Global Politics Audiobooks | Politics

Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End

This hard-hitting book is the definitive account of the Biden administration's most disgraceful hour-and the chaos it unleashed in the world. America's chaotic retreat from Afghanistan in 2021 was nothing short of a horror show. Women and children were trampled to death outside the gates of the Kabul airfield. Desperate Afghans fell from the landing gear of departing planes. Taliban fighters mercilessly whipped and humiliated U.S. civilians trying to access the few square miles still controlled by American forces. Countless Afghan interpreters were abandoned to the mercy of the Taliban after risking their lives alongside American troops for years. And thirteen U.S. service members-eleven of whom were still in preschool on 9/11-were murdered in an ISIS suicide bombing that could easily have been prevented. Still, the full story is worse than anyone imagined. Drawing from hundreds of hours of first-person interviews, investigative reporter Jerry Dunleavy and former Army Captain and Afghanistan veteran James Hasson provide an exclusive, no-holds-barred account of the disastrous events of August 2021. Kabul is packed with shocking and infuriating exclusive details about fatal politics and bureaucracy that contributed to the catastrophe. The authors also tell, for the first time, inspiring stories of the bravery and sacrifices exhibited by countless Americans on the ground. Kabul's original reporting includes eyewitness accounts from servicemembers of all ranks who participated the rescue effort, inside information from senior intelligence officials, interviews with high-ranking members of allied governments, harrowing stories from Americans and Afghan allies willfully abandoned by craven officials in Washington, and exclusive details about veteran-led rescue missions that continue to this day. Chapter after chapter, Kabul depicts American government at its worst and "ordinary" Americans at their best. Ultimately, this book explains how Biden's Afghanistan retreat spurred a dangerous new era that persist for decades. While Americans watched the fall of Afghanistan with disbelief, our nation's enemies were also paying close attention.

James Hasson, Jerry Dunleavy (Author), Maxwell Hamilton (Narrator)

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How to Interpret the Constitution

From New York Times bestselling author Cass Sunstein, a timely and powerful argument for rethinking how the U.S. Constitution is interpreted The U.S. Supreme Court has eliminated the right to abortion and is revisiting other fundamental questions today—about voting rights, affirmative action, gun laws, and much more. Once-arcane theories of constitutional interpretation are profoundly affecting the lives of all Americans. In this brief and urgent book, Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein provides a lively introduction to competing approaches to interpreting the Constitution—and argues that the only way to choose one is to ask whether it would change American life for the better or worse. If a method of interpretation would eliminate the right of privacy, allow racial segregation, or obliterate free speech, it would be unacceptable for that reason. But some Supreme Court justices are committed to “originalism,” arguing that the meaning of the Constitution is settled by how it was publicly understood when it was ratified. Originalists insist that their approach is dictated by the Constitution. That, Sunstein argues, is a big mistake. The Constitution doesn’t contain instructions for its own interpretation. Any approach to constitutional interpretation needs to be defended in terms of its broad effects—what it does to our rights and our institutions. It must respect those rights and institutions—and safeguard the conditions for democracy itself. Passionate and compelling, How to Interpret the Constitution is essential reading for anyone who is concerned about how the Supreme Court is changing the rights and lives of Americans today.

Cass R. Sunstein (Author), Graham Winton (Narrator)

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[German] - Die DNA der USA: Wie tickt Amerika?

Amerika durchlebt ein epochales Gesellschaftsbeben. Mit faschistischen Methoden versuchen die Republikaner, die Demokratie zu kapern und eine autokratische Herrschaft zu etablieren: Sie befeuern die militante Spaltung der Gesellschaft, fördern einen Führerkult, rufen zu Gewalt auf und erschaffen mittels Propaganda eine fiktive Realität. Dabei kooperieren sie mit verschiedenen radikalen Gruppierungen wie extremistischen Christen, Verschwörungstheoretikern und Milizen. Ihr nächster Putschversuch läuft bereits auf Hochtouren. Zahlreiche demokratische Kontrollmechanismen haben sie bereits sabotiert – wie den Supreme Court, den sie de facto »übernommen« haben. Wie es so weit kommen konnte, erläutert Sandra Navidi, die seit über einem Vierteljahrhundert in den USA lebt und auf höchster Ebene vernetzt ist. Höchst aufschlussreich benennt und analysiert sie genau die Aspekte der amerikanischen Geschichte, Kultur und Weltanschauung, die dazu geführt haben, dass viele Amerikaner so anfällig für Desinformation, Propaganda und Extremismus sind. Aus ihrer transatlantischen Perspektive erläutert sie die Hintergründe und Zusammenhänge des Kulturkrieges, des Erstarkens der Rechtsradikalen, des religiösen Fundamentalismus und des Waffenkults. Wie groß die Gefahr eines Bürgerkriegs ist und ob Amerika in den Faschismus taumelt, das erfahren Sie in diesem Buch. *** Amerika – die Supermacht, die sich als außergewöhnlich und unverzichtbar erachtet, ist immer noch das beliebteste Einwanderungsland und die stärkste Wirtschaftsmacht der Welt. Wie ist es möglich, dass eine Nation trotz des großen Potenzials seiner Menschen und seiner vielfältigen Stärken so nah an den gesellschaftlichen und politischen Abgrund geraten ist? Besser als jeder andere analysiert und erklärt die in New York ansässige Juristin und Wirtschaftsexpertin aus ihrer Insiderperspektive die Stellschrauben des Systems, die der Grund dafür sind, dass Amerika in eine existenzielle Krise gestürzt ist. Die DNA der USA ist ein tiefgründiges Porträt einer komplexen Nation.

Sandra Navidi (Author), Katja Amberger (Narrator)

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The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us

Fellow at Ethic & Public Policy Center, scholar at The Institute for Human Ecology at CUA and the nationally best-selling author of the Theology of Home series, Carrie Gress argues that fifty years of radical feminism have had the opposite of the intended effect and have granted primacy of place to the traditionally male sphere of life, while simultaneously devaluing the typical attributes, virtues, and strengths of women.

Carrie Gress, Ph.D. (Author), Monroe Jillian (Narrator)

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Battlefield Cyber: How China and Russia are Undermining Our Democracy and National Security

The United States is being bombarded with cyber-attacks. From the surge in ransomware groups targeting critical infrastructure to nation states compromising the software supply chain and corporate email servers, malicious cyber activities have reached an all-time high. Russia attracts the most attention, but China is vastly more sophisticated. They have a common interest in exploiting the openness of the Internet and social media—and our democracy—to erode confidence in our institutions and to exacerbate our societal rifts to prevent us from mounting an effective response. Halting this digital aggression will require Americans to undertake sweeping changes in how we educate, organize and protect ourselves and to ask difficult questions about how vulnerable our largest technology giants are. If we are waiting for a “Cyber 9/11” or a “Cyber Pearl Harbor,” we are misunderstanding how our adversaries wage cyber warfare. This is a timely and critically important book. No other book has analyzed the threat of cyber warfare with the depth and knowledge brought to the subject by the authors. It has now become a cliché to argue that a “whole of government” or “whole of society” response is necessary to respond to this crisis, but that concept has never been more important. It will take many years and billions of dollars to even begin to secure our IT systems and prevent the slow rot that is destroying America. Using language that the layman can understand, we wish to educate Americans about what has happened and inspire them to seek solutions.

Michael Mclaughlin, William J Holstein (Author), Steve Menasche (Narrator)

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Confronting Capitalism: How the World Works and How to Change It

Why is our society so unequal? Why, despite their small numbers, do the rich dominate policy and politics even in democratic countries? Why is it so difficult for working people to organize around common interests? How do we begin to build a more equal and democratic society? Vivek Chibber provides a clear and accessible map of how capitalism works, how it limits the power of working and oppressed people, and how to overcome those limits. The capitalist economy generates incredible wealth but also injustice. Those who own the factories, hotels, and farms always have an advantage over the people who rely on that ownership class for their livelihoods. This inequality in power and income is reflected in the operation of the state, where capitalists are able to exert their will even under relatively democratic conditions. The most important reason is that states depend on the employment and profits from capitalist enterprise for both finances and legitimacy. Every meaningful victory for working people has been won through collective struggle but collective action is very difficult to coordinate. In the final section of the book, Chibber walks the listener through some of the historical attempts to build socialism and presents a vision of how we might, perhaps against the odds, build a socialist future.

Vivek Chibber (Author), Shawn K. Jain (Narrator)

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In Search of the River Jordan: A Story of Palestine, Israel and the Struggle for Water

A writer's travels along the legendary yet contested Jordan River-exploring the long conflict over water supply Access to water has played a pivotal role in the Israel-Palestine dispute. Israel has diverted the River Jordan via pipes and canals to build a successful modern state. But this has been at the expense of the region's cohabitants. Gaza is now so water-stressed that the United Nations has warned it could soon become uninhabitable; its traditional water source has been ruined by years of over-extraction and mismanagement, the effects exacerbated by years of crippling blockade. Award-winning author and journalist James Fergusson travels to every corner of Israel and Palestine telling the story of the River Jordan and the fierce competition for water. Along the way, he meets farmers, officials, soldiers, refugees, settlers, rioting youth, religious zealots, water experts, and engineers on both sides of the Green Line. Fergusson gives voice to the fears and aspirations of the region's inhabitants and highlights the centrality of water in negotiating future peace.

James Fergusson (Author), Peter Noble (Narrator)

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Russia: History, Facts, and Biographies of Russian Leaders, Tsars, and Royalty

This is a bundle of several books in 1, which are: Ivan the Terrible - Ivan IV Vasilyevich, referred to as Ivan the Terrible in English, was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the very first Moscow ruler to announce himself Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan was the first ruler of Moscow after the city's flexibility. Leon Trotsky - Leon Trotsky was a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political thinker, and political leader who lived from November the 7th, in the year 1879 till August the 21st 1940. He developed a variation of Marxism referred to as Trotskyism after being a communist ideologically. Catherine the Great - Catherine II (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; May the 2nd 1729-- November the 17th 1796, typically called Catherine the Great, ruled as Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, making her the nation's longest-serving female ruler. Following the assassination of her spouse and 2nd cousin, Peter III, she rose to power. Russia grew bigger, its civilization was rejuvenated, and it was acknowledged as one of Europe's great powers during her reign. Peter the Great - From May the 7th, in 1682 till his death in 1725, Peter the Great or Pyotr Alekséyevich governed the Tsardom of Russia and ultimately the Russian Empire, collectively ruling before 1696 with his older half-brother, Ivan V. He got ports on the Azov and Baltic Seas through a series of triumphant disputes, creating the structure for the Imperial Russian Navy, ending undisputed Swedish control in the Baltic, and launching the Tsardom's development into a much larger empire. Grigori Rasputin - Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich, was a Russian mystic and self-declared holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, Russia's last emperor, and accomplished massive power in late Imperial Russia.

Kelly Mass (Author), Doug Greene (Narrator)

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Rocking in the Free World: Popular Music and the Politics of Freedom in Postwar America

Progressive and libertarian, anti-Communist and revolutionary, Democratic and Republican, quintessentially American but simultaneously universal. By the late 1980s, rock music had acquired a dizzying array of political labels. These claims about its political significance shared one common thread: that the music could set you free. Rocking in the Free World explains how Americans came to believe they had learned the truth about rock 'n' roll, a truth shaped by the Cold War anxieties of the fifties, the countercultural revolutions (and counter-revolutions) of the sixties and seventies, and the end-of-history triumphalism of the eighties. How did rock 'n' roll become enmeshed with so many different competing ideas about freedom? And what does that story reveal about the promise-and the limits-of rock music as a political force in postwar America?

Nicholas Tochka (Author), Derek Dysart (Narrator)

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[German] - Die neue Weltordnung

Die Neue Weltordnung ist im politischen Betrieb ein mittlerweile oft benutztes Schlagwort. Es steht für Konzepte, international eine einheitliche Friedens- und Rechtsordnung durch ein System der kollektiven Sicherheit und Kontrolle zu etablieren. Vordenker gibt es einige. Einer der bekanntesten dürfte jedoch H.G. Wells (1866-1946) sein. Ein britischer Autor, der für seine science-fiction-Romane wie 'Krieg der Welten' (1897), 'Die Zeitmaschine' (1895) oder 'The First Men in the Moon' (1901) zu Weltruhm gelangte. Obwohl seine Romane durchaus noch populär sind, verfasste er darüber hinaus eine Unmenge an Sachbüchern, die sich mit tagesaktuellen Themen befassten. Ein großes Anliegen waren ihm die Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg in den kriegführenden Staaten, die in seinen Augen mit den Friedensverhandlungen von 1919 nicht etwa den Frieden sicherten, sondern nur eine Verschnaufpause zwischen den Kriegen war und das obwohl der 1920 gegründete Völkerbund eigentlich für die Errichtung des Weltfriedens ins Leben gerufen wurde. Ein stumpfes Schwert, wie Wells hier darlegt. Die seiner Meinung nach gescheiterten Bemühungen um einen ewigen Frieden und seine Verbesserungsvorschläge inkl. einem Vorschlag für eine neue Menschenrechtserklärung finden Eingang in diesem Hörbuch. Wells fordert nichts geringeres als die Vollsozialisierung der Welt und geht mit dem damals praktizierten sowjetischen Kommunismus/Sozialismus hart ins Gericht, begrüßte jedoch durchaus die kleinen und großen Maßnahmen aller kriegführenden Regierungen die seiner Meinung die Welt in Richtung Kollektivierung führten. Wenn wir wollen, so Wells, dass auf der Welt Frieden herrschen soll, dann gibt es nur ein Mittel, um diesen Zustand herbeizuführen. Es ist die Bündelung aller 'menschlichen Angelegenheiten' unter einer Regierung und die Errichtung eines Weltstaates. Auf dem Weg dorthin gilt es einige Hindernisse aus dem Weg zu räumen. Das Institut des Privateigentums muss nach seiner Auffassung z. B. strengstens überdacht werden und auch für die Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen hat er Pläne, die weit über das hinaus gehen, was die meisten Regierungen willens sind, ihren jungen Bürgern aufzubürden. Geht es ihm um den Weltfrieden oder verfolgt Wells, der für einige Jahre Mitglied der Fabian Society war, ein anderes Ziel mit seinen Ideen? Ob das in den Bereich der Verschwörungstheorie gehört oder nicht, können Sie selbst entscheiden. Nutzen Sie die Gelegenheit, sich von diesem Weltordnungsentwurf zu überzeugen und urteilen Sie selbst, wieviel davon bereits umgesetzt wurde oder politisch geplant ist, umgesetzt zu werden.

H.G. Wells (Author), Oliver Rohloff (Narrator)

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On Liberty

John Stuart Mill (Author), Jason William Bayless (Narrator)

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Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World

Spies and Lies a groundbreaking expose of elite influence operations by China's little-known Ministry of State Security. Revealing for the first time how the Chinese Communist Party has tasked its spies to deceive the world, it challenges the conventional account of China's past, present, and future. Mere years ago, Western governments chose to cooperate with China in the hope that it would liberalize, setting aside concerns about human rights abuses, totalitarian ambitions, and espionage. But the axiom of China's 'peaceful rise' has been fundamentally challenged by the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian behavior under Xi Jinping. How did we get it wrong for so long? Spies and Lies pierces the Ministry of State Security's walls of secrecy and reveals how agents of the Chinese Communist Party have spent decades manipulating the West's attitudes-from an Australian prime minister to the US Congress, prominent think tanks, and the FBI-about China's rise. Through interviews with defectors and intelligence officers, classified Chinese intelligence documents, and original investigations, the book unmasks dozens of active Chinese intelligence officers along with global MSS fronts, including travel agencies, writers' associations, publishing houses, alumni associations, newspapers, a Buddhist temple, a record company, and charities.

Alex Joske (Author), James Daniel Burkdoll (Narrator)

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