Every year the British government spends £80 billion outsourcing public services. Today, private companies are responsible for fulfilling some of the most sensitive and important roles of the state – running prisons and providing healthcare, transport, legal aid, even child protection. These organizations have been handed enormous amounts of power and yet for the most part they operate with no transparency or accountability. From deportations to NHS cutbacks, Alan White exposes what goes wrong when the invisible hand of the market is introduced into public services. Informed by exclusive interviews with senior managers, campaigners and whistle-blowers, Shadow State is the first book to examine the controversial phenomenon of government outsourcing. Not only does White provide the full story behind scandals involving G4S, Serco and ATOS, but he also reveals previously unknown cases of system failure in areas such as social care, welfare and justice. The picture that develops is deeply troubling.

"Homeland" meets "Mr. Robot" in this pulse-pounding thriller in which a promising science student uncovers a government conspiracy and must stop a possible terrorist attack.

A thrilling account of how Russia is waging a hidden war against America and the West, using espionage, corruption, fake news, and KGB-style murder March 2018. Two Russian assassins arrive in a provincial English city to kill a former officer from Russia’s GRU intelligence agency. His crime? Passing secrets to British spies. The poison? A lethal nerve agent, novichok. The attempted execution was a reminder – as if one were needed - of Russia’s contempt for international norms. The Soviet Union and its doctrine are long gone, but the playbook used by the Kremlin’s spies during that long confrontation with the West is back. And the underlying goal remains the same: to undermine democracy and exploit divisions within American and European society and politics. Moscow’s support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election has grown into the biggest political scandal of modern times. Its American players are well-known. In Shadow State, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Luke Harding reveals the Russians behind the story: the spies, hackers and internet trolls. Harding charts how the Kremlin has updated Communist-era methods of influence and propaganda for the age of Facebook and Twitter, and considers the compelling question of our age: what exactly does Vladimir Putin have on President Trump? Similar to those of the Cold War, Putin’s ambitions are truly global. His emissaries include oligarchs, bankers, lawyers, mercenaries, and agents of influence. They roam from Salisbury to Helsinki, Ukraine to Central Africa, London to Washington, D.C. Shadow State is the singular account of how the Kremlin seeks to reshape the world, to divide the US from its European friends, and to remake America in its own dark and kleptocratic image. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand how our politics came to be so chaotic and divided. Nothing less than the future of Western democracy is at stake.

With over 400 A-Z entries, this new dictionary provides clear and authoritative definitions of terms within the fast-growing field of African Politics. It includes coverage on elections, parties and judiciaries, but also popular protest, gender-relations, the politics of development, and Africa's international relations. Entries comprise of major events and figures within African Politics, including the East African Community and independance, as well as covering key terms of particular relevance to Africa such as neopatrimonialism, queue voting, and post-conflict power sharing. Written by a world-leading political scientist working on the area of African politics, this dictionary is an essential guide for both undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as academics, journalists, and researchers working on African politics alike.

A powerful analysis of events that helped galvanise resistance across civil society. The 2017 publication of Betrayal of the Promise, the report that detailed the systematic nature of state capture, marked a key moment in South Africa’s most recent struggle for democracy. In the face of growing evidence of corruption and of the weakening of state and democratic institutions, it provided, for the first time, a powerful analysis of events that helped galvanise resistance within the Tripartite Alliance and across civil society.Working often secretly, the authors consolidated, for the first time, large amounts of evidence from a variety of sources. They showed that the Jacob Zuma administration was not simply a criminal network but part of an audacious political project to break the hold of whites and white business on the economy and to create a new class of black industrialists. State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) such as Eskom and Transnet were central to these plans. The report introduced a whole new language to discuss state capture, showing how SOEs were ‘repurposed’, how political power was shifting away from constitutional bodies to ‘kitchen cabinets’, and how a ‘shadow state’ at odds with the country’s constitutional framework was being built. Shadow State is an updated version of the original, explosive report that changed South Africa’s recent history.

In 2024, fourteen months following the apocalyptic events of Episode One, a new global threat begins to rear its ugly head. While encased inside a dragon-shaped amulet necklace once belonging to the late Ravan, Vritra's remains have changed hands in a newfound alliance between two Cold War-era foe nations. A former biotech engineer for the fallen Final Wave terrorist organization Anastasia Zima establishes a foreign asset to her handler, POTUS Kenneth Hill, in their partnership with an elusive, seditious cabal named The Shadow State. Their objective is to form a new world order with Vritra's remains coupled with geoengineering experiments at the hands of a technological, evil mastermind, Jagmohan Gyan, based in New York City plot to topple the free world ahead of the imminent 2024 Presidential Election imperiling the nation and the entire planet. Abhu (a.k.a. Caleb Porter) continues his career with a full year of experience under his belt at the Elite Justice Force Squad based in Atlanta, Georgia. Alongside his best friend and fellow stellar agent, Singh Puneet Sherpa, they both must work together with the entire EJFS to put a stop to the Shadow State before they attempt to accomplish their terrible goal. The race against time continues as the superagency encounters many dangers and obstacles in their quest to retain integrity, honesty, and justice in the political season while doing their best to protect humanity. Will the EJFS overcome all odds to bring down the Shadow State, or will the Shadow State overpower them and lead the rest of the world to their doom? ------ The Elite Justice Force Squad saga continues during the time of a looming election season. A seditious and secret cabal known as The Shadow State begins to rear its ugly head while casting a terrible omen over the world through weaponized espionage and weather warfare. The story begins in the late-night hours in New York City on one rainy November night. An artifact buyer named Judson Clayborn from Upper Manhattan seeks out vital information regarding the whereabouts of the ancient necklace containing Vritra's dormant energy after Vritra was defeated in the previous year by both EJFS Agents Abhu and Singh. He meets with a darkly-clad individual who has the information Clayborn is seeking. Soon enough, he falls into a trap set by The Shadow State to capture the expeditor to reprogram him into a Shadow State powerhouse operative to carry out a series of missions to accelerate the Shadow State's hostile takeover of the world, forming a New World Order. ------ EJFS Agents Abhu and Singh form romantic relationships with fellow agents Durga and Gangi, respectively. They enjoy a relaxing vacation at Singh's beachfront villa in Savannah, Georgia. Little did they know, both agents were bound to be called back into intense action in the field as they work together to prevent a global catastrophe from imperiling the world. ------ An intense lead-up to a contentious presidential election builds as an administration rife with corruption and questionable practices threatens the stability of the US amid the upcoming political season. ------ EJFS Chief Commander Khali leads the charge to bring down the Shadow State and all of those involved. His second-in-command, Raj, backs him up as they deploy teams to various locations in Europe to capture the Shadow State leader and secure the necklace of Vritra. The effort encounters difficulty as an evil tech giant, Jagmohan Gyan, geoengineers a monstrous hurricane to impact the nation before Election Day. Can Abhu, Singh, and the rest of the EJFS expose and prevent the Shadow State from toppling the free world? ------ The journey spans the globe in multiple locations, including Atlanta, Georgia; New York; Washington D.C.; Hungary; Switzerland; Poland, and Belgium.