Amazon.com
It's become clear by now the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in most places around the globe hasn't ushered in an unequivocal flowering of capitalism in the developing and postcommunist world. Western thinkers have blamed this on everything from these countries' lack of sellable assets to their inherently non-entrepreneurial "mindset." In this book, the renowned Peruvian economist and adviser to presidents and prime ministers Hernando de Soto proposes and argues another reason: it's not that poor, postcommunist countries don't have the assets to make capitalism flourish. As de Soto points out by way of example, in Egypt, the wealth the poor have accumulated is worth 55 times as much as the sum of all direct foreign investment ever recorded there, including that spent on building the Suez Canal and the Aswan Dam.
No, the real problem is that such countries have yet to establish and normalize the invisible network of laws that turns assets from "dead" into "liquid" capital. In the West, standardized laws allow us to mortgage a house to raise money for a new venture, permit the worth of a company to be broken up into so many publicly tradable stocks, and make it possible to govern and appraise property with agreed-upon rules that hold across neighborhoods, towns, or regions. This invisible infrastructure of "asset management"--so taken for granted in the West, even though it has only fully existed in the United States for the past 100 years--is the missing ingredient to success with capitalism, insists de Soto. But even though that link is primarily a legal one, he argues that the process of making it a normalized component of a society is more a political--or attitude-changing--challenge than anything else.
With a fleet of researchers, de Soto has sought out detailed evidence from struggling economies around the world to back up his claims. The result is a fascinating and solidly supported look at the one component that's holding much of the world back from developing healthy free markets. --Timothy Murphy
Book Description
"The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph" writes Hernando de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis." In The Mystery of Capital, the world-famous Peruvian economist takes up the question that, more than any other, is central to one of the most crucial problems the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail?
In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights. Every developed nation in the world at one time went through the transformation from predominantly informal, extralegal ownership to a formal, unified legal property system. In the West we've forgotten that creating this system is what also allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. This persuasive book revolutionizes our understanding of capital and points the way to a major transformation of the world economy.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful.......2007-09-26
I thought this was a fantistic book. The author compares the sorry state of property rights in the third world today with identical problems in earlier periods of US history.
Rich countries are frequently blamed for the problems in poor countries but this book shows why that blame is misplaced. This book also shows why billions of dollars in foreign aid have not and can not eliminate third world poverty.
Clear, Precise, Cogent and Important Thoughts.......2007-09-12
Although De Soto is trumpeted in the halls of the Chicago School as a person directly in line with his ideological primogeniteurs, it is clear that De Soto is not an ideologue.
His main thesis is that property rights are one of the fundamental underpinnings of western capitalism. Property rights allow the smooth functioning of capital accumulation without the diversion of too many supernumerary laws and institutions, and form the base impedements that allow capital markets, lending institutions and wealth creation mechanisms to function smoothly. If property rights are not highly developed then the "friction" this creates in the movement of capital impedes growth. As a concrete example, people in Africa and much of Latin America and Asia live in hovels that do represent accumulations of capital, but because these hovels, many owned by squatters cannot be leveraged to create capital or cannot be lent against. They in effect at dead capital because their ownership is in limbo. Advanced societies have smooth functioning property laws and markets that allow the process of wealth creation.
All of this is simple and De Soto does chronicle, as well as he can the underlying condition of dead capital formation, historical development of property rights and solid policies for implementing more legal property controls in the third world.
De Soto is also profoundly motivated to move backward societies forward and feels the poverty profoundly. In this sense he is very much a thinking man's economist and not an ideologue.
The one thing I would state is that the concepts De Soto is propounding are simple in nature and scope. As such I think that De Soto does repeat himself from time to time. Also the historical developments of property rights in the US is a good example of how a country with essentially third-world property rights, emerged to relatively advanced property rights. But I do think that his historical scholarship suffers a little as an Economist outside of his area of interest.
The writing style, though good, is not so exciting at times and would do better with a bit more details on specific human examples. But that should not detract from its scholarship.
Important work.......2007-07-23
This book is a very important work in the area of the economics of property rights. De Soto emphasizes the importance of property rights for the development of developing countries.
Capitalism Triumphs in "Market" and Fails EveryWhere Else.......2007-07-04
Most reader comments on the "political" and "Policy" side of the book. They applause by embracing the idea of less government intervention, better legal protection, better property right and so on. But I will comment the Economic side of the book. The most important point in this book is that there is a lot of "dead capital" in under developing countries. My wonder to this point is that which mechanism generate so huge amount of "dead capital". From the content of De Soto book, it is sure that all these "dead capital" comes from "black/underground Market" or "Illegal Free Market". The "Illegal Free Market" generate 9.3 trillion dollar. Actually I think De Soto is still highly under estimate the value since De Soto does not include all the human capital estimation. I think De Soto agree Free Market is the real source of economic growth.
Also in De Soto analysis, capital is the fuel for economy growth while the Keynesian believe that both individual and government spending the fuel for economy growth. De Soto book does not directly compare this 2 different ways to go. But De Soto clearly show that Foreign loan or aid does no help since it only simulate spending only. From my understanding, De Soto recommends to use Market to replace the government to release the "dead capital". Government is only require to provide minimum effect to ensure that the contract is fulfilled.
Spot on!.......2007-06-24
It's been a while since I read the book. As a citizen and resident of a third world country I can vouch that what de Soto says is the absolute truth. I have also had a business in the USA and the difference is just staggering. The longest procedure in the USA for setting up my business was getting the sales tax permit and that took about two hours. A similar procedure in my country can take months.
I'm a bit amazed that some reviewers are commenting about the book being badly written. I don't have that recollection but then, it's been a while since I read it and I enjoyed it very, very much.
Book Description
THE MOST POWERFUL SYSTEM FOR SALES SUCCESS -- FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING AUDIO "THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING"
Strategy, tactics, and mental preparedness separate superior salespeople from the average -- and with technological advances evening the competition, the selling edge is now more important than ever. Drawing on his own successful sales career and on his extensive experience as a sales consultant and seminar leader, Brian Tracy has developed the most comprehensive and effective approach to selling ever created.
Advanced Selling Strategies provides you with the techniques and tools used by top salespeople in every industry -- methods that net immediate and spectacular results. This book explains how to:
* Develop the self-image to give you the edge in every sales situation
* Concentrate on the customer's emotional factors to ensure better sales results
* Identify your customer's most pressing concerns and position your product or service to fill those needs
A MUST READ FOR SALESPEOPLE AND BUSINESSPEOPLE ALIKE.
Download Description
Sales is cornerstone: everything starts and falls on sales. And this is the BIBLE OF SALES. THE MOST POWERFUL SYSTEM FOR SALES SUCCESS -- FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING AUDIO "THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING" Strategy, tactics, and mental preparedness separate superior salespeople from the average -- and with technological advances evening the competition, the selling edge is now more important than ever. Drawing on his own successful sales career and on his extensive experience as a sales consultant and seminar leader, Brian Tracy has developed the most comprehensive and effective approach to selling ever created. Advanced Selling Strategies provides you with the techniques and tools used by top salespeople in every industry -- methods that net immediate and spectacular results. This book explains how to: * Develop the self-image to give you the edge in every sales situation * Concentrate on the customer's emotional factors to ensure better sales results * Identify your customer's most pressing concerns and position your product or service to fill those needs A MUST READ FOR SALESPEOPLE AND BUSINESSPEOPLE ALIKE.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent companion piece to "The Psychology of Selling".......2007-09-13
For my personal preferences, there are two acknowledged masters of sales. The first is Zig Ziglar, the second is Brian Tracy. While I find great value in the works of Jeffrey Gitomer, Frank Rumbauskas, Tim Connor and others, all roads eventually lead back to Zig and Brian (as well as Napoleon Hill...see below).
Tracy's "The Psychology of Selling" is one of the few books I honestly classify as "essential," and I do so without reservation. Like Ziglar, Tracy wants salespeople to see the craft of selling as a series of relationships, not drive-bys. You have to learn how to sell. The biggest challenge is "un-learning" the garbage you've been fed by snake oil peddlers.
The title "Advanced Selling Strategies" is important, because "strategy" is what's often lacking. You have to do your homework. You have to build a relationship. You have to create a sense of buying urgency. You have to know when it is time to close the sale, and when that time comes, you have to know how to do it.
And you have to do this uniquely for EVERY client you sign up. Forget the "Sales Scripts That Close EVERY Sale" books. They're garbage. If you're dealing with a prospect who's not bright enough to spot a script a mile away, that prospect should not become one of your clients.
That said, here are the chapters in "Advanced Selling Strategies."
1). The Psychology Of Selling
2). The Development Of Personal Power
3). Personal Strategic Planning For the Sales Professional
4). The Heart Of The Sale
5). The Profession Of Selling
6). Motivating People To Buy
7). Influencing The Buying Decision
8). Prospecting: Filling Your Sales Pipeline
9). How To Make Powerful Presentations
10). Closing The Sale: The Endgame Of Selling
Those are the "bones" of the book, and trust me...there's plenty of meat on each of them.
If you're serious about sales...serious about being the best, serious about challenging yourself and being an achiever instead of someone who makes excuses for limited achievement...I recommend the following:
1). "The Psychology of Selling" by Brian Tract
2). "Advanced Selling Strategies" by Brian Tracy
3). "Secrets of Closing The Sale" (2003 Updated Edition) by Zig Ziglar
4). "Over The Top: Moving From Survival To Stability, From Stability To Success, From Success To Significance" by Zig Ziglar
5). "The Law Of Success In Sixteen Lessons Complete" by Napoleon Hill
Happy selling!
Tracy's best book on selling - Best sales book available today........2006-10-13
Although this book was written over ten years ago, Advanced Selling Strategies is still Brian Tracy's best work on selling and perhaps, the best book period on the subject of selling that is on the bookshelves today.
I started in phone sales back in 1993. Using the techniques Brian discloses, I went from tied for last place - 68th out of 68 people in March 1993 to 3rd out of 75 people doing about $100/day in sales to doing over $1,500/day in sales one month later in April 1993! His techniques work.
The magic of Brian is that he helps bring out the inner power that lies dormant inside all of us while providing powerful sales techniques. His sales techniques are low key, friendly and non threatening to the prospect.
Brian shows you how to change you self image as a sales person. Not just the hookey-pookey rah-rah positive stuff, but how to see yourself as a consultant rather than a sales person as well as how to see yourself as a success.
Using the phrase, "I'm not trying to sell you anything." Has worked wonders in opening doors for me. Other phrases like, "That is an interesting question, why did you say that?" "How exactly do you mean?" "Why did you ask that?" Surprisingly are non threatening and get the prospect to open up.
And I really benefitted from the 20 idea method for unleashing creativity. Spending an hour a day, every morning reading has made a major impact on my sales not to mention listening to tapes in my car and watching videos at home.
Brian's mental techniques of practice, drill, rehearse along with affirmations and visualization helped me probably more than anything. I agree with Brian that with affirmations and visualization, your future in sales is UNLIMITED!!!
Funny how whenever I stop for any reason, the results stop as well. Sort of like going to the gym. Or put another way, if you don't u se it, you'll lose it. A daily mental aerobics program of affirmations and visualizations will make you and keep you mentally fit and breaking sales records.
Goal setting gets beat to death by almost every trainer, but nobody does it as well as Brian. Teach it properly that is.
Lastly, this book and these skills will help every salesperson regardless of the type of sales you do.
Along with Advanced Selling Strategies I also recommend The Psychology of Selling and Be A Sales Superstar also by Brian Tracy.
Detailed how-to information that can be usefully applied .......2006-03-13
Brian Tracy details the psychological aspects and the nitty gritty of the three steps to effective consultative selling: (1) build rapport and credibility, (2) diagnose problem, and (3) prescribe / present solution.
Brian describes several critical success factors in selling. The critical success factors in any profession is the minimal set of factors that need to be accomplished well to be successful in that profession. For effective selling, mastering the following critical success factors is required: (1) prospecting (2) getting appointments (3) qualifying (4) problem identification and clarification (5) presenting (6) answering objections (7) closing (8) follow-through and delivery and (9) resales and referrals.
Brian discusses unique aspects related to selling to large accounts. You will undoubtedly become a more effective salesperson by practicing the techniques discussed here.
All you ever wanted to know about selling, and then some..........2006-03-04
Becoming a successful salesperson isn't dependent on inherent talent, says Brian Tracy. Eighty percent of the success of top sales people is due to their attitude. In this book, Brian Tracy has advice for adopting the right attitude, and for all three steps of the selling process including finding your customers, presenting your product and closing the sale.
The best salespeople see themselves as self-employed. They know that they are responsible for their own careers. They see themselves as problem-solvers and strategic thinkers. They try to solve problems that their customers have. They also practice the Golden Rule, selling unto others as they would have others sell unto them. They are honest and ethical with customers.
This book is crammed with advice for improving your attitude towards selling, prospecting for customers, presenting products to customers and closing your sales. An invaluable resource.
A Great Book on Sales.......2005-12-26
I've been searching for a book on how to apply NLP in Network Marketing (aka Multi-Level Marketing) for many years... But unfortunately there were none written on this subject... And so I wrote one myself! But before I embarked on it, I made certain I've read every book on NLP and Sales as well as all the recommended Network Marketing books.
And in my research, I've found Tracy's Advanced Selling Strategies to be one of the best books ever written on sales! This book is also a great complement to "The Unfair Advantage" by Duane Lakin.
James Leong
Author of The World's First Book on
Network Marketing with NLP,
"MLM Persuasion Mastery: How
Master Networkers Change Beliefs
and Behavior"
Book Description
Job Aids and Performance Support in the Workplace gives us everything we’ve ever wanted to know about these invaluable tools and techniques! Allison Rossett and Lisa Schafer have created a comprehensive, pragmatic, and very readable guide. The authors don’t exaggerate when they claim it’s ‘knowledge everywhere.’
Customer Reviews:
Allison continues to improve my results.......2007-02-09
Got the book---I LOVE IT! .....Better yet, I am using it!
I have referred the book to several other associates at Bank of America. I find great value in the concepts of Planners and
Sidekicks. I am leading a project in the deployment of a number of substantial changes to the Bank's Desk top Sales Tool platform. In discussion with the Design and Development Team, I have introduced the idea of developing planner and sidekick performance support tools as part of the Learning Solution.
Allison, you continue to engage and improve my results.
Thanks!
Jenelle Lozano
GCIB Learning & Organizational Effectiveness
Great examples! Love this book........2007-01-18
Purchased and read your new book. Great examples! My favorite new learning was about the sweat-band job aids used by football teams. I'm trying to figure out how to use those as a training aid for new non-English speaking house cleaners . . . Will really help me sell my ideas to Sr. Management
Next I'll order a copy of your prior Job Aids book just to have it in my library. Thanks for gathering the examples and sharing.
Laura Handrick, Director Training Development, The Maids International
Book Description
"Excellent advice."--Public Relations Quarterly
Nearly a decade after it first hit bookstands, Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR remains one of the industry's bestselling, best-reviewed, and most valuable how-tos for garnering low-or no-cost publicity. Now, Guerrilla PR Wired updates Levine's attention-getting strategies for today's globally wired environment.
Customer Reviews:
Not very useful........2007-09-13
I think this is the first book about business and finance that I actually thought was not really worth my time in reading it. Maybe I normally just make good choices about which books look interesting and educational. This book was certainly not either of those.
Guerrilla PR Wired tries to capitalize on the Guerrilla name (as in Guerrilla Marketing and Guerilla Marketing for the Home-Based Business by Jay Conrad Levinson), but it is completely unrelated. The only thing "guerrilla" about it is Levine calling people with small businesses "guerrillas", just as Levinson does. When I read "guerrilla", I assumed it was part of THE guerrilla franchise and was fooled into reading it.
This book is very outdated and too simple to really be much use in public relations or online marketing. It's expected that a book on online marketing will go out of date within a few years after its printing, but I learned things about the ancient version of the internet that I had no idea existed. Additionally, its simplified view of public relations doesn't give the reader with much information to actually put together a PR campaign and execute one.
Although, as a person who had no idea what public relations were and what they intended to accomplish, I figure this book at least gave me the jist of the idea. One of the most useful things I learned was to pitch your news releases to local weekly publications. Then, larger publications can become interested in the story and then they might publish it....hence, big follows small.
So overall, there are probably better books to get you started in PR online and offline. Let me know if you have any suggested ones for me to read!
--
Cat Cromar
www.astartuplife.com/category/book-reviews
Good cover and paperback, but everything in between is disappointing..........2005-09-30
I could take out a handful of (minor) good ideas out of this book. Consider the time I invested in reading it, I would say not worth it.
I am pretty much a newbie to P.R., and I think most of the ideas inside this book will come quicker to you if you use common sense.
Some rought guidelines who to interact with the press (DON'T SEND MAILS WITH SUBJECT LINE ALL IN CAPITALS; be persistent when pitching but accept an no for an answere; journalists and producers are busy people, so contact them only if it is newsworthy, never lie to journalists, try to figure out the schedule of the person you're contacting, because if you call at "rush hour", you will not be able to make your pitch; find out how people like to be approached before you do your pitch (some like email, some fax, some snailmail, some phonecalls, etc.)
skip this one.......2005-07-09
Adding 'guerilla' to the title does not a good book make. There's nothing unique about the advice given here that you can't find in any other book on the subject. Save your money.
Levine = Sandra Bullock Of Literary World?.......2005-04-08
Just as Miss Congeniality 2 is a really stupid sequel to a really stupid movie that shouldn't have been made in the first place, so too is Guerrilla PR Wired a really stupid follow up to a really stupid book that shouldn't have been written in the first place. The author should have seen that Jay Conrad Levinson already had the topic covered and left it at that.
Michael Levine's book reads like a college freshman who is doing a report on Jay Conrad Levinson's Guerrilla Publicity. Don't let the similarity in title fool you--Levinson's is the real deal while Levine's is a very poor rip-off.
Not A Good Book.......2005-02-19
I have been planning to run an online business for a while now. To gain some better insight I thought I would seek out a few helpful books that may put me a little bit ahead in the game.
Unfortunately this book was a complete waste of time and money. And as anybody who has ever run their own business knows, both of those elements are crucial. But at least as bad investments go, a poorly written book won't set you back too far.
I can't speak for the rest of the population, but for the entrepreneurial type, you would be wise to skip this book at all costs (unless you are one of my competitors--then by all means buy this book and follow every example it teaches!).
-John Wilkins
Book Description
In 1994, indigenous Zapatista rebels emerged from the rainforest shouting "Ya Basta" in defiance of the birth of the North American Free Trade Agreement. This band of women and men rekindled a radical resistance movement that was to inspire a whole new generation. From urban street reclaimers in London and land squatters in Brazil, to Indian farmers protesting GM crops and the Italian White Overall Movement, spontaneous uprisings found a shared enemy—global capital.
As events swept from Chiapas to Seattle, Genoa to Bangalore, and summits have been wreathed in tear gas, the new movement has matured into a massive political force—flexible, strategic, and able to resist and adapt to increasingly brutal responses by various states. The editors of this celebratory publishing project have been on the frontline of the movement, working as activists and writers, story chasers and documentarians. A mixture of critical analysis and art book, agitprop, inspirational document, and DIY manual, We Are Everywhere combines innovative graphic design and photographs with texts and interviews with activists, creating a lively, polyphonic insight into the ideas and activities of the movements against capitalism. 10 color and 40 b/w images.
Customer Reviews:
A stellar collection of writings on the global justice movement!.......2006-07-16
Kudos to the Notes from Nowhere collective for compiling this beautifully illustrated insightful anthology of essays about the global justice movement! Exploring a wide range of struggles (urban squats, communty gardens, independent media, union organizing, anti-war, anti-biotech, etc.) around the world (Argentina, India, Palestine, Mexico, South Africa, the United States, Italy and elsewhere), "We Are Everywhere" is an inspirational mosaic of stories about everday people working for gender equality, racial justice, economic democracy, environmental sustainability and peace. Another informative book from Verso!
wonderful.......2004-09-26
This is a wonderful little book--well, may be not so little at 500+ pages. It gives a good overview of the more radical end of the global justice movement (aka, the "so-called anti-globalization movement"), with its emphasis on openness to multiple viewpoints; direct, participatory democracy; direct action; etc. It's divided into six sections, each of which starts by an analytical but accessible essay by the collective members--"Emergence: An Irresistable Global Uprising", "Networks: The Ecology of the Movement", "Power: Building it Without Taking it", etc. Each section then follows with a number of brief pieces, interviews with or articles by people involved the global justice movement, from all over the world. If you are depressed about what a mess the world is in, this can provide some inspirational reading. It will also provide a good overview of the radical wing of the global justice movement, as much as one can provide an overview of something so complex. If you don't know much about the radical wing of the global justice movement, reading the analytical essays and some of the reports by activists from the field should give you a good feel for it. I say "should" because apparently one of the previous reviewers came away with the bizarre impression that the radical wing of the global justice movement is dominated by Marxist-Leninists. Marxist-Leninism is, thankfully, (mostly) dead. The writers in this book are inspired by anarchism, libertarian Marxism, Gandhianism, etc. The orientation is towards building radical, grassoots democracy and counter-institutions--not seizing state power; towards dialogue between multiple viewpoints--not silencing those who disagree with you; and a wariness of the trap of armed struggle, even among those who aren't pacifists--not shooting your enemies.
anti-globalization alive and well.......2004-05-12
first, the first reviewer obviously never read the book. the ideas in it are NOT communist or socialist, but ANARCHIST. a good number of the groups mention in the book are organized in a non hierarchal way.
this is a good account of the rising anti-globalization movement. with the fall of communism (and the "victory" of capitalism") came what was known as the end of history. the ant-globalism movement is bring about the end of the end of history. capitalists thought they had won when communism "fell" but all that happened was it gained a new enemy. the tatics used by the WTO, WB, IMF, and gang of 8 (G8) and multinational corporations have created an enemy multiple times larger then communism ever was; the people of the world.
people are pissed off at global capitalism, it ruins millions of lives all in the name of "progress" the elite are running scared of the people, this can be seen since J18, and N30. they now hold their summits in locations virually inaccessible to the people their policies effect. this book is a great documentation of the movement, and where the world is likely heading.
Read Road to Serfdom Instead.......2004-05-04
This is the usual socialist happy-talk about improving justice, from each according to his ability, to each according to his need, etc. It is all a fundamental denial of human nature, a belief that mankind is inherently good, that only our social institutions cause corruption, etc. If they think this system is so good, why is the northern part of Korea pitch black at night, while the southern (capitalist) part is lit up like a beacon of freedom? Check the NASA nightime photo composite. It tells all.
These people want to give communism yet another chance, even though it has already killed over 100 million people.
The only reason I gave it one star is that I couldn't choose to give it zero.
Will the lunacy ever stop? There's a sucker born every minute.
An honest and humourous roundup.......2004-01-10
One of the few books i have read on the anti-capitalist movement that covers the wide network of resistance that i have come across. They are honest enough not to prescribe detailed solutions but give enough informed thought for the reader to understand and make their own minds up.
Designed in a novel landscape format, with hundreds of pictures to break up the short texts, it is at once intelectual while also managing to be clear and exciting to read.
If you buy one book about this movement of movements get this one, you will be amazed by its breadth and imagination.
Book Description
The purpose of Economics Is Everywhere by Daniel S. Hamermesh is to illustrate the wide range of daily activities to which an economic way of thinking can be applied. Each of the 401 vignettes is inspired by an everyday event that students came up with or were inspired by news articles, films, personal life or popular culture. The book is organized into three parts to follow the topical arrangement of a typical introductory microeconomic textbook. These vignettes apply what students learn in their introductory microeconomics textbook. They focus on the student's ability to apply formal analysis with myriad of examples that come out of their daily activities. After studying this applications/issues book, students will be able to read a newspaper or magazine and understand their own daily activities in a new, economic way---and as a result understand the economics at work around them.
Average customer rating:
- Full of misinformation
- Outdated and unfocused look at information warfare
- Fun to read but not very accurate
- Wide Ranging Review of Information Warfare
- Infrastructure beware
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The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons and the Front Line Is Everywhere
James Adams
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Strategy & Competition
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General
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Strategy
| Military
| History
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U.S.
| Politics
| Nonfiction
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ASIN: 0743223802 |
Amazon.com
Has the computer chip changed the nature of warfare? Will it eventually change war beyond current recognition? Adams, the former defense correspondent and Washington bureau chief for the London Sunday Times, believes that information will become the ultimate weapon and that future battlegrounds will be everywhere we live and work. While the weapons and technology of war will improve beyond even technofiction's expectations, it's the "information warfare" that will be critical in foreign wars and in the war against domestic crime.
We've already seen some of what is to come in the Gulf War's camera-equipped smart bombs. Soldiers can now be equipped with hand-held computers that can send messages and information back to superiors. And among the weapons to come: microwave cannons; plasma guns; devices that can see, smell, and hear; and even robotic "ants" that can swarm and explode around the enemy. Soldiers will wear uniforms powered by body heat that automatically relay important information back to their base camp. Helmets will be able to locate incoming fire, help a soldier see under all kinds of conditions, and locate others in a patrol.
The ability to attack an enemy's civilian infrastructure, such as communication networks, air traffic control, bridges and dams, and electric grids, will be part of the new era of war. With the advanced state of digital imaging, misinformation campaigns in enemy countries can take on a much more convincing role. All it takes is for one country to have a few skilled hackers, and suddenly the number of troops, the hardware, and the nuclear devices don't matter. Could there be an "electronic Pearl Harbor?"
Adams's research and journalism experience has made him aware of how much information warfare is being planned for and how much is already in place. His concern, in part, is that there has been little public debate about this, even though it affects our future so dramatically. Adams says "As David proved against Goliath, strength can be beaten. America today looks uncomfortably like Goliath, arrogant in its power, armed to the teeth, ignorant of its weakness." --Elizabeth Lewis
Book Description
It is a silent, invisible, and deadly weapons system. It can paralyze an entire nation without a single soldier being sent to war. We glimpsed its potential on television when surgical strikes on radar sites, electrical power plants, and command networks crippled Iraqi forces during the Gulf War. Now, in The Next World War, James Adams shows how a new chapter in military history is being written as the Information Age comes to the battlefield: to bigger and stronger, now add smarter. As increasingly sophisticated computers and microtechnology have become available, the concept of "conventional" warfare has changed. Technology has already made its way to the front lines: soldiers are now equipped, for example, with new "smart" technologies such as handheld computers that allow them to e-mail their commanders. There are devices that can sense an enemy's presence before the enemy is visible, by detecting body heat or by communication with satellites overhead. Robotic "bugs" can even be sent in swarms to sabotage weapons or subdue enemy soldiers. But the most significant and important use of information warfare won't be on the battlefield. The most devastating weapons will be those that target an enemy's infrastructure -- air-control systems, electrical grids, and communication networks, to name just a few potential targets. "Trojan horse" chips or viruses designed to accept and respond to commands from U.S. military intelligence can be installed in computers being sold overseas, making them vulnerable to attack. By hacking into computer systems, the United States could override programmed commands and thus shut down air traffic control systems, and open floodgates and bridges. Misinformation could even be broadcast, for example, by using imaging technology to simulate a television appearance by an enemy nation's leaders. This type of combat puts civilians at more risk than ever, as financial, communication, transportation, and other infrastructure systems become prime military targets. And information warfare puts the United States -- a nation increasingly dependent on technology -- in a position of both definite advantage and extreme vulnerability. In The Next World War, James Adams draws on impressive research as well as his lifetime of reporting on intelligence and military affairs to give us a chilling scenario of how wars will be fought in the new millennium -- and how much closer to home they might strike.
Customer Reviews:
Full of misinformation.......2005-09-27
Adams is either a liar or too gullible to be allowed in public without his nanny. The most laughable mistake of "Next World War" is Adams' story of a printer virus supposedly used in the first Gulf War. He got the story from an April's Fool joke printed in InfoWorld magazine. Duh! For a detailed analysis of the wildly false stories of this book, complete with references, see http://www.soci.niu.edu/~crypt/other/adams.htm
Outdated and unfocused look at information warfare.......2004-09-19
James Adams' The Next World War was a disappointing read from an author who usually produces solid national security writing.
The book is an effort (originally written in 1998) to provide a survey of how future wars might be waged. Divided into three parts, the book begins by providing an overview of the state of "information warfare," then discusses relevant applications of information warfare, and concludes by discussing how information warfare may impact US and global security.
While the book is a decent attempt to sum up innovative thinking in the world of security studies during the mid- to late-1990s, it suffers from a critical lack of focus. The author introduces the concept of "information warfare" but discusses several topics (most notably non-lethal weapons) that appear only tangentially related to even the most generous definitions of information warfare. In addition, like many books written during this time period, The Next World War argues that cyberwarfare, viruses, and hacking present the gravest threats to US security interests. This argument almost completely overlooks the importance of information warfare outside the cybersphere. Terrorists, insurgents, and other non-state actors practice their own form of information warfare that falls largely outside of Adams' discussion. In addition, while Adams' research was undoubtedly cutting edge in 1998, the rapid changes in information technology and military technology make some of his discussions seem antiquated.
While an interesting and relatively easy read, this book is too outdated and too broadly conceived to much use for today's readers. Specialists in military technology and information warfare may find this a valuable addition to their libraries. General readers and those interested in more up-to-date information on "information warfare" should opt for more recent studies.
Fun to read but not very accurate.......2001-04-15
This book is entertaining and, as other reviewers have pointed out, Mr Adams does not hesitate voicing his opinions.
Unfortunately there are several problems with the overall thesis :
1) Accuracy and fact checking are obviously not very high on the author's priority list. Somalia is given a given a 250 millions square miles area on page 61( in reality 256.000 ), 56 bit encryption is supposedly 250.000 times harder to break than 40 bit encryption ( in reality 65536 or 2^16 ) (page 219), PGP is described as having a vague backdoor when the local PC where it is used is accessible (it does not) (p 222), etc... I could provide a dozen other examples. While not necessarily critical those mistakes cast a shadow of doubt over the whole book. "If this guy is so wrong on what I know, how can I trust him about what I don't know..." was the question I kept asking myself.
2) while the author seems to criticize the position of the upper level of hierarchy as far as Info War is concerned, he basically echoes their misinformed opinions in many occasions. For example, he mentions on several occasions that computer viruses were used and could be used meaningfully to fight an info-war. He repeats the meaningless "virus insertion" sentence but notes that "launching computer bombs that would destroy the offending computer or software is currently illegal" - not only is it illegal, but it is also technically impossible at least in the context where this comes up, the hacker's PCs... According to the author, most PCs sold to Russia are bugged : "the technology does the work, sending back a steady stream of bits and bytes from the computers that have been purchased in good faith". Of course, this is hilarious : it is technically impossible to export data out of a PC without its informed user at least noticing it. Clearly, in this case, the data has to be exported either by a kind of wireless network - hard to hide - or leaked on a cabled network - even harder to hide, freely downloadable network sniffers and protocol analyzers abound... "Independence Day", the movie, wasn't much worse than this.
Mr Adams, when you want to insert a virus or a trojan to wage an info war, the devil is in the details...
3) this book was written in the midst of the euphorical dot.com boom and it shows that time's bias for a new "information age" that was going to wipe the world as we know it. This is understandable, but doesn't help the long term viability of the ideas presented in the book. Now that we know that brick and mortar businesses still have a future, we could come to a similar conclusion about sweat and blood armies.
4) the author is, at times, incoherent. For example, after explaining how the NSA helped Boeing fight Airbus in Saudi Arabia, after convincingly demonstrating that everyone is spying on everyone, he goes on saying that the US wouldn't use the CIA for economic intelligence because of moral and legal hurdles (and also because they would probably fail spectacularly).
Yet, for all its shortcomings the book is entertaining, mainly because the author's interesting political analyses are cleverly exposed.
Wide Ranging Review of Information Warfare.......2000-09-25
This book covers the myriad of areas of Information Warfare. Mr. Adams goes into detail on the perception management areas of IW as well as the more expected computer areas. He covers much material and sometimes he jumps around but I appreciate the wide-ranging discussions. He even covers the Russian view of IW as well as Chinese operations. He reviews the defensive IW element of counterintelligence and includes economic espionage. He also talks about the morality and legality of the use of IW. He is not afraid to offer his personal opinions in this book. Overall a detailed treatment of IW while still being entertaining.
Infrastructure beware.......2000-08-07
My shelves are littered with books that pretend to describe the threats in cyberspace. Recent lightweights take an apocalyptic approach - perhaps to scare readers into buying their books. Most of these cyber-scare books blur the line between fact and fantasy; they lose track of the difference between information in warfare and Information Warfare. This book is substantially different, however. It provides factual information and well grounded opinions.
Ever since Charles Colson wrote Kingdoms in Conflict we have become familiar with fictional White House dramas in the first chapter of nonfiction books. The first pages of Adams' book are very different, however. His White House sketch describes something that could very well happen next week in international cyberspace.
The book's setting is international; every chapter presents thoughtful issues that affect the global environment that security managers operate in. Using conventional wars as a background the author describes our defeat in Somalia, messy involvement in Haiti and limited victory in Iraq.
It transitions to next generation warfare by describing non-lethal weaponry. This isn't cyberspace but it will be of general interest to thoughtful managers.
According to Adams corporate security can expect little cybercop help from the government. "As a rule they have almost no computer security experience". The political forces that assign responsibility for detection of computer crimes have also dropped the ball. The presidential decision directive centralizing responsibility for defending gave responsibility to the "Neanderthal" FBI and Department of Justice.
The author's first hand sources in the US and foreign intelligence services make this book an interesting read. His clearheaded view of encryption technology and politics frame factual discussions. I strongly recommend it for security managers who would like to see the future threat to their organizations as well as the national infrastructure.
[adapted from a review published in Security Management. All rights reserved by the author]
Book Description
Written in a conversational tone, this analysis argues that leadership styles do not need to change in different contexts, thus giving readers permission to develop one style that works for every situation. Readers are instructed on the behaviors and traits necessary to become awakened leaders and they are warned about common mistakes. In-depth interviews with leaders in many settings, from corporate to nonprofit and religious to personal, reveal crucial points for leadership success as well as organizational aspects for achieving greater job performance and satisfaction. Taking into account the many recognized leadership styles discussed in business literature, Awakened Leadership is presented as the most effective, versatile style of leading.
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Cotton Everywhere: Recollections of Northern Women Millworkers
Christine Kenny
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