Suchergebnisse

Diamond shows us how seven countries have survived defining upheavals in the recent past -- from the forced opening up of Japan and the Soviet invasion of Finland to the Pinochet regime in Chile -- through selective change, a process of painful self-appraisal and adaptation more commonly associated with personal trauma. Looking ahead to the future, he investigates whether the United States, and the world, are squandering their natural advantages and are on a devastating path towards catastrophe. Is this fate inevitable ? Or can we still learn from the lessons of the past ? Exhibiting the awe-inspiring grasp of history, geography, economics and anthropology that marks all Diamond's work, Upheaval reveals how both nations and individuals can become more resilient

Prologue: Legacies of Coconut Grove -- Part 1. Individuals. Personal crises -- Part 2. Nations : crises that unfolded. Finland's war with the Soviet Union ; The origins of modern Japan ; A Chile for all Chileans ; Indonesia, the rise of a new country ; Rebuilding Germany ; Australia : who are we? -- Part 3. Nations and the world : crises underway. What lies ahead for Japan? ; What lies ahead for the United States? : strengths, and the biggest problem ; What lies ahead for the United States? : three 'other' problems ; What lies ahead for the world? ; Epilogue: Lessons, questions, and outlook.

The author dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors he feels are responsible for history's broadest patterns

Consists of eight comparative studies drawn from history, archeology, economics, economic history, geography, and political science. The studies cover a spectrum of approaches, ranging from a non-quantitative narrative style in the early chapters to quantitative statistical analyses in the later chapters. The studies range from a simple two-way comparison of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, to comparisons of 81 Pacific islands and 233 areas of India. The societies discussed are contemporary ones, literate societies of recent centuries, and non-literate past societies. Geographically, they include the United States, Mexico, Brazil, western Europe, tropical Africa, India, Siberia, Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific islands