Ian BremmerReseñas

A warning to the rights of individual that state-capitalism threatens free market economics. State run companies, or companies that the government has a majority stake in, has special privileges that impede efficient use of resources. Reduction of competition and little feedback from public scrutiny. The resources governments obtain via state run companies usually have an incentive to be maleficent as the politician's way of getting more power. State owned companies are often provided with more privileges than other companies with additional barrier to potential competitors. There are many tools that a government operating state-capitalism has, the tools can be sovereign wealth funds and control of industries, the tool can be used for proper or inefficient use. The book is not difficult to read and stress on different property rights allocation is appropriate. Only a short analysis is done about various nations. An issue with the book is that the examples provided are usually discussing the energy sector. The biggest logical fallacy is to suppose that anything the U.S. starts to lack or becomes threatened, whether competitive edge, reserve currency, or relative military power, that it is bad for the world. Free market economics works because it creates the best allocation of resources, it does not matter if it is the U.S. or China or Russia that would hold the competitive edge over a particular resource.

The Power of Crisis deserves a high rating thanks to the author. Ian Bremmer, a prominent political scientist, is articulate and concise about where trends are pointing to. He does this in all his books in general and it's especially true in The Power of Crisis.

The world is shifting all around us. The COVID pandemic shook up the global economy and it's difficult to tell whether trends are going to return to the relatively peaceful times of the 2010's or if we're going to continue to shift towards another kind of global economy.½

This book was a wild ride. I normally steer clear of alarmist-sounding arguments (or book titles for that matter) but I'm glad I kept reading because the arguments within Us vs. Them are grounded in fact, well presented, and have historical precedent. I also wasn't familiar with the author, Ian Bremmer, but now I consider myself a fan.

I feel like I've been saying this for 20 years, but it feels just as relevant now that we are at a crossroads in our Age of Globalism. Will we sort through all of the competing incentives threatening to undo our global progress, or will it all be undone regardless? It's difficult to predict but expanding on what I said above life since the start of the 21st century has been a wild ride.½

The 3 global threats geopolitical consultant Bremmer addresses are (1) health and pandemics, (2) climate change, and (3) uncontrolled technology and AI. Preliminarily, he discusses (a) the wide and bitter gulf between the 2 political cultures within the US and (b) the risk of US/China relations sliding into a cold war, believing that progress on these 2 fronts is essential for the 3 threats to be effectively tackled. Under threat #3, he gives privacy issues their due and proposes creation of a World Data Organization analogous to the WTO and the IPCC. He manages to conclude with perhaps more optimism than is justified.

COSO ERM becomes a very meaningful and appropriate answer to document and address risk in light of the concepts covered in this book.

A nation such as the United States cannot--and should not--improvise its foreign policy. There needs to be a model for how a superpower responds to crises; Superpower examines three such models. What's good about the book is that it begins with a quiz for the reader which is then referenced throughout the text. Also impressive is that, when discussing each of the three models, Bremmer argues as earnestly and as intelligently as he can that the model in question is the best one. This creates a kind of suspense, since the reader is told that he will learn Bremmer's opinion at the very end. And, kudos to him, he doesn't weasel out of choosing one of the models, nor does he argue that we need elements of each. He chooses definitively and defends his reasoning. The book also moves along at a quick pace; it's never dull.

Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World by Ian Bremmer, an astute and intelligent political scientist and observer, if possibly manic, has written an important book on strategic choices America must make. The book is a little textbook-y and I tired of the analogy to Moneyball, the book by Michael Lewis about the Seattle baseball team. A book that by the way was fantastic. Bremmer thinks Obama's foreign policy has been a failure which should not be surprising since he entered the White House with no foreign policy experience and doesn't seem to have supplemented it with outstanding advisors. Bremmer is arrogantly certain the Mrs. Hillary, grossly negligent Clinton will be our next president. I can't recommend this book wholeheartedly but I am glad I read it.

Excellent book. I reallyed enjoy the style which is more long form magazine piece than heavy academic journal. Worth reading if only to get a clear idea of the challenges posed in moving a closed state to an open and stable position. Maybe a little too down on Iran but all in all a great read.½

HARD