Examines such tyrants as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Bokassa, Ne Win, Trujillo, Duvalier, and Ceaucescu, discussing why new ideological tyrants thrive despite the decline of communism.

Modern Tyrants

History

Chirot, Daniel

Americas

Free Press

Social Change in the Twentieth Century

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Harcourt College Pub.

An examination of social change around the world from a global and historical perspective. Part One explains the rise of the Western world from the 1500s, while Part Two and Part Three focus on the 20th century.

Social Change in the Modern Era

Harcourt

In this volume, nine scholars discuss some of the most critical questions posed by the events of 1989, revolutions which, like the American, French, and Russian revolutions, will not be fully comprehended for many decades. Their articles focus on the political and military role of the United States in the 21st century; the worldwide decline of the left over the last decade; Mikhail Gorbachev's search for socialist renewal; the loss of moral legitimacy in communist systems; the failure of student demonstrations in China to mobilize broad popular support; the relative success of China's economic reform; the paradox of Kim II Sung and the importance of historical and cultural influences; the failure of both the United States and the Soviet Union to develop a viable world vision; and the need for a comprehensive plan to promote economic development in formerly communist countries. By explaining what happened, what forces have been at work in the great struggles that led to 1989, and how these forces continue to operate, the contributors hope to make it clear that there continues to be a future over which to struggle, and the no outcome is predetermined.

The Crisis of Leninism and the Decline of the Left: The Revolutions of 1989 (Jackson School Publications in International Studies)

Asia

University of Washington Press

Contentious Identities: Ethnic, Religious and National Conflicts in Today's World (Framing 21st Century Social Issues)

This book analyzes widespread global ethnic conflicts that tear asunder nations and regions, such as the former Yugoslavia. Dan Chirot casts his analysis in a discussion of the conflict between national and ethnic identity, discovering that ethnic identity, rooted in centuries of tradition and habit, often trumps national identity, which may be of more recent gestation and have a weaker hold on people. His analysis affords insights into the recent aggressive U.S. posture on ‘nation building,’ showing the blindness of this approach to deeply-entrenched ethnic identities. His timely book can be used in classes on globalization, international development, political sociology, social movements, and theory. The goal of this new, unique Series is to offer readable, teachable "thinking frames" on today’s social problems and social issues by leading scholars, all in short 60 page or shorter formats, and available for view on http://routledge.customgateway.com/routledge-social-issues.html For instructors teaching a wide range of courses in the social sciences, the Routledge Social Issues Collection now offers the best of both worlds: originally written short texts that provide "overviews" to important social issues as well as teachable excerpts from larger works previously published by Routledge and other presses.

Contentious Identities (Framing 21st Century Social Issues)

Routledge

Reaching back centuries, this study makes a convincing case for very deep roots of current Eastern European backwardness. Its conclusions are suggestive for comparativists studying other parts of the world, and useful to those who want to understand contemporary Eastern Europe's past. Like the rest of the world except for that unique part of the West which has given us a false model of what was "normal," Eastern Europe developed slowly. The weight of established class relations, geography, lack of technological innovation, and wars kept the area from growing richer. In the nineteenth century the West exerted a powerful influence, but it was political more than economic. Nationalism and the creation of newly independent aspiring nation-states then began to shape national economies, often in unfavorable ways. One of this book's most important lessons is that while economics may limit the freedom of action of political players, it does not determine political outcomes. The authors offer no simple explanations but rather a theoretically complex synthesis that demonstrates the interaction of politics and economics.

The Origins of Backwardness in Eastern Europe: Economics and Politics from the Middle Ages until the Early Twentieth Century

Business & Money

Economics

University of California Press

Along with its much vaunted progress in scientific and economic realms, the twentieth century has witnessed the rise of the most brutal and oppressive regimes in the history of humankind. Even with the collapse of Marxism, current instances of "ethnic cleansing" remind us that tyranny persists in our own age and shows no sign of abating. Daniel Chirot offers an important and timely study of modern tyrants, both revealing the forces that allow them to come to power and helping us to predict where they may arise in the future.

World

Princeton University Press

Genocide, mass murder, massacres. The words themselves are chilling, evoking images of the slaughter of countless innocents. What dark impulses lurk in our minds that even today can justify the eradication of thousands and even millions of unarmed human beings caught in the crossfire of political, cultural, or ethnic hostilities? This question lies at the heart of Why Not Kill Them All? Cowritten by historical sociologist Daniel Chirot and psychologist Clark McCauley, the book goes beyond exploring the motives that have provided the psychological underpinnings for genocidal killings. It offers a historical and comparative context that adds up to a causal taxonomy of genocidal events.
Rather than suggesting that such horrors are the product of abnormal or criminal minds, the authors emphasize the normality of these horrors: killing by category has occurred on every continent and in every century. But genocide is much less common than the imbalance of power that makes it possible. Throughout history human societies have developed techniques aimed at limiting intergroup violence. Incorporating ethnographic, historical, and current political evidence, this book examines the mechanisms of constraint that human societies have employed to temper partisan passions and reduce carnage.
Might an understanding of these mechanisms lead the world of the twenty-first century away from mass murder? Why Not Kill Them All? makes clear that there are no simple solutions, but that progress is most likely to be made through a combination of international pressures, new institutions and laws, and education. If genocide is to become a grisly relic of the past, we must fully comprehend the complex history of violent conflict and the struggle between hatred and tolerance that is waged in the human heart.

Why Not Kill Them All?: The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder

Health, Fitness & Dieting

McCauley, Clark

Psychology & Counseling

Genocide, mass murder, massacres. The words themselves are chilling, evoking images of the slaughter of countless innocents. What dark impulses lurk in our minds that even today can justify the eradication of thousands and even millions of unarmed human beings caught in the crossfire of political, cultural, or ethnic hostilities? This question lies at the heart of Why Not Kill Them All? Cowritten by historical sociologist Daniel Chirot and psychologist Clark McCauley, the book goes beyond exploring the motives that have provided the psychological underpinnings for genocidal killings. It offers a historical and comparative context that adds up to a causal taxonomy of genocidal events.
 Rather than suggesting that such horrors are the product of abnormal or criminal minds, the authors emphasize the normality of these horrors: killing by category has occurred on every continent and in every century. But genocide is much less common than the imbalance of power that makes it possible. Throughout history human societies have developed techniques aimed at limiting intergroup violence. Incorporating ethnographic, historical, and current political evidence, this book examines the mechanisms of constraint that human societies have employed to temper partisan passions and reduce carnage.
 Might an understanding of these mechanisms lead the world of the twenty-first century away from mass murder? Why Not Kill Them All? makes clear that there are no simple solutions, but that progress is most likely to be made through a combination of international pressures, new institutions and laws, and education. If genocide is to become a grisly relic of the past, we must fully comprehend the complex history of violent conflict and the struggle between hatred and tolerance that is waged in the human heart.
 In a new preface, the authors discuss recent mass violence and reaffirm the importance of education and understanding in the prevention of future genocides.

How four revolutionary ideas from the Enlightenment shaped today's world
This panoramic book tells the story of how revolutionary ideas from the Enlightenment about freedom, equality, evolution, and democracy have reverberated through modern history and shaped the world as we know it today.
A testament to the enduring power of ideas, The Shape of the New offers unforgettable portraits of Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx―heirs of the Enlightenment who embodied its highest ideals about progress―and shows how their thoughts, over time and in the hands of their followers and opponents, transformed the very nature of our beliefs, institutions, economies, and politics. Yet these ideas also hold contradictions. They have been used in the service of brutal systems such as slavery and colonialism, been appropriated and twisted by monsters like Stalin and Hitler, and provoked reactions against the Enlightenment's legacy by Islamic Salafists and the Christian Religious Right.
The Shape of the New argues that it is impossible to understand the ideological and political conflicts of our own time without familiarizing ourselves with the history and internal tensions of these world-changing ideas. With passion and conviction, it exhorts us to recognize the central importance of these ideas as historical forces and pillars of the Western humanistic tradition. It makes the case that to read the works of the great thinkers is to gain invaluable insights into the ideas that have shaped how we think and what we believe.

The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They Made the Modern World

Montgomery, Scott L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chirot, Daniel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Chirot, Daniel

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chirot, Daniel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Modern Tyrants

Social Change in the Twentieth Century

Social Change in the Modern Era

The Crisis of Leninism and the Decline of the Left: The Revolutions of 1989 (Jackson School Publications in International Studies)

Contentious Identities (Framing 21st Century Social Issues)

The Origins of Backwardness in Eastern Europe: Economics and Politics from the Middle Ages until the Early Twentieth Century

Modern Tyrants

Why Not Kill Them All?: The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder

Why Not Kill Them All?: The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder

The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They Made the Modern World