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The Chessboard and the Web

Strategies of Connection in a Networked World

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

From a renowned foreign-policy expert, a new paradigm for strategy in the twenty-first century

In 1961, Thomas Schelling's The Strategy of Conflict used game theory to radically reenvision the U.S.-Soviet relationship and establish the basis of international relations for the rest of the Cold War. Now, Anne-Marie Slaughter—one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers from 2009 to 2012, and the first woman to serve as director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning—applies network theory to develop a new set of strategies for the post-Cold War world. While chessboard-style competitive relationships still exist—U.S.-Iranian relations, for example—many other situations demand that we look not at individual entities but at their links to one another. We must learn to understand, shape, and build on those connections.

Concise and accessible, based on real-world situations, on a lucid understanding of network science, and on a clear taxonomy of strategies, this will be a go-to resource for anyone looking for a new way to think about strategy in politics or business.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 20, 2017
      This paradigm-changing book cogently encourages fresh ways of thinking about the workplace and the world. Slaughter (Unfinished Business) promotes the use of social networks for solving any challenging problem, whether it’s spreading new ideas (as done by TEDx) or addressing global problems at a local level (as done by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy). She groups “the hardest problems” and their corresponding networks into three broad categories: resilience, execution, and scale. This schema is the heart of the book, which outlines considerations for successful networks: how people should be connected to each other, what kind of people should be connected, and how information should be shared. Different types of situations, she explains, may require more diverse or more homogeneous groups. Similarly, sometimes well-networked networkers shouldn’t all be on the same team, and sometimes they should. Sometimes the network needs to be decentralized; sometimes a team leader is just the ticket. Slaughter takes a more polemical tone in the third part, in which she advocates for “open society, open government, and an open international system.” Readers will likely end up taking this book to work with them when especially challenging problems arise.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 31, 2017
      Slaughter, a former director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning, presents a new framework for foreign policy, proposing a fundamental shift away from the traditional chessboard method of international strategy that pits sovereign nations in competition with each other for resource allocation. Instead she argues for an approach that builds both literally and metaphorically on the rise of digital networks, one that relies on “open society, open government, and an open international system.” It’s a complicated argument that’s both technical and academic, and as result not conducive to the audio format. Voice actor Perrin does the best with material she has, reading in a clear steady voice; still, listeners are often left in dizzying confusion. A Yale Univ. hardcover.

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  • English

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