has drawn our people from the south to the north and from the north to the south in these great pilgrimages? It is the feeling of one country and one culture."

The Spirit of India is, in fact, the Idea of India. You cannot even begin to understand India without acknowledging, experiencing and comprehending its sacredness-that is, without becoming a pilgrim yourself. Whether you go to Amritsar or to Ajmer Sharif, whether you bathe in the Holy Ganga or in the "tirthas of the heart" ,to reach the shores of after-life, is up to you. Speaking for myself, I "found myself, and turned decisively away from Marxism, when I first went on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas in 1990. Reading Eck's book, I found deeper layers of the meaning of pilgrimage.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Jun 2012 23:04

Please post in Indian interests thread to enable discussion

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 13 Jun 2012 16:04

Rubicon (first published n 2003)

Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic

Preface is very well written. Gives good idea about how much one should give importance to history books and references.

From a dated review

Two challenges face a historian writing about ancient Rome for a general readership. The first is transmitting hefty information of a dullness that has driven generations away from Classics, yet without which the dynamics of the Roman Republic cannot be understood. The second is to reflect the true fascination of ancient Rome, a civilisation deceptively like our own - with muscular paganism, hygiene, a legislature, literature and military virtues - but which was in fact utterly alien. Holland succeeds brilliantly in conveying the paradoxes of that society.

Part of this success is created in changes of register, from the rhetorical to the poetic to modern vernacular - stylistic devices loved by Roman writers. 'As the traveller approached Rome's gates he might occasionally find the stench from the city ameliorated by myrrh or cassia, the perfumes of death, borne to him on the breeze from a cypress-shaded tomb' has echoes of the poet Propertius. Yet there are also ponographers, hacks, drag-queens and sleaze here; and words whose impact echo the shock of the vulgar, of the new men and their new ways which appalled conservative Rome in the first century BC.

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Jun 2012 21:44

Bureaucrat on the burning deck

The erstwhile Hyderabad State ruled by the Nizams and its accession to the Indian Union are a fascinating part of the making of this nation. At one end were the nationalists represented by the Congress and other players in the freedom struggle, including the Hindu Mahasabha, advocating the integration of Hyderabad with the Indian Union. At another end was the defiant Nizam, who wanted to exercise the choice of staying independent and negotiate aspects on which Hyderabad would like to cooperate (such as defence and currency) with the Indian Union. Added flavour comes from a supplementary angle that brought in the people’s movement in Telangana against the oppression of landlords, or zamindars; a ragtag army of Razakars trying to fight, hand and glove with the Nizam, in order to retain autonomy. Another fact that adds more variety is: about 80 per cent of the population was Hindu, spoke three different tongues, had been under Islamic rule for centuries, adopting an alien language for official and court dealings.

There is a strand of literature that examines aspects on whether Hyderabad should have been integrated with the Indian Union; whether the military action (though given a civilian term: police action) should have indeed occurred; and an associated strand on whether the state should have been trifurcated on a linguistic basis. A fascinating book called Hyderabad: After the Fall (edited by Omar Khalidi) brings out the diverse arguments that were drowned out under the nationalist rhetoric.

With October Coup, then, it was expected that the book would bring out some interesting aspects of how an administrator (in this case, a Taluqdar of Osmanabad District) would have looked at, and dealt with, such issues. These expectations, stemming from the sub-title of the book (“A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad”), were unwarranted. While the context of the book is around the struggle for independence, it is a tragic personal story of a civil servant who faced persecution by the new administration.

This book is Kafka’s delight. The author, Mohammed Hyder, is picked up soon after the Indian forces occupy Hyderabad and is put in prison without much of an explanation. Almost like the re-enactment of Kafka’s Trial, charges are framed much later, he is shifted from one prison to another, documents are withheld for flimsy reasons, even a death penalty is ordered and then the cases are withdrawn even as the persecution outside the courtroom continues. The book deals with Hyder’s trial and incarceration and what comes out of the process. It is the story of a passive struggle by a civil servant, within the confines of civility, to restore his honour and position. The first part of the book is neatly narrated. The second part has extensive reproductions of legal documents, affidavits, counter-affidavits and judgments.

The way Hyder has constructed the book is slightly disappointing. It could have been a great piece of literature — a personal account of the incarceration, a conspiracy hatched and a persecution carried out with clinical precision. It could have been a piece of history retold, about the pressures of being loyal to a losing employer, a tragic story of losing friends and allies who were mostly moving away to Pakistan, a story of Muslim rule in a Hindu state which converts into a majority (Hindu) rule in a state that was predominantly ruled by Muslims. It could have brought out the marginalisation of Muslims, particularly in the post-accession regime in which the erstwhile rulers became minorities. The potential was immense. However, Hyder restricts his story to a dispassionate personal tale, where conspiracies are played down, villains are played up, and everybody is shown to be reasonable. October Coup suffers from decency. It is too decent a book to be set in a tumultuous period.

Reviewer is a close relative

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 22 Jun 2012 01:45

Source documents and texts in Indian studies

http://www.sdstate.edu/projectsouthasia/Docs/index.cfm

South dakota university has a whole bunch of complete translations of edicts, texts and traveloue of anceint writers

All PDF downloadable.

They include :

Ashokan Rock and Pillar Edicts

Kalidasa's Shakuntala (1912 Arthur W. Ryder translation)

Harsha's Nagananda

Foreign Descriptions of India

Greek and Roman Sources (Aelian, herodotus, pliny)

Chinese (Hiuen Tsiang)

Gupta Inscriptions (Samudragupta, chandragupta 2, kumaragupta, skandagupta etc etc etc )

The Laws of Manu (full 1886 G. Bühler translation) - 12 chapters

Kautilya's Arthashastra (full 1915 Shamasastry text) - all 15 books

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Condensed into English verse by Romesh C. Dutt. New York: Dutton, 1910.

Bhagavad Gita (full text)

Harsha-carita of Bana (full 1897 E. B. Cowell and F. W Thomas translation)

The Dhammapada (complete 1881 F. Max Müller translation)

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 23 Jun 2012 21:20

Today I finished reading the book "The Pacific war 1931-45" by Saburo Ienaga. I bought this book to quench my thirst for pacific side of WWII. This thirst has however not been quenched. Will need to go through some more books on this regard.

There are many things going for this book. This book actually considers the pacific+East Asia theater as one unit. This book is factually correct in saying that the war in East Asia+Pacific started way back in 1931, way before the deranged Adolf Hitler and his Nazi thugs came to power. So Imperial Japan was with war with Soviets, Chinese, then Americans and finally with the European colonial powers long before Hitler invaded Poland. The fact that it could wage a war so long and with such horrible attrition to its manpower speaks volume about Japense Armed forces in the period of 1931-45.

The book highlights the almost chaotic decision making in Japan. The Army and the Navy of Japan in this period went their own way, disregarding everything. It was like two autonomous bodies trying to take Japan in two different directions. As a result Japan ended up going up no where. The Japanese navy for obvious reasons, wanted japan to look south, which eventually led japan to its doom. The army on the other hand had its eye on the Soviet territory of Siberia and its enormous natural resources along with China. Japan had made preparations to take on Soviet Union but the diversion of crucial IJA and Kwantung resources to the pacific theater weakened Japan's position on the Asian mainland fatally.

This book also sheds light on the fact that Kwantung Army and IJA were the most aggressive infantry oriented army of WWII. They tried to make up for lack of Material resources with ferocity. For example while Japanese troops used to focus on night marches and night attacks. They used to trek to their battle stations. While the soviets and the american used to be trucked into the battle field. This used to result in sub-optimal efforts by the Japanese soldiers. This was to be expected, as a soldier gets tired after trekking to the battle field. So a soldier who has been trucked to the battle field can say throw a hand grenade say 20 feet. However a soldier who has trekked for say 6 hours to reach the battle field would be able to throw the same hand grenade only say 10 feet. Secondly the Japanese were a great believer in hand-to-hand and close combat. While the Americans used to saturate the battle field with long range artillery. So the Japanese soldiers used to get massacred before they even had first contact with the enemy.

The book does not say directly that Japan turned southwards to set up the so called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere due to two reasons
1) The Oil/Petroleum blockade enforced by America and its allies on Japan led to
2) The catastrophic defeat of Kwantung army against the Red Army in 1939 in the so called Nomonhan incident, which coincided with Hitler's non-aggression pact.

This book does not give pearl harbor attack by the imperial Japanese navy as the center piece of the Pacific+East Asia war, which obviously it was not.

And thankfully the author does not believe that the two atomic bombs ended the war with japan. They did not. This justification is used by the Americans and by some others to justify the usage of two nuclear weapons on Japan.

This book would have been valuable if the author had taken some points into consideration

Firstly this book is overtly sympathetic to the communist side.
Secondly the author believes that self-criticism or painting the japanese side as black only is the best way, which actually ends up compromising the authors objectivity. For example the author states that

Certainly ideological differences aside, the senior (Japanese) statesmen shared a basic outlook: strongly pro-England and America, anti-communist, and totally committed to the preservation of the emperor system"

To call the imperial Japanese statesmen as pro-England and America is to ignore the life and death struggle that Imperial Japan undertook against both of these powers.
Thirdly the book seems to be too focused on the Chinese theater. The southern campaign, which Japan undertook to overcome the Oil blockade of US and its allies, is just mentioned in one chapter towards the end.
Finally this book is not ordered chronologically. Rather it is divided into discreet items which cover the entire period of the war. For example there is a chapter which deals with democracy in Japan and how it was stiffled by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 Jun 2012 21:53

Sumit Ganguly, William Thompson - Asian Rivalries: Conflict, Escalation, and Limitations on Two-level Games
Published: 2011-08-17 | ISBN: 0804775966, 0804775958 || 272 pages |

The most typical treatment of international relations is to conceive it as a battle between two antagonistic states volleying back and forth. In reality, interstate relations are often at least two-level games in which decision-makers operate not only in an international environment but also in a competitive domestic context.

Given that interstate rivalries are responsible for a disproportionate share of discord in world politics, this book sets out to explain just how these two-level rivalries really work.
By reference to specific cases, specialists on Asian rivalries examine three related questions: what is the mix of internal (domestic politics) and external (interstate politics) stimuli in the dynamics of their rivalries; in what types of circumstances do domestic politics become the predominant influence on rivalry dynamics; when domestic politics become predominant, is their effect more likely to lead to the escalation or de-escalation of rivalry hostility? By pulling together the threads laid out by each contributor, the editors create a 'grounded theory' for interstate rivalries that breaks new ground in international relations theory.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 28 Jun 2012 08:37

What I'm Reading on Vacation this year: Steve Walt

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 29 Jun 2012 08:44

On Nazism and Psychoanalysis

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 01 Jul 2012 06:02

A cop spins a yarn

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 03 Jul 2012 08:22

On Hemingway in Paris

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 03 Jul 2012 10:23

The Reckoning: Debt, Democracy, and the Future of American Power
Michael Moran

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (April 10, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 023033993X
ISBN-13: 978-0230339934

The age of American global dominance is ending. In recent years, risky economic and foreign policies have steadily eroded the power structure in place since the Cold War. And now, staggering under a huge burden of debt, the country must make some tough choices--or watch its creditors walk away. In The Reckoning, Michael Moran, a geostrategy analyst at Roubini Global Economics, the Council on Foreign Relations, and other leading institutions, explores how a variety of forces are converging to challenge U.S. leadership--including unprecedented information technologies, the growing prosperity of countries like China, India, Brazil, and Turkey, and the diminished importance of Wall Street in the face of global markets.
This shift will have serious consequences for the wider world as well. Countries that have traditionally depended on the United States for protection will have to adjust their policies to reality. Each nation will be responsible for its own human rights record, energy production, and environmental policy, and revolutions will succeed or fail unaided. Moran describes how, with a bit of political leadership, America can transition to this new world order gracefully--by managing entitlements, reigniting sustainable growth, reforming immigration policy, and breaking the poisonous deadlock in Washington. If not, he warns, the new era will arrive on its own terms and provide a nasty shock to those clinging to the 20th century.

The U.S. can no longer afford the exorbitant cost of national security or be responsible for global security and the sense of manifest destiny on which it is built. Working with the research of renowned economist Nouriel Roubini, Moran forecasts global trends that include the rise of China, India, Brazil and others while the U.S. maintains its strength but sees its “exceptionalism” tarnished. He analyzes the impact of important trends, including crushing U.S. national debt, information technology reducing U.S. influence around the world, the rising prosperity of emerging nations, and the loss of financial credibility because the U.S. triggered the economic crisis of 2008. Will the U.S. learn the lessons of the recent past or continue to deny reality? Moran sees a hopeful sign in the downgrading of debt, which forces tough decisions. But he also notes continued “ideological puritanism” that will wreck any plans for real change. His recommendations include a more manageable military budget, restoration of financial regulations, and strengthening of the middle class. A grim but hopeful analysis of the global position of the U.S. and the dire need for change. --Vanessa Bush
Review
"Michael Moran understands what few Americans do: that we have reached a tipping point in global history that will fundamentally change the planet...America will find it very difficult to adjust to its new place as a peer, rather than a dominant nation."
--From the Foreword by Nouriel Roubini, Chairman and Founder, Roubini Global Economics

"The Reckoning is a chilling survey of the state of the world and American global leadership. Michael Moran sees the real problems and argues that things will go from bad to worse unless Washington ... change its ways and embrace major reforms. I hope he's wrong--but I fear he may be right."
Gideon Rose
Editor, Foreign Affairs

“An engaging, if chilling read… Moran's point of view is valuable, particularly in the context of the U.S.' November elections.”—USA Today

"The Reckoning is a smart, sober and clear-eyed primer on the Post-American Century. Read it, and then demand equally straight answers from those who seek your vote."--The Seattle Times

"A grim but hopeful analysis of the global position of the U.S. and the dire need for change."--Booklist

"For policy and financial wonks, a smart, bracing and sobering read; for voters, fair warning about possible outcomes of the looming November elections."--Kirkus Reviews

“This solemn examination of the severe problems facing the U.S. today...offers a practical, useful roadmap for change if politicians will follow.”—Publishers Weekly

"The Reckoning is a chilling survey of the state of the world and American global leadership. Michael Moran sees the real problems and argues that things will go from bad to worse unless Washington can somehow manage to change its ways and embrace major reforms. I hope he's wrong--but I fear he may be right."--Gideon Rose, Editor, Foreign Affairs and author of How Wars End

"Mike Moran is a sharp thinker and a fine storyteller, and The Reckoning is a terrifically engaging read. America's role in the world is a subject that demands clarity and nuance, and this book delivers both."--Ian Bremmer, author of The End of the Free Market

“With the clarity and style of someone used to communicating complicated stuff to a general audience, Moran draws on his decades of experience to lay out for readers all the factors in the bill that has come due for America and how we can pay it off. The choices are hard but Moran is not a "declinist;" he is a realistic optimist. The Reckoning is a book that frames the choices facing America's citizens better than any I have read.”--Michael Goldarb, Senior Correspondent, GlobalPost.com and author of Emancipation: How Liberating Europe's Jews From the Ghetto Led to Revolution and Renaissance

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 03 Jul 2012 10:29

Good review.

The day of American global dominance is ending - a huge debt burden, and risky economic and foreign policies have made a mockery of our cherished notion of exceptionalism. Instead of confronting reality, we continue our unsuccessful practices - eg. fiscal policy directed by the size of the national debt rather than the employment crisis at hand has become a tremendous drag on economic growth. Our one 'hope,' manipulating exchange rates to influence trade balances, is a zero-sum game.

The 'good news' is that America will continue to appear strong, perhaps for as long as a generation; the 'bad news' is that our slow decline is not likely to prod the significant constructive actions needed. These include more progressive taxation and fiscal stimulus aimed at improving productive infrastructure, coupled with long-term fiscal discipline, stricter supervision and regulation of a financial system still running amok (eg. J.P. Morgan), and the breakup of 'too big to fail' banks. Also needed - less investment in hugely expensive satellite weaponry, hypersonic aircraft, and naval flotillas.

Except for the peak years of WWII, the U.S. has never had a debt/GDP ratio as high as it is now. At 1% rates, the interest now has reached $169 billion/year, exceeding eg. federal spending on highway construction and other 2011 transportation projects.

Israel was the #2 recipient of U.S. foreign aid in 2010, #3 in 2011. Adding Egypt and Jordan's foreign-aid receipts (provided primarily to calm the waters for Israel), would clear make Israel the #1 recipient in both years. Israel's policies of occupying the West Bank and Gaza, proliferating nuclear weapons while pretending it doesn't have any, and the denial of voting and property rights to Palestinians cannot continue. Other Mid-East states (eg. Saudi Arabia - both a major source of oil and holder of our debt) will demand a more aggressive U.S. stance vs. Israel.

Moran is somewhat encouraged by rising labor costs within China; however, he ignores that millions more workers still available in China, as well as India, Vietnam, etc.

China's world influence is boosted by the fact it can shoot down satellites with lasers, and its carrier-killer can strike as much as 1,200 miles offshore. (The range of carrier-based aircraft absent refueling is not about 735 miles.) It's now the #1 trade partner vs. South Korea, Japan, Australia, and India. This doesn't bode well for U.S. influence in those areas. Further, everyone (especially South Korea) knows China has far more leverage with North Korea than does the U.S.

Placing Pakistan into the category of 'friend' has undermined relations with India; ironically, both have strong intelligence assets vs. the Taliban. India then retaliated by declining to consider purchasing new U.S. fighter aircraft.

The 'really bad news' is that even recent severe shocks have failed to motivate rethinking - eg. 9/11 instead saddled us with misguided wars and the squandering of much of the admiration and good will that had been acquired following the peaceful end of the Cold War. Then came the 'Great Recession' after our Darwinistic financial systems deregulation, further worsening matters. Still no major changes. And perhaps worst of all, what passes for 'truth' in American political debate adds no light but does provide another major obstacle. Moran doesn't see either the Tea Party or Obama as leading the U.S. forward in a positive manner.

Recommendations: 1)'Tough love' for all our allies, else they'll continue to over-rely on the U.S. until reaching the point that it is obvious we've become a paper tiger. (Eg. Taiwan - Do you really think the U.S. will/could choose defending a nation nearly 7,000 miles away, vs. Los Angeles?) 2)Address income inequality and re-boot the economy by resetting mortgage loans to actual current values, re-emphasizing progressive taxation. 3)Take a 'gloves off' approach vs. the financial sector. 4)Restructure the military - eg. emphasize long-range drones vs. the new trillion-dollar-plus problem-plagued F-35, smaller ships vs. the $12+ trillion aircraft carrier U.S.S. Gerald Ford. 5)End our unilateral assumption of responsibility for Middle-East stability.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 04 Jul 2012 06:18

On The Levant

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jul 2012 00:54

Siddhartha Deb, "The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New India"
ISBN: 0865478627 | 2011 | 272 pages

A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title

Siddhartha Deb grew up in a remote town in the northeastern hills of India and made his way to the United States via a fellowship at Columbia. Six years after leaving home, he returned as an undercover reporter for The Guardian, working at a call center in Delhi in 2004, a time when globalization was fast proceeding and Thomas L. Friedman declared the world flat. Deb’s experience interviewing the call-center staff led him to undertake this book and travel throughout the subcontinent.

The Beautiful and the Damned examines India’s many contradictions through various individual and extraordinary perspectives. With lyrical and commanding prose, Deb introduces the reader to an unforgettable group of Indians, including a Gatsby-like mogul in Delhi whose hobby is producing big-budget gangster films that no one sees; a wiry, dusty farmer named Gopeti whose village is plagued by suicides and was the epicenter of a riot; and a sad-eyed waitress named Esther who has set aside her dual degrees in biochemistry and botany to serve Coca-Cola to arms dealers at an upscale hotel called Shangri La.

Like no other writer, Deb humanizes the post-globalization experience—its advantages, failures, and absurdities. India is a country where you take a nap and someone has stolen your job, where you buy a BMW but still have to idle for cows crossing your path. A personal, narrative work of journalism and cultural analysis in the same vein as Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s Random Family and V. S. Naipaul’s India series, The Beautiful and the Damned is an important and incisive new work.

The Beautiful and the Damned is a Publishers Weekly Best Nonfiction title for 2011.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jul 2012 01:30

Please no comments in Book Review thread.

Thanks, ramana