The End of Power

Starred review from January 14, 2013
Over the past few years, grassroots movements have redirected global conversations about power and rights, though the status quo in many cases has proved more resistant to change. Nevertheless, Naím (Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy) contends that traditional forms of power are being transformed and shifted onto new shoulders. Having served as editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy and the executive director of the World Bank, Naím knows better than most what power on a global scale looks like. He first guides readers through an understanding of “How Power Got Big,” before demonstrating the myriad ways in which the dominance of hierarchical organizations is eroding. Technological developments have empowered individuals to group together for the betterment of society, but they have also enabled extremists to wreak havoc with very few resources. “The implications of the decay of power are momentous and manifold,” Naím argues. He says that our best defense is to be prepared: we must eschew “dangerously antiquated” notions of power and shift our focus from rising to the top to “inhabit the middle of the curve in a time of massive and rapid change.” It’s a timely, insightful, and eloquent message. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, Sagalyn Literary.

January 15, 2013
Former Foreign Policy editor-in-chief Naim (Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats Are Hi-Jacking the Global Economy, 2006, etc.) argues that global institutions of power are losing their ability to command respect. Whether considering institutions of government, military, religion or business, the author believes their power to be in the process of decaying. He writes that a threefold revolution, characterized by "More, Mobility and Mentality," is challenging the existing model of power, and he explains his argument in concise terms: "More" is shorthand for more people, more countries and more wealth; "mobility" involves both physical migration between and within countries and includes the communications revolution; "mentality" refers to the increasing openness of people to rejecting the status quo (typified by the recent uprisings in the Middle East). Naim defines power as "the ability to direct or prevent the current or future actions of other groups and individuals," and he claims that it works through four different channels--the threat of force, codes of accepted behavior, persuasiveness, and incentives or rewards. The author suggests that coercive potentials are undermined by increasing numbers of people who are healthier and more informed, many of whom live in jurisdictions that are more porous, less deferential to authority and harder to police. Naim supplements this broader view with discussions of the decentralization of global business, changes in how wars are fought and similar current developments. A data-packed, intriguing analysis that is not entirely convincing.

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February 15, 2013
Na-m, scholar and columnist, explains that power is what we exercise over others that leads them to behave in ways they would not otherwise have behaved. He builds his case for the decay of power claiming that power no longer buys as much; it is easier to get, harder to use, and easier to lose. Presidents, executives in financial services and oil companies, international religious leaders, and politicians continue to wield great power, but less so than their predecessors; today's leaders have more challenges, competitors, and constraints in the form of citizen activism, global markets, and the ever-present media. The decay of power has made space globally for new ventures, companies, voices, and more opportunities, but it also holds great potential for instability. Na-m concludes that now we are more vulnerable to bad ideas and bad leaders, and strongly recommends a conversation not on the obsession with who/what is Number One but what is going on inside those nations, political movements, corporations, and religions. A timely and timeless book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)