Research Books

For anyone interested in business in Latin America, this book is an instant classic--a seminal strategy book, in the mold of Porter, Ohmae, Hamel, and Prahalad. It's original and innovative conceptual framework, comprehensive statistical data, and rich and insightful cases will prove invaluable to executives, consultants, professors and students. Although the Latin American region is currently experiencing a "rough patch", scores of firms continue to implement winning strategies and reap huge benefits. Robles, Simon, and Haar illustrate these strategies with tremendous insight and depth of analysis.As Latin America recovers economically and growth takes off, as it eventually will, this book will serve as an indispensable road map for companies doing business (or considering business) in the region.

Winning Strategies for the New Latin Markets is a "must buy". It is an extremely well-written, thorough and up-to-date presentation and assessment of the new dynamics at play in Latin American markets--including the U.S. Hispanic market--and, through case examples, shows how companies can boost both profits and market share in this challenging environment.

The book is a must read for anyone serious about strategy in Latin America, or anyone
interested in the Hispanic segment of the U.S. market. The authors have a deep understanding of Latin culture and business and are able to explain clearly and objectively the risks involved in Latin America, while at the same time presenting an unbiased picture of the unlimited opportunities in the region. They also provide the reader a road map for avoiding common mistakes when doing business in the region and present some innovative tools to develop sound strategies in the market. The book?s content definitely lives up to its title. Winning Strategies for the New Latin Markets is a clear, thorough, and convincing state-of-the-art volume that will prove indispensable to executives, business students, and others interested in the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets.

Eugenio Sevilla-Sacasa

This timely book is a must for anyone contemplating investing or trading in Latin America. It offers the most complete insight of the region's business/economic climate. Moreover, it serves as an excellent guide to avoid the many stumbling blocks often encountered by many U.S. businessmen in formulating a business case or strategy. The chapter on 'Reaching the New Latin Consumers' is most instructive. Here the authors' thorough analysis on identifying and reaching the consumer is vital to any business case. Too often U.S. companies fail to fully understand the Latin consumer in terms of demand and purchasing power. The Mexican and Brazilian case studies presented are outstanding. Again this gem of a book is indispensable to anyone interested or planning to go after the 600 million population south of the border.

Many neophytes think of Latin America as a large, undifferentiated arena in which to sell. Robles, Simon, and Haar show otherwise. Based on more than 100 interviews with key decision makers, they talk about how to reach tens of millions of customers and clients across Latin American. They delve into the impact of technology on the value chain in Latin America and show likely growth scenarios. But, their major contribution is showing how strategic thinkers approach Latin America and the differing strategic approaches they use to win in one of the world's most important and fastest growning makets. Not just a good read, but informative to anyone wanting to do business in Latin America. Highly recommended.

Thanks for the book. It was in great shape, and at a good price.

This book offers practical stratagies to getting started and staying focused. I would definetly resommend it for beginners!

A surprisingly enjoyable and easy read for anyone starting a thesis or dissertation! Given the subject, it is really fun.

This book is an oustanding resource for graduate students working on their dissertations or theses as well as for faculty who supervise research. My students have told me repeatedly that this book has greatly helped them in the research process. It is well-written, concepts are clearly explained, and the examples are invaluable. As a Professor, I have recommended this book to almost every doctoral student I meet and have actually given it as a gift to all my students in their first year of graduate school. I most highly recommend it to faculty and students alike. I think it would be especially useful and relevant for a graduate research course.

My dissertation chair recommended this book because it was written by authors highly involved in APA and gives examples relevant to psych students, who inevitably have to figure out how to deal with all those articles they read and review. I found the book comprehensive and extremely helpful. It breaks down each section of the dissertation and walks you through it, then gives a "quiz" at the end of each chapter that will be very helpful when revising that first draft. I would also recommend "Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day" as a moral support companion text. It isn't specifically for psych, but it's great if you're scared to write or angry about having to write. Best of luck to my fellow ABD's!

Excellent case for capitalism shown as ALL investors were repaid in great magnitude for their risking venture capital funds in a country with only 50,000 phones. The local government is making great sums of money from taxes on use of phones, but levy's a high tax on the cost of the individual phone, thereby promoting smuggling. There should be a VERY VERY low, if any tax on the phone, but reap the benefits of taxing the phones usage. The complete book dilutes the great success of the phone project, but I was made aware of the book by a late night C span 2 review.

You Can Hear Me Now will interest a wide variety of readers. On a personal level, the story of Iqbal Quadir, who at age 36, single-handedly coordinated the effort to bring cellular phone service to one of the poorest countries in our world, is an inspriration. Moving beyond the completion of his college studies in America and entering the workforce, Quadir had not forgotten the struggles of the rural poor of his homeland, Bangladesh. Iqbal Quadir's story is one of creativity, passion, and perseverance not only for a project, but for a people. Beyond the book, the story grows. Readers can expect Mr. Quadir will continue to work toward the alleviation of poverty in Bangladesh through continued efforts with new projects.

As an academic book, readers will discover a revolutionary economist in Quadir. He has used traditional economic theories to develop, solidify, and test his own. He is a noted original thinker and a man of action. "Connectivity is productivity" is Quadir's cry. He is changing the world's view of the risk of investment in developing countries. He is a victor of the race to end poverty.

Mr. Sullivan's well-written references to and explanations of economic concepts are clearly written and easy to understand. This book is a must-read for all students of economics, business, and entrepreneurship. If instructors do not require the book, students should be delving into the material on their free time.

Globally, the impact of Quadir's work in Bangladesh has rippled throughout the developing world with his economic practices and business models duplicated successfully. Iqbal Quadir's story brings hope for a better future for millions of people, and personally, his actions inspire me to question what role I play.

It is a story about a man with a vision to empower the poor in Bangladesh (one of the 50 poorest countries in the world according to many global economic reports). Iqbal Quadir had faith in his strategy and the intelligence to lay it in ways to get investment from Grameen Bank and other powerful investors, who may have once been reluctant. If you already have grassroots business ideas, this book is not only an inspiration but it also loosely illustrates the challenges in BOP markets.

To the typical American (and other developed nation citizens), the cell phone has become part of the normal fabric of life. Communication with anyone at any time from anywhere is just expected. But in countries like Bangladesh, only a very small number of people have access to any type of telephone communication. The book You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor to the Global Economy by Nicholas P. Sullivan does an excellent job of showing how something as simple as the cell phone can break the cycle of poverty and aid for millions of people.

Contents:
Part 1 - The GrameenPhone Story: Connectivity Is Productivity; Dish-Wallahs of Delhi (and Other Early Models); Cell Phone as Cow - A New Paradigm in Search of Investors; On The Money Trail in Scandinavia; Building a Company; Building a Network
Part 2 - Transformation Through Technology: Wildfile at the Bottom of the Pyramid; Cell Phone as Wallet; Wealth Creation and Rural Income Opportunities; Beyond Phones - In Search of a New "Cow"; Eyeing the Dhaka Stock Exchange
Epilogue; Notes; Resources; Index

The book is split into two parts. The first part covers the story of GrameenPhone's launch in Bangladesh, and the second part is more of a look at the forces behind using technology at the "bottom of the pyramid" (the vast number of people who globally live at poverty level) to connect them to the world's trade economy. Iqbal Quadir was a Bangladeshi who studied and worked in the US and was doing quite well. But he was also concerned about the massive levels of poverty in his home country. Once day he was standing on the street and had an epiphany about communication equaling productivity. His people worked hard, but they had no way to reliably communicate with others except by face to face meetings. All that wasted time meant there was untapped potential just waiting to be utilized. He started talking with Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank (originator of microloan programs) to see how communication technology could be rolled out to the entire country, making a phone available to anyone near a village. Without government aids and grants, Quadir put together a consortium of foreign investors and Grameen Bank to build GrameenPhone, a life-altering company. Using a fiber-optic line already laid next to the country's rail line, they were able to place cell towers in areas to cover all the rural areas of Bangladesh. Then using microloans from Grameen Bank, "phone ladies" could buy a cell phone for the village, offer the phone service, and sell the time in small increments. The cell phone gave a business to the village, in addition to creating subsidiary jobs and opportunities with the communication that was enabled by having phone service throughout the country. It's this use of technology that's advocated in the second part of the book as an example of how business opportunities can remove the grip of poverty from nations and lead to living wages instead of handouts.

You Can Hear Me Now is an inspirational book with plenty of lessons for those who are willing to look outside the normal constraints of what we consider business opportunities.

This is a well-written, well-researched book that clarifies the substantial role that ICTs are playing in developing countries. It showcases Iqbal Quadir, who founded GrameenPhone in Bangladesh, and shows how he risked his investment banking career on Wall Street to go back to his native country to improve it. There is a lesson here not just for US/EU immigrants from poor countries, but for everyone interested in developmental economics and aiding poor countries: charity is not the only way. In fact, as the World Bank conceded, its efforts at poverty alleviation are failing. This book shows how GrameenPhone, a company that generates profit and is majority-owned by a European telecommunications company, is a positive force for improving Bangladesh. It has provided cell phone service, where no telephones existed. It has created jobs and made the entire economy more efficient. Indirectly, it has empowered the masses and connected them to the global village.

For readers with an interest in Grameen Bank, Professor Yunus (2006 Nobel Peace Prize), telecommunications, but also entrepreneurship, I think you will find that this book is a must-read. Also, for those following the Jeffrey Sachs, Bono, Bill Gates, UN Millennium Goals, Stiglitz, Easterly debate this is also very relevant. I hope that Mr. Sullivan follows this book up with another one that showcases how innovative men and women like Quadir can change the world and also make a profit for investors (which encourages them to continue to invest in developing countries).

After reading this book, I bought several copies for people I know in Business School, because I think it will inspire them to be successful and also think about how to improve economic opportunity in the developing world, through bottom-up entrepreneurship.

Needed text for seekers of Truth. Written by a lifelong student of Cayce with a tremendous depth of understanding of Cayce's often cryptic nature. If you made it this far, get it: I assure you that it will not disappoint.

This book can change your life. It has changed mine very much for the better. I sincerely recomend this book to anyone who wants to have a common sense no nonsense view of how we all interact with our spiritual world. It can definetely help answer the questions of how and why things in our lives are the way they are and how you can change them through your own thoughts and actions.

If you're not into organized religion but want to follow a spiritual path I would highly recommend this book. It explains the spiritual laws which govern our world based on the readings by Edgar Cayce. However, you don't need to be a believer of Edgar Cayce to accept its precepts. The advice in this book actually makes sense and helps put life and our purpose on this planet in perspective. This book is especially helpful since it delves into specifics and then illustrates based on the principles presented, how to take a different, often more effective approach.

This book is well written and was insightful of the universal laws that mankind must be aware of!

This book has been a beacon to me in time s of dispair. It has also been a breath of fresh air just because or when you might need a shot in the arm. I've bought about a dozen of these and given them to those I thought could and would use the words to assist them with life.

I have been married to an Active Duty servicemember for the last six years. We freely share all aspects of our lives and of our pasts. Yet there was one period of his life that he never discussed and that was his time during the Gulf War. My husband was on his first enlistment when he was sent into the Iraqi desert, he was young, impressionable and just out of high school. His experience there changed his life.

Now I understand what he experienced during his time there. Mr. Haigler's accounts have given me insight into my husband's experiences and those of thousands of our wonderful men and women called to serve. Mr. Haigler gave me a better appreciation for what they do every day and I love my husband more for the sacrifices that he has made.

I hope everyone has the opportunity to read this book, it will give them a better appreciation of our service men and women. Hopefully with that appreciation, one day they will get the respect and recognition they deserve and not have to live with fear for their family's wellbeing because they were following orders.

Mr. Haigler does a magnificent job of articulating the angst, joy,
heartache, camaraderie, elation and boredom of running a medical
facility in the midst of a high tech and fast paced war. As I read
his book from my current Aid Station in Iraq, I re-learned that most
of war's lessons and experiences are universal, as my experience was
and continues to be shockingly similar to what he endured in 1991.

My only regret about Mr. Haigler's book is that I had thought to
write my own book about such an experience, and Mr. Haigler has done
a far superior job to anything I could hope to convey. He's given me
precious little new information to relate to an audience.

"131 Days" is a must read for anyone who wants to know what it's like
to be a line soldier and medical provider on the modern, but desolate
battlefield.

Dr. Hal Walker, MD/MA
LT COL, US Army Medical Corps
LSA Anaconda, Iraq

I cannot say enough about this book. I couldn't put it down. The author led me through his daily journal of every emotion possible during Desert Storm. Being a military spouse with a deployed husband. This book helped me to realize what my soldier must be facing and the harch conditions he has to live in. I felt love, compassion, anger, disgust at the injustice of war. My heart was torn for this soldier and his family. I felt the frustration, fear, joy and anger. I highly recommend this book for everyone rather military, spouse or just everyday reader. The author opens your eyes, your mind and your heart. I hope to see more from this author in the future.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially those in the military. Mr. Haigler's views about the war are so honest. I love how he expresses his feelings to include loneliness, disgust, sympathy, fear, and happiness. Being a military spouse, I can totally feel the emptiness he felt being away from his wife and children. This book is definitely a page turner and hard to put down. He keeps the book entertaining; just when you think something serious is about to happen, he puts in a joke to lighten the mood. I am a nurse and was thrilled to read about the skills he performed in the field under terrible conditions and lack of supplies. Once again, I loved the book and would like to see more by this author.

The explanation of each kanji's origin really stuck in my mind. Practical applications in this volume include: washing instructions (clothes) and writing New Years postcards. Even though Ive learned all kanji for JLPT 4 and 3, a lot of the kanji in this volume was new to me.

Really Simple to use book for Kanji. Nice Big Print and pages with examples and tests written into the book. If your a beginner into Kanji you might want to pick up this book. Simple to Use.

There were a few minor issues with this book that border annoyances more than practicality. The information is excellently presented, large clear examples of the Kanji provide an easy to view example where the intricate portions are quite explicit.

The seperation of this book's chapters are presented in a logical manner, although the subject matter sometimes feels a little inane.

My particular favorite feature of this book is every Kanji is presented in several uses as part of the presentation of new Kanji. This helped my vocabulary and further reinforced the written word itself. In addition, the multiple use presentation of the Kanji provides hiragana readings, which displays the phonetic reading of the Kanji in different situations.

One very minor complaint is the provides several boxes which are left empty in the area displaying stroke order. This is a waste of space and in a somewhat compact book as this it could have been used much better, such as presenting a typed vs handwritten comparisons (which can sometimes seem unrelated with come handwriting).

I have tried a number of books for learning kanji, but this one is the most effective that I have used so far. It is good because it provides real-life examples of the very kanji that you are learning, such as housing applications, grocery store listings, and Japanese computer menus. I would highly recommend this book, along with Vol. 1.

Great resource for split classroom teachers. This book is full of creative lesson / project ideas.

I adore this Barry Lane book!

I not only teach but I also do the Writing Across the Curriculum trainings for teachers in my school district. At my trainings, I meet plenty of teachers who are intimidated by the notion of requiring their students to do more writing assignments, but this book always eliminates that intimidation. Barry presents 51 creative techniques for reporting on learned facts in both easy and challenging ways. After we try some of the techniques in my teacher trainings, I tell the teachers that this book is the best "For Under $15" they can buy, and they all believe me; they've had so much fun creating original Wacky Report Cards and Wacky Wanted Posters that it's hard not to.

As a teacher, I personally love the "We" in the title: "We-Search." I use Barry's 51 techniques as group research and group writing projects. I know that 1/3 of my students are interpersonal learners, which means they need to talk to each other as they learn, and this book provides 51 clever formats that get students to plan together a "report" that becomes so much better when multiple voices contribute. Barry's ideas work perfectly as group projects, and the students love working together to build them.

Lastly, if you have a large number of students whose idea of report writing is to copy entire sentences from books or notes and turn it in as their own work, you need to start using this book. Here's my formula: Teach a concept. Have students work together to report on one of the concept's big ideas into a "Wacky We-Search Report" from the book. Hang the "reports" up and put the students' notes and books away. Ask students to--without looking at what they have just put away--to write a paragraph or a report about the topics now hanging on the walls, and you will be amazed at their ability to put another's ideas into their own words.

I adore this book!

I really liked this book. There are tons of great ideas to use when you are looking for a "fun" way to do research. I teach 5th graders and some of it may be over their heads, but I am sure I will find ways to use some of them in my classroom.

Enhanced with Miles Bodimeade's black and white illustrations, Barry Lane's 51 Wacky We-Search Reports is a whimsical ourcebook written especially for young people and offering ideas to create humorous parodies of factual reports for fun and devising entertaining performances. Beginning with ten tested techniques for getting laughs, such as applying exaggeration, irony, proper setup and punch, double meanings and more, and then continuing with 51 great ideas ranging from making parody performances; to loopy styles of poetry; to wacky art on cards or websites; and more, 51 Wacky We-Search Reports is an excellent source for stimulating creativity, speaking skills, performance techniques, and just plain fun.

This book is a great colection of essays by a brilliant thinker. In essays ranging from topics such as crime, education, psychology, and management, Ackoff manages to outline what systems thinking is truly about. Though I often did not agree with his prescriptions, the creative nature of his solutions very unique, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a thought provoking experience.

A fascinating collection of writings, compiled by the author, which explores, first and foremost, systems thinking and its effects upon business and management. But beyond this, these writings delve into an astounding array of subjects including: the nature of planning; problem solving; managing; mission statements; creativity and constraints; consumer design; education; crime; advertising; design of management systems; the nature of science and methodology; objectivity; rationality; the future of operations research; and the role of business in a democratic society. This book is nothing less than a journey into the many-faceted mind of a great thinker. For those with a high level of curiosity about systems, organization, business, the human mind, and society, this collection is a gold mine, reflecting the richness of thought of this exceptional person. Highly recommended.

The only book by Ackoff that I would recommend more highly is Re-creating the Corporation. These two books summarize much of his thought and philosophy of business design. If you are looking for a better understanding on systems thinking and its implications for organization design and peformance, and did not find it in Senge's The Fifth Discipline, then here is a great place to go. Put on your thinking cap and delve into Ackoff's Best.

This book collects provocative, insightful essays by Russell L. Ackoff, architect turned city planner turned behavioral scientist turned professor. True to his convictions about systems thinking, his pieces form a coherent whole. Like a successful system, the whole of this book is greater than the sum of its parts. And what parts: the roots of systems thinking; a properly irreverent approach to bureaucracy; the role of planning; a standard for mission statements; effective advertising advice. Ackoff is a voice in the wilderness as he fondly remembers his bureaucracy-bucking, folly-filled, smart-as-heck past. Although this book tends to veer toward the academic, managers and students of management will find it useful. We [...] recommend it to anyone seeking insight on creativity, education, and science. Tear into this book a little at a time; you won't be disappointed.

I received the book quickly and enjoyed reading it. I even had an opportunity to email the author. It was a hard book to find, other than through Amazon, and I love having it, as this baseball player, though rather unknown, is a favorite of mine.
I'm very appreciative.
Paul Francis

I hadn't heard of Addie Joss when I first picked up this book. It's a small, thin book. It looked to be a pleasant way to spend an evening.

In fact, it was more than pleasant. I found myself riveted to the book. A well told story about a fascinating man of the early 1900s. I liked this man I had never before heard of.

I met and admired one of the great sports stars of his day, well loved and talented, easily matching the talent and skill of the greats of yesteryear I knew well.

Why, then did I not know him previously? Tragedy took him early from baseball, from his family and from the American consciousness.

The game is what we come to see. The players are people we hope to meet. And when we meet, we hope not to be disappointed. Addie Joss did not disappoint.

Scott Longert skillfully gets out of the way and lets the story tell itself.

A very solid and nice effort by Scott Longert. Having myself researched Addie Joss in past, I find Longert's effort even that much more impressive. There honestly is really not much information available on Addie Joss. For the collection of research materials alone, this becomes a solid effort.

Now to the gristle of the book's content...I found that seasons moved along very fast, too fast. I never really got a good feel for Addie Joss the person, but certainly Addie Joss the player was defined reasonably well. Addie's teammates were mentioned but not really made to be a part of the overall storyline (cast of characters, almost faceless). Before I knew it, the book had ended. Addie's death was truly as fast as anything else in the book, blunt and final.

I'm not sure if the speed of the book had more to do with what little information actually existed, or whether it was Scott Longert the SABR-Metrician who, although statistically as sound as they come, just could not piece it all together with a sustained storyline. In the end, something honestly was amiss, and I can't quite place it.

To see a book on Addie Joss rates a four star alone. Scott Longert should be commended on a spirited effort of bringing back one of the games classiest and greatest players. Joss in time!

Following the premature death of Cleveland pitching sensation Addie Joss, Hugh Keough of the Chicago Tribune wrote "He pitched good ball..."

On October 2nd, 1908, precious few games remained on the schedule. The American League pennant was on the line. Confident Chicago spitballer Ed Walsh dueled Cleveland sidearmer Addie Joss in a baseball tilt for the ages. Befuddled by Walsh's sopping wet deliveries, Cleveland scored but one unearned run. The lanky Joss, pitching in front of the delirious hometown faithful at League Park, allowed nary a loud foul ball. Result: a 1-0 Cleveland victory and a perfect game for Joss. All the more remarkable is Longert's poignant description of Walsh and Joss sitting on a wooden bench, chatting before the game. (Cleveland and Chicago narrowly lost out in the race to Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers).

Baseball historian and Cleveland native Scott Longert faithful recreates this masterpiece and other remarkable pitching feats in the brief life of Adrian Joss. The versatile pitcher was also was one of the very few baseball players to have regularly penned a sports column. Felled by tuburcular meningitis at the age of 31, Joss eventually made the National Baseball Hall of Fame. So loved was Joss that a special benefit "All Star" game was staged to support Joss' widow and family.

However, Hugh Keough's assessment doesn't stand the test of time. Joss pitched "great" ball.

In "After War," Christopher J. Coyne offers the best explanation of any current writer about how foreign policy works -- and how it doesn't work. Professor Coyne argues that the logic of economics -- critically, that people respond to incentives -- does not cease to apply in the international context, as much as we might try to wish it away. The building of a liberal democratic international order is not a matter of forcing people to bend to a great power's will, but of helping mold incentives in a way that enables endogenous creation in totalitarian, illiberal, and failed states of the institutions and habits of a liberal democratic order.

This is no simple matter of theory or conjecture. Pulling together quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources, Coyne examines empirically the US's successes in nation-building over the last century and explains these miserable results in a logical and thoughtful fashion. Coyne also effectively demolishes the argument that post-World War II rebuilding of Japan and Germany is a blueprint for other conflicts.

Too many writers and commentators focus on the problem without identifying a solution; Coyne avoids this trap magnificently. The book concludes with a chapter that explains clearly even to non-economists the power of trade and non-interventionism to help build a freer, more prosperous world.

While a breakthrough work interdisciplinary in social science, "After War" is highly accessible even to non-specialists and laymen. Anyone interested in a serious, thoughtful exploration of what's wrong with America's current foreign policy -- and how to make it right -- should read this book.

In my opinion, After War is simply the best book on democratic nation building out there. Coyne's economic approach clarifies the essential elements behind a complex and often confusing area of foreign policy. His penetrating analysis provides a much-needed, coherent framework for understanding US military intervention and its consequences.

With rare clarity, After War reveals why American attempts to export democracy have occasionally worked but more often have failed. A must read for anyone who wants to think seriously about US foreign policy in the Middle East or anywhere else. This book is a 10.

Chris Coyne's new book is very clearly written and very accessible to the non-specialist, not to mention that it offers an excellent political economy analysis of post-war reconstruction. Coyne uses tools from across economics and political science to argue why attempts at such reconstruction are normally likely to fail. He makes particularly good use of ideas from Austrian economics (Hayekian knowledge problems and the Misesian dynamic of interventionism), public choice theory, game theory, and the new institutional economics.

His last chapter provides an alternative vision of US foreign policy, where free trade in goods, services, and ideas (unilaterally if necessary) is the path to economic growth and democratization, rather than military intervention, occupation, and/or reconstruction. As Coyne puts it, we need to model our commitment to liberal goals by using liberal means to get there. If we really do value societies of free trade and peace, how credible is that commitment if we continually try to enforce it at the point of a gun? Such attempts are both empirically bound to fail and ethically problematic.

Coyne's last chapter points to a new vision of US foreign policy and should stimulate further work by other scholars in the classical liberal tradition.

A highly readable look at an urgent topic of current concern.

If one is seeking an answer to the nagging question of why the U.S. led missions to export democracy were successful in West Germany and Japan, yet were anything but, in Somalia, Haiti, Iraq, and Afganistan one needs to read After War.

Chris Coyne marshals historical evidence in order evaluate U.S. led efforts to export liberal democracy through occupation and reconstruction. Coyne's benchmark is based on the "Polity IV Index" that ranks the political institutions of a country on (1) checks to executive power, (2) institutionalized procedures for citizen feedback of government activity, and (3) political participation. A +4 is needed for Coyne to concede that the reconstruction effort was successful. Iraq, Somalia, Afganistan, nor Haiti reach this benchmark. In order to recognize that Coyne gives reconstruction efforts "the benefit of the doubt," one needs to bring to memory that Bush claimed, in 2003, that Iran was a member of the "Axis of Evil." And Iran's "Polity IV Index" score is +4.

However, Coyne does not provide an index score in order to argue that the reconstruction efforts in Somalia and Haiti have not been successful. He gives an historical narrative of these efforts. These narratives bolster the understanding of the reader by having her appraise the reconstruction efforts herself through the analytical windows of public choice economics, game theory, Austrian co-ordination, social capital theory, institutional theory, etc.

Coyne's research reveals that the major aspects of reconstructing weak and failed states comprise two things. Foremost, finding and establishing a set of INCENTIVES that gives rise to the preference of liberal institutions. Secondly, occupiers must recognize, and pay due attention to, the CONSTRAINTS (e.g., time, public opinion, informal and formal rules, culture and history, just to name a few) of pursuing their goals of reconstruction.

What should be taken from this book is not that the economic way of thinking (i.e., the recognition of incentives and constraints) is the only method of appraising reconstruction efforts. Coyne, himself, references a number of scholars from Alexis de Tocqueville to Francis Fukuyama to underscore that diverse empirical and theoretical approaches are necessary. What is significant is that there are two methods that will assist the United States in exporting liberal institutions that may not have to comprise peacekeeping, bold force, nor humanitarian aid: Non-Intervention and Uni-lateral Free-trade. While the book details that markets are no panacea for exporting liberal institutions, Uni-lateral Free Trade and Non-Intervention will obviate accusations of U.S. "isolationism," and "imperialism."