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In Turbulent and Mighty Continent, Anthony Giddons makes a valuable contribution to the continued debate on the future of Europe, writes Gerard Delanty. Many of the arguments are not entirely new but despite this limitation the book is rich in insights on conceptualising problems and identifying solutions. For Giddens, reform in Europe must go far beyond stabilizing the euro, to cover policies on climate change, energy, and unemployment. Turbulent and Mighty Continent: What Future for Europe? Anthony Giddens. Polity Press. October 2013.

Mary Kaldor explains why Labour should abandon its ambiguous ‘sensible deal’ position in favour remain and reform thhe EU; she argues that such a stance is Labour’s opportunity to trigger a farreaching deliberative exercise in both Britain and Europe. According to Theresa May, the choice is between her deal, no deal or no Brexit. But the Labour leadership still seems to think that it can negotiate a more ‘sensible deal’. What on earth would a more ‘sensible’ deal look like and is it a sensible strategy for the Labour Party? Is not now the moment to abandon the soft Brexit position and to come out for remain and reform?

Muslim Zion seeks to cut to the core of the geopolitical paradoxes entangling Pakistan to argue that it has never been a nation state in the conventional sense. It is instead a distinct type of political geography, ungrounded in the historic connections of lands and peoples, whose context is provided by the settler states of the New World but whose closest ideological parallel is the state of Israel. Luke McDonagh writes that Devji both challenges and provokes the reader, but always in the most measured, humanistic fashion, providing the reader with much food for thought.

In The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption, Sebastian Mallaby draws on interviews with leading names in global tech and venture capital to reveal how venture capital works, particularly in backing some of the world’s most successful companies. While the analysis is US-centric and would benefit from engagement with a broader range of economic theory on innovation, this is an enjoyable and exciting read full of tantalising anecdotes, writes Robyn Klingler-Vidra. The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption. Sebastian Mallaby. Penguin Random House. 2022.

After a year of fakery and phone poll fiddling the BBC has come out fighting on trust. In a lucid, intelligent and relatively bold speech, Director General Mark Thompson outlined how the corporation will seek to re-establish its place at the heart of British public life.

LSE alumna Anaelle Azoulay discusses how a new project aimed at providing access to clean water could inspire other entrepreneurs to address international development issues.

How long will China continue to try to eliminate COVID? A change of strategy is not very likely, argue Hao Zha (Tsinghua), Yuxi Zhang (LSE), and Thomas Hale (Oxford) who collect and analyse China’s data for the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker.

In Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia, Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. explores how US foreign strategic support has impacted on human rights abuses in Southeast Asia, focusing on the Philippines and Thailand. This is a timely and thought-provoking read for scholars researching human rights, as well as readers interested in learning more about US foreign policy in Southeast Asia since the end of the Cold War, writes Kai Chen. Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia. Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. University of Michigan Press. 2021.

Matthew Partridge hops across the pond to see what lessons can be drawn from the tricks of theatrical American politics, discussed in Jeffrey C. Alexander’s recent book.

The delayed and problematic UK contact-tracing app has become a parable of the government’s failure to deal with the pandemic effectively, says Stephen L Roberts (LSE).