Book Reviews

Over the centuries, some keen observers recognized the interconnected opportunities and problems between distant lands. And modern leaders who take the time to study those historical connections will have a better grasp of broader currents of global politics, trade and security despite shifting borders over time, suggests Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal, in this review of two books for Global Asia: Asia Inside Out, Volumes I and II, and Asian Encounters: Exploring Connected Histories. “The traditional study of history has been confined to narrower national borders, as while the actions of communities and populations, monarchs and ministers have been studied, seemingly marginal actors such as traders, pilgrims, refugees and other mobile populations have been largely left out,” Chanda writes.  “The volumes on connected histories under review brilliantly fill that gap. They show Asia as a ‘space of flows,’ and offer glimpses of early globalization.”

Cyberspace is a leading arena for battling extremism, argues Gabriel Weimann, professor of communications at the University Haifa and author of Terrorism in Cyberspace: The Next Generation. He was a fellow at the Wilson Center in 2013-2014. Extremists are adept at communicating over social media to attract recruits. Weimann’s book analyzes trends in cyberterrorism and demonstrates how “the war on terrorism is being played in the realm of narratives.” Governments struggle to present counter-narratives. Susan Froetschel reviews the book, pointing out that the failure of governments to acknowledge legitimate grievances and entrenched inequality risks provoking anger that leads to extremism.  

The world is divided over the death penalty: 140 nations are abolitionist in law or practice while 39 nations, including the world’s two largest economies – China and the US - still rely on the penalty to deter serious crimes. But nations also disagree about methods and which crimes are serious enough to warrant death. Executions of foreign nationals in particular can expose inconsistent policies. The Death Penalty by Oxford professors Roger Hood and Carolyn Hoyle argues for the penalty’s worldwide abolition. Leila Toiviainen in her review describes the book as “scholarly but readable and compassionate.”     

Journalist and historian Dilip Hiro starts his book Indians in a Globalizing World: Their Skewed Rise with its purpose – analyzing the impact of India’s 1991 New Economic Policy and globalization on Indians at home and abroad.  India is a place of inequality, with troubling levels of corruption and poverty. The book offers personal tales of fortune and woe, which in turn give insights into the complex challenges of inequality in fast-developing India. Education offers the most reliable path to comfort and affluence, Susan Froetschel writes in her review. According to various rankings, India is not the most unequal place, yet is destined to become the world’s most populous nation over the next decade. India’s experiences hold lessons for the rest of the world on the dangers of skewed opportunities.