The Politics of Good Intentions
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £4.75
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Politics of Good Intentions: History, Fear and Hypocrisy in the New World Order for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £4.75, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Mr. Runciman is a keen observer of contemporary political life whose sophisticated sense of history both tempers and enlivens his often thrilling polemics. Over the course of the collection, Mr. Runciman compares the political fallout from Iraq to the Suez crisis, uses the model of Weimar Germany to explore the possibilities of Iraqi reconstruction and democracy, and borrows from thinkers like Max Weber to shed light on contemporary politics. The results are never pedantic and almost always deeply revealing. -- Jason Moring, New York Observer Runciman concludes, there is little new about the new world order. Whatever difficulties it throws up are best dealt with by going back to political basics--having strong parties, muscular parliaments, balanced constitutions, an alert judiciary and a watchful public. It is a measure of how far we have traveled from the liberal democratic norm that this comes across as a radical cry. -- Alison Rowat, The Herald The proximate cause of Tony Blair's decline is self-evident: the Iraq war and its sequel. However, as David Runciman shows in this mordant study of political hypocrisy and the misuse of history in our time, the inability to distinguish make-believe from facts, the contempt for due process and the almost willful ignorance of history that were the hallmarks of Blai"s Iraq adventure could, and should, have been detected well before it. -- David Marquand, "New Statesman David Runciman provides a brilliant analysis of the contemporary politics of fear by situating the post-9/11 world within a layering of temporal periods and using the broad historical time in juxtaposition with 'election time' and 'news time'. Through such a prism the fear generated and hypocrisy of much current political discourse and justification for the pursuit of war in Iraq is dissected. -- David Ryan, International "Affairs David Runciman combines the expositional clarity of a talented political journalist and commentator with the conceptual concerns, historical depth, erudition, and theoretical sophistication of a gifted scholar. The result is a lucidly and gracefully written book that usefully probes fundamental issues raised by both the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the highly dubious patterns of response associated with the political leadership of George W. Bush in the United States and Tony Blair in the United Kingdom. -- Richard Falk, International History Review This is a powerful piece, a short critique of the types of rhetorical arguments used by the creator of New Labor in his notorious 'preacher on a tank' mode. Runciman assails the use of 'new dangers' as a justification for 'new obediences,' the way that if a 'risk' is 'new,' a democratic leader need not make the normal informed balance of known risk and known freedoms, and thus the way that not taking the country to war becomes a 'risk no responsible government could afford to take.' ... Essential for understanding how he is likely to be judged when he leaves office? Sadly, absolutely. -- Peter Stothard, Globe and Mail The Politics of Good Intentions ... signals a welcome re-engagement of contemporary political thinkers with politicians' thought. We can but hope that Runciman's efforts will be reciprocated. -- "Political Studies Review
Review
Mr. Runciman is a keen observer of contemporary political life whose sophisticated sense of history both tempers and enlivens his often thrilling polemics. Over the course of the collection, Mr. Runciman compares the political fallout from Iraq to the Suez crisis, uses the model of Weimar Germany to explore the possibilities of Iraqi reconstruction and democracy, and borrows from thinkers like Max Weber to shed light on contemporary politics. The results are never pedantic and almost always deeply revealing. (Jason Moring New York Observer )
Runciman concludes, there is little new about the new world order. Whatever difficulties it throws up are best dealt with by going back to political basics--having strong parties, muscular parliaments, balanced constitutions, an alert judiciary and a watchful public. It is a measure of how far we have traveled from the liberal democratic norm that this comes across as a radical cry. (Alison Rowat The Herald )
The proximate cause of Tony Blair's decline is self-evident: the Iraq war and its sequel. However, as David Runciman shows in this mordant study of political hypocrisy and the misuse of history in our time, the inability to distinguish make-believe from facts, the contempt for due process and the almost willful ignorance of history that were the hallmarks of Blai''s Iraq adventure could, and should, have been detected well before it. (id Marquand, "New Statesman )
David Runciman provides a brilliant analysis of the contemporary politics of fear by situating the post-9/11 world within a layering of temporal periods and using the broad historical time in juxtaposition with 'election time' and 'news time'. Through such a prism the fear generated and hypocrisy of much current political discourse and justification for the pursuit of war in Iraq is dissected. (id Ryan, International "Affairs )
David Runciman combines the expositional clarity of a talented political journalist and commentator with the conceptual concerns, historical depth, erudition, and theoretical sophistication of a gifted scholar. The result is a lucidly and gracefully written book that usefully probes fundamental issues raised by both the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the highly dubious patterns of response associated with the political leadership of George W. Bush in the United States and Tony Blair in the United Kingdom. (Richard Falk International History Review )
This is a powerful piece, a short critique of the types of rhetorical arguments used by the creator of New Labor in his notorious 'preacher on a tank' mode. Runciman assails the use of 'new dangers' as a justification for 'new obediences,' the way that if a 'risk' is 'new,' a democratic leader need not make the normal informed balance of known risk and known freedoms, and thus the way that not taking the country to war becomes a 'risk no responsible government could afford to take.' . . . Essential for understanding how he is likely to be judged when he leaves office? Sadly, absolutely. (Peter Stothard Globe and Mail )
The Politics of Good Intentions . . . signals a welcome re-engagement of contemporary political thinkers with politicians' thought. We can but hope that Runciman's efforts will be reciprocated. (Political Studies Review )
Runciman concludes, there is little new about the new world order. Whatever difficulties it throws up are best dealt with by going back to political basics--having strong parties, muscular parliaments, balanced constitutions, an alert judiciary and a watchful public. It is a measure of how far we have traveled from the liberal democratic norm that this comes across as a radical cry. (Alison Rowat The Herald )
The proximate cause of Tony Blair's decline is self-evident: the Iraq war and its sequel. However, as David Runciman shows in this mordant study of political hypocrisy and the misuse of history in our time, the inability to distinguish make-believe from facts, the contempt for due process and the almost willful ignorance of history that were the hallmarks of Blai''s Iraq adventure could, and should, have been detected well before it. (id Marquand, "New Statesman )
David Runciman provides a brilliant analysis of the contemporary politics of fear by situating the post-9/11 world within a layering of temporal periods and using the broad historical time in juxtaposition with 'election time' and 'news time'. Through such a prism the fear generated and hypocrisy of much current political discourse and justification for the pursuit of war in Iraq is dissected. (id Ryan, International "Affairs )
David Runciman combines the expositional clarity of a talented political journalist and commentator with the conceptual concerns, historical depth, erudition, and theoretical sophistication of a gifted scholar. The result is a lucidly and gracefully written book that usefully probes fundamental issues raised by both the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the highly dubious patterns of response associated with the political leadership of George W. Bush in the United States and Tony Blair in the United Kingdom. (Richard Falk International History Review )
This is a powerful piece, a short critique of the types of rhetorical arguments used by the creator of New Labor in his notorious 'preacher on a tank' mode. Runciman assails the use of 'new dangers' as a justification for 'new obediences,' the way that if a 'risk' is 'new,' a democratic leader need not make the normal informed balance of known risk and known freedoms, and thus the way that not taking the country to war becomes a 'risk no responsible government could afford to take.' . . . Essential for understanding how he is likely to be judged when he leaves office? Sadly, absolutely. (Peter Stothard Globe and Mail )
The Politics of Good Intentions . . . signals a welcome re-engagement of contemporary political thinkers with politicians' thought. We can but hope that Runciman's efforts will be reciprocated. (Political Studies Review )
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Did September 11, 2001, really change the world? Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Did September 11, 2001, really change the world? Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Read this book a few years ago and was so impressed that I am still ordering copies for family members for christmas! It is a sharp blend of dead-white-men political theory and contemporary politics, touching on Sieyes, GW Bush, Blair and, of course, Runciman's old favourite, Hobbes.
An entertaining, essential read for any student of pol thought, also accessible to those with a passing interest.
An entertaining, essential read for any student of pol thought, also accessible to those with a passing interest.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Studying the Mechanism of Fear and Destabilizatrion
20 July 2006
Format:Hardcover
Ths question this book raises is central to our understanding of how things go from bad to worse in political histories of nations.Runicman's brilliant book examines the question of how negative leadershp today increasingly moves to debtabilie hot areas around the globe through the ways they represent and misrepresent the problem of risk. Runciman shows how a very polarized, totally unnuanced negative and extremist view of possible responses to crisis leads governments into taking very problematic and increasingly dangerous risks. Viewing the only option as avoiding a worst case scenario whether a realistic assessement or not debatilizes the political international climaate further and further.The master of this slight of hand,and restructuration of reality and possible options, Runciman suggests is Blair, followed also by Bush and Cheyney. After reading this book, one can hardly forget the deeper question of how it is that most superpowers and empires fall.in a certain sense by their own huberis and tendency to overreach and in so doing to contribute heavily to a climate of international paranoia and distrust.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
good intentions not enough
2 July 2006
Format:Hardcover
Runciman attempts to put 11 September 2001 into a longer term perspective. Along the way, he reveals a pronounced cynicism about both Tony Blair and George Bush. It is unclear which he seems to dislike more. Though on balance, perhaps it is Blair.
From the British vantage, he suggests that Blair following Bush into Iraq might one day seem like the ill-fated Suez adventure by Britain and France, when both thought they were still global powers. He posits that the new Iraq might turn out in ways unmeant and unpleasant. Given the continual unrest in Iraq, one can at best say that he has not been refuted.
The book suggests that sometimes, good intentions are not sufficient as a determinant of political decisions.
From the British vantage, he suggests that Blair following Bush into Iraq might one day seem like the ill-fated Suez adventure by Britain and France, when both thought they were still global powers. He posits that the new Iraq might turn out in ways unmeant and unpleasant. Given the continual unrest in Iraq, one can at best say that he has not been refuted.
The book suggests that sometimes, good intentions are not sufficient as a determinant of political decisions.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Political > Political Leaders & Leadership
- Books > History > Political History > Politicians
- Books > Science & Nature > History & Philosophy > Reference
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Civil Liberties & Political Activism > Political Violence > Terrorism & Freedom Fighters
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Countries & Regions > United States > Political Science & Theory
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > International Relations
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
