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Name: The End of Power
Rating: 4.5 (15 reviews)
Author: Moisés Naím

Moisés Naím

From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being in Charge Isn’t What It Used To Be

4.5 (15 ratings)

24 mins

Brief summary

"The End of Power" by Moisés Naím is a thought-provoking book that explores how traditional structures of power are losing their grip in today's world, and how this presents challenges and opportunities for individuals and societies.

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US Politics Democracy

Table of Contents

The End of Power
Summary of 10 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 10

What’s in it for me? Find out why power has changed forever, and what that means to society today.

Who’s the most powerful person in the world today? The answer to that question used to be the President of the United States. But can we still say that’s the case?

Governments all over the world have been losing power gradually for decades. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Arab Spring, we’ve witnessed a major transformation of power – it’s not so powerful anymore!

And it’s not only true with government. The media, churches, armies, even charities have seen power shift in influential and unexpected ways. What were once imposing bastions of power are now barely silos, surrounded by other silos who are also powerful. The result is “the end” of power.

These blinks explain exactly how power has changed and what sort of consequences the decay of power will have for us all.

After reading these blinks, you’ll know

why formerly powerful brands like BP and Tiger Woods can be destroyed in days;
why marriage rates in Arab states have fallen drastically; and
how military underdogs have a better chance than ever of outfoxing their enemies.

Power is crumbling everywhere.

Protesters have taken to Wall Street and other public places around the world to voice their concerns about the increasing concentration of wealth and power among the “one percent,” who in their view only grow more powerful as time progresses. Reporters and foreign relations experts have long made predictions about America’s decline and China’s rise to power.

Yet when we examine political relations more closely, we see that something much more fundamental is happening to the distribution of power in the world. But first, what is power exactly?

In essence, power is the ability to make others do what you want them to do. Parents exert power when they make their kids eat their vegetables before they can have dessert. Power is at work when Barack Obama motivated large numbers of young people to become engaged with party politics in the 2008 presidential elections.

But power is also relational, and the traditional barriers that reinforced the position of the mighty and prevented potential rivals from becoming significant challengers are weakening rapidly.

These barriers permeate our society. They are military arsenals, access to resources, available capital, brand recognition, the moral authority of a religious leader and the rules governing elections. Any challenger to power has to overcome them.

Yet while these barriers have always been present, they’ve become less and less stable over the last three decades. Capital moves more quickly, military weapons and training are increasingly available, the knowledge-base of academia is being democratized, and so on.

Consequently, the traditionally powerful are having difficulty maintaining their position. Today, even the most powerful people and organizations can be ruined in a heartbeat.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, for example, was trashed practically overnight. The once esteemed Tiger Woods had his reputation dragged into the gutter just as quickly.

One has only to look to the length of asymmetrical wars, such as Vietnam or the War on Terror, to see how flimsy something as seemingly cut and dried as military might can be.

But why has the nature and distribution of power changed so drastically?

Things become more difficult to control when we have more of them.

Today, all kinds of “things” have increased dramatically in quantity. There are four times as many nations today as there were in the 1940s. The amount of wealth in emerging countries has risen enormously, and the number of products in the world market has followed suit.

Not only do we have more, but those things that are the most important to us have also improved dramatically. For instance, people today live longer and more healthily than ever before. Life expectancy has risen, and fatalities from infectious diseases and armed conflicts have decreased. People are increasingly informed and educated, literacy rates have risen noticeably and people throughout the world are connected in unprecedented numbers.

Today’s world citizens enjoy unprecedented and uncontrollable mobility.

During the Cold War, East Germany’s Berlin Wall and border inhibited its citizens’ access to West Germany. This was an internal power play: the Wall was a crucial aspect to the state’s campaign to control the people. Had they had the chance, many East Germans would have likely emigrated to the West in pursuit of a higher standard of living.

Today, a wall would not have been enough to cut them off from the world. Nowadays, people, goods, money and ideas can travel at previously unimaginable speeds at a fraction of the cost.

As mentalities change, everything that can be questioned will be.

In recent decades our notions of what is important have undergone a radical change.

Formerly poor countries with an emergent middle class, for example, have to manage the expectations of these wealthier citizens who expect more from life than full bellies and a roof over their heads. As a result, liberal values, such as individual freedom, transparency, the right to property and fairness, have spread far and wide.

Political power is increasingly being shared.

The more people are involved in decision-making, the less influence each individual has. The same applies to the political power of nations and political leaders.

Governments are losing power on many levels. Nations are increasingly having to share power among themselves, and the triumph of democracy throughout the world has led to higher power sharing within the nations themselves.

Even the meek have substantial power in foreign relations.

Although we all know about the various insurgencies and guerrilla groups around the world, what’s surprising is just how powerful these micropowers have become. These micropowers are actors with relatively meager resources competing with other actors that possess an abundance of resources.

The proliferation of weapons and military training to non-state actors has risen dramatically in recent years.

Individual and corporate wealth are fluctuating enormously.

So far we’ve seen how changes in power dynamics have affected civic society. But what about businesses? They, too, have seen some major changes.

Traditionally, large companies that sell a great variety and quantity of products could easily outcompete their smaller rivals.

Small churches, charities and media organizations challenge the big players in their fields.

The tremendous impact of crumbling power structures can also be found in areas that are less directly connected to political power, like religion and media.

For starters, the religious landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented. New Evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic Protestant churches draw Christians away from traditionally powerful religious institutions, such as the Catholic church.

The decay of power yields certain benefits, but ultimately produces dangerous challenges.

The erosion of power certainly brings with it positive aspects: societies are freer, voters are better able to express discontent, ideas can move more freely and increased market competition benefits consumers worldwide. However, it also comes with some serious risks.

For one, the decay of power breeds disorder and frustration. One of the state’s primary responsibilities is to guarantee a minimum level of stability and predictability, and a certain amount of power is necessary to accomplish this.

Participating in politics, understanding power, and resisting simple propaganda can shield us from harm caused by the end of power.

So how can we embrace the positive aspects of the erosion of power without falling prey to its threats? A good place to start is by simply changing our perspectives on the distribution of power.

For example, when we talk about changes in power relations between major players, such as the United States and China, we often ignore the radical changes that contextualize this shift in power. While China is supposedly “on the rise,” the power of nation states in general – and the big players in particular – is on the decline. China’s power is simply declining at a slower rate than that of the United States.

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What is The End of Power about?

The End of Power makes the case for how advances changes in technology and society have caused the old fortresses of power to crumble. We now face a brand new paradigm of power, one that isn’t hoarded by an elite few, but rather split amongst us all. But what does that mean for society and government?

Best quote from The End of Power

It is infinitely easier today to kill a million people than to control them. - Zbigniew Brzezinksi

—Moisés Naím

Who should read The End of Power?

Anyone interested in foreign policy
Anyone interested in culture and social phenomena
Anyone interested in political science

About the Author

Moisés Naím is the former trade minister of Venezuela, executive director of the World Bank, editor in chief of Foreign Policy and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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