Fascinating study of the world's power players

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	• Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making David Rothkopf Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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Fascinating study of the world's power players

Rothkopf takes a whole new spin on globalization by looking in depth at the people who are making it happen - a very small group of disproportionately powerful individuals. As he points out, everyone talks about the inequality of wealth in the world, but hardly anyone discusses the gross inequality of power. And yet in a world of nearly 7 billion people, only several thousand (he says around 6,000) have the kind of influence that can really affect millions of lives.

It's a fascinating idea, and one that might at first sound like a classic conspiracy theory.. But Rothkopf steers clear of that course, arguing that the members of this new global elite aren't conspiring together but instead tend to have similar interests - like the kind of pro-market, anti-regulatory policies that perpetuate the consolidation of wealth and power that he discusses in great detail. Pretty balanced view for an author who is clearly pretty close to this group, if not a member himself.

Superclass has something for everyone - colorful anecdotes about the rich and powerful, insider interviews with the power players themselves, serious academic and philosophical arguments about inequality, extensive facts and figures and historical research about elites.. It is academically rigorous but accessible and entertaining. An important addition to the literature on globalization, and a fun read to boot.

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Enlightening and Empowering

I had the pleasure of hosting David Rothkopf at Stanford University a few weeks ago as a speaker in our Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series. His talk was riveting and the students responded with great enthusiasm. He used the lecture to emphasis the key theme of his book, Superclass, that there is an small, informal network of people around the world who hold an inordinate amount of power when it comes to influencing the political and economic environment around the globe.

The book is filled with fascinating stories that are extremely engaging. David Rothkopf is a masterful writer who uses the first person narrative and an unassuming style to bring you close to the rare individuals who he describes in the book. He takes you behind the scenes at Davos, invites you to sit beside corporate leaders on private jets, and lets you peek into the smoke filled rooms where deals really get done. He shows us how the people who pull the strings in our world have found creative ways to align their interests.

Superclass is well-researched and filled with endless facts that support all of David Rothkopf's ideas. He draws on interesting examples from throughout history as he builds his thesis that there have always been a select few who have much more influence than the bulk of the population. He argues that these elites are the "leaders, innovators, and risk-takers. They are the ones who excel, possess vital experience, and serve as essential connections among centers of power." It is important to note that most of the elites today are self-made. They have identified and seized opportunities, leveraged limited resources, and created value in many different forms. I read the book with great interest and found it informative, enlightening, and empowering.

If you want a preview, feel free to listen to the free podcast of David Rothkopf's talk at Stanford. You can find it here: [...]

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I saw Rothkopf on C-SPAN.

I saw Rothkopf talk about this book on C-SPAN. I didn't catch every moment, so can't speak to his feelings about "populists and anti-globalists." He is critical of the "Friedmanism" (of Milton and Thomas) that has created an economy that intensifies anti-democratic disparities in wealth. And the person who introduced Rothkopf opened with this comment from Thomas Jefferson, "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country" What Would Jefferson Do?: A Return to Democracy.
A person in the audience asked Rothkopf if he felt we were moving toward a society of completely privatized armies, like an "army of Exxon" (as books like Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army suggest). Rothkopf had criticized the US and NATO for its massive weapons spending, but suggested we won't have private armies and claimed that state terror has less of an influence today than in the past. I doubt Iraqis, Afghanis, Palestinians and communities throughout the Global South would share that view. There are even right-wing establishment writers that celebrate state violence Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military, from Mongolia to the Philippines to Iraq and Beyond; while analysts who have retained their humanity condemn the terror organized by the superclass The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project).
Aside from that, I found Rothkopf's presentation to be fascinating, and had its own populist inclinations to it.
I look forward to getting the audio version.

More items on the global elite and the popular efforts to empower the rest of us:
Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality
The Fourth World War
The Corporation
What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (BK Currents)
The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (BK Currents)

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superclass

the book has a great detail about the world super elite. As you read it, it may sound some what ridiculous but there are many different lessons and tips you can learn from it.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5

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