History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe

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What leads to democray and consolidation
On conditions for democracy
A clear and concise presentation

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe
Juan J. Linz , and Alfred Stepan
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801851580

Book Description

Since their classic volume The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes was published in 1978, Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan have increasingly focused on the questions of how, in the modern world, nondemocratic regimes can be eroded and democratic regimes crafted. In Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, they break new ground in numerous areas. They reconceptualize the major types of modern nondemocratic regimes and point out for each type the available paths to democratic transition and the tasks of democratic consolidation. They argue that, although "nation-state" and "democracy" often have conflicting logics, multiple and complementary political identities are feasible under a common roof of state-guaranteed rights. They also illustrate how, without an effective state, there can be neither effective citizenship nor successful privatization. Further, they provide criteria and evidence for politicians and scholars alike to distinguish between democratic consolidation and pseudo-democratization, and they present conceptually driven survey data for the fourteen countries studied.

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation contains the first systematic comparative analysis of the process of democratic consolidation in southern Europe and the southern cone of South America, and it is the first book to ground post-Communist Europe within the literature of comparative politics and democratic theory.

"This is an important volume by two major scholars on a central topic--one of broad interest to people in comparative politics, to those interested in democracy, and to regional specialists on Southern Latin America and on Central and Eastern Europe. The book will unquestionably be a major contribution to the literature on constructing democratic governance."--Abraham F. Lowenthal, University of Southern California

Customer Reviews:

What leads to democray and consolidation.......2007-08-04

As the title suggests, Linz and Stepan examine democratic transition and consolidation. Linz and Stepan argue that a democratic transition is completed when the relevant actors agree on the "the rules of the game." These rules include those regarding elected government: when and how the government is formed through free and fair elections, when and how the government has de facto authority to create new policies, and when the branches of government no longer have to share power with other bodies. When the government abides by the rules developed, Linz and Stepan would argue that it has become a democracy. Consolidation is achieved when the democratic system is viewed as "the only game in town," and the majority of the public subscribes to those institutions. Additionally, Linz and Stepan see a consolidated democracy as not simply a regime, but rather a system of interaction parts. These parts include civil society, political society, rule of law, bureaucracy, and an institutionalization of economic society.

The authors use a number of explanatory variables when examining democratic transition and consolidation. These variables are divided into three categories. The first, macrovariables, include stateness, and prior regime type. The second, actor variables, includes the leadership base of the prior regime type, and who initiates and controls oppositions. Lastly, context variables include international influences, the political economy of legitimacy, and the constitution-making environment.

Linz and Stepan argue that "democracy requires statehood." Without a state' ability to use coercive force, tax, and implement a judicial system, the five arenas of a consolidated democracy will not be achieved. However, it must be noted that state and nation are two different concepts. If there is conflict between the state and nations under its control, achieving democracy will be difficult. This leads to problems of legitimacy for the state. In order to address this, the concept of citizenship is imperative. The author's write, "there can be no complex modern democracy without voting, no voting without citizenship, and no official membership in the community of citizens without a state to certify membership" (28).

The authors also suggest that the role played by prior regime type shape the paths available for transition, and what tasks remain to achieve consolidation. The authors move beyond the classic three regime typology and examine authoritarian, totalitarian, post-totalitarian, and sultanistic regimes. L & S argue that the ways in which the previous regimes structured pluralism, ideology, leadership, and mobilization affect the paths available to democratic transition. Linz and Stepan see five paths with can be taken towards democratic transition: the formation of pacts, defeat in war, interim government created after regime termination but not brought forth by the old regime, a military led coup, and some regime specific transition paths. Depending on the previous regime type, some paths are more likely than others.

Additionally L & S suggest that the character of the state elite affects democratic transition and consolidation. They examine four types of elites: hierarchal military, nonhierarchal military, civilian elite, and sultanistic elites. A hierarchal military (authoritarian) may be usurped by the military-as-institution who views extrication from the military government as in their best interests - a return to civilian rule. However, during the consolidation phase, the old regime elite may enforce "reserve domains" of control which will not allow the new regime to consolidate. A nonhierarchal military elite is better for both transition and consolidation. They are likely to fall to a democratic transition when they come into problems running the country. Also, they are likely to be seen as operating outside the military sphere which means they are likely to be punished by the state/military hierarchy. In the case of civilian leadership (post-totalitarian), they are in possession of the symbolic and institutional capacities to initiate and manage ad democratic transition. In the consolidation phase, they are likely to see the benefit of working within the new system as opposed to fighting it. In sultanistic leadership, the regime is so personalized, that the overthrow of the sultan quickly destroys the regime. However, unless democratic elections are held quickly, and democratic institutions developed, the chances of consolidation are weak.

Under the actor variable category, L & S examine the impact of who initiates and controls the transition on democratic transition and consolidation. Transitions initiated by civil society, armed revolution, or a nonhierarchal military led coup tend to see the ruling institutions taken over by an interim government. This interim government can either have a democratic or nondemocractic agenda. If elections are held quickly, democracy can arise. If the interim government simply makes decreases based on an assumed mandate, democracy is unlikely. Because interim governments often don't appear from a hierarchal military, or through regime led changes, democracy is unlikely to appear.

Linz and Stepan also examine the context within which the transition occurs. Of particular interest are various international influences. One international factor which can influence transition and consolidation is the use of force. A nondemocractic country can militarily overthrow a weaker democratic state, or a regional hegemon can crush democratic uprisings in its periphery. The hegemon (democratic or nondemocractic) can also use incentives or sanctions to shape the political path nations in the periphery undertake. Outside of force, the "spirit of the times," i.e. democracy / communism, or diffusion can shape political transitions.

The political economic context can also shape transition and consolidation. For example, extended periods of economic prosperity can weaken nondemocractic regimes. Prosperity may make the coercive system unnecessary. Also, economic prosperity expands the middle class which leads to increased political demands. Although economic prosperity doesn't weaken the democratic regimes, economic downturns affect both. Still, because the democratic regime has a greater level of legitimacy then the nondemocractic regimes, it is more insulated from down turns.

Lastly, Linz and Stepan see the constitution-making environment leads to the success or failure of democratic transition and consolidation.

On conditions for democracy.......2001-08-11

Having read this book, I understand why Linz has gained international reputation. (As an example, he was made honorary doctor at The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Oslo, Norway, 2000.) This book is written in an engaging way, with lots of interesting information. Its clear structure and quite simple language also makes it easy to read. Those believing that political science is "heavy, dry and dull" will probably change their minds if they read "Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation". Personally, I found the chapters on South America very enlightening. The book gives information about how citizens view "democracy" in the respective countries, and the challenges each country faces in terms of democratic transition and consolidation. I agree with the first reviewer that this book is a must-have for all interested in the countries in question or political science in general. (Having just finished my dissertation in political science, I've read my share of less interesting and poorly written works!)

A clear and concise presentation.......2001-02-06

This is the book for everyone looking for the ultimate answer to the questions regarding democratic transitions in the east as well as in the west. Although somewhat fuzzy and unclear in the theoretical outline it does offer some serious answers as well as questions on the democratization waves in former communist countries and dictatorships all over the planet. This is a must for all political scientists as well as those with inclination towards contemporary political subjects. This will be a standard opus on this subject.

The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

Average customer rating:

Fodder for consideration and debate
In depth and well written...
Over simplified
The European Dream
A Mirror for our Values

The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream
Jeremy Rifkin
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1585424358

Book Description

The national bestseller that shows how the American Dream is languishing, surpassed worldwide by a powerful alternative in the lifestyle of the new Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Fodder for consideration and debate.......2007-06-08

I'm about halfway through and have just come to the first chapter that, I confess, is leaving me scratching my head - network commerce.

Aside from that, I've found the book so far to be full of ideas to ponder and discuss with others who might be interested. Or... at least it provides more elements through which to filter/view the day-to-day news of the world.

Rifkin brings quotes and thoughts from a multitude of other writers, historical and contemporary, into a thought-provoking stew.

This is not an academic book with a bunch of substantiated and indisputable facts; rather, it offers interesting suggestions and makes conclusions based on aforementioned breadth of thought.

Easy to recommend.

In depth and well written..........2007-05-29

I think this book is for the person who wants an in depth analysis and history of the EU. The book takes into account almost every facet of EU life including markets, science advancement, social metworks, currency/finance, birth rates, etc and offers a reader a thorough history of why the EU countries think and behave as they do. Mr Rifkin takes us back to the 12th and 13th centuries for some of the analysis, which is great, but for the casual reader, can be too much. I found Mr. Rifkin's analysis and writing very well in hand and very informative. I learned much about the EU from reading this book. I would recommend this book for the people that have a strong interest in Europe and want to further understand its people. Good book.

Over simplified.......2007-05-11

As an American who has spent 5 years living in Belgium, I found Mr. Rifkin's book to be oversimplified and full of stereotypical errors. The first big one was assuming Europe, as a whole, is one monogamous culture. Each country has their own set of beliefs and ideologies, and while these states reconcile their differences vis-a-vis European policy, it is totally inaccurate to refer to a 'European dream' as a pan-continent phenomenon. A simple example would be to compare any two states. Belgians are very different from the Greeks, the Spaniards different from the British, the Germans different from the French.

This isn't just a language issue either. In Belgium, where the people living in the south speak french and the people in the north speak dutch, a distinct difference is made in their culture compared to their 'linguistic parents.' Simply put, call a Walloon french or a Fleming dutch, and you will have greatly insulted them. To bring this back home, it's like referring to Americans as North Americans. The US isn't the same as Canada, and it certainly isn't the same as Mexico. Does an American like being called a Canadian? I think not. This is just the same as grouping A Romanian in with a Swede; While they come from the same continent, they have different beliefs and cultural values that very few people are willing to give up. However, these states get along and have healthy, normal relations that insure peace and prosperity for its citizens.

As for calling the American dream obsolete in favor of a 'European' one, I would have to completely disagree. This is a matter of interpretation. One poster said that the American middle class is bound to economic enslavement. I beg to differ. The whole point of the American dream is to have the freedom to move away from it. Sure, you can work to get into the US middle class and live a comfortable life, or you can go out on your own and make your dreams come true. Many western European nations have a much larger middle class, where wealth and equality are much more evenly distributed. However, for those who want to break out, they are much more restricted in how they can. And this isn't to say that there is a right one or a wrong one, it's just a matter of opinion.

In the end, America isn't dying. Sure, the American dream is unique to America, but that's our culture, and, as we have painfully learned throughout history (Vietnam, Iraq II), it's extraordinarily hard to kill an idea. This book, in my opinion, is detrimental to American opinion on the 'outside world.' My recommendation to any American who wants a real take on the way the world is shaping, is to go live abroad for a while. The world isn't going to bite, and no one will single you out for being an American, unless you do something stupid, in which case you're singled out for being stupid. The world doesn't hate us, it's just the foreign policy they don't like.

The European Dream.......2007-05-07

A very thought provoking book all Americans should read. This may give readers a different world view.

A Mirror for our Values.......2007-04-18

When I read this book, I realized that in spite of my self-image as a very individualistic person, my values themselves are very predictable and derivative. In spite of the fact that I am in the secular minority in America, I can absolutely see how everything I -- and we -- value are a result of cultural evoluation. Duh. Oh well, just when you thought you were unique.

In addition to helping you understand why you value what you value, this book will also help you see the downside of the cultural evolution and values of America. It puts into words something you probably suspect, but haven't been able to put a finger on: that the leadership in an increasingly interdependent world will not arise from within this culture.

Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy

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RIP
Excellent! True to Life...
Good book. Great point. But it falls a bit short.
Not Afraid to Speak the Truth
A modern Solshenitzyn

Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy
Anna Politkovskaya
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805082506
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Book Description

A searing portrait of a country in disarray, and of the man at its helm, from “the bravest of journalists” (The New York Times)

Hailed as “a lone voice crying out in a moral wilderness” (New Statesman), Anna Politkovskaya made her name with her fearless reporting on the war in Chechnya. Now she turns her steely gaze on the multiple threats to Russian stability, among them President Putin himself.

Putin’s Russia depicts a far-reaching state of decay. Politkovskaya describes an army in which soldiers die from malnutrition, parents must pay bribes to recover their dead sons’ bodies, and conscripts are even hired out as slaves. She exposes rampant corruption in business, government, and the judiciary, where everything from store permits to bus routes to court appointments is for sale. And she offers a scathing condemnation of the ongoing war in Chechnya, where kidnappings, extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture are begetting terrorism rather than fighting it.

Sounding an urgent alarm, Putin’s Russia is both a gripping portrayal of a country in crisis and the testament of a great and intrepid reporter.

Customer Reviews:

RIP .......2007-10-08

This woman's murder is tragic. It shows the gangster nature of modern Russian politics. Ordinary Russians were severely traumatized by the Soviet collapse and the severe economic hardships that followed. Up until Gorbachev, the state controlled Media lied to them and told them the USSR was the most advanced nation on Earth and the United States and Europe were in their minds how we might today look at Mexico or Brazil in terms of living standards. Putin has played on their insecurities like a true KGB officer. He has planted in the minds most common people in Russia that he and his old KGB comrades are decent and patriotic men who are trying to save the nation from imagined and real enemies. Putin, Like Brezhnev before him won the oil lottery enabling him to raise incomes and instill in Russians a sense of national pride much like Ronald Reagan did in America in the 1980's. Unlike Reagan's America Putin's Great Russia plan is a house of cards built on high oil prices which are unlikely to last much longer. He is playing the anti America card which no-doubt plays wonderfully for older Russians nostalgic for Soviet military power. Yet today half the population lives in poverty, Whatever Russia is today I it is better now than ten years ago. The future looks worrisome, Putin has not been spending the oil bonanza on the country's infrastructure, health care, and other long term investments needed for future generations. Be antagonizing the West he is setting himself up to fail. I always considered Putin a worldly and intelligent man. I cannot believe he is repeating all of Brezhnev's errors.

Excellent! True to Life..........2007-10-01

A must read for all those contemplating on working, investing, living, or visiting Russia and before more authoritarian restrictions are implemented (or should I say the "New Soviet Russia" is completed?).

Ana Politkovskaya's book is a fast read, but the truthful descriptions may be shocking to some. For me, it brought back dark memories from my years working and living there. There is so much increadible [underlined] poverty outside the major cities (e.g., Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc.) and so much more she could have continued writing about... unfortunately, because there is no real free press anymore (& as far as I know, her books have never been published or sold in Russia) the majority of Russian citizens are misinformed and uninformed.

On the other hand, Russia is a vast and beautiful country and it's people (the "real" people) amiable, warm, and very hospitable (once they get to know you). The citizens want so much more for their country, but are afraid to make concrete changes in a unified manner, may not know how to move forward due to conditioning and oppression from the old and new regimes, or are terrified of reprisals. Thus, the current leadership is dismantling Russia's constitution, eliminating the opportunity for real democracy, and is building a "New Iron Curtain" behind the old one.

Again, a must read!

Good book. Great point. But it falls a bit short........2007-09-06

The AUTHOR'S NOTE states: "... this book is not an examination of Putin's policies. I am not a political analyst. I am just a person among many, a face in the crowd, like so many.... These are my immediate reactions, jotted down in the margins of life as it is lived in Russia today."

Well, Politkovskaya doesn't all together stick with this decree, but touches upon Putin's "policies" by way of presenting his lack of policy in helping his people.

There are many events detailed in this book: soldiers being beaten and tormented by their commanding officers. Family members trying to find out the truth about their loved one's death, or murder. Corruption plaguing the Russian judicial system. Yury Budanov's kidnapping of a young Chechen girl, her rape and murder trial. Examples of friends the author has known and how their lives (good and bad) have been affected by the changes in the wake of the New Russia. The gangster life being rife throughout Russia, given in the example of Pavel Anatolievich Fedulev. The storming of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow during the "Nord-Ost" musical by Chechen terrorists wishing to end the war, and how the government unleashed an unknown gas that ended up killing 200 hostages. The waging of "Antiterrorist Operation Whirlwind" that caused the Chechen people living in Russia to be harassed, framed, and forced to sign confessions that they plotted the attack; many were sent to prison or lost their jobs. According to Politkovskaya it was "Putin's belief that an entire people must shoulder collective responsibility for the crimes committed by a few" pg 224. The hostage situation in the town of Beslan on the day of "Lineyka," the celebration of the beginning of school when many families were at the school. 100 people went missing and the government said that they fled with the terrorists (hu?).

One can't deny that something is happening in Russia. But I can't say I was won over with Politkovskaya's argument that Putin is entirely to blame for it's current state. This is partly due to the author's writing style, which must have been affected by the translation process (there are many words and phrases that come off sounding disjointed), which make for weak arguments. The stories Politkovskaya's shares with us are stories we outsiders have heard for a number of years under the old Soviet Union. Just because one has a new government everything cannot be expected to change quickly. It takes time. It does sound like Russia has reverted to old habits either because that's all its' leader's know, or it's their intentions to align themselves with communist ways in order to gain more power for themselves. The truth is, I don't know what progress has been made under Putin, and certainly you wont find any in Politkovskaya's book. The problem is that politics usually attract power and corruption. Place people with this tendency in a government rife with corruption and things are bound to fail. Unless Russia can find someone courageous enough to stand up to it, willing to put their life on the line, I fail to see how things will ever change.

One things for sure, I'm always amazed by the resilience of the Russian people. I always get a strong sense that they love their country dearly and want nothing more than to live in a free society where the rules are fair. Hopefully one day they will have this. Unfortunately the fact that Politkovskaya died for writing stories like this shows how far Russia still has to go in acheiving freedom.

Chapters:
"My Country's Army and Its Mothers"
"Our New Middle Ages, or War Criminals of All the Russias"
"Tanya, Misha, Lena, and Rinat: Where Are They Now?"
"How to Misappropriate Property with the Connivance of the Government"
"More Stories from the Provinces"
"Nord-Ost: The Latest Tale of Destruction"
"Akaky Akakievich Putin II"
"Postscripts"
"Notes"

Not Afraid to Speak the Truth.......2007-08-09

Choosing journalism as an occupation in modern day Russia can result in dangerous and often deadly consequences. Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist who chose such a career in spite of these potential risks. Fearless and honest, she refused to compromise her integrity as a journalist by writing nothing but the truth.
Working for one of the last liberal Moscow newspapers, "Novaya Gazeta", Politkovskaya committed herself to writing the truth about the war in Chechnya (which she openly and vehemently opposed), and the blatantly corrupt Russsian government.
In her third book, "Putin's Russia...", Politkovskaya exposes the instability of today's Russia due to the above mentioned corruption that infiltrates everything from business to politics to the military and to the court systems. Bribes are simply accepted as a way of life by bureaucrats and ordinary citizens alike. Although corruption and other forms of political and governmental "ugliness" exist in all countries, none exist to the extent witnessed in today's Russia. And for all of this Politkovskaya blames one man, Vladimir Putin (though she also places some blame on the western countries that have "bought into" the mask of democracy Putin wears during public appearances). Politkovskaya however, seeing through the guise, accurately defines Putin as a throwback from the past, as a ruthless, Soviet-style dictator.
All of Politkovskaya's "accusations" are supported by incontrovertible facts and examples. If nothing else, she was thorough in her research. She had no hidden agenda or score to settle in writing this or any of her books - she merely wanted to truth to be told.
Sadly, for telling the truth Anna Politkovskaya paid the ultimate price. On a Saturday afternoon in October 2006 she was shot twice in the head in the elevator of her apartment building while returning from grocery shopping. The shooting was, without a doubt, a contract killing and was probably approved, if not ordered, by Putin himself.
Though disturbing and sometimes difficult to stomach (as the truth often is), this book is a must read for all Russophiles and/or those just interested in the truth about modern day Russia. In addition, I highly recommend her three other books as well - "A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya", "A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya" (neither of which were ever allowed to be published in Russia), and "A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia".
K. Larson Amador

A modern Solshenitzyn.......2007-08-09

The book is listing case after case of atrocities of the russian army in Chechnia and the governments cover ups. The book displays systematic abuse of power and documents, that Russia is not a de facto democracy. This is tough reading and seamingly good journalism too. We cannot verify the reliability of the sources.
In the long run, the monotone listing of cases renders a numbness to the situation. But it is with out doubt interesting and a must read.

The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era

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A Must-Read
Unreadable and Laborious

The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era
Seyla Benhabib
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Political | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0691048630

Book Description

How can liberal democracy best be realized in a world fraught with conflicting new forms of identity politics and intensifying conflicts over culture? This book brings unparalleled clarity to the contemporary debate over this question. Maintaining that cultures are themselves torn by conflicts about their own boundaries, Seyla Benhabib challenges the assumption shared by many theorists and activists that cultures are clearly defined wholes. She argues that much debate--including that of "strong" multiculturalism, which sees cultures as distinct pieces of a mosaic--is dominated by this faulty belief, one with grave consequences for how we think injustices among groups should be redressed and human diversity achieved. Benhabib masterfully presents an alternative approach, developing an understanding of cultures as continually creating, re-creating, and renegotiating the imagined boundaries between "us" and "them."

Drawing on contemporary cultural politics from Western Europe, Canada, and the United States, Benhabib develops a double-track model of deliberative democracy that permits maximum cultural contestation within the official public sphere as well as in and through social movements and the institutions of civil society. Agreeing with political liberals that constitutional and legal universalism should be preserved at the level of polity, she nonetheless contends that such a model is necessary to resolve multicultural conflicts.

Analyzing in detail the transformation of citizenship practices in European Union countries, Benhabib concludes that flexible citizenship, certain kinds of legal pluralism and models of institutional powersharing are quite compatible with deliberative democracy, as long as they are in accord with egalitarian reciprocity, voluntary self-ascription, and freedom of exit and association. The Claims of Culture offers invaluable insight to all those, whether students or scholars, lawyers or policymakers, who strive to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of cultural politics in the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

A Must-Read.......2003-11-18

Seyla Benhabib's important new book "The Claims of Culture" addresses a constellation of issues with which our contemporary liberal democratic society must deal in an age of cultural diversity both within the political boundaries the nation-state and at the global level. As Benhabib makes very clear, in this context we face a dual imperative of remaining sensitive to the plurality of the ways people both near and far choose how to live, while simultaneously seeking out a mode of reflexive ethical universalism that can provide foundations for normatively addressing crises with world-reach. We must also look askance at approaches to cultural diversity, which reify boundaries and in turn fail to take account of the fluid process of renegotiation and recreation constitutive of the contemporary practices of social and political self-definition.
The book is gracefully and limpidly written. Benhabib's has a masterful grasp of the multiple literatures involved in her undertaking and is a virtuoso of conveying their multiform ideas both incisively and reliably. This work is a must read for anyone interested cultural studies or political theory or their often-ignored yet undoubtedly intimate relationship.

Unreadable and Laborious.......2003-10-16

Quite simply, this is one of the most poorly written books I've ever seen. Benhabib's basic points are lost in a jungle of jargon that appears to be written only for herself or for a very tight circle of over-specialized academics who share the same unintelligible language. Tragically, Benhabib's points about the evolutionary nature of culture and its fit within democratic societies are valid, interesting, and worthy of contemplation, but her writing prevents most people from ever grasping them. Simply put, don't buy this book. If it is required for a course, as it was for me, tell your professor to pick something else.

Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities

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Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities
Graham Smith , Vivien Law , Andrew Wilson , Annette Bohr , and Edward Allworth
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Eastern | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Former Soviet Republics & Siberia | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0521590450

Book Description

The emergence in 1991 of the fourteen borderland post-Soviet states has been accompanied by the reforging of their national identities. Such attempts to rethink or reimagine the nation have had a major impact in reshaping the political, cultural and social lives of both national and ethnic minority groups alike. This book analyzes these national identities and explores their consequences for the borderland states, with substantive studies drawn from the Baltic states, Ukraine and Belarus, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

Solidarity: From Civic Friendship to a Global Legal Community (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought)

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Solidarity: From Civic Friendship to a Global Legal Community (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought)
Hauke Brunkhorst
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Political | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0262025825

Book Description

In Solidarity, Hauke Brunkhorst brings a powerful combination of theoretical perspectives to bear on the concept of "democratic solidarity," the bond among free and equal citizens. Drawing on the disciplines of history, political philosophy, and political sociology, Brunkhorst traces the historical development of the idea of universal, egalitarian citizenship and analyzes the prospects for democratic solidarity at the international level, within a global community under law. His historical account of the concept outlines its development out of, and its departure from, the less egalitarian notions of civic friendship in the Greco-Roman world and brotherliness in the Judeo-Christian tradition. He then analyzes the modernization of Western societies and the destruction of the older, hierarchical solidarities. The problems of exclusion that subsequently arose -- which stemmed from growing individualization in society (the "de-socialization of the individual") as well as from the exclusion of certain groups from the benefits of society -- could be solved only with democratic solidarity in the form of its "institutional embodiment," the democratic constitution. Finally, Brunkhorst examines the return of these exclusion problems as a result of economic globalization. Analyzing the possibilities for democratic self-governance at a global level, Brunkhorst finds in recent global protest movements the beginnings of a transnational civic solidarity. Brunkhorst's normative and sociological account, mediating between these two perspectives, demonstrates the necessity of keeping normative requirements systematically attuned with conditions of social reality.

Candidate Strategies and Electoral Competition in the Russian Federation: Democracy without Foundation (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

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Candidate Strategies and Electoral Competition in the Russian Federation: Democracy without Foundation (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Regina Smyth
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Practical Politics | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0521846900

Book Description

In the early 1990s, competitive elections in the Russian Federation signaled the end to the authoritarian political system dominated by a single political party. More than ten years and many elections later, a single party led by Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to end Russia's democratic experiment. Russia's experience with new elections is not unique but it does challenge existing theories of democratic consolidation by showing that competitive elections cannot guarantee successful democratic consolidation. This book explores the conditions under which electoral competition contributes to democratic development by examining impact of elections on democratic consolidation.

Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration after Communism

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Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration after Communism
Milada Anna Vachudova
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0199241198

Book Description

Europe Undivided analyzes how an enlarging EU has facilitated a convergence toward liberal democracy among credible future members of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe. It reveals how variations in domestic competition put democratizing states on different political trajectories after 1989, and how the EU's leverage eventually influenced domestic politics in liberal and particularly illiberal democracies. In doing so, Europe Undivided illuminates the changing dynamics of the relationship between the EU and candidate states from 1989 to 2004, and challenges policymakers to manage and improve EU leverage to support democracy, ethnic tolerance, and economic reform in other candidates and proto-candidates such as the Western Balkan states, Turkey, and Ukraine. Albeit not by design, the most powerful and successful tool of EU foreign policy has turned out to be EU enlargement - and this book helps us understand why, and how, it works.

Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?

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Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?
Fritz W. Scharpf
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Public Affairs & Administration | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0198295464

Book Description

The problem-solving capacity, and hence the democratic legitimacy, of national governments is being weakened by the dual processes of legal and economic integration in Europe; and the loss is not fully compensated by the development of effective and legitimate problem-solving capabilities at the European level. Professor Scharpf supports his position by examining the normative underpinnings of democratic legitimacy and by a detailed analysis of the structural asymmetry between the effectiveness of the legal instruments of `negative integration' which prevents governments from interfering with the free movements of goods, services, capital, and persons and the political constraints impeding positive political action at the European level. This is particularly true for policies pertaining to the welfare state. Governing in Europe explores strategies at the national level that could succeed in maintaining welfare state goals even under conditions of international economic competition, and it also discusses the conditions under which European policy could play a protective and enabling role with regard to these national solutions. The author suggests that if these opportunities should be used, multi-level governance in Europe could indeed regain both effectiveness and legitimacy.

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