Book Review: Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee

Without giving away too much of the plot "Waiting for the Barbarians" describes the life of a magistrate living on the fringe of an empire. His peaceful life here is soon disturbed when the empire sends troops to the frontiers to fight the "barbarians". J.M. Coetzee who is the South African author never comes out and actually names the empire as South Africa but throughout the novel the allusions and similarities are undeniable. The magistrate experiences internal turmoil as he slowly comes to grips with the barbarity within his own "civilized" heritage.
He concludes that barbarity is less a result of external actors and more of internal fear; essentially that xenophobia reveals the barbarity within "civilized" society.
Overall, a very intriguing and thought provoking book that I highly recommend.

Book Review - From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green

So I just recently finished reading From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green. Duncan Green is Head of Research for Oxfam and maintains a blog here
http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/
The book melds both academic thought and theory on development with concrete evidence and case studies. He takes a thorough look at the driving factors behind development, its discontents and what can be done to forge a way forward. His primary premise is that active citizens (empowered people who realize their rights and are able to claim them) partnered with an effective state (a state willing to listen to the people and who has their interests at hand) is what ultimately drives development. Overall it was a very interesting read and quite thought provoking.