When the history of the Digital Age is written the story will be boiled down to the empires created by 5 men: Bill Gates, Steve Case, Larry Ellison, John Chambers, & Jeff Bezos. Yet, who really are they? Leibovich spent 18 months interviewing the men themselves & over 400 people who have known them best: family, friends, neighbors, former teachers, classmates & lovers, colleagues, employees, & adversaries. Combining the info. he gleaned with his own unique take on these men, Leibovich has written a fascinating collection of biographies emphasizing their little known & deeply personal quirks, motivations, warts, demons, & vanities. What are the common denominators that drove them to invent, conquer & rule their own economic realm?

What right does any country have over another's policies and internal affairs,nd are they right to use military power to change them? Interest in theeopolitics of the 'new imperialism' has surged in recent years. This broadnd wide-ranging collection of articles critically examines the mainntellectual justifications for it, and poses a number of challenginguestions: is preemptive regime change permissible - even right - in the namef 'military humanism', and should military power be used to further theurported goals of human and women's rights and democracy globally? In theftermath of the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent invasions offghanistan and Iraq, there seems to be a shift away from multilateralism,he inviolability of state sovereignty and the rule of international law. In "he New Imperialists", it is argued that the rhetoric of human rights,omen's rights, democracy and good governance espoused by the defenders ofhis new doctrine is a rationalization for a new imperialism which willndermine the very political and moral values it purports to advance.;With

People around the world are confused and concerned. Is it a sign of strength or of weakness that the US has suddenly shifted from a politics of consensus to one of coercion on the world stage? What was really at stake in the war on Iraq? Was it all about oil and, if not, what else was involved? What role has a sagging economy played in pushing the US into foreign adventurism and what difference does it make that neo-conservatives rather than neo-liberals are now in power? Whatexactly is the relationship between US militarism abroad and domestic politics?These are the questions taken up in this compelling and original book. Closely argued but clearly written, 'The New Imperialism' builds a conceptual framework to expose the underlying forces at work behind these momentous shifts in US policies and politics. The compulsions behind the projection of US power on the world as a 'new imperialism' are here, for the first time, laid bare for all to see.This new paperback edition contains an Afterword written to coincide with the result of the 2004 American presidental election.

Microsoft's Bill Gates, AOL-Time Warner's Steve Case, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Cisco's John Chambers -- they're business titans of the 21st century. We know their names well enough, but what do we really know about these men beyond the multitudes of short-hand mythologies and sound-bites that currently exist. How were they able to muster the savvy and confidence to create such empires of wealth and power? What do the paths they took say about the economic realm they came to conquer? Were they true visionaries or creations of a unique moment in time?Drawing from his Pulitzer Prize-nominated series of articles in The Washington Post, Mark Leibovich provides particularly personal and in-depth profiles on these larger-than-life moguls. Presenting five whirlwind tours through five gale-force lives, this extraordinary book traces the formative events and influences in each man's early life to explain how they came to dominate in this bizarre, revolutionary world. In addition to unprecedented access to each man himself (a privilege afforded very few reporters), Leibovich interviewed over 400 friends, childhood ment

A New York Times Notable Book Chinese immigrants of the recent past and unfolding twenty-first century are in search of the African dream. So explains indefatigable traveler Howard W. French, prize-winning investigative journalist and former New York Times bureau chief in Africa and China, in the definitive account of this seismic geopolitical development. China’s burgeoning presence in Africa is already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. From Liberia to Senegal to Mozambique, in creaky trucks and by back roads, French introduces us to the characters who make up China’s dogged emigrant population: entrepreneurs singlehandedly reshaping African infrastructure, and less-lucky migrants barely scraping by but still convinced of Africa’s opportunities. French’s acute observations offer illuminating insight into the most pressing unknowns of modern Sino-African relations: Why China is making these cultural and economic incursions into the continent; what Africa’s role is in this equation; and what the ramifications for both parties and their people—and the watching world—will be in the foreseeable future. One of the Best Books of the Year at • The Economist • The Guardian • Foreign Affairs

Named one of the ten best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune A Publishers Weekly best book of 2019 | A 2019 NPR Staff Pick A pathbreaking history of the United States’ overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire We are familiar with maps that outline all fifty states. And we are also familiar with the idea that the United States is an “empire,” exercising power around the world. But what about the actual territories—the islands, atolls, and archipelagos—this country has governed and inhabited? In How to Hide an Empire, Daniel Immerwahr tells the fascinating story of the United States outside the United States. In crackling, fast-paced prose, he reveals forgotten episodes that cast American history in a new light. We travel to the Guano Islands, where prospectors collected one of the nineteenth century’s most valuable commodities, and the Philippines, site of the most destructive event on U.S. soil. In Puerto Rico, Immerwahr shows how U.S. doctors conducted grisly experiments they would never have conducted on the mainland and charts the emergence of independence fighters who would shoot up the U.S. Congress. In the years after World War II, Immerwahr notes, the United States moved away from colonialism. Instead, it put innovations in electronics, transportation, and culture to use, devising a new sort of influence that did not require the control of colonies. Rich with absorbing vignettes, full of surprises, and driven by an original conception of what empire and globalization mean today, How to Hide an Empire is a major and compulsively readable work of history.

Chinese generally look condescendingly on the humanity of black Africans, but over the past decades there have been a huge influx of Chinese on the African continent. What is driving the Chinese to the African continent? Are the Chinese in Africa to help Africa develop in their so-called "win-win, or south-south"development method? Or are the Chinese in Africa to exploit the huge super abundant raw materials and mineral resources to fuel their expanding industries?It is true that the Chinese are currently building monumental stadiums, presidential palaces, conference halls, but as much as Africans are grateful for these they do not represent economic progress for Africa. What we see though is Chinese offering huge loans to African nations in return for their raw materials. Ironically, most of the loans end up in the hands of Chinese contractors undertaking the construction projects, Chinese labor working in the projects, and Chinese materials and products used in the projects. In the end African governments are left holding the bag of huge repayments back to China. Moreover, some, if not, many of the infrastructure are often shoddy as the case of Angolan hospital, and many roads in Africa have demonstrated. Additionally, Chinese also support African dictators like Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Omar Bashir of Sudan, Santos of Angola and many others with deadly weaponry to oppress African citizens. Finally, the Beijing Consensus though has helped lift many Chinese out of poverty cannot be replicated in Africa, because of its authoritarian nature.