Sleepwalking Into A New World
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Sleepwalking into a New World
Author: Chris Wickham
language: en
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Release Date: 2015-01-25
A bold new history of the rise of the medieval Italian commune Amid the disintegration of the Kingdom of Italy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a new form of collective government—the commune—arose in the cities of northern and central Italy. Sleepwalking into a New World takes a bold new look at how these autonomous city-states came about, and fundamentally alters our understanding of one of the most important political and cultural innovations of the medieval world. Chris Wickham provides richly textured portraits of three cities—Milan, Pisa, and Rome—and sets them against a vibrant backcloth of other towns. He argues that, in all but a few cases, the elites of these cities and towns developed one of the first nonmonarchical forms of government in medieval Europe, unaware that they were creating something altogether new. Wickham makes clear that the Italian city commune was by no means a democracy in the modern sense, but that it was so novel that outsiders did not know what to make of it. He describes how, as the old order unraveled, the communes emerged, governed by consular elites "chosen by the people," and subject to neither emperor nor king. They regularly fought each other, yet they grew organized and confident enough to ally together to defeat Frederick Barbarossa, the German emperor, at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Sleepwalking into a New World reveals how the development of the autonomous city-state took place, which would in the end make possible the robust civic culture of the Renaissance.
China's Grand Strategy and Australia's Future in the New Global Order
The US-dominated world order has been replaced by a multipolar order, but its closest allies such as Australia seek to retain American primacy, adding dangerously to heightened geopolitical competition between the dominant and the ascendant power, China. Where the first great power shift of the twenty-first century was across the Pacific from the United States to China, the next great power shift is now underway from Russia to China. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has depleted Russia of its power and influence across Eurasia, while China’s continues to grow. As China consolidates its power across Eurasia, it can turn to project power globally, just as the US did at the turn of the last century when it cemented its power over the western hemisphere. Diplomatically, Australia is forced to navigate an increasingly unfamiliar world where the guarantor of its security is no longer the sole dominant power, while China remains its most important economic partner. Is Australia agile enough to walk the fine line of supporting US primacy in the Asia–Pacific while providing a bulwark against China’s ambitions? In China’s Grand Strategy and Australia’s Future in the New Global Order Geoff Raby believes something has to give – and unpacks the ramifications for Australia.
Beginning or End of BRAVE NEW WORLD
Author: Hamish Simpson
language: en
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing
Release Date: 2018-06-08
The way the world is changing so rapidly inspired the author to sort the wheat from the chaff. In a series of illustrated articles, Hamthesketch takes a wide perspective on global trends and tears away the surface trivia. This intriguing booklet faces up to attitudes and actions which negate advantages that techno-science has achieved. It reveals with plain logic that civilization cannot expand indefinitely within the confined size of our planet. His fascinating analysis cries out for rational thought and plain common sense to replace dependence on perpetual growth, which is trashing the planet. Compatibility with our earth will determine whether lasting prosperity and reaching the stars may be achieved.