Thucydides on the nature of power Book

Hard book to get through. Gave me the same feeling as Guns, Germs and Steel -- Interesting concepts but tedious reading. Basic concept of the book - that there are three kinds of power - threat, exchange and integrative, and that integrative is the greatest form of power is well taken. I'd recommend the effort to read this book on that basis alone.

Other than what I regard as highly academic writing, the book has two flaws - one of which is beyond the control of the author. Professor Boulding wrote this book during the late 1980s and it is filled with cold war references along with hopes that either Mr. Gorbachev or the United Nations would take a lead in building a better world. This was jarring and prompted internal snark, but completely beyond Mr. Boulding's control. He had to write in the world that he was given. He does hint, as the US CIA did not, that the days of the communist world might be numbered due to a growing lack of integrative power.

The second flaw was in Professor Boulding's control - his tendency to assert some things without evidence or with reference to his own writings. That got to be bothersome and yet I don't want to spend the effort tonight digging back through the book for examples. Apologies for not bookmarking as I went. But he does document enough of his claims that I still believe his central thesis was valid.

While it was a tedious read and not documented as well as it could have been, I do recommend this book for anyone interested in peace studies or who is interested in the structures of personal and organizational power in human society.