Description
The United States' ignominious exit from Afghanistan in 2021 topped two decades of failure and devastation wrought by the war on terror. A long-running "fight against migration" has stoked chaos and rights abuses while pushing migrants onto more dangerous routes. For its part, the war on drugs has failed to dampen narcotics demand while fueling atrocities from Mexico to the Philippines. Why do such "failing" policies persist for so long? And why do politicians keep feeding the very crises they say they are combating? In Wreckonomics, Ruben Andersson and David Keen analyze why disastrous policies live on even when it has become apparent that they do not work. The perverse outcomes of the fights against terror, migration, and drugs are more than a blip or an anomaly. Rather, the proliferation of wars and pseudo-wars has become a dangerous political habit and an endless source of political advantage and profit. From combating crime to the war on drugs, from civil wars to global wars and even "covid wars," chronic failure has been harnessed to the appearance of success. Over a wide variety of spheres, problems have persisted and worsened not so much despite the "wars" and "fights" waged against them as thanks to these floundering endeavors. Covering a range of cases around the world, Wreckonomics exposes and interrogates the incentive systems that allow destructive policies to flourish in the face of systemic failure-while offering strategies for tackling our addiction to waging war on everything.
About the Author
Ruben Andersson is a professor of social anthropology at the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. His research has been concerned with borders, migration and security, and he is the author of No Go World (2019) and Illegality, Inc. (2014), winner of the 2015 BBC Ethnography Award. David Keen is a professor of conflict studies at the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has researched civil wars, global wars and disasters. He is the author of The Benefits of Famine (1994) and Useful Enemies (2012), among other books, and winner of the Edgar Graham prize.
Reviews
Something's terribly wrong with our public policy. Tasked with managing migration, countering terrorism, and protecting us from pandemic disease, among other things, our institutions seem to thrive amid the wreckage. Ruben Andersson and David Keen explain why. Lively and cogent, Wreckonomics provides us with the lens and the language to make sense of how failure can be success, over and over again. * Alex de Waal, Executive Director, World Peace Foundation *
To understand the perverse logic of why failing policies are nevertheless politically successful-ranging from the war on drugs to the war on terror-I cannot think of a better introduction than Wreckonomics. In this highly accessible and engaging book, Andersson and Keen provide a damning dissection of our extraordinarily costly and counterproductive addiction to militarized interventions. As we've reached the 20th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and continue to live with its disastrous consequences-with the perpetrators not only not held accountable but highly rewarded-the book could not be a more timely and important contribution. * Peter Andreas, Brown University *
Elegantly written, thought-provoking and persuasively argued. Andersson and Keen offer a powerful and incisive critique of the conventional narratives that have tended to dominate debate about the motives, dynamics, and effects of contemporary "wars and security interventions", forcing the reader to discard lazy assumptions and drawing their attention instead to mechanisms and logics that have served to perpetuate rather than meaningfully address many of the most urgent challenges facing humanity. * Mats Berdal, King's College London *
Applying a sophisticated systems approach to issues spanning the globe, Wreckonomics makes major contributions to international relations and policy analysis. * Clifford Bob, author of Rights as Weapons, The Global Right Wing, and The Marketing of Rebellion *
Based on outstanding original research, thought provoking in its conclusions and challenging in every chapter. * Harry Verhoeven, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and author of Why Comrades Go To War: Liberation Politics and The Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict *
[A] deeply-researched and wide-ranging account of how, despite manifest failings, the wars on terror, drugs and migration are entrenched in Western policy as a kind of perma-crisis for which its principal architects are never held responsible. * Samuel Rutter, The Telegraph *
Provocative and thought-provoking ... the authors make their important case made with verve and style. * Paschal Donohoe, Irish Times *
A remarkable new book [that] paints a searing portrait of our era of sham politics and fake wars... couldn't be more timely as the world stumbles into 2024. * Richard Lofthouse, QUAD *
Wreckonomics is not only an extensively researched argument against the war on everything; at its heart, it is a manifesto against simplicity ... it truly is a challenging read in the best sense of the word: we could all to with thinking more deeply about how to move beyond the war on everything. * Irish Independent *
Valuable. * Andrew Robinson, Nature *
An impressive book ... full of striking information and intelligent insights. * Andrew Lynch, Business Post *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197645925
Author Ruben Andersson
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 560g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 160mm * 33mm
About the Author
Ruben Andersson is a professor of social anthropology at the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. His research has been concerned with borders, migration and security, and he is the author of No Go World (2019) and Illegality, Inc. (2014), winner of the 2015 BBC Ethnography Award. David Keen is a professor of conflict studies at the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has researched civil wars, global wars and disasters. He is the author of The Benefits of Famine (1994) and Useful Enemies (2012), among other books, and winner of the Edgar Graham prize.
Reviews
Something's terribly wrong with our public policy. Tasked with managing migration, countering terrorism, and protecting us from pandemic disease, among other things, our institutions seem to thrive amid the wreckage. Ruben Andersson and David Keen explain why. Lively and cogent, Wreckonomics provides us with the lens and the language to make sense of how failure can be success, over and over again. * Alex de Waal, Executive Director, World Peace Foundation *
To understand the perverse logic of why failing policies are nevertheless politically successful-ranging from the war on drugs to the war on terror-I cannot think of a better introduction than Wreckonomics. In this highly accessible and engaging book, Andersson and Keen provide a damning dissection of our extraordinarily costly and counterproductive addiction to militarized interventions. As we've reached the 20th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and continue to live with its disastrous consequences-with the perpetrators not only not held accountable but highly rewarded-the book could not be a more timely and important contribution. * Peter Andreas, Brown University *
Elegantly written, thought-provoking and persuasively argued. Andersson and Keen offer a powerful and incisive critique of the conventional narratives that have tended to dominate debate about the motives, dynamics, and effects of contemporary "wars and security interventions", forcing the reader to discard lazy assumptions and drawing their attention instead to mechanisms and logics that have served to perpetuate rather than meaningfully address many of the most urgent challenges facing humanity. * Mats Berdal, King's College London *
Applying a sophisticated systems approach to issues spanning the globe, Wreckonomics makes major contributions to international relations and policy analysis. * Clifford Bob, author of Rights as Weapons, The Global Right Wing, and The Marketing of Rebellion *
Based on outstanding original research, thought provoking in its conclusions and challenging in every chapter. * Harry Verhoeven, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and author of Why Comrades Go To War: Liberation Politics and The Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict *
[A] deeply-researched and wide-ranging account of how, despite manifest failings, the wars on terror, drugs and migration are entrenched in Western policy as a kind of perma-crisis for which its principal architects are never held responsible. * Samuel Rutter, The Telegraph *
Provocative and thought-provoking ... the authors make their important case made with verve and style. * Paschal Donohoe, Irish Times *
A remarkable new book [that] paints a searing portrait of our era of sham politics and fake wars... couldn't be more timely as the world stumbles into 2024. * Richard Lofthouse, QUAD *
Wreckonomics is not only an extensively researched argument against the war on everything; at its heart, it is a manifesto against simplicity ... it truly is a challenging read in the best sense of the word: we could all to with thinking more deeply about how to move beyond the war on everything. * Irish Independent *
Valuable. * Andrew Robinson, Nature *
An impressive book ... full of striking information and intelligent insights. * Andrew Lynch, Business Post *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197645925
Author Ruben Andersson
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 560g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 160mm * 33mm
