Columbia Global Reports Série

Named one of Vanity Fair's 11 Nonfiction Books to Read this Fall 800-CEO Reads Editor's Choice: McLean exposes the faulty foundation not only of our supposed energy independence, but of the very desire for it....The sloganeering of drill, baby, drill, and the false, geopolitically fraught hope of energy independence it implies, ignores these basic business, economic, and existential human realities. In exposing them, McLean offers hope for a more reasonable discussion, a more sustainable and profitable industry, and, perhaps, a more integrated energy policy. As journalist Bethany McLean sketches with clarity and concision in this book, the shale revolution has had profound effects on the US, creating jobs and cutting energy costs, but many of the claims made for it have been overblown....Unlike some who have taken a skeptical view of the shale industry, McLean is not trying to debunk it--those who have tried have been made to look foolish by its success in recent years -- but she does urge us to be cautious about being too trusting.-- Financial Times Bethany McLean explores fracking's nuanced success, but also cautions that this energy revolution is not the country's golden ticket to energy independence.--NPR, Marketplace

"Illuminating." - The New York Times Book Review Named one of "Ten Books to Read this April" by the BBC What is the future of fiction in an age of globalization? In The Global Novel, acclaimed literary critic Adam Kirsch explores some of the 21st century's best-known writers--including Orhan Pamuk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Mohsin Hamid, Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami, Roberto Bolano, Elena Ferrante, and Michel Houellebecq. They are employing a way of imagining the world that sees different places and peoples as intimately connected. From climate change and sex trafficking to religious fundamentalism and genetic engineering, today's novelists use 21st-century subjects to address the perennial concerns of fiction, like morality, society, and love. The global novel is not the bland, deracinated, commercial product that many critics of world literature have accused it of being, but rather finds a way to renew the writer's ancient privilege of examining what it means to be human.

,"A book that belongs on the shelf alongside The Gulag Archipelago. -- Kirkus Reviews A haunting literary and visual journey deep into Russia's past -- and present. The Gulag was a monstrous network of labor camps that held and killed millions of prisoners from the 1930s to the 1950s. More than half a century after the end of Stalinist terror, the geography of the Gulag has been barely sketched and the number of its victims remains unknown. Has the Gulag been forgotten?Writer Masha Gessen and photographer Misha Friedman set out across Russia in search of the memory of the Gulag. They journey from Moscow to Sandarmokh, a forested site of mass executions during Stalin's Great Terror; to the only Gulag camp turned into a museum, outside of the city of Perm in the Urals; and to Kolyma, where prisoners worked in deadly mines in the remote reaches of the Far East. They find that in Vladimir Putin's Russia, where Stalin is remembered as a great leader, Soviet terror has not been forgotten: it was never remembered in the first place.

We live in an age of extreme corporate concentration, in which global industries are controlled by just a few giant firms-big banks, big pharma, and big tech, just to name a few. But concern over what Louis Brandeis called the "curse of bigness" can no longer remain the province of specialist lawyers and economists, for it has spilled over into policy and politics, even threatening democracy itself. History suggests that tolerance of inequality and failing to control excessive corporate power may prompt the rise of populism, nationalism, extremist politicians, and fascist regimes. In short, as Wu warns, we are in grave danger of repeating the signature errors of the twentieth century. In The Curse of Bigness, Tim Wu, special assistant to President Biden for technology and competition policy, explains how figures like Brandeis and Theodore Roosevelt first confronted the democratic threats posed by the great trusts of the Gilded Age-but the lessons of the Progressive Era were forgotten in the last 40 years. He calls for recovering the lost tenets of the trustbusting age as part of a broader revival of American progressive ideas as we confront the fallout of persistent and extreme economic inequality

On the frontlines of the battle for democracy in China, the rise of Hong Kong narrates a miraculous post-War boom, where Chinese refugees transformed a small British colony into a major financial center within fifty years. However, the unraveling of Hong Kong reveals the stark reality of China’s unwillingness to embrace democratic norms. Once subjects of the British Empire for over a century, the people of Hong Kong now face the prospect of subordination under a rising power. While we witness the decline of Hong Kong as we know it, this narrative also highlights the most significant challenge to China's authoritarianism in three decades. A dedicated group of activists passionately defends their beloved home against Beijing's efforts to integrate the city into its "Greater Bay Area" megalopolis. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a prominent China expert, draws from his extensive visits and knowledge of repression and resistance to illuminate the deep roots and broader implications of the unfolding events in Hong Kong. This account is a compelling tale of tragedy and heroism, showcasing a David-versus-Goliath struggle between determined street protesters and the unwavering resolve of Xi Jinping, China's most ambitious leader since Mao.

Boko Haram ontvoerde ruim twee jaar geleden 267 meisjes van de middelbare school in Chibok. De veelgeprezen Nigeriaanse romanschrijver Helon Habila, afkomstig uit de streek, keerde terug naar Chibok, legde contact met de familie en sprak ontvoerde meisjes. Vervuld van mededogen en met een diepgaand inzicht in de historische context beschrijft Habila de opkomst van Boko Haram en de inadequate reactie daarop van de Nigeriaanse regering. Habila belicht de lange geschiedenis van het kolonialisme en geeft inzicht in de culturele en religieuze dynamiek die ten grondslag ligt aan de conflicten waar de regio tot op de dag van vandaag door wordt geteisterd