Suchergebnisse

"Mr. Joshi is a fortune teller in a slum in south Delhi who uses a soothsaying green parrot to make predictions. When Adam Roberts visited him in 2012, Joshi's parrot declared that India was destined to become the most powerful nation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The parrot also foretold that India would win the soccer World Cup. Parrots may not be the preeminent political authority, but many Indians were just as confident. So Adam Roberts spent five years traveling the length and breadth of the country from Kerala to the Himalayas, Bengal to Gujarat...Through vivid storytelling and insight, Superfast Primetime Ultimate Nation examines the problems and promises of fast-growing India to reveal how it might reach its full potential and become, as Mr. Joshi's parrot predicted, a truly powerful nation."--Dust jacket flap

The work of Hew Strachan as Chichele Professor of the History of War at Oxford University in 2002–2015 encompassed many distinct aspects, of which three are considered here. First, as co-founder, and then Director, of the notably interdisciplinary Oxford University research programme on the Changing Character of War. Second, as contributor to public and governmental debate, by authoring and editing a wide range of books and other publications on contemporary wars and the history of strategic thought, and also by serving on public and governmental bodies concerned with the problem of war – including the UK Defence Academy Advisory Board. Thirdly, as a university teacher, facing the familiar problem that Oxford University has everything needed for the study of war except for posts.

This response looks first at the authors' suggestion that friendship is a useful concept for understanding and shaping politics and agrees that it is commonly used, though its meaning is commonly understood as different from the one proposed by the authors. Secondly, it focuses on their argument that friendship could serve as 'a politics beyond community', asking if friendship is not more easily understood as a sub-set of community or the means to building a community of the like-minded. Thirdly, it comments on the links of community and populism, noting that the populism is a recurring phenomenon and not exclusively rooted in European thought. Lastly, while agreeing that the proposed ethos is welcome, it asks how much it differs from other ideas, notably liberal, universal values that are built on the idea of individual rights, including a belief in tolerance, moderation and respect for political views that differ from one's own.