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Where the Axe Is Buried A Novel [electronic resource] : by Nayler, Ray.aut; CloudLibrary;
All systems fail. All societies crumble. All worlds end. In the authoritarian Federation, there is a plot to assassinate and replace the President, a man who has downloaded his mind to a succession of new bodies to maintain his grip on power. Meanwhile, on the fringes of a Western Europe that has renounced human governance in favor of ostensibly more efficient, objective, and peaceful AI Prime Ministers, an experimental artificial mind is malfunctioning, threatening to set off a chain of events that may spell the end of the Western world. As the Federation and the West both start to crumble, Lilia, the brilliant scientist whose invention may be central to bringing down the seemingly immortal President, goes on the run, trying to break out from a near-impenetrable web of Federation surveillance. Her fate is bound up with a worldwide group of others fighting against the global status quo: Palmer, the man Lilia left behind in London, desperate to solve the mystery of her disappearance; Zoya, a veteran activist imprisoned in the taiga, whose book has inspired a revolutionary movement; Nikolai, the President’s personal physician, who has been forced into more and more harrowing decisions as he navigates the Federation’s palace politics; and Nurlan, the hapless parliamentary staffer whose attempt to save his Republic goes terribly awry. And then there is Krotov, head of the Federation’s security services, whose plots, agents, and assassins are everywhere. Following the success of his debut novel, The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler launches readers into a thrilling near-future world of geopolitical espionage. A cybernetic novel of political intrigue, Where the Axe is Buried combines the story of a near-impossible revolutionary operation with a blistering indictment of the many forms of authoritarianism that suffocate human freedom.General adult.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Literary; Science Fiction; Technological;
© 2025., Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
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A map of the new normal : how inflation, war, and sanctions will change your world forever / by Rubin, Jeff,1954-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Bestselling author and economist Jeff Rubin looks ahead and warns that the inflation that took the world by surprise in 2021 is in fact the front of a perfect storm of war, supply-chain disruption, geopolitical realignment, domestic upheaval, and energy scarcity that will change everything. During the pandemic, the borrowing patterns of the Canadian government inflated a national deficit by a factor of ten in just two years -- and the time has come to pay for it. The ramifications of international COVID-19 spending could potentially last for decades, and inevitably one of the first manifestations of these consequences will be an unhooking of private lenders' interest rates from central banks. That is just the first symptom of a series of cascading upheavals. Supply-chain disruptions have already shown the vulnerability of the globalism model that has fueled growth for the past decades. War has not only shown the fragility of the status quo, but has revealed diplomatic and economic rifts that promise to shift trading patterns, which means access to markets and to resources. At the same time, the precarity of the US dollar underlines the life-or-death importance of those resources, energy in particular. And consolidation of a Eurasian bloc, from Russia to China, and encompassing old enemies like Iran and former US ally Saudi Arabia, hint that the upheaval of Covid was just the beginning. Tracking trade wars and kinetic wars, central banks and run on banks, pipelines blown up and startups knocked down, The New World Order gives us a glimpse of a near future that will look very different from the recent past. It reminds us that our mortgage rates and job security, our grocery bills and investments, are all tied to events set in motion by governments, corporations, and black swans around the world."--
Subjects: Economic forecasting.; Social prediction.; Twenty-first century;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Ukraine : what everyone needs to know / by Yekelchyk, Serhy,author.; Yekelchyk, Serhy,.Conflict in Ukraine.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Conventional wisdom dictates that Ukraine's political crises can be traced to the linguistic differences and divided political loyalties that have long fractured the country. However, this theory obscures the true significance of Ukraine's recent civic revolution and the conflict's crucial international dimension. The 2013-14 Ukrainian revolution presented authoritarian powers in Russia with both a democratic and a geopolitical challenge. In reality, political conflict in Ukraine is reflective of global discord, stemming from differing views on state power, civil society, and democracy. Ukraine's sudden prominence in American politics has compounded an already-widespread misunderstanding of what is actually happening in the nation. In the American media, Ukraine has come to signify an inherently corrupt place, rather than a real country struggling in the face of great challenges. Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know is an updated edition of Serhy Yekelchyk's 2015 publication, The Conflict in Ukraine. It addresses Ukraine's relations with the West, particularly the United States, from the perspective of Ukrainians. The book explains how independent Ukraine fell victim to crony capitalism, how its people rebelled twice in the last two decades in the name of democracy and against corruption, and why Russia reacted so aggressively to the strivings of Ukrainians. Additionally, it looks at what we know about alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, the factors behind the stunning electoral victory of the political novice Volodymyr Zelensky, and the ways in which the events leading to the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump have changed the Russia-Ukraine-US relationship. This volume is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the forces that have shaped contemporary politics in this increasingly important part of Europe, as well as the international background of the impeachment proceedings in the US."--
Subjects: Group identity; Regionalism; Ukraine Conflict, 2014-; Ukraine Conflict, 2014-;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Today Hong Kong, tomorrow the world : what China's crackdown reveals about its plans to end freedom everywhere / by Clifford, Mark,1957-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A gripping history of China's deteriorating relationship with Hong Kong, and its implications for the rest of the world. For 150 years as a British colony, Hong Kong was a beacon of prosperity where people, money, and technology flowed freely, and residents enjoyed many civil liberties. In preparation for handing the territory over to China in 1997, Deng Xiaoping promised that it would remain highly autonomous for fifty years. An international treaty established a Special Administrative Region (SAR) with a far freer political system than that of Communist China-one with its own currency and government administration, a common-law legal system, and freedoms of press, speech, and religion. But as the halfway mark of the SAR's lifespan approaches in 2022, it is clear that China has not kept its word. Universal suffrage and free elections have not been instituted, harassment and brutality have become normalized, and activists are being jailed en masse. To make matters worse, a national security law that further crimps Hong Kong's freedoms has recently been decreed in Beijing. This tragic backslide has dire worldwide implications-as China continues to expand its global influence, Hong Kong serves as a chilling preview of how dissenters could be treated in regions that fall under the emerging superpower's control. Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World tells the complete story of how a city once famed for protests so peaceful that toddlers joined grandparents in millions-strong rallies became a place where police have fired more than 10,000 rounds of tear gas, rubber bullets and even live ammunition at their neighbors, while pro-government hooligans attack demonstrators in the streets. A Hong Kong resident from 1992 to 2021, author Mark L. Clifford has witnessed this transformation firsthand. As a celebrated publisher and journalist, he has unrivaled access to the full range of the city's society, from student protestors and political prisoners to aristocrats and senior government officials. A powerful and dramatic mix of history and on-the-ground reporting, this book is the definitive account of one of the most important geopolitical standoffs of our time"--
Subjects: Civil rights;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Intervention Earth : life-saving ideas from the world's climate engineers / by Dyer, Gwynne,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Historian, journalist, and author Gwynne Dyer tracks down the world's top climate engineers to discuss the extraordinary measures we must contemplate to counter the irreversible effects of climate change. The global climate emergency is now an alarming fact of life. Much as we still need to get emissions under control, many are thinking that it's all too little, too late. As scientists, politicians and concerned citizens scramble for solutions to the catastrophic effects of a warming world, is it time to be exploring the controversial topic of geoengineering? For decades, discerning readers have turned to journalist and historian Gwynne Dyer for his unparalleled acumen in serving up hard geopolitical truths. 'Intervention Earth' is built around Dyer's interviews with sixty climate scientists from around the globe, including the leading figures in the geoengineering field. One of the most interesting topics: the pros and cons of Solar Radiation Management, a possible planetary Hail Mary that is rife with political risks. But 'Intervention Earth' is about more than technological mega-projects. Dyer devotes ample space to the many innovative ideas on offer, but there is no get-out-of-jail-free card. We will need a whole portfolio of techniques and technologies-and a lot of hard, thankless work-to keep the planet hospitable for humanity. What's more, many of the technologies that can help us avoid the worst outcomes require years of investment and development before they can be successfully deployed. Global cooperation will be key in implementing the life-saving strategies outlined in the book. 'Intervention Earth' offers a probing, eye-opening look at the problems we face, and the innovations that just might keep us ahead of encroaching disaster and carry us to a safe harbour.
Subjects: Climate change mitigation.; Environmental engineering.; Solar radiation.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Ukraine and Russia : from civilized divorce to uncivil war / by D'Anieri, Paul J.,1965-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."D'Anieri explores the dynamics within Ukraine, between Ukraine and Russia, and between Russia and the West, that emerged with the collapse of the Soviet Union and eventually led to war in 2014. Proceeding chronologically, this book shows how Ukraine's separation from Russia in 1991, at the time called a 'civilized divorce', led to what many are now calling 'a new Cold War'. He argues that the conflict has worsened because of three underlying factors--the security dilemma, the impact of democratization on geopolitics, and the incompatible goals of a post-Cold War Europe. Rather than a peaceful situation that was squandered, D'Anieri argues that these were deep-seated pre-existing disagreements that could not be bridged, with concerning implications for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict. The book also shows how this war fits into broader patterns of contemporary international conflict and should therefore appeal to researchers working on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's relations with the West, and conflict and geopolitics more generally." --
Subjects: Ukraine Conflict, 2014-;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Age of revolutions : progress and backlash from 1600 to the present / by Zakaria, Fareed,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 331-364) and index."Populist rage, ideological fracture, economic and technological shocks, war, and an international system studded with catastrophic risk -- the early decades of the twenty-first century may be the most revolutionary period in modern history. But it is not the first. Humans have lived, and thrived, through more than one great realignment. What are these revolutions, and how can they help us to understand our fraught world? In this major work, Fareed Zakaria masterfully investigates the eras and movements that have shaken norms while shaping the modern world. Three such periods hold profound lessons for today. First, in the seventeenth-century Netherlands, a fascinating series of transformations made that tiny land the richest in the world -- and created politics as we know it today. Next, the French Revolution, an explosive era that devoured its ideological children and left a bloody legacy that haunts us today. Finally, the mother of all revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, which catapulted Great Britain and the US to global dominance and created the modern world. Alongside these paradigm-shifting historical events, Zakaria probes four present-day revolutions: globalization, technology, identity, and geopolitics. For all their benefits, the globalization and technology revolutions have produced profound disruptions and pervasive anxiety and our identity. And increasingly, identity is the battlefield on which the twenty-first century's polarized politics are fought. All this is set against a geopolitical revolution as great as the one that catapulted the United States to world power in the late nineteenth century. Now we are entering a world in which the US is no longer the dominant power. As we find ourselves at the nexus of four seismic revolutions, we can easily imagine a dark future. But Zakaria proves that pessimism is premature. If we act wisely, the liberal international order can be revived and populism relegated to the ash heap of history." --
Subjects: Revolutions.; Revolutions; Social change.; World history.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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War for eternity : inside Bannon's far-right circle of global power brokers / by Teitelbaum, Benjamin R.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An explosive and unprecedented inside look at Steve Bannon's entourage of global powerbrokers and the hidden alliances shaping today's geopolitical upheaval. In 2015, Bloomberg News named Steve Bannon "the most dangerous political operative in America." Since then, he has grown exponentially more powerful-and not only in the United States. In this groundbreaking and urgent account, award-winning scholar of the radical right Benjamin Teitelbaum takes readers behind-the-scenes of Bannon's global campaign against modernity. Inspired by a radical twentieth-century ideology called Traditionalism, Bannon and a small group of right-wing powerbrokers are planning new political mobilizations on a global scale-discussed and debated in secret meetings organized by Bannon in hotel suites and private apartments in DC, Europe and South America. Their goal? To upend the world order and reorganize geopolitics on the basis of archaic values rather than modern ideals of democracy, freedom, social progress, and human rights. Their strenuous efforts are already producing results, from the fortification of borders throughout the world and the targeting of immigrants, to the undermining of the European Union and United States governments, and the expansion of Russian influence. Drawing from exclusive interviews with Bannon's hidden network of far-right thinkers, years of academic research into the radical right, and with unprecedented access to the esoteric salons where they meet, Teitelbaum exposes their considerable impact on the world and their radical vision for the future"--
Subjects: Bannon, Stephen K.; World politics; Right-wing extremists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Voice for the voiceless : over seven decades of struggle with China for my land and my people / by Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho,Dalai Lama XIV,1935-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The Dalai Lama has had to contend with the People's Republic of China for his entire life. He was sixteen when Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, nineteen when he had his first meeting with Chairman Mao in Beijing, and twenty-five when he was forced to escape to India and became a leader in exile. In the decades since, he has faced Communist China's leaders ... Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping ... in his efforts to protect Tibet and its people, with their distinct language, culture, religion, history, and environment. Now, almost seventy-five years after China's invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama reminds the world of Tibet's unresolved struggle for freedom and the hardship his people continue to face in their own homeland. He offers his thoughts on the geopolitics of the region and shares how he personally was able to preserve his own humanity through the profound losses and challenges that threaten the very survival of the Tibetan people. This book captures the Dalai Lama's extraordinary life journey ... discovering what it means to lose your home to a repressive invader and to build a life in exile; dealing with the existential crisis of a nation, its people, and its culture and religion; and envisioning the path forward.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 1935-; Dalai lamas;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Salvage : readings from the wreck / by Brand, Dionne,1953-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."In her first full-length non-fiction since A Map to the Door of No Return, Dionne Brand examines "classic" books from her earlier life, exposing implications both personal and political. A bracing look at reading, life, and what remains in the wreck of empire. "The geopolitics of empire had already prepared me for this ... [the fact that] coloniality constructs outsides and insides -- worlds to be chosen, disturbed, interpreted, and navigated -- in order to live something like a real self." So writes internationally acclaimed poet and novelist Dionne Brand, as she reflects on her early reading, growing up as an avid bookworm in Trinidad and Tobago, and the dawning realization of how the books she devoured, and sometimes loved, also made Black being inanimate. Uniquely and powerfully blending memoir with rigorous and expansive thinking, Brand explores her encounters with colonial, imperialist, and racist tropes in famous and familiar books, looking particularly at the extraordinary implications and modern-day reverberations of stories such as Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe; the ways that practices of reading and writing are shaped by those narrative structures; and the challenges of writing a narrative of Black life that attends to its own expression and consciousness. Much more than a memoir, and much more than a literary examination, this is gripping, revelatory and essential reading by one of our most powerful and brilliant writers."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Literary criticism.; Personal narratives.; Brand, Dionne, 1953-; Black people in literature.; Colonies in literature.; Imperialism in literature.; Racism in literature.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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