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The Beleaguered Presidency
by Aaron WildavskySince the presidency of Lyndon Johnson between 1963 and 1968, there is much reason to believe that the executive office is in trouble. For the past twenty-five years, presidents have been subject to continuing criticism, with dissatisfaction rising, approval rates falling, and demands becoming impossible to meet. Is it that Americans have become an unlucky people whose noble virtues have been undermined by the unfortunate fact that they keep nominating and electing bad presidents? Or is there a systemic reason for a beleaguered presidency in the rise of an egalitarian culture, amplified through the media which is opposed to authority? This book confronts these questions and inquires into their consequences for presidential behavior.In Wildavsky's view, the growth of political discord since the sixties-opposing views on policy matters and social issues ranged along egalitarian versus hierarchical lines-has created a demarcation between a past presidency in which national leaders had a chance to do well and present and future presidents seeking to adapt to their slim chances of leaving office with their reputations intact.Wildavsky demonstrates how various recent presidents have attempted to escape or overcome their beleaguered status by such devices as focusing on only a few issues or shedding responsibility (or blame) to other actors, or treating policy problems as if they were essentially administrative in nature. The book analyzes the wide divergence on public policy among Democratic and Republican activists and assesses the efforts of presidents from Nixon through Bush to cope, at times successfully, often not, with these divisions.The final chapters contrast the ideological presidency of Ronald Reagan with the procedural presidency of George Bush. Both are considered in the context of a governmental system that requires leadership but does not often support it. The final chapter is the first effort to make sense out of George Bush's relative lack of interest in
The Belgian Army and Society from Independence to the Great War
by Mario DraperThis book explores Belgian state-building through the prism of its army from independence to the First World War. It argues that party-politics, which often ran along geographical, linguistic, and religious lines, prevented both Flemings and Walloons from reconciling their regional identities into a unified concept of Belgian nationalism. Equally, it obstructed the army from satisfactorily preparing to uphold Belgium’s imposed neutrality before 1914. Situated uneasily between the two powerhouses of nineteenth-century Europe, Belgium offers a unique insight into the concepts of citizenship and militarisation in a divided society in the era of fervent nationalism. By examining the composition, experience, and image of the army’s officer corps and rank and file, as well as those of the auxiliary forces, this book shows that although military and civilian society often stood aloof from one another, the army, as a national institution, offered a fleeting glimpse into the dichotomy that was pre-war Belgium.
The Belgian Congo as a Developmental State: Revisiting Colonialism (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Africa)
by Emizet François KisanganiThis book challenges assumptions that poor post-colonial economic performance is always a direct product of colonialism by reconsidering the Belgian Congo (1908–1959) as a developmental state. The book demonstrates that despite the colonial system’s economic exploitation and extraction, brutality, excessive taxation, and inequities, the Belgian Congo achieved successes in developing the economy in a short period of time. The Belgian Congo was able to achieve this by investing its higher rates of fiscal revenue in political stability, physical infrastructure, education, and healthcare. By reconsidering the Belgian colonial state as a developmental state, this book encourages scholars to adopt a more nuanced analysis of African history. Considering state capacity and state autonomy as key features of a developmental state, the book demonstrates that colonial state managers in the Belgian Congo were able to supply these public goods that sustained economic growth for decades. Whilst by no means glorifying colonialism or the atrocities that were conducted during the Belgian occupation, the book nonetheless outlines how different forms of capitalism were deployed to further economic development in the country. In contrast, predatory state managers of the Congo Free State (1885–1908) and post-colonial kleptocrats (1960–2018) have squandered Congo’s natural resources with disastrous economic and social consequences. Contrasting the Belgian Congo with colonies of settlement and other colonies of extraction, this book encourages researchers and students to reconsider the dominant narratives within colonial history, development, and African Studies.
The Belief in Intuition: Individuality and Authority in Henri Bergson and Max Scheler (Intellectual History of the Modern Age)
by Adriana Alfaro AltamiranoWithin the Western tradition, it was the philosophers Henri Bergson and Max Scheler who laid out and explored the nonrational power of "intuition" at work in human beings that plays a key role in orienting their thinking and action within the world. As author Adriana Alfaro Altamirano notes, Bergon's and Scheler's philosophical explorations, which paralleled similar developments by other modernist writers, artists, and political actors of the early twentieth century, can yield fruitful insights into the ideas and passions that animate politics in our own time.The Belief in Intuition shows that intuition (as Bergson and Scheler understood it) leads, first and foremost, to a conception of freedom that is especially suited for dealing with hierarchy, uncertainty, and alterity. Such a conception of freedom is grounded in a sense of individuality that remains true to its "inner multiplicity," thus providing a distinct contrast to and critique of the liberal notion of the self.Focusing on the complex inner lives that drive human action, as Bergson and Scheler did, leads us to appreciate the moral and empirical limits of liberal devices that mean to regulate our actions "from the outside." Such devices, like the law, may not only carry pernicious effects for freedom but, more troublingly, oftentimes "erase their traces," concealing the very ways in which they are detrimental to a richer experience of subjectivity.According to Alfaro Altamirano, Bergson's and Scheler's conception of intuition and personal authority puts contemporary discussions about populism in a different light: It shows that liberalism would only at its own peril deny the anthropological, moral, and political importance of the bearers of charismatic authority. Personal authority thus understood relies on a dense, but elusive, notion of personality, for which personal authority is not only consistent with freedom, but even contributes to it in decisive ways.
The Believer: How an Introvert with a Passion for Religion and Soccer Became Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Leader of the Islamic State (The Brookings Essay)
by William MccantsIn The Believer, Will McCants tells the story of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State (a. k. a. ISIS), a group so brutal and hardline that even al-Qaida deemed them too extreme. Baghdadi, an introverted religious scholar, with a passion for soccer, now controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria. McCants shows how Baghdadi became radicalized in the Saddam Hussein era and found his path to power after connecting with other radicals in an American prison during the Iraq War, culminating in his declaration of a reborn Islamic empire bent on world conquest.
The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice from the Civil Rights Movement to Today
by Charles MarshSpeaking to his supporters at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956, Martin Luther King, Jr., declared that their common goal was not simply the end of segregation as an institution. Rather, "the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption, the end is the creation of the beloved community." King's words reflect the strong religious convictions that motivated the civil rights movement in the South in its early days. Standing courageously on the Judeo-Christian foundations of their moral commitments, civil rights leaders sought to transform the social and political realities of twentieth-century America. In The Beloved Community, Charles Marsh shows that the same spiritual vision that animated the civil rights movement remains a vital source of moral energy today. The Beloved Community lays out an exuberant new vision for progressive Christianity and reclaims the centrality of faith in the quest for social justice and authentic community.
The Belt & Road Initiative in the Global Arena
by Yu Cheng Lilei Song Lihe HuangThis book is among the first to systematically analyze and discuss the Chinese government's"One Belt, One Road" initiative to promote infrastructure investment and economic development, bringing together a diverse range of scholars from China, Russia, and Eastern Europe. The book assembles a package of next generation ideas for the patterns of regional trade, investment, infrastructure development, or next steps for the promotion of enhanced policy coordination across the Eurasian continent and strategic implications for EU, Russia and other major powers, introducing innovative ideas about what these countries across belt and road can do together in the eyes of the young generation. This book will be of interest to scholars, economists, and interested observers of the international impact of Chinese development.
The Belt Road and Beyond: State-Mobilized Globalization in China: 1998–2018
by Min YeFrom 1998 to 2018, China had three political-economic crises, resulting in bureaucratic paralysis. It was at such junctures that China's leadership launched initiatives, like the Western Development Program, that mobilized state and market actors to expedite globalization and revive economic growth. In The Belt Road and Beyond, Min Ye reevaluates the common tendency to attribute China's Belt and Road to individual leaders' strategic ambitions, using state-mobilized globalization as a comparative framework and investigative tool to understand Chinese capitalism. State-mobilized globalization has helped sustain China's high-growth economy and social-political stability, while also sparking some political backlash. In order to succeed in globalization, the author argues, China's state mobilization must readapt to global circumstances. She sheds light on the tactics China used to spring from a crisis-stricken middle economy to a formidable global power, implicating not only China, but also the world.
The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order
by Ian Klaus Simon CurtisAn exploration of how China&’s Belt and Road Initiative seeks to reshape international order and how it has catalyzed a new era of infrastructural geopolitics Over the past decade China has put infrastructural and urban development at the heart of a strategy aimed at nothing less than the transformation of international order. The Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to revitalize and reconnect the ancient Silk Roads that linked much of the world before the rise of the West, is an attempt to place China at the center of this new international order, one shaped by Chinese power, norms, and values. It seeks to do so, in part, by shaping our shared urban future. Simon Curtis and Ian Klaus explore how China&’s specific investments in urban development—cities, roads, railways, ports, digital and energy connectivity—are directly linked to its foreign policy goals. Curtis and Klaus examine the implications of these developments as they evolve across the vast Afro-Eurasian region. The distinctive model of international order and urban life emerging with the rise of Chinese power and influence offers a potential rival to the one that has accompanied the rise and zenith of Western power, marking a new age of infrastructural geopolitics and Great Power competition.
The Belt and Road Initiative Green Development Case Studies Report 2020
by BRI International Green DevelopmentThis is an Open Access book. In accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it showcases 17 projects under the framework of Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). These projects cover ninefields, namely, biodiversity and ecosystem, clean energy, clean water, sustainable transportation, solid waste treatment, sustainable consumption and production, green buildings, sustainable foodproduction and corporate social responsibility. Aiming at achieving green development, these projects, in their implementation, adhere to the concept of ecological civilization, combine China’s strict environmental protection systems and international standards, and take various measures of environmental protection based on the conditions of the local environment. These measures include joint efforts with local governments, businesses and communities, optimizating of design and construction plans, strict controling over different types of pollutants, and in situ conservation of species and ecosystems.The experience and practice of these 13 projects set an example for the latecomers.
The Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Economy: Volume I – Trade and Economic Development
by John JoshuaThis two-volume work provides a comprehensive overview of the Belt and Road Initiative, examining its impact on economic growth, trade, financial systems and international relations. Weaving theory with real-world examples, Joshua makes an important contribution to the understanding of how the Global Economy is being shaped through these developments.In this first volume, Joshua focuses on the implications of different economic policies on trade and economic development. In addition, this volume reviews the history of the Belt and Road Initiative and analyses the needed infrastructure to enhance economic development and promote both regional and international trade.
The Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Economy: Volume II – The Changing International Financial System and Implications
by John JoshuaThis two-volume work provides a comprehensive overview of the Belt and Road Initiative, examining its impact on economic growth, trade, financial systems and international relations. Weaving theory with real-world examples, Joshua makes an important contribution to the understanding of how the Global Economy is being shaped through these developments.In this second volume, Joshua focuses on the operation of the international monetary system and the effects of the Belt and Road Initiative on both China's domestic economy and the Global Economy. In addition, this volume addresses the consequences of economic growth on the environment and international relations.
The Belt and Road Initiative and the Politics of Connectivity: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the 21st Century (Politics of South Asia)
by Bhumitra Chakma Xiudian DaiThis volume analyses New Delhi’s reaction to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the rise of politics of connectivity and infrastructure building which has heightened Sino-Indian rivalry in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It can be evidenced that the BRI has transformed the Sino-Indian dynamics from a ‘managed rivalry’ to an intense geo-political competition. It is contended that competition is inevitable when two powers rise in the same neighbourhood.The Indian government has opposed the BRI since its inception noting that the ‘BRI violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity’ because one of the flagship BRI projects - the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - runs through (Pakistan-controlled) Kashmir which India claims to be its own territory. It has consistently maintained that China’s ‘connectivity initiatives must be based on universally recognized international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness, transparency and equality, and must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity’ of other states.Beyond those stated reservations, New Delhi is concerned about the BRI infrastructure and connectivity projects in the smaller South Asian countries and the Indian Ocean littoral states. India has traditionally viewed South Asia and the IOR as its backyard over which it has historically maintained a position of influence. It is apprehensive that the BRI projects will enhance Beijing’s stature and undermine India’s influence in the region. In eleven chapters including Introduction and Conclusion, this book explores the dimensions of the rivalry and analyses the causes, dynamics and implications of an accelerated Sino-Indian competition.
The Belt and Road Initiative in Asia, Africa, and Europe (Routledge Series on the Belt and Road Initiative)
by Pedro Miguel Amakasu Raposo de Medeiros Carvalho David M. AraseThis book examines the progress and reception of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in key subregions of Asia, Africa and Europe. Through its exploration of the patchwork of distinctive sub regions of each continent, the book analyses how well the BRI accommodates sub regional variation as it attempts to integrate Asia, Africa, and Europe under Chinese auspices. Individual chapters focus on how developing subregions experience BRI relations with China, while others focus on how liberal powers seek to compete with China’s BRI agenda. The contributions also gauge the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the BRI in regional settings and point to its future implications. Offering a panoramic view of the vast mosaic of Asian, African, and European sub regions targeted by the BRI, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of International Relations and Global Political Economy as well as Chinese politics and those with an interest in the Belt and Road Initiative more broadly.
The Belt and Road Initiative in South–South Cooperation: The Impact on World Trade and Geopolitics
by Li Sheng Dmitri Felix NascimentoThis book seeks to illuminate what China's Belt and Road initiative truly means for the global south, offering historical context and explaining the vision that the Chinese State has in coordinating actions in the territorial, political and economic spheres in a multilateral pretension. How does the BRI generate economic returns for China, and what are the political and economic impacts of the BRI? In this provocative and deeply researched new work, the authors provide a new framework for understanding the BRI, one which will be useful to scholars, policymakers and economists.
The Belt and Road Initiative: A Pathway towards Inclusive Globalization (China Perspectives)
by Liu WeidongThe Belt and Road Initiative (hereafter BRI) of China has attracted worldwide attention and participation, causing a lot of debate over its implications for international society. Although it is still in a budding stage, the BRI seems to afford a framework for an increasing number of countries to explore jointly new international economic governance mechanisms and offer significant opportunities for them to cope jointly with global challenges. Taking a globalization perspective and tracking the ancient silk roads, this book tries to examine the general context in which the BRI is raised and implemented, arguing that this Chinese initiative, instead of replacing existing international cooperation mechanisms, is a call for the reform and development of neoliberal globalization and will open up a new era of inclusive globalization. Inclusive globalization is neither an overturning nor a simple continuation of neoliberal globalization but rather a proposal capable of addressing the problems of existing globalization. The difference between them lies in the fact that globalization cannot only serve the "spatial fix" of capital but also has to meet the needs of living people. The book also addresses a number of major issues on building the Belt and Road and contains Chinese media’s interviews with the author on various BRI issues. Given the author has been intensively involved in the study of and planning for the BRI, the book offers a valuable academic insight into this Chinese initiative.
The Belt and Road Initiative: An Old Archetype of a New Development Model
by Francisco José B. S. Leandro Paulo Afonso B. DuarteThis book is an analysis of the developments associated with the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) five years after Xi Jinping announced both the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the 21st Maritime Silk Road (21MSR). Together, these two dimensions constitute the B&RI, providing the so-called Chinese ‘project of the century’ with regional, inter-regional and global reach. This book aims at assessing the impact of the B&RI in all these dimensions and levels of influence. This is a current and promising theme, not only in the short and medium terms, but also within a broader timescale, reflecting Chinese strategic thinking itself, since Chinese philosophy and culture are oriented towards long-term and inter-generational perspectives. Likewise, both the title of this publication and the way it has been organized result from the empirical perception that China asserts a conservative attitude towards foreign affairs, redesigned in multiple dimensions, to create a perception of domestic unity and global prestige. In this vein of thought, the B&RI is already influencing and will continue to influence, directly or indirectly, the current economic and political order.
The Belt and Road Initiative: Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Aspects
by Faisal Ahmed Alexandre LambertThis book studies the geopolitical and geoeconomic aspects of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It argues that the BRI has the potential to redesign the spatial and territorial dimensions of governance and effectively counterbalance the hitherto predominant hegemonies of the Anglo-American sea power. The volume: Highlights the main geopolitical patterns, including geographical, economic, financial, technological, and strategic factors guiding the BRI on a global scale Presents a historical account of the development of the Silk Road and underlines its contemporary relevance Traces China’s growing inf luence from Eurasia to America Discusses how the Initiative is likely to transform international relations by the middle of the 21st century. A comprehensive guide to China’s rise as the new centre of gravity in global geopolitics, the book will be indispensable for students of political studies, geopolitics, international relations, and foreign policy. It will also be useful for policymakers, strategic investors, think tanks, and government officials.
The Belt and Road Initiative: Key Concepts
by Huping ShangThis book introduces the “Belt and Road” in its entirety, including what it is, what it aims to do, what it can do and how. This book can serve as a helpful resource for the general public, it can improve their understanding about the “Belt and Road” and its relative economics, policy, culture and so on. Also, this book is good reading for academics, as well as students of public management, politics, finance and economics. The “Belt and Road” advances a whole complementary set of new ideas on international cooperation. Conforming to the principles of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, it stipulates policy coordination, facilitates connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds as the five major contents, and promotes practical cooperation in all fields. It also works to build an open and win-win regional community featuring mutual political trust, economic integration and cultural inclusiveness.
The Belt and Road Initiative: Past, Present, Future
by Christos Kassimeris Kostas Gouliamos Liu Zuokui Gao XiangThis open access book presents the main theme which advances the significance of cultural dialogue between China and Europe. The essence of the historical ties between China and Europe has resurfaced, much because of the Belt and Road Initiative launched in 2013 by China’s President Xi Jinping. The Belt and Road Initiative aims to bring China closer to Europe, Africa, and other parts of the world, as well as to connect certain parts of Asia into a huge network of countries through both land and maritime corridors. While the concept originally dates back to the Han Dynasty some 2,000 years ago, when the Silk Road developed into an ancient network of trade routes connecting Imperial China to the markets of the Mediterranean, the Belt and Road Initiative is better defined as a far more holistic approach. As per China’s Policy Paper on the European Union, one of the main aims of the Belt and Road Initiative is to “uphold inter-civilization dialogue and harmony in diversity to facilitate mutual learning between the Chinese and European civilizations”. It is precisely this mutual learning between the Chinese and European civilizations that the present book seeks to explore by means of delving into the historical aspect of intercultural dialogue and between China and Europe, while also proposing a prognosis of how the guiding principles of China–EU relations will develop with regard to inter-civilization dialogue.
The Belt and Road: Industrial and Spatial Coordinated Development (Global Economic Synergy of Belt and Road Initiative)
by Wei Liu Hui ZhangThis book mainly addresses China's Belt and Road Initiative in terms of the connectivity industrial and spatial development, as well as current world's economic and trade pattern under such synergy development, and focuses on the function and mechanism of industry and geography coordination. Although current research on the value circulation between China and developed economies is relatively adequate, the book focuses on the value circulation between the countries and regions, especially the developing economies. China and other developing countries tie strongly with the production value circulation. The coordination industrial and spatial development in the global value cycle is also the cornerstone of long-term stabilization and sustainable development in China. Therefore, this book provides the theoretical and empirical research on Belt and Road from the perspectives on industrial and spatial synergy. This book proposes several questions: Any inherent inlay between industrial and geographic allocation, i.e., is there any possibility for close integration? This book analyzes the necessity of coordinated development of industry and space perspective of production division. Secondly, from the perspective of historical evolution and current situation, it analyzes the relationship among industry, economic growth and fluctuation and compares realizing paths of synergy of industrial and spatial development. It contains the industry and spatial diffusion mechanism and the effect of synergy development. Moreover, the corresponding policy implication is provided for sustainable development through the Belt and Road Initiative.
The Beltway Beast
by Munir MoonThis book is about two tribes of Washington D.C. who have been stealing from our children to satisfy the appetite of their members. The tribes are Democrats and Republicans, living in Washington and the surrounding counties (The Beltway) and their members (the Beast) are the lobbyists, Wall Street and the military-industrial complex among others. The tribal leaders are rich old men even though women make up over 50% of the U.S. population. One result of that culture is a system where the NFL is considered a nonprofit organization despite the revenue of $184 million and $1 billion in assets while paying $11.4 million in compensation to its commissioner. We have a tax system where workers income is taxed at a higher rate than the non-working income. Moreover, Congressman Peter Stark, 80, who is worth $27 million and earns $174,000 a year, in addition to his social security benefits, also gets additional checks from the social security administration to care for each of his three children until their 18th birthday. If you think there is something Un-American about this picture, then this book is for you.The Beltway Beast offers to transcend the anger and frustration with our leaders to solving our problems and reviving America with simple common sense solutions that we teach our children. It documents our current reality and calls for real competition in electing our leaders and the transformation of our political, healthcare and tax system. Out of every crisis, there is an opportunity and my book is intended to mobilize main street America to take back our country. The good news is that prosperity will come back, once America gets detoxed from the addiction of stealing from our kids and living beyond its means.
The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A–Z Guide to Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government
by Eliot NelsonHow is legislation crafted?How do you lose an election? What do “bundler,” “quorum call” and “omnibus” mean? Why do some of the White House’s most important meetings occur at a Starbucks? Why are Washington insiders obsessed with something called Jumbo Slice?What, exactly, is a “skintern?” Eliot Nelson, one of Washington’s funniest and most admired young journalists, knows how the sausage factory works and his new book, The Beltway Bible, is every citizen's must-have owner’s manual. Arranged from A to Z, The Beltway Bible provides an insider's perspective of politics and government, breaking down both into easily-digested entries on subjects like how legislation is formed, the scope of the president’s power and an overview of federal agencies. Nelson also looks at D.C.'s less-well-known power structures: the internal pecking order of White House aides, the high school cafeteria power struggles behind party invites and the petty congressional arguments over how highway on-ramps are named. The Beltway Bible makes our complex government accessible in a way that will please everyone from Jon Stewart to John Doe. Eliot Nelson’s The Beltway Bible is tailor-made for Election 2016.
The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation
by Rod Dreher<P>In a radical new vision for the future of Christianity, NYT bestselling author and conservative columnist Rod Dreher calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing an ancient Christian way of life. <P>The light of the Christian faith is flickering out all over the West, and only the willfully blind refuse to see it. From the outside, American churches are beset by challenges to religious liberty in a rapidly secularizing culture. From the inside, they are being hollowed out by the departure of young people and a watered-down pseudo-spirituality. Political solutions have failed, as the triumph of gay marriage and the self-destruction of the Republican Party indicate, and the future of religious freedom has never been in greater doubt. The center is not holding. The West, cut off from its Christian roots, is falling into a new Dark Age. <P>The bad news is that the roots of religious decline run deeper than most Americans realize. The good news is that the blueprint for a time-tested Christian response to this decline is older still. In The Benedict Option, Dreher calls on traditional Christians to learn from the example of St. Benedict of Nursia, a sixth-century monk who turned from the chaos and decadence of the collapsing Roman Empire, and found a new way to live out the faith in community. For five difficult centuries, Benedict's monks kept the faith alive through the Dark Ages, and prepared the way for the rebirth of civilization. <P>What do ordinary 21st century Christians -- Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox -- have to learn from the teaching and example of this great spiritual father? That they must read the signs of the times, abandon hope for a political solution to our civilization's problems, and turn their attention to creating resilient spiritual centers that can survive the coming storm. Whatever their Christian tradition, they must draw on the secrets of Benedictine wisdom to build up the local church, create countercultural schools based on the classical tradition, rebuild family life, thicken communal bonds, and develop survival strategies for doctors, teachers, and others on the front lines of persecution. <P> Now is a time of testing, when believers will learn the difference between shallow optimism and Christian hope. However dark the shadow falling over the West, the light of Christianity need not flicker out. It will not be easy, but Christians who are brave enough to face the religious decline, reject trendy solutions, and return to ancient traditions will find the strength not only to survive, but to thrive joyfully in the post-Christian West. The Benedict Option shows believers how to build the resistance and resilience to face a hostile modern world with the confidence and fervor of the early church. <P>Christians face a time of choosing, with the fate of Christianity in Western civilization hanging in the balance. In this powerful challenge to the complacency of contemporary Christianity, Dreher shows why those in all churches who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Beneficiary
by Bruce RobbinsFrom iPhones and clothing to jewelry and food, the products those of us in the developed world consume and enjoy exist only through the labor and suffering of countless others. In his new book Bruce Robbins examines the implications of this dynamic for humanitarianism and social justice. He locates the figure of the "beneficiary" in the history of humanitarian thought, which asks the prosperous to help the poor without requiring them to recognize their causal role in the creation of the abhorrent conditions they seek to remedy. Tracing how the beneficiary has manifested itself in the work of George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Jamaica Kincaid, Naomi Klein, and others, Robbins uncovers a hidden tradition of economic cosmopolitanism. There are no easy answers to the question of how to confront systematic inequality on a global scale. But the first step, Robbins suggests, is to acknowledge that we are, in fact, beneficiaries.