Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism

Posted on 08 November 2018 by Ian Bremmer

A cogent analysis of the concurrent Trump Brexit phenomena and a dire warning about what lies aheada lucid, provocative book Kirkus Reviews Those who championed globalization once promised a world of winners, one in which free trade would lift all the world s boats, and extremes of left and right would give way to universally embraced liberal values The past few years have shattered this fantasy, as those who ve paid the price for globalism s gains have turned to populist and nationalist politicians to express fury at the political, media, and corporate elites they blame for their losses The United States elected an anti immigration, protectionist president who promised to put America first and turned a cold eye on alliances and treaties Across Europe, anti establishment political parties made gains not seen in decades The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.And as Ian Bremmer shows in this eye opening book, populism is still spreading Globalism creates plenty of both winners and losers, and those who ve missed out want to set things right They ve seen their futures made obsolete They hear new voices and see new faces all about them They feel their cultures shift They don t trust what they read They ve begun to understand the world as a battle for the future that pits us vs them Bremmer points to the next wave of global populism, one that hits emerging nations before they have fully emerged As in Europe and America, citizens want security and prosperity, and they re becoming increasingly frustrated with governments that aren t capable of providing them To protect themselves, many government will build walls, both digital and physical For instance In Brazil and other fast developing countries, civilians riot when higher expectations for better government aren t being met the downside of their own success in lifting millions from poverty In Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and other emerging states, frustration with government is on the rise and political battle lines are being drawn In China, where awareness of inequality is on the rise, the state is building a system to use the data that citizens generate to contain future demand for change In India, the tools now used to provide essential services for people who ve never had them can one day be used to tighten the ruling party s grip on power When human beings feel threatened, we identify the danger and look for allies We use the enemy, real or imagined, to rally friends to our side This book is about the ways in which people will define these threats as fights for survival It s about the walls governments will build to protect insiders from outsiders and the state from its people.And it s about what we can do about it. Best Read [ Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism ] author [ Ian Bremmer ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr An executive summary of platitudes framed as if they ll blow your mind If you have functioning eyes and a subscription to the Guardian, you ll be able to spit this shit out in your sleep.Ian Bremmer s latest book is a breezy tour d horizon of contemporary global affairs that offers little fresh insight and makes no real argument The theme, such as there is one, is that populist movements have gained power across the world and that the neoliberal moment that emerged in the 90s is coming to an end What s next Bremmer offers a few possibilities but refuses to make any predictions ...I generally like Bremmer s books G Zero, End of the Free Market, J curve etc but this book seemed lazy It didn t seem well thought out nor researched Very little in Us vs Them will strike you as enlightening, if you ve been alive the past 2 years His other books have a rather novel idea that is well argued This idea isn t well argued and sure as hell isn t novel I would have preferred a much deeper analysis of public perceptions on things like Brexit, TPP or Schengen Instead it is a few I generally like Bremmer s books G Zero, End of the Free Market, J curve etc but this book seemed lazy It didn t seem well thought out nor researched Very little in Us vs Them will strike you as enlightening, if you ve been alive the past 2 years His other books have a rather novel idea that is well argued This idea isn t well argued...Really, a 4.5 The us them division is global in scale and catastrophic in scope It is already testing our civility, our security, our cultural identity, and our commitment to the ideals of democracy But you already know that.This is the latest in a growing list of books that seeks to understand why the we they divide exists without, to its credit, falling into the trap of using the data to simply fan the fires of partisan division Bremmer has a political agenda we all do , and hes no fan of Really, a 4.5 The us them division is global in scale and catastrophic in scope It is already testing our civility, our security, our cultural identity, and our commitme...Read it in two sittings For all of Bremmer s qualities as a thinker and writer and there are many , this book glosses over the great inflection point of our time without any real offered insight Disappointing.Easy reading and makes some good points I found myself saying well, duh many times The stuff just seems so obvious But apparently it isn t obvious to our elected officials who are either hopelessly dumb or areinterested in their own well being that that if their people.In a way, there is nothing new here if you follow the news, but in another way, there is In a relatively short book, the author addresses the political, economic, environmental, and social pressures for various developing countries and predicts where it will lead them There is a particular emphasis on the impact that AI will have on the global community Just when you start to get really depressed, he ends with some examples of hope In a nutshell, we have to get o...Terrible Really, really bad.Didn t get what the purpose of this book was Instead of dismissing populism, perhaps a real attempt at understanding why it is becomingprevalent in the world Instead of dismissing Donald Trump, perhaps an acknowledgment of why he succeeded It s as if Bremmer considers himself a coastal elite Don t you have to be successful to be elite This book perfectly summarizes the pomposity of Goodreads reviews Thepompous and self absorbed the review of this Terrible Really, really bad.Didn t get what the purpose of this book was Instead of dismissing populism, perhaps a real attempt at understanding why it is becomingprevalent in the world Instead of dismissing Donald Trump, perhaps an acknowledgment of why he succeeded It s as if Bremmer considers himself a coastal elite Don t...Excellent analysis of the political, economic, and cultural problems facing the world However, Bremmer s solutions slip into Progressive Socialist cant failing to fully grasp human psychology and the immensity of the problem facing the OECD an...Ian Bremmer expertly elucidates the shortcomings of globalism in this miniature guide With the ascension of political polarization occurring in both industrialized and developing countries, a world in which the government ensures egalitarianism rather than tribalism isimperative than ever,...

08 November 2018

Ian Bremmer