Reviews for Pandaemonium: Ethnicity in International Politics

The average rating for Pandaemonium: Ethnicity in International Politics based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-10-30 00:00:00 Christina Stramaglia Review in English (not my mother tongue) and Spanish (below): ENGLISH: It is a series of five short essays on nationalism, tribalism and ethnicism in international politics. The senator was very learned, but the text never has a clear direction. You never know what the author wants to tell you, beyond: 1. I predicted that the USSR was not as potent as they said 2. Ethnicity is important in politics and has not been sufficiently taken into account. 3. The "self-determination of peoples" is a problematic concept because nobody knows what a "people" is. ("The phrase is simply loaded with dynamite", in the words of Robert Lansing) I already knew the last two points. And as for the first one, I also know some prophecy of Moynihan that was comically wrong, so I would't have made such a big deal. In short, a book full of anecdotes, but without a clear message. ESPAÑOL: Se trata de una serie de cinco ensayos cortos sobre el nacionalismo, el tribalismo y el etnicismo en la política internacional. El senador era muy erudito, pero el texto nunca tiene una dirección clara. Nunca sabes bien lo que el autor quiere decirte, más allá de: 1. Yo predije que la URSS no era tan potente como decían 2. La etnicidad es importante en política y no se la ha tenido suficientemente en cuenta. 3. La "autodeterminación de los pueblos" es un concepto problemático porque nadie sabe bien qué es un "pueblo". ("La frase está simplemente cargada de dinamita", en palabras de Robert Lansing) Yo ya conocía los dos últimos puntos. Y en cuanto al primero, conozco también alguna profecía de Moynihan que resultó cómicamente equivocada, así que tampoco era para insistir tanto. En resumen, un libro lleno de anécdotas, pero sin un mensaje demasiado claro.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-05-09 00:00:00 Mario Ramari 'Pandaemonium' approaches a subject matter that is of keen interest to me: namely causes of international conflict. The problem is that Sen. Moynihan spends the majority of his time telling us how he predicted the fall of the Soviet Union (& him recounting this is quite interesting the first time) & the rest of the time jumping time periods & locations talking about ethnic strife. While a lot of the events are interesting, Sen. Moynihan has trouble continuing a strain of thought for an extended period of time. I will say that there is a lot of parts to this book that I like & appreciate. I also think, even post-Cold War, too many people put to much emphasis on realism, which tends to ignore ethnic questions, but the book doesn't do a very good job at scholarship in this area besides anecdotes all over the place. I would like to reemphasize that I did get something out of this book, & for that reason it was worth reading, but I didn't love it.