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"We are on the cusp of a sweeping revolution--one that will change every facet of our lives. The changes ahead will challenge and alter fundamental concepts such as national identity, human rights, money, and markets. In this pivotal, complicated moment, what are the great questions we need to ask to navigate our way forward?" --

"During the past decade America has crossed the fine line that separates national security from national insecurity. Major misadventures like the invasion of Iraq, the embrace of torture, the expansion of domestic surveillance programs, the failure to intervene earlier in Syria, the constant shifting of "red lines" in that country or Iran, the bumbling and lack of follow-through in Libya, and the failure to stand up to abuses by "allies" in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq or by rivals like Russia or Iran, have exposed how fear has warped Americans' perspectives, causing both overreaction and inaction. For over a decade, the United States has rationalized bad policies into prudent ones on an ongoing basis. David Rothkopf, CEO and Editor-at-Large of Foreign Policy, has reached out to his extraordinary network of high level contacts conducting over 100 interviews with the players who made and influence the critical international decisions of the Bush and Obama years. He asks not only how we ended up where we are, but the bigger questions about where we should be, and how U.S. leadership can be restored. Why does the U.S. defense and policy making apparatus remain largely as it was structured 70 years ago at the end of the Second World War? Why are we unable to evolve, to set aside outdated models, to better manage our resources, to find new ways to lead and to protect ourselves? And who are the key visionaries and actors who can help the US bring the age of insecurity to a close? In National Insecurity, Rothkopf offers a way forward"--

The goat with the red horns -- 1288: the battles that gave birth to modernity -- 1648: the beginning of the great leveling -- 1776: two revolutions -- What makes a state a state? -- How the rule of law backfired -- Beyong borders -- The coin of whose realm? -- The decline of force -- Supercitizens and semi-states -- Competing capitalisms

They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world's most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time. Today's superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group. But do they have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen, as nationalist critics have argued? Has their influence fed the growing economic and social inequity that divides the world? Who sets the rules for a group that operates beyond national laws? Drawn from exclusive interviews and extensive original reporting, this book draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our lives

Economists may initially evoke visions of kindly bespectacled wonks droning on about arcane theories or perhaps government big shots mumbling unintelligibly before Congress. But you know better: These are powerful women and men. They have made giant policy decisions that have affected the lives of billions, often while working behind closed doors with data and on strategies that few understand and fewer still believe in. Economics has long been known as the dismal science. Thomas Malthus, a cleric who also wrote about economics, has become the poster child used by many to illustrate the rationale behind this label. New economic theories will emerge based on growing sources of real-time data about every aspect of markets and the factors affecting them -- and new, ever more powerful tools will be created for analyzing that data. Adapted from the source document.

During the nation's first years of existence, Pres George Washington sought funding for secret services that he felt were essential to US security. The allocations for those spying activities consumed roughly 10% of the US budget -- a grand sum measuring roughly $1 million. In 2014, the reported budget for US intelligence activities was approximately $68 billion, down from its 2010 high of $80 billion. Despite its deep roots and the resources that have been poured into it, today's intelligence community stands at a watershed. The most modern information systems are designed to serve consumers of information. The intelligence apparatus is perversely oriented to the needs and concerns of information producers. It is centralized when most systems are distributed, and it is hard to search when most focus on making that easy. The intelligence community needs fewer agencies, fewer bosses, less redundancy, lower costs, and more orientation toward focusing on the right missions in the right way. Adapted from the source document.

National constitutions are supposed to enshrine fundamental rights for everyone -- and for generations. Such documents are also products of moments in time and reflect perceptions of life in those moments. That's why the best of them, like the US Constitution, contain the seeds of their own reinvention. In recent years, more people have maintained that the right to unfettered Internet access is the modern equivalent of the right to the comparable technologies of centuries ago. The UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression has argued that disconnecting people from the Internet constitutes a human rights violation. In a July 2014 report, based on a canvass of more than 1,400 experts, the Pew Research Center found that even though governments will likely find new ways to restrict Internet access and content, billions more people may be online by 2025. Adapted from the source document.