Hot Off the Presses

On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines— and Future

By Karen Elliott House, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs

Random House (2012)

With extraordinary access to Saudis—from key religious leaders and dissident imams to women at university and impoverished widows, from government officials and political dissidents to young successful Saudis and those who chose the path of terrorism— Karen Elliott House argues that most Saudis do not want democracy but seek change nevertheless; they want a government that provides basic services without subjecting citizens to the indignity of begging princes for handouts; a government less corrupt and more transparent in how it spends hundreds of billions of annual oil revenue; a kingdom ruled by law, not royal whim.

“. . . House’s depiction of Saudi Arabia—its people, its politics, and most of all its contradictions— is eloquent and timely. The dilemmas that Saudi Arabia is facing will not soon be resolved. . . . Presenting these issues in a readable yet serious book is a rare feat indeed, and she should be commended for it.”

—The New Republic

Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age

By Susan Crawford, Former Faculty Affiliate, Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy Project

Yale University Press (January 2013)

This important book by leading telecommunications policy expert Susan Crawford explores why Americans are now paying much more but getting much less when it comes to high-speed Internet access. Using the 2011 merger between Comcast and NBC Universal as a lens, Crawford examines how we have created the biggest monopoly since the breakup of Standard Oil a century ago. In the clearest terms, this book explores how telecommunications monopolies have affected the daily lives of consumers and America’s global economic standing.

“Crawford’s book is the most important volume to be released in the last few years that describes the sad . . . state of the U.S. telecommunications market.” —Time

Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs; Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs, with Ali Wyne, Associate, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs

Belfer Center Studies in International Security

MIT Press (February 2013)

When Lee Kuan Yew speaks, presidents, prime ministers, diplomats, and CEOs listen. Lee, the founding father of modern Singapore and its prime minister from 1959 to 1990, has honed his wisdom during more than fifty years on the world stage. Almost single-handedly responsible for transforming Singapore into a Western-style economic success, he offers a unique perspective on the geopolitics of East and West. This book gathers key insights from interviews, speeches, and Lee’s voluminous published writings and presents them in an engaging question and answer format.

Lee offers his assessment of China’s future, asserting, among other things, that “China will want to share this century as co-equals with the U.S.” He affirms the United States’ position as the world’s sole superpower but expresses dismay at the vagaries of its political system. He offers strategic advice for dealing with China and goes on to discuss India’s future, Islamic terrorism, economic growth, geopolitics and globalization, and democracy. Lee does not pull his punches, offering his unvarnished opinions on multiculturalism, the welfare state, education, and the free market.

“. . . [T]he book, and the adaptation here of the China chapter, reveal, Lee is as sharp, direct and prescient as ever. . . . [It] helps expose, and  explain, Beijing’s hardball mind-set.” —Zoher Abdoolcarim, Time magazine, Asia Edition

The Coming Prosperity: How Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Economy

By Philip E. Auerswald, Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

Oxford University Press (2012)

In The Coming Prosperity, Philip E. Auerswald argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today’s greatest global challenges— like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization—Auerswald emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, he writes, the key is entrepreneurship. The book’s deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world.

Economics of Climate Change and Environmental Policy: Selected Papers of Robert N. Stavins, 2000–2011

By Robert N. Stavins, Director, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Edward Elgar (January 2013)

Robert N. Stavins has been one of the most influential voices in environmental economics and policy over the past two decades. The 26 essays in this book, written by Professor Stavins and his co-authors over the period 2000–2011, are collected here for the first time. Students, scholars, practitioners and policymakers will find this volume a valuable and very useful addition to their collection.