Politics

"It's an open secret that voters in smaller, less populous states have more electoral power than their urban counterparts, so why are these same voters the most eager to leave behind democratic principles? ... Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why, with all of this extra influence, these same voters fail to see real benefits, for instance suffering worse health and education outcomes than larger states, and why they are the most likely to rage against the democratic project the moment elections stop going their way. This is the patriotic paradox of rural America: the rural citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are least likely to defend core American principles, even when the system itself is set up in their favor"--

The book is an account of the life and spiritual journey of Paramahansa Yogananda, who was born in India in 1893. Yogananda's early years are marked by a deep interest in spirituality and a desire to seek truth and enlightenment. He describes his encounters with several spiritual teachers and gurus during his youth, including Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, who became his principal guru and mentor.The autobiography recounts Yogananda's experiences and spiritual insights, including his training in the ancient science of Kriya Yoga, a meditation and spiritual practice. He also shares his travels in India and his interactions with various spiritual figures, including Mahatma Gandhi.Yogananda's journey takes him to the United States, where he introduces the teachings of yoga and meditation to a Western audience. He establishes the Self-Realization Fellowship, an organization devoted to disseminating the teachings of Kriya Yoga and spiritual self-realization.Throughout the book, Yogananda discusses the interconnectedness of various religious and spiritual traditions and emphasizes the universal principles that underlie all spiritual paths. He shares personal stories and mystical experiences, making a compelling case for the transformative power of yoga and meditation in achieving self-realization and spiritual awakening.The "Autobiography of a Yogi" is regarded as a spiritual classic and has been highly influential in the spread of yoga and Eastern spirituality in the West. It has inspired countless individuals on their spiritual journeys and continues to be widely read and respected by people seeking a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the mind and the quest for self-realization. The book's universal message of seeking divine wisdom and realization transcends cultural and religious boundaries.

With a foreword by Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner 'A must-read for anyone concerned with human rights in Iran. A gripping, moving and utterly shocking account.' Kylie Moore-Gilbert New introductions written by Shannon Woodcock and Nayereh Tohidi Extended solitary confinement has been condemned as a severe violation of human rights. Yet it is still widely used in Iranian prisons. In White Torture, thirteen women, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, share their experiences of imprisonment: harassment and beatings by guards, total blindfolding and denial of medical treatment. Angry interrogators threaten their families and lie about their whereabouts. One prisoner is even told she is dead. None of the women have committed crimes they are prisoners of conscience or held hostage as bargaining chips. Through psychological torture, the Iranian state hopes to remake their souls. These interviews, carried out while each woman was in prison or facing charges, are astounding documents of resistance and integrity. White Torture unveils the rot at the heart of the Iranian legal system and calls on us to act for change.

Why would the first family of oil so ardently support environmental climate research and activism? Join author and researcher Jacob Nordangård as he uncovers the whole sordid truth. The Rockefeller family is one of the richest in the world. Yet, why would the family that made the world dependent on oil fund environmental and climate research since the 1950s, help shape climate policy measures since the 1980s, and supported climate activism since the 1990s? Rockefeller: Controlling the Game is the thrilling and paradoxical story of one of the world's most influential global players. Through its top position in American business, close contacts with the White House, and with their immense financial power as one of the world's leading private research funders, the Rockefellers have been able to anchor the climate issue both scientifically and politically. Yet what is the reasoning behind doing so?   Author and researcher Jacob Nordangård follows the family from the founding of Standard Oil and the Rockefeller Foundation, up through the aftermath of the Paris Agreement, with the declaration of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in January 2016, to the present day. Nordangård's in-depth research includes the large quantities of new material recently made available on the Internet, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation's own annual reports. Nordangård's main focus is the Rockefeller family's involvement in climate research and politics, but the actions and motives of some of their allies are also explored, as well as the family's influence on the development of modern medicine, family planning, agriculture, art, architecture, behavioral science, information technology, and politics. The Rockefeller family's utopian dream of a perfect world will have serious consequences for the survival of the human species and life as we know it. The Rockefeller Foundation's stated mission to "promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world" has a dark flipside, as, Nordangård will prove, the Rockefeller family's long-standing battle against climate change contains elements of sophisticated propaganda techniques, futurism, and New Age philosophy, aiming at a complete transformation of the whole earth system, including economy, ecology, culture, and even humanity itself.

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2024****A BEST BOOK OF 2024 BY THE NEW YORKER** 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.

What can the fall of Rome teach us about the decline of the West today? A historian and a political economist, both experts in their field, investigateOver the last three centuries, the West rose to dominate the planet. Then, suddenly, around the turn of the millennium, history reversed. Faced with economic stagnation and internal political division, the West has found itself in rapid decline.This is not the first time the global order has witnessed such a dramatic rise and fall. The Roman Empire followed a similar arc from dizzying power to disintegration - a fact that is more than a strange historical coincidence. In Why Empires Fall, historian Peter Heather and political economist John Rapley use this Roman past to think anew about the contemporary West, its state of crisis, and what paths we could take out of it.In this exceptional, transformative intervention, Heather and Rapley explore the uncanny parallels - and productive differences - between the two cases, moving beyond the familiar tropes of invading barbarians and civilizational decay to learn new lessons from ancient history. From 399 to 1999, the life cycles of empires, they argue, sow the seeds of their inevitable destruction. The era of western global domination has reached its end - so what comes next?

'Viktor Frankl gives us the gift of looking at everything in life as an opportunity' - Edith Eger, bestselling author of The ChoiceAn inspirational new collection on turning tragedy into triumph by Holocaust survivor and multi-million copy bestselling author of Man's Search for Meaning.During his lifetime, world renowned psychiatrist and Auschwitz survivor Viktor Frankl had an unshakably optimistic outlook on life. He believed that regardless of circumstance, we can all find meaning and fulfilment in our lives, even in the face of great adversity.But how much influence do we have on shaping our own lives? How do we seize opportunities and create a meaningful life? And in doing so, can we still respect the dignity of others and tolerate all views?Published in English for the first time, Embracing Hope shows that by exercising our freedoms, we have a duty and responsibility to ourselves, to others and to the world around us. This collection of timeless lessons offers hope and consolation, admonition and warning, and reveals how to turn tragedy into triumph and lead a fulfilled, purposeful life.

"A decade after The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns, journalist Sasha Issenberg again goes behind the scenes of political campaigns. This time, the most urgent research and strategizing are being conducted on how to deal with disinformation"--

Over two decades have passed since the "Cold War" between the Soviet Union and the West ended. Many citizens of the former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact nations have embraced the opportunities which come with expanded civil liberties and economic growth, but extremists exploit nostalgia for the days of empire. In the words of Vladimir Putin, "the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century." A new ideology-Eurasianism-is being advanced by those who dream of a new empire and revenge on the Western powers which brought about the collapse of the Soviet empire. Aleksandr Dugin, the father of Eurasianism, was recently described by Foreign Affairs as "Putin's Brain." For Dugin, the battle between Russia and the West is an epic struggle to fulfill ancient myths: a battle between the mystical forces of the mythical land of 'Arctogaia' and a decadent, materialistic America. "The American Empire should be destroyed," Dugin declares, "And at one point, it will be." America needs to understand the nature of the Eurasianist ideology, and the fanaticism which wages war against the people of Ukraine today, and against the West tomorrow. "All too often, history is driven by the mad passions and ambitions of tyrants-and by warped visions of "progress" crafted in the shadows behind their thrones. James Heiser's brilliant new book drags one of today's most dangerous "gray eminences" into the light. His careful, intricate analysis reveals Aleksandr Dugin, whose twisted ideology shapes Vladimir Putin's brutal and aggressive effort to build a Eurasian empire centered on Russia. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the perilous and irrational motivations of those who now rule in Moscow." -Patrick Larkin, co-author of Red Phoenix, The Enemy Within, and other best-selling thrillers, and author of The Tribune "James Heiser has written a profoundly fascinating book on an important and troubling man. Anyone concerned about the future of Russia-indeed international affairs in general-should read this book."-Peter Schweizer, President, Government Accountability Institute, William J. Casey Fellow at the Hoover Institution, author, Extortion, Victory, and Reagan's War "A penetrating analysis of the dangerous totalitarian dogma of the man who has become Putin's Rasputin. If you want to understand the new threat to Western civilization, you need to read this book."-Dr. Robert Zubrin, President, Mars Society, President, Pioneer Astronautics and Pioneer Energy, author, Merchants of Despair-Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism "As his views reported by Heiser make clear, Dugin believes these are literally the forces of the anti-Christ, and to combat them he calls for the mobilisation of the peoples of Eurasia led by Russia, and including the former Soviet republics, Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and Iran, thus forging a 'natural' alliance with Islam while also ensuring Russian access to warm-water ports."--Mervyn F. Bendle, "Putin's Rasputin," for Quadrant Online "Alexander Dugin is little known in Western countries. In this book, James Heiser convincingly advances the case that this Russian philosopher and occultist should be better known and helps us to get to know him."... 'The American Empire Should be Destroyed' provides a well-written history of the rise of Dugin and his influence on Russian politics. Likewise, it convincingly makes the case that the West needs to wake up to the threat which Dugin's philosophy poses when it is advocated, in part, by the Russian elite."--Ed Dutton, Quarterly Review

A searing portrait of Palestinian life and identity that is at once an exploration of Edward Said's unclaimable past and a testimony to the lives of those living in exile.

From an experienced business journalist, the story of how women have fought for financial freedom, and the social and political hurdles that have keep them from equality

New edition of one of the most celebrated books on the Troubles.

This book delivers a first-of-its-kind roadmap for the zero-carbon industrial transition, spotlighting the breakthrough innovations transforming the manufacturing sector and the policies that can accelerate this global shift.

"A conversation between public intellectuals examining the contentious interplay between the Cuban Revolution and U.S. empire"--

"An embodied guide to being with grief individually and in community-practical exercises, decolonized rituals, and Earth-based medicines for healing and processing loss"--

The book draws on history, philosophy, psychology, and biology as well economics, law, and finance to describe what has gone wrong, what needs to change, and how to fix it. It sets out the big challenges that capitalism must address and how it should set about doing that.