In its march to becoming the world's first hyper-power, the United States has been as dependent on its soft power - the allure of American lifestyles and culture - as it has been on the hard power of military might. In Weapons of Mass Distraction, Matthew Fraser examines the role of American pop cultural industries in international affairs. Fraser focuses on the major areas of soft power - movies, television, pop music, and fast food - and traces the origins, history and current influence of these on U.S. foreign policy. He describes how the American film, television, and music industries enjoy a ubiquitous global presence that has made them indispensable to the U.S. government, which has often gone so far as to fund them directly, including the White House-sponsored radio station in the Middle East launched with the hopes of winning over Muslim youths with American pop songs. A Coca-Cola lobbyist once famously declared that "The best barometer of the relationship of the U.S. and any other country is the way Coca-Cola is treated." Fraser proves this claim isn't to be taken lightly. He charts the global spread of the fast food industry, the role of Coca-Cola and McDonald's in American foreign policy and the recent rise of their opponents: the anti-globalization movement. Do things really go better with Coca-Cola? Fraser's answer is a resounding yes. While American soft power remains a contentious issue, he believes it promotes values and beliefs that are ultimately good for the rest of the world. Still, what are the future implications of American soft power? Will national identities decline as the world order is transformed into a state of "electronic feudalism" where there is no central power? Weapons of Mass Distraction provides an engaging, enlightening, and provocative look at the future of American foreign policy and popular culture in the 21st century.

Weapons of Mass Distraction: Soft Power and American Empire

Politics & Social Sciences

Fraser, Matthew

Social Sciences

Thomas Dunne Books

"If you want to understand why Wikipedia is changing the world, this book is a must read." –Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia 
"This book is a must read for all - social activists, politicians or managers - who have an interest in understanding how our society is morphing." –Professor C.K. Prahalad, #1 Management Guru and author of Competing for the Future Synopsis The rise of social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo is changing the way we see ourselves, how we interact with each other, how we work and how we do business on a daily basis. Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom explores the powerful forces driving the social networking revolution, the impact of these profound changes, and the far reaching consequences of social networking. Detailing the way social networks affects both individuals and societies as a whole, the book offers a detailed focus on the ways social networking affects the world of business and work. The generation entering the workforce today - and entering boardrooms everywhere - is fully engaged with social networking and its uses. Rather than feeling threatened and paranoid, today's business leaders need to understand this phenomenon, accept that it won't go away, and embrace its power in the world of business. Excerpts from Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: "Your next CEO’s most impressive job credential might be status as an online gladiator, honing valuable leadership skills mercilessly slaying mortal enemies on World of Warcraft. Why not, the skills necessary to hack your way to the top levels of virtual games – especially a killer instinct – are excellent pre-requisites for managing complex organisations." "Many senior managers mistakenly believe Enterprise 2.0 is a product, like the latest Microsoft office suite. They don’t realise that Enterprise 2.0 is not a cost centre, but a “state of mind” – a revolutionary new way of managing companies and conducting business. Web 2.0 tools have no regard for “organisational boundaries, hierarchies, or job titles”. Try telling a senior executive that, henceforth, there will be no job titles, reporting lines, and organisational boundaries in the company – and watch the reaction closely." "When someone calls a meeting, he or she is asserting authority over those who are invited to attend. Meetings are exclusive and closed. In most corporations, who gets invited to a meeting – and who does not – sends a signal about who’s ‘in the loop’. Meetings are a form of social grooming inside organisations. Meetings impose vertical authority. They establish status hierarchies. The Enterprise 2.0 model is feared in corporations because it threatens status hierarchies." "Harnessing the dynamism of horizontal networks, Web 2.0 social media are bypassing institutional forms of social organisation and directly empowering people. This book has attempted to tell that story with illustrations, which, we hope, have offered intriguing and instructive insights into the powerful transformations we described. What has interested us most, indeed, is the transformative impact – or “e-ruptions” – of Web 2.0 social media on the three dynamics that gave this book its structure: identity, status and power."

Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work and World

Business & Money

Dutta, Soumitra

Processes & Infrastructure

wiley

Imagine having the ability to feel on a deeper level. Imagine expanding your senses so much that you pick up and feel situations and opportunities before they even happen. Psychic Ability allows you to do just that, this ability opens your eyes to a new world, a world where you can expand and develop deeper levels of clairvoyance, clairsentience, intuition and mediumship, to see, hear and experience life including sense the future before it happens. This gift can allow you find the road that will lead you to happier more fulfilling opportunities in your life. This gift will show you that you can find the answers and guidance you need in situations like your relationships and career. You can expand your ability to listen to the angels and your spirit guides, with secret techniques to unfold your intuition, and psychic ability to connect and step into your future. This book was written as a guide to developing your psychic abilities and is jam packed with exercises, tools and techniques that will allow you to unlock and discover your own psychic abilities and use them in your everyday life.

The Secrets to Unlocking Your Psychic Ability

Religion & Spirituality

New Age & Spirituality

Matt Fraser Companies

Free-For-All: The Struggle for Dominance on the Digital Frontier

Engineering & Transportation

Engineering

Stoddart Pub.

Free-for-all: the Struggle for Dominance on the Digital Frontier

Industries

Stoddart+publishing

From the ancient Greeks and Romans to the modern era, how have people determined what is true? The complex relationship between truth and power is the key theme in this book. Moving through major historical periods. Matthew Fraser traces the tumultuous saga of truth and falsehood from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the modern era to find distinct parallels between past and present. The book examines how notable people and events-from famous leaders such as Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler to lesser-known figures like Procopius and Savonarola-exploited the enduring tension between truth and lies. Julius Caesar's publication of Gallic Wars was an early exercise in political spin, not unlike what we see in politics today. During the English Civil War and later in the Enlightenment, the printing press empowered a new culture of pamphleteering that challenged the status quo, just as social media networks are doing in our internet era today. In the late nineteenth century, "fake news" was already being manipulated by German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and in the "yellow journalism" promoted by American newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. The author concludes optimistically, contending that-despite the manipulations of the powerful-we are debating and discussing truth more fiercely today than in any previous era. While the current crisis over truth appears to be threatening liberal democracy, our determination to arrive at the truth is a sign we are committed to reaffirming its fundamental values. Truth is remarkably resilient. Book jacket.

In Truth: A History of Lies from Ancient Rome to Modern America

History

World

Prometheus

Recent years in America have seen Confederate monuments toppled, statues of colonizers vandalized, and public icons commemorating figures from a history of exploitation demolished. Some were alarmed by the destruction, claiming that pulling down public statues is a negation of an entire cultural heritage. For others, statue-smashing is justified vandalism against a legacy of injustice. Monumental Folly confronts the long-neglected questions of our relationship with statues, icons, and monuments in public spaces, providing a rich historical perspective on iconoclastic violence. Organized according to specific themes that provide insights into the erection and destruction of statues -- from religion, war, and revolution to colonialism, ideology, art, and social justice -- author Matthew Fraser examines the implications of our monuments from the Buddhas of Bamiyan to those of Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Vladimir Lenin, and many more. Above all, the book endeavors to frame moments of statue-toppling throughout history so we can better understand the eruptions of iconoclastic violence that we are witnessing today. Statues are erected as expressions of power, and the impulse to destroy them is motivated by a desire to defy, reject, and eradicate their authority. However, the symbolic power of statues can stubbornly persist even after their destruction. This enduring paradox -- between destruction and resurrection - is at the heart of this book. Fraser concludes with reflections that propose new ways of thinking about our relationship with statues and monuments and, more practically, about how we can creatively integrate their legacy into our collective memory in a way that inclusively enriches shared historical experience.

Monumental Fury: The History of Iconoclasm and the Future of Our Past

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Dad Jokes: 101 of The Worst Dad Jokes You Will Ever Read (But They Will Still Leave You In Stitches!)

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

Room Three LTD

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