This review refers to the Kindle edition of the book

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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 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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.

The Top 6,000

When C. Wright Mills investigated the power structure of the US in the 1950s and published his findings in his landmark work The Power Elite, the world was a much simpler place. Politically and economically it was a collection of more or less self-contained nation states. Although there was cross-border trade, it represented only a small percentage of national GDPs. Nation states as such had there ruling classes, and those classes, when they were not looking out for themselves, looked out after the lower classes that sustained them. This, says David Rothkopf, is no longer the case.

Globalization has created new centers of power outside the confines of the nation state, and by the same token a new power elite. Rothkopf calls this new elite the "superclass." His previous work was called Ruling the World, in which he interviewed the top 150 people running the US foreign policy establishment. He informed us that every US national security advisor since the Eisenhower period has either worked for or with Henry Kissinger. Rothkopf himself has worked with Kissinger and is now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, so he is no stranger to the new global elite.

Who is in the superclass and what makes them super? Out of a world population of 6 billion, the author narrows it down to the top 6,000. The requirements for being in this class are never clear. Being super rich is helpful; the richest 1% of the population own about 40% of the world's wealth. That, however, may not be sufficient; one must also be influential. There are CEOs and financers who run global companies, as well as leaders of major countries and people who run international organizations. He also includes artists and celebrities such as Paolo Coelho, Bono, and Angelina Jolie. And interestingly enough, he includes leaders of international criminal gangs and terrorist groups. If one has read Philip Bobbitt's Terror and Consent : The Wars for the Twenty-First Century, this is not as far-fetched as it sounds.

No doubt the superclass, each member in his or her own way, is trying to set a global political and economic agenda, but is this a unified agenda? The heads of state, CEOs, terrorists, and celebrities all have different interests, they can hardly be called a class. The only thing they have in common is that they have done well with the status quo. Rothkopf fails to notice that the weakening of the nation state also disperses the power of the elites. The new global elites have less hard power than the old national elites. The have name recognition and they make lots of money, but they are much more limited in their capacities to get things done. (Bill Clinton made over $100 million in the last 7 years, but just how influential was he and aid organizaton during this time?)

It is not only frightening that the superclass controls so much wealth, it is also frightening that they don't actually have things in control. The global economy is more like a rudderless ship. These elites don't really rule the world, but they've made a fortune pretending that they do.

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This review refers to the Kindle edition of the book

Writing a book about the most powerful and influential people on Earth is risky, as such a subject cannot help but be intensely political, given the vast inequalities of wealth and power evident in our world. It is hard to maintain a credible balance, but the author manages to do just that. He shows that the evolution of a class of "elites" is natural for human societies, and perhaps even necessary - without going over into adoration of such people. Likewise, he is at times harshly critical of abuses of such power, including the inevitable corruption, entrance limitations, and lack of democratic legitimacy - without pandering to the numerous conspiracy theories about such people.

The reader will finish this book with a remarkably clear-headed insight into not only _how_ the rich and powerful go about their business, but also _why_ they do things the way they do - and such an insight is incredibly valuable when trying to understand the political, economical, and social processes shaping our world. Highly recommended!

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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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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Each of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world?s most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time. Today?s superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group. But do they have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen, as nationalist critics have argued? They control globalization more than anyone else. But has their influence fed the growing economic and social inequity that divides the world? What happens behind closeddoor meetings in Davos or aboard corporate jets at 41,000 feet? Conspiracy or collaboration? Deal-making or idle self-indulgence? What does the rise of Asia and Latin America mean for the conventional wisdom that shapes our destinies? Who sets the rules for a group that operates beyond national laws? Drawn from scores of exclusive interviews and extensive original reporting, Superclass answers all of these questions and more. It draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our everyday lives. It is the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. And it is an unprecedented examination of the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live.

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