Briefly Noted
Briefly Noted: Oil Powers: A History of the U.S.–Saudi Alliance
Oil Powers: A History of the U.S.–Saudi Alliance, Victor McFarland (New York: Columbia University Press, 2020), 376 pp., cloth $140, paperback $35, eBook $34.99. Since its earliest days in the 1930s, the U.S.-Saudi alliance has in many ways been a marriage of opposites: In the beginning, it consisted of an industrial capitalist democracy—a global hegemon, […]
Briefly Noted: Postliberal Politics: The Coming Era of Renewal,
Postliberal Politics discusses a variety of ideas regarding systemic changes primarily to Western political systems that would allow these societies to move past traditional notions of liberalism into a postliberal politic that centers itself in the human need for community, belonging, and meaningful interpersonal connection. The aim of the book is to establish what postliberal politics should look like, and how significantly Western liberal institutions will need to change to make that a reality.
Briefly Noted: Out of the Dark Night: Essays on Decolonization
In Out of the Dark Night: Essays on Decolonization, Achille Mbembe tackles everything from precolonial sexuality to modern immigration to the repatriation of African artworks. A kaleidoscope image of Africa and the world emerges over the course of six essays, as diffuse sociohistorical trends that govern our realities are laid out in straightforward, descriptive terms.
Briefly Noted: Secrets in Global Governance: Disclosure Dilemmas and the Challenge of International Cooperation in World Politics
Secrets in Global Governance: Disclosure Dilemmas and the Challenge of International Cooperation in World Politics, Allison Carnegie and Austin Carson (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 362 pp., $99.99 cloth, $34 .99 paperback. Transparency in international organizations (IOs) is at the top of the list of practices traditionally thought to comprise good governance and is often argued to […]
Briefly Noted: Human Rights and Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia
Human Rights and Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia, Catherine Renshaw (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), 256 pp., $75 cloth, $75 eBook. In 2007, the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed the ASEAN Charter and subsequently, in 2009, created the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. One of the […]
Briefly Noted: Fully Human: Personhood, Citizenship, and Rights
A short book review of “Fully Human: Personhood, Citizenship, and Rights”
Briefly Noted
In his latest book, Marcus Schulzke analyzes the ethical traditions of three national militaries—the U.S. Army, the British Army and Royal Marine Commandos, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—to highlight the strengths and limitations of different ethical training systems in promoting moral warfare.
Briefly Noted: Burying Jihadis: Bodies Between State, Territory, and Identity
A short book review of “Burying Jihadis: Bodies Between State, Territory, and Identity”
