The Decline of American Power: The U.S. in a Chaotic World

Book Description

The internationally renowned theorist contends that the sun is setting on the American Empire.

The United States in decline? Its admirers and detractors alike claim the opposite: that America is now in a position of unprecedented global supremacy. But in fact, Immanuel Wallerstein argues, a more nuanced evaluation of recent history reveals that America has been fading as a global power since the end of the Vietnam War, and, in the long term, its response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 may well hasten that decline.

In this provocative volume Wallerstein—the "visionary" (Diplomatic History) originator of world-systems analysis and the most innovative social scientist of his generation—turns his practiced analytical eye to the turbulent beginnings of the 21st century. Wallerstein upends conventional wisdom to produce a clear-eyed—and troubling—assessment of the crumbling international order and America's precarious footing at its pinnacle.

Customer Reviews:

Useful study of capitalism's absolute decline.......2004-09-09

Wallerstein is a Senior Research Scholar at Yale University. He analyses the absolute decline of the capitalist world-economy, from its genesis in 1450 through its development to its current `period of terminal crisis'. We now endure economic stagnation, political instability and social pathologies.

He points out that there is no escape from class struggle, internally between those for and those against a more democratic and egalitarian society, externally between those defending nations' sovereignty and those upholding the imperial `right to intervene'.

He has some dazzling insights - "The idea that leaders sell out, just like the idea that the masses are falsely conscious, seems to me analytically sterile and politically disabling." But there are weaknesses too, as when he focuses on the `left' and on `anti-systemic movements', rather than on the mass, on the necessity for every country to develop workers' nationalism, to control speculative flows of capital and labour.

Workers are the immense majority in the world. Migration from rural areas into labour markets has enabled capitalists to relocate, particularly to China. But the world is running out of new sources of cheap labour, and within a generation the new workers learn how to organise for better wages. So wage levels are rising as a percentage of production costs, averaged across the world. Also, taxes to pay for health, education and welfare are rising. Higher wages and taxes squeeze global profits, threatening capitalists' ability to accumulate capital, especially from industrial production.

So the USA is a colossus with feet of clay. Its economy is faltering, and it cannot use its military muscle to shape the world the way it wants. Unable to prevail over China and Korea, defeated by Vietnam, it is now trapped in the quagmire of Iraq.

Wallerstein concludes, "In the history of the world, military power has never been sufficient to maintain supremacy. Legitimacy is essential, at least legitimacy recognised by a significant part of the world. With their preemptive war, the American hawks have undermined very fundamentally the U.S. claim to legitimacy. And thus they have weakened the United States irremediably in the geopolitical arena."

A rewarding, but difficult read.......2003-11-26

Immanuel Wallerstein has some very important things to say in this book, and his thesis (shared by several authors of other new books): that America is a country in a state of very serious decline, dating back to the early 1970's, is certainly plausible given an examination of the existing economic statistics.

Mr. Wallerstein is at his best in the first and last parts of his book, where he speaks in clear, straightforward language, and offers us the insight of someone who has clearly read widely in history, politics and the economy. His analysis of the contrasting spending habits of Japan and the United States (pg. 26), with a powerful illustration to explain it, and the ramifications for the two countries' futures, is a fabulous insight that kept me reading, and looking for more keen observations.

Unfortunately, Mr. Wallerstein's writing, throughout most of the rest of the book, suffers from an all-too-common handicap among researchers and professors: leaden, often indecipherable, academic prose.

Here's an illustrative example from page 107: "The capitalist world-economy is a historical system that has combined an axial division of labor integrated through a less than perfectly autonomous world-market combined with an interstate system composed of allegedly sovereign states, a geoculture that has legitimated a scientific ethos as the underpinnings of economic transformations and profit making, and liberal reformism as a mode of containing popular discontent with the steadily increasing socioeconomic polarization that capitalist development has entailed."

Talking to us throughout the book, with repeated use of words and phrases like "bifurcation," "chronosophy," "praxis," "periodizations," and the "universalisms [that] presupposed the hierarchies of the modern world-system," the author leaves us wondering what he is trying to say.

And the author's over-emphasis on Yalta, the meeting after WWII among the victors of that war, leads to some overly simplistic cause-and-effect statements such as: "The collapse of Communism in effect signified the collapse of liberalism...This loss of legitimacy led directly to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, which Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would never have dared had the Yalta arrangements remained in place. (p. 21)"

No mention is made here of oil, the geopolitical situation that existed at the time in the Middle East or America's foreign policy under George Bush Sr. and how it affected Hussein's machinations and military strategy; nor is there any analysis of the now-infamous fact of Bush's double-cross of Hussein, wherein one of Bush's diplomats, April Gillespie, when asked by Hussein shortly before he invaded Kuwait, if the United States had any interest in his activities with relation to that country, was ordered by Bush to falsely state that "No, we do not."

Almost immediately thereafter, Hussein invaded.

However, Mr. Wallerstein does have a very topical, intriguing and contrarian argument to make in his book, and one that is deserving of careful analysis: that capitalism is in crisis, and America along with it, and that either, or both, will be replaced or altered drastically, in the coming decades. And his use of "world-systems" as his method of analysis appears to be highly effective and well-considered.

Mr. Wallerstein has done Americans a service by informing them of the very real danger that America is in, economically, politically and otherwise. If readers have the patience and the fortitude to stick it out for the full-length of this difficult book, some hard-won insights and observations, await them.

Book Description

Surviving Workplace Change—Workshop (One day) In order for individuals to be successful in today's changing environment, they have to come to understand their own reactions to change and develop practical techniques to constructively deal with the personal impacts of change. This workshop is appropriate for all levels of employees and explores topics like natural resistance to change, differing individual reactions to change, and developing tools to cope with change. By learning about four thinking preferences, participants learn how specific changes affect individuals differently.

Book Description

Get cutting-edge information to improve crop breeding and productivity!

Crop improvement will become progressively important over the next few decades as the world's population is expected to top 10 billion people, with more than eight billion in developing countries alone. Genetic and Production Innovations in Field Crop Technology: New Developments in Theory and Practice tackles this enormous challenge by detailing the latest available research and innovations for crop breeders and physiologists for the twenty-first century. Respected multidisciplinary scientists comprehensively discuss cutting-edge advances in field crop technology and genetic production as they keep an eye on the goal of providing nutrition to a hungry world.

Genetic and Production Innovations in Field Crop Technology emphasizes an integrated approach to solve global crop production problems and increase crop productivity. Crop research experts review methods of globally improving crop yield, food product efficiency, and providing adequate nutrition in diet. The authors discuss various types of field crops, including corn, soybeans, winter wheat, cassavas, rubber, sunflowers, and barley, as well as review the exciting innovations on the food production horizon. The text is extensively referenced and includes useful graphs and tables to clearly present data.

Genetic and Production Innovations in Field Crop Technology presents:

visionary articles by authorities in agricultural sciences

statistical design axioms and modern plot techniques

discussions of integration of crop physiology and plant breeding

information on systematic collection and preservation of germplasm

explanations of genetic diversity in soybeans

corn breeding and production research—including the economics—in the United States

research on cassava breeding in less favorable environments to alleviate poverty

strategies for improving yielding potential of rubber in sub-optimal environments

information on fine-tuning wheat genotype-by-environment interaction methodology

reviews of QTL identification, mega-environment classification, and effective strategies for marker-based selection via GGE biplot analyses

research on statistical properties and practical usefulness of the Scheffe-Calinski and Shukla models relative to genotype-by-environment interaction

Genetic and Production Innovations in Field Crop Technology: New Developments in Theory and Practice belongs in every agricultural university library. Crop breeders, geneticists, agronomists and horticulturists, educators, and students will find this an invaluable research source for now and for the future.

Book Description

Hardbound. The Free Electron Laser triggers, for many people, wild fantasies on large scale applications. However, Free Electron Lasers are not so much direct devices for various applications, but form an interesting subject within fundamental physics.

The interplay between electric magnetic and the photon field have an intrinsic beauty and are deeply rooted in the fundamental understanding of nature. In this volume, edited by three major initiators in the field and containing contributions from experts belonging to the most advanced groups working on the subject, a first, comprehensive account of the Free Electron Laser is given. Chapters include both complete classical and quantum mechanical descriptions. Various types of experiments with intrinsic strong points and weaknesses are described while attention is also given to state-of-the-art experiments.

This book is not intended as a catalogue of on-going experiments. It is the first large scale re

Book Description

International Environmental Risk Management: ISO 14000 and the Systems Approach gives readers an extensive analysis of practical applications of ISO 14000 and environmental compliance management systems. It offers a mixture of technical engineering advice, legal guidance, and common-sense business acumen. The authors explain the essentials of the standards - how they are being developed and what implications they present - and then discuss cost-benefit analyses, integration strategies, business risk control measures, litigation avoidance and legal expense reduction, and step-by-step guidance on achieving third-party certification.

Customer Reviews:

the description was excellent regarding risk management.......1999-10-31

This a best book that i have ever gone through and can be useful to any common man with minimum knowledge. I hope this best book to guide your self into safe conditions if you are operating an industry.

Interesting topics - lack of depth.......1999-05-12

Notwithstanding the comments from other reviewers, the authors fall a bit short of expectations. Several chapters are too short (voluntary programs and gap analyses as examples), and references are less than complete. The authors could have devoted more time to this important and much read subject matter.

There are other more comprehensive books: The ISO 14000 Guide (Cascio) and Inside ISO 14000 (Sayer).

Interesting topics - lack of depth.......1999-05-12

There are other more comprehensive books: The ISO 14000 Guide (Cascio) and Inside ISO 14000 (Sayer).

This is immediately useful material!.......1998-04-28

As a professional risk manager, I found "International Environmental Risk Management," a recent book by John Voorhees and Robert Woellner, an incredibly insightful tool in helping me address environmental problems within multinational corporations.

The authors evaluate and address environmental risk in a symptomatic way, based on the management system developed by the International Standards Organization headquartered in Switzerland. John Voorhees and Robert Woellner are seasoned professionals who have extensive experience in resolving environmental problems and focus upon the ISO 14000 systems approach. With Voorhees' legal experience and Woellner's analytical and risk-assessment background, readers receive a compelling approach to prepare for, anticipate and resolve environmental issues.

Applying the ISO 14000 systems approach to a global business-strategy is clearly the wave of the future. Reading this book will prepare you for this future by managing your environmental risk today. The protection offered is well worth the price of this excellent book.

Everyone in the organization should read this book........1998-04-28

Here's a new book that offers a different perspective on ISO 14000 than last year's crop of "basics" volumes. "International Environmental Risk Management: ISO 14000 and the Systems Approach" is one of the few books we've seen that mixes basic information on the EMS standard with a discussion of the CERES Principals, Paul Hawken's writings, and sustainability. The book is written by John Voorhees, director of the environmental law practice group of Isaacson, Rosenbaum, Wooks & Levy, and Robert A. Woellner, president of QUEST Management International, LLC; both are based in Denver, Colorado, USA. The authors discuss ways to use the global environmental management standards to manage impacts and risk, as well as legal strategies and voluntary initiatives that companies can use to reduce environmental risks. Placing ISO 14000 in a broader context, they conclude that "business must learn how to eliminate pollution, which will reduce risks and expenses and create opportunities for revenue growth. Environmental management systems may become the most expedient and effective means of transmitting the message to eneryone in the organization that they have an important role in any effort minimizing environmental impacts."

Total Quality Environmental Management: An ISO 14000 Approach

Average customer rating:

A solid environmental TQM handbook for executives.

Total Quality Environmental Management: An ISO 14000 Approach
Vasanthakumar N. Bhat
Manufacturer: Quorum Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Total Quality Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Natural Resources | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1567200974

Book Description

Pollution reduction attempts, without consideration of costs and benefits, are likely to destroy stock market values of corporations. Companies are faced with a plethora of alternatives to reduce pollution as pollution control moves from command-and-control to market-based regulations. This book offers new insights into implementing environmental programs in companies of any size. The reader is walked through all phases of an environmental management program, including self-evaluation, product and process evaluation, environmental reporting, product labeling, environmental auditing, industry standards, environmental performance metrics, environmental accounting, and total quality environmental management tools. ISO 14000 standards applicable to various phases of environmental management systems are described in detail. This book explains in-depth how to initiate, develop, and implement environmental programs in a total quality management framework and integrate environmental factors in critical corporate decisions. This work, written primarily for practicing managers, should also be of interest to scholars and students in business management.

Customer Reviews:

A solid environmental TQM handbook for executives........1998-08-03

Overall it was a good read and easily digestable. It was written for both upper management and functional level management looking to address environmental risks. The book is extremely repetitive, and at times spends too much time explaining definitions of specific tools. It is very detailed, yet readily understandable to non-experts in the field.

Average customer rating:

Great Read

One of the best handicapping books ever.

Andrew Beyer's Mentor

Fantastic stuff- the best comprehensive handicapping book

Buy this if you are already skilled and want an edge

Betting Thoroughbreds: A Professional's Guide for the Horseplayer: Second Revised Edition
Steve Davidowitz
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Track Betting | Gambling | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Racing | Horses | Individual Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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Beyer on Speed: New Strategies for Racetrack Betting

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Ainslie's Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing

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Exotic Betting: How to Make the Multihorse, Multirace Bets that Win Racing's Biggest Payoffs

ASIN: 0452270421

Customer Reviews:

Great Read.......2007-09-21

Useful information and definitely not for beginners. Great for handicappers trying to take the next step. It is probably ready for another revision as new aspects of horse racing have come into play over the last 5 years.

One of the best handicapping books ever........2007-07-07

I've read pretty much everything that's been printed on playing the horses...this book ranks at the top of them all. In my opinion, the most valuable part of this book is the chapter dealing with ticket construction. Davidowitz looks at multiple scenarios and outlines sample tickets to go with each. For example, is there a race where you like one or two horses fairly strongly and want to play a trifecta? Davidowitz develops several different strategies for betting in that situation, as well as suggests that appropriate amount of bankroll to be used.

If you combine the ideas and methods in this book with those in Crists "Exoctic Betting", you would have a very fine grasp on wagering strategies.

One word of caution, this book is definitely for more advanced players. Those who are $2 bettors or play with a limited bankroll can learn a lot from this text, but many of the ideas and methods will be difficult to incorporate. However, I would still recommned this book to anyone who wants to expand his horseracing knowledge.

Andrew Beyer's Mentor.......2006-01-12

This is clearly one of the best books ever written on Thoroughbred Handicapping. It should become evident soon after the opening chapter how complex and laborious the life of a professional horse bettor must be to hold an edge over the betting public. Steve is a genuine winning handicapper himself, and reveals what it takes to win. The percentage of winning bettors at any given track on any given day has been estimated to be 5%. (2% remain the same consistent winners day after day). It takes an immense amount of never ending study to remain financially solvent as a bettor. Steve, as a responsible author points this out. This reviewer will also confirm this to be true. There is no book on the market that will make a winner out of a nonwinner without effort as in any other great endeavor. I give this book a 5 Star Rating for leaving no stone unturned in the handicapping picture.

Fantastic stuff- the best comprehensive handicapping book.......2006-01-07

Any book or author that introduces a concept that becomes part of everyone's handicapping arsenal deserves recognition for their genius. Davidowitz was the first to really publish insights into track bias and it's power. Other than that concept, this book is full of good ideas across the board. The revised edition's treatment of pace is good stuff even for those who approach pace more technically like Brohammer. Davidowitz's work on charts and how to use them to find key races and trip overlays is more gold for serious players.
Years after I first read this, I have realized how great this book is for horseplayers. Davidowitz has covered a difficult array of factors with provoking insight into each and has done a masterful job of explaining how to incoporate into the handicapping puzzle.

Buy this if you are already skilled and want an edge.......2005-05-12

I bought this book as a novice thoroughbred better, and no one in my casual group of horserace friends has been able to glean much useful information from it. I should have been warned--the title clearly states that it is for professionals. While this book didn't help me personally, it is probably an excellent resource for someone already in the field looking for the next step in their edge over the house.

I'm posting this review as a caution to other people who might be looking for a good introduction to horse racing. This isn't it. Leave this one for the professionals.

Average customer rating:

Great Book

Where you should start!

Good Beginning Study Guide for the Dedicated Learner

stickers are great, but the book a little out-dated.

An easy, fun way to learn, BUT...

Norwegian in 10 Minutes a Day
Kristine K. Kershul
Manufacturer: Bilingual Books (WA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Norwegian | Foreign Language | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Germanic Languages | Instruction | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Beginner's Norwegian with 2 Audio CDs

Norwegian-English Dictionary: A Pronouncing and Translating Dictionary of Modern Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk) with a Historical and Grammatical Introduction

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Colloquial Norwegian: A Complete Language Course (Colloquial Series (Multimedia))

ASIN: 0944502385

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-09-09

I bought this book for my boyfriend who had recently been to Norway and fell in love with the language and wanted to learn. He has told me only wonderful things about it and uses it every day. He says it is easy to follow and provides for great practice. He has even been able to hold a conversation with his Norweigan friend quite well since using it. I would highly recommend this book.

Where you should start!.......2007-05-25

My boyfriend, who is from Norway, willingly speaks great English to communicate with me. So I figured, why not do the same for him? At first I tried Teach Yourself, but that was wayyyy too difficult for me at the time, so I decided a beginners workbook like this would be best. Yes, this is a WORKBOOK... it reminds me of Elementary/Junior High school, but remember when you had to write down things over and over? And you remembered it well? That's how this book works.

We looked through a bunch of books, with and without the help of Audio CDs. He thought this would be a nice book to start with, and then move on to a higher level. I bought a used, older edition of this book (1988), so I wasn't sure what to expect... but he promised me everything is more or less the same now. I know this to be true because I tried a few phrases and sure enough, he understood me!

Since I'm used to hearing him try to vocally teach me, I was more ready for the pronunciations of the words and phrases than if I'd never heard them before. I'd recommend actually HEARING Norwegian first before you try to read the pronunciations above the words, or else you might be really confused! In the instruction paragraphs, they will substitute a Norwegian word for an English word (Example: "Use these *nummer* on a *daglig* basis. Count to yourself *på norsk*...") This can either help or not, depending on whether you're good at remembering words that suddenly occur in another language.

Whenever I come across a new word I write it a lot in pencil near it. It helps. But that's just what I do. In yellow boxes on the bottom of each page are words that are easy to learn because they're similar to English. The stickers and flashcards are very cute and helpful, though you may have a difficult time finding where to put some of the stickers! It also has a neat menu and a small glossary of all the words/phrases you learn in the book.

I'd definitely recommend this book to absolute beginners, and keep it for reference, but then move on to a higher-level audiobook like Teach Yourself or Pimsleur so things will be more familiar to you, which is what I intend to do once I finish this book!

Good Beginning Study Guide for the Dedicated Learner.......2006-10-03

"Norwegian in 10 Minutes a day" is designed for the person who is self-motivated enough to devote at least ten minutes a day to the lessons and who is familar enough with the study of foreign languages to pick one up without outside coaching. The study guide is highly portable and can be used anytime the student has the opportunity.

The guide covers the basics of the Norwegian language in a self-paced manner. Dedicated study should enable the traveler to Norway to acculmulate a basic vocabulary sufficient to read signs, menus, and other public displays, handle money, and to ask and answer simple questions. The lack of an audio feature with this guide would make it pretty challenging to master conversational Norwegian without resort to other training materials, classroom instruction, or practice with someone already familar with spoken Norwegian.

This guide is highly recommended to the beginner in Norwegian looking for a basic introduction to the language, and to the student with some pre-existing familarity with Norwegian who is looking for a refresher course.

stickers are great, but the book a little out-dated........2006-08-23

This book was one of several purchased in order to get my hubby speaking Norwegian. The book itself is good, but I did find it to be quite outdated and to have an "old" feel to it. Which can be explained so simply as to the fact that it is an old book!
However, the accompanying 150 sticker sheets were superb, very good idea to label things around the house, what better way to learn than having it shoved in your face everytime you use an object or enter a room! Just that made this book more than worth it!

An easy, fun way to learn, BUT..........2005-08-25

Having been raised in Norway, I can say that a non-native speaker or someone without previous exposure to the language will probably have difficulty with pronunciation. The book tries to sound it out for English speakers, but that only serves to make you sound like a foreigner :) Nonetheless, it's a good, fun way to learn the grammar, vocabulary, and begin to put together some of the sounds. The variety of "games" and exercises help keep your attention while you learn.

A good intermediate step as a refresher, most definitely.

Book Description

"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere!" When Sinatra sang those immortal words from "New York, New York," he must have had Madison Square Garden in mind. After all, Ol' Blue Eyes played the Garden, as did Judy Garland, John Lennon, and, in the past four decades, every major rock band or rap artist from the Beastie Boys to U2. That lineup doesn't even begin to take into account the all-star roster of athletes-Muhammad Ali, Walt Frazier, Patrick Ewing, Carl Lewis, Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, and John McEnroe, to name a few-who have set records there. Since it first opened in 1879, the Garden has been a magnet for fans intent on expressing their passion in person for their favorite performers. Currently home to the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty, it is also the venue for everything from the Westminster Dog Show to the 2004 Republican National Convention-which is why it's called "The World's Most Famous Arena."

In Garden of Dreams more than 100 knockout images by longtime Garden photographer George Kalinsky capture all the glorious highlights in the arena's history. From Ali to Sinatra, Garland to Gretzky, Kalinsky has shot the greatest. Adding insight and context to the photos are essays by 25 luminaries who have witnessed or participated in some of these legendary Garden events. The list of contributors includes Billy Crystal, Bill Bradley, Woody Allen, Peggy Fleming, Spike Lee, John McEnroe, Mary Tyler Moore, and Christopher Reeve. Pete Hamill's introduction recounts the Garden's storied past, and reminds readers why MSG evokes such powerful emotions for New York residents and visitors alike. AUTHOR BIO: GEORGE KALINSKY's work has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the International Center of Photography, all in New York, and Tokyo's Olympus Plaza Gallery; his work has also appeared in such national publications as Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated. Kalinsky is the recipient of numerous awards, and he was honored by the photography industry (PMDA) as the International Photographer of the Year in 2001. He is the author of nine books, which together have sold more than two million copies.

Garden of Dreams: Madison Square Garden 125 Years

Average customer rating:

Garden of Dreams: Madison Square Garden 125 Years
George Kalinsky
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MU6QK6

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