Columbia Global Reports: 18 books

"Illuminating." -- The New York Times Book Review What is the future of fiction in an age of globalization? In The Global Novel, acclaimed literary critic Adam Kirsch explores some of the 21st century's best-known writers-- including Orhan Pamuk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Mohsin...

Almost unknown to the rest of the globe, Xiaomi has become the world's third-largest mobile phone manufacturer. Its high-end phones are tailored to Chinese and emerging markets, where it outsells even Samsung. Since the 1990s China has been climbing up the ladder of quality, from doing knockoffs to...

"It's a short, vital introduction to ISDS history and use, the shocking ways in which corporations have used it to bend governments to their will, and the total lack of justification for using such mechanisms in developed, stable countries." -- The Week International trade deals have...

When the Ottoman Empire fell apart, colonial powers drew straight lines on the map to create a new region - the Middle East - made up of new countries filled with multiple religious sects and ethnicities. Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, for example, all contained a kaleidoscope of Sunnis, Kurds, Shias, Circassians,...

"Far and away the most incisive examination of the central development in contemporary politics: the rise of populism on both the right and the left. Superb." -- Thomas Edsall, New York Times columnist What's happening in global politics? As if overnight, many Democrats revolted and passionately...

The story of the world's most audacious infrastructure project. Less than a decade ago, China did not have a single high-speed train in service. Today, it owns a network of 14,000 miles of high-speed rail, far more than the rest of the world combined. Now, China is pushing its tracks into Southeast...

The cosmopolites are literally "citizens of the world," from the Greek word kosmos, meaning "world," and polites, or "citizen." Garry Davis, aka World Citizen No. 1, and creator of the World Passport, was a former Broadway actor and World War II bomber pilot who renounced...

How did Nigeria create the second largest movie industry in the world? Nollywood began in Nigeria in the 1990s and has grown into one of the most recognized cultural centers of the world, producing more movies every year than Hollywood and almost as many as Bollywood. Emily Witt travels to...

Social media is not just part of the Internet now -- for most of the world, it IS the internet. Almost all users of social media will want to go deeper than the daily headlines of Russian interference and fake news, to understand what's going on behind the massive change in how they use the...

The political mood is turning against big tech, and the backlash is bipartisan. So too is the populist outrage against economic inequality and political influence. Everyone from unionists to farmers, to Google users angry about private data, Facebook users angry about fake news, to broadband customers...

"A stunning new book of reportage and analysis." - Pankaj Mishra, Bloomberg Is the West to blame for failing Uganda? In this powerful story of Uganda and its war-torn neighbors in eastern and central Africa, journalist Helen Epstein chronicles how America's naïve dealings...

In a way, the situation is ironic: housing was at the root of the financial crisis, and six years after the meltdown, housing finance is still the greatest unsolved issue. The U.S. housing market is roughly $10 trillion, making it one of the largest segments of the bond market. Roughly 70 percent...

"A fascinating and revealing dive into the murky world of oil contracts that shape power and politics in Iraq." -- Loveday Morris, The Washington Post Jerusalem bureau chief Iraq sits on top of more than 140 billion barrels of oil, making it the owner of the world's fifth largest...

What happens when a democratically elected leader evolves into an authoritarian ruler, limiting press freedom, civil liberties, and religious and ethnic tolerance? India and Turkey are two of the world's biggest democracies --multi-ethnic nations that rose from their imperial past to be founded...