Review of Law, Justice, and Power: Between Reason and Will edited by Sinkwan Cheng

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Law

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“According to David Hume and J. S. Mill, questions of justice arise in conjunction with conflicts of interest.  Had it not been for the limits to human benevolence and the competition for scarce goods, justice would not have been an issue.  Justice impacts on our consciousness most concretely when people press claims and justify them by refence to a set of rules.” – Sinkwan Cheng, Introduction, Page 1

“The intricate relationship between law and justice becomes infinitely more complex when power is brought on stage.  A consideration of power is indispensable because, whatever ideas we have about law and justice, it is power that makes a real difference in the world – be it catastrophic or providential.  Power, in other words, reveals both the oppressive and benevolent faces of the law.  Only through power can law act as an oppressive apparatus.” – Sinkwan Cheng, Introduction, Page 3

 

“For law to rule, it has to be comprehensive in its potential range.  It has to be able to do anything, if not everything.  It cannot, then, simply secure stability and predictability but also has to do the opposite: it has to ensure that law is ever responsive to change; otherwise, law will eventually cease to rule the situation that has changed around it.  So how could the rule of law be complete if it must ever respond to the infinite variety of fact and circumstance impinging on it?  How could it be closed when it must hold itself constantly responsive to all that is beyond what it may at any moment be?” – Peter Fitzpatrick, Chapter 10: Law in the Domains of Death, Page 210

Review

Is This An Overview?

Justice is needed to resolve conflicts of interest.  With the competition for scarce resources, justice provides a method of managing expectations through agreed upon rules.  But rules need to be enforced, which requires power.  Power determines whether the law becomes oppressive or benevolent.  Justice needs force, but force without justice is tyrannical.  Having power, does not mean that those who wield power, can do all that is possible with the power.  Those who have power have overridden laws and justice by claiming a moral duty to their actions. 

 

Laws provide stability and predictability, but also change.  To retain the rule of law, laws need to constantly respond and adapt to changes around laws.  But there are infinite variations of facts and circumstances that prevent laws from becoming a complete guide to justice.

 

Caveats?

This book is a composition of various authors.  Although each author has their own writing style, the book is generally difficult to read.  The authors use abstract language, that requires a background in law and philosophy to decipher appropriately. 

 

The authors often use very short examples as evidence of a claim, but those examples are not given much context.  Making the example liable to different interpretations based on missing details.  The reader is expected to know a diverse set of examples throughout history.

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•Why is there a need for justice? 

•What is the effect of power?

•What are the limits of power? 

•How are laws enforced?

•How does moral duty affect laws?

•How did NATO affect Kosova? 

•What is sovereign speech?

•How does ethics affect laws?

•Can laws be complete?

Book Details

Chapter Authors:   Alain Badiou, John Brigham, Sinkwan Cheng, Peter Fenves, Peter Fitzpatrick, Nancy Fraser, Robert Gibbs, Martti Koskenniemi, Julia Kristeva, Ernesto Laclau, Juliet Flower MacCannell, J. Hillis Miller, Maggie O'Neill, Slavoj Žižek

Publisher:               Stanford University Press

Edition ISBN:         9780804748919

Pages to read:          269

Publication:             2004

1st Edition:              2004

Format:                    Paperback 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    1

Content          2

Overall          1

Review of Beyond the Idea: How to Execute Innovation in Any Organization by Vijay Govindarajan, and Chris Trimble

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Economics, Business

Book Club Event = Book List (11/07/2026)

Intriguing Connections = 1) How To and Not To Run a Business, 2) The Entrepreneurial Spirit, 

3) How To Allocate Resources?, 4) Why Conflict Occurs And How To Resolve Them?,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“The challenge is not just to make innovation happen, but to do so while simultaneously excelling at ongoing operations.  The challenge is to tackle two very different activities – in fact, two diametrically opposed activities – at the same time.” – Vijay Govindarajan, and Chris Trimble, Chapter 1: The Other Side of Innovation, Page 16

“As important as it is to take the step of commissioning a Dedicated Team, it is not enough to do so.  The Special Team is not one group of people, it is two groups.  It is a partnership between the Dedicated Team and the Shared Staff.  As its name implies, the Shared Staff does double duty.  It takes on selected innovation tasks while simultaneously sustaining excellence in day-to-day operations.” – Vijay Govindarajan, and Chris Trimble, Chapter 5: Build the Team: An Overview, Page 43

“Bringing about a dramatic change in work relationships, even in groups of just two people, is hard work.  Now imagine trying to do so while simultaneously sustaining excellence in the work you already do.  It’s nearly impossible.  Every day, the existing work reinforces the relationship that’s already in place.” – Vijay Govindarajan, and Chris Trimble, Chapter 6: Divide the Labor, Page 48

Review

Is This An Overview?

Innovation takes more than the idea.  Innovation takes both the idea and execution of the idea.  There is no innovation without committing to developing the idea and putting in the effort to make the idea real.  Companies can lack innovation because companies are built for ongoing operations.  Companies excel at present customers and difficulties.  Innovation takes resources away from ongoing operation, away from pressing concerns, towards experimentation that can fail.  Taking resources away from ongoing operations can threaten the efficiency of ongoing operations.  Companies become efficient as ongoing operations become repeatable and predictable.  But innovation is not routine and contains uncertainty.  The challenge is for companies is to innovate while excelling at ongoing operations. 

 

There are three types of methods, three types of models for executing innovation initiatives.  Each type has different resources constraints.  Model S is for Small initiatives.  Small initiatives are part of a culture of innovation.  Where any employee can develop an idea and take the initiative.  Meant as a strategy for picking up slack within operations.  The limitation of this model is that people are already busy.  Even if many ideas are thought of, there might not be enough resources available to try all the recommended innovations.

 

Model R is for Repeatable initiatives.  This is the method when procedures can be developed for similar innovations.  Procedures that can become repeatable and predictable.  The routine process enables efficient operations.  The limitation of this model is that the more efficient the model is, the less flexible the operations become.  What Model R does is provide a process of updating previous versions of the same product, not developing new products.

 

Model C is for Custom initiatives.  This method takes more effort and creates incompatibilities between innovation and ongoing operations.  This method requires taking work away from ongoing operations, and putting the work into innovation work.  This strategy requires a dedicated team which is dedicated to the innovative product.  And a shared staff that supports the dedicated team while sustaining regular operations.  The limitation of this model is that there will be conflict between what the dedicated team needs and the rest of the company.  The dedicated team needs their own separate cultural norms, to think and behave differently than the rest of the company.  The dedicated team’s efforts are meant to create change, but when the change is too drastic, the change becomes disruptive to ongoing operations.

 

Caveats?

This book is not meant to be comprehensive.  This book is meant for brevity, to be accessible to people who do not have time to read.  Which limits content on the topics covered, with more explanations available in different books.

 

This book often provides basic information, such as about science.  This book can guide inexperienced managers to develop an innovative company, to provide expectations on consequences of making changes and how to avoid certain common problems.  Experienced managers should already have an understanding of how to manage people and products within their company, but can use the book as a reference to where they can improve.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•Is there a difference between innovation and execution?

•What is innovation execution? 

•What is innovation?

•Which part of innovation has intrinsic motivation?

•What is the Performance Engine?

•Why does innovation have difficulty getting company resources? 

•How to innovate while excelling at ongoing operations? 

•What are the models for executing innovation initiatives?

•What is Model S?

•What is the culture of innovation?

•What are limits of Model S?

•What is Model R?

•What are the limits to Model R?

•What is Model C?

•What is the Anti-Lake Wobegon Effect? 

•Which companies can innovate?

•What is a Dedicated Team?

•What is a Shared Staff?

•What is a Little Performance Engine?

•How much to change? 

•What are sources of conflict within Model C?

•What are the limits to spreadsheets?

Book Details

Publisher:               St. Martin's Press [MacMillan Publishers]

Edition ISBN:         9781466835412

Pages to read:          93

Publication:             2013

1st Edition:              2013

Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          3

Overall          3

Review of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat by Vali Nasr

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Politics

Intriguing Connections = 1) The Motive, Method, Ideology, and Consequences of Intervention, 

2) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, 

United States of America, Middle East States), 3) To Cooperate Or To Defect?. 

4) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 5) When Intelligence Goes Wrong, 

6) Why Conflict Occurs And How To Resolve Them?, 

7) Globalization and International Trade: A Known Problem?, 8) War, 

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“In the cocoon of our public debate Obama gets high marks on foreign policy.  That is because his policies’ principal aim is not to make strategic decisions but to satisfy public opinion – he has done more of the things that people want and fewer of the things we have to do that may be unpopular.  To our allies, however, our constant tactical maneuvers don’t add up to a coherent strategy or a vision of global leadership.  Gone is the exuberant American desire to lead in the world.  In its place there is the image of a superpower tired of the world where it has been most intensely engaged.  That impression serves neither America’s long-run interests nor stability around the world.” – Vali Nasr, Prologue: “A Week In September”, Page 12

“In the months that followed, Washington’s pressure-only policy threw relations into a downward spiral that put us at great risk.  America quickly learned that Pakistan could be even less cooperative, and to our surprise, we could not live with that.  A policy of worsening relations to improve them – getting more out of Pakistan by given less – was a nonstarter.  Pakistan did not reward coercion with cooperation.” – Vali Nasr, Chapter 3: Who Lost Pakistan?, Page 86

“The problem with sanctions is that they are just too convenient.  They are what you do when you cannot or will not do anything else.  They offer a good feeling that a crisis is being handled, but in reality they are blunt instruments with a questionable track record.  When they work, they hurt the economy and state institutions of the country they target – along with its civilian populace – but do they reshape the bad policy behaviors that cause them to be applied in the first place?” – Vali Nasr, Chapter 4: Iran: Between War and Containment, Page 110

Review

Is This An Overview?

Effective foreign policy seeks to make ties and gain cooperative decisions from foreign states.  Alliances between states depend on long term policies, that obtain the respect of allies and their supporters.  The military has a role in foreign policy, as a diplomatic tool meant to resolve certain problems and to enable sovereignty.  During President Barack Obama’s administration, rather than the military being an instrument of diplomacy, diplomats were used to support the military.  The administration relied on military agencies for decision making, and choosing military solutions.  The problem is that military solutions are a temporary measure to resolve a conflict, not a method for long term conflict resolution. 

 

With the military in charge, military solutions were presented.  The administration had staff that prevented Obama from being aware of alternative opinions or ideas, a form of strategic ignorance.  The military solutions generally involved coercion.  As foreign states did not appreciate being coerced, foreign states reacted by limiting cooperation.  As military action needed information or permission from foreign states, military actions became more difficult as coerced stated were not willing to provide information or permission.  Rather than find methods for cooperation, American military was willing to disregard the sovereign territory of uncooperative states.  Military action created anti-American sentiments, which made cooperation and long term solutions more difficult.   

 

The focus of Obama’s foreign policy was how decisions would affect media coverage and how domestic political opposition would react.  Foreign policy decisions were to satisfy public opinion, rather than develop appropriate and strategic policies.  Obama did receive praise for foreign policy initiatives, but the praise was not about foreign policy accomplishments or the effect of policies on regions.  The international community’s reaction to Obama’s foreign policy, were violent anti-American protests.  Without long term strategic plans, without diplomacy, America’s international influence is declining.  As America’s international influence declines, foreign states are gaining influence that threatens American security.   

 

Caveats?

There is a political bias in the book.  While sharing the wrong methods that President Barack Obama used to handle foreign affairs, favored Hillary Clinton’s approach to foreign affairs.  As the author favored the diplomatic approach, the information presented validated the diplomatic approach while limiting information on the military approach.   

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What is the difference in approaches that Barack Obama wanted as a candidate for President, and the approaches taken when Obama became president?

•What was Obama’s approaches to foreign policy?

•What were Hilliar Clinton’s approaches to foreign policy?

•Who is Richard Holbrooke?

•What were Richard Holbrooke’s approaches to foreign policy?

•How did the news affect foreign policy?

•What was Obama’s decision making process with the NSC? 

•How did Obama’s staff support Obama’s decision making?

•When would military action be appropriate? 

•What is the effect of sanctions? 

•What is the effect of investing in dictatorships?  

•What do Americans think of the Middle East leaders?

•Why is America providing interventions in the Middle East? 

•What was the foreign policy toward Afghanistan?

•What did foreign leaders think was the plan for Afghanistan?  

•Why was Afghanistan the ‘good war’?

•What is al-Qaeda?

•What is the Taliban?

•What was the foreign policy toward Pakistan?

•What is Pakistan’s view of the Taliban?

•What was America’s drone program in Pakistan?

•What was the foreign policy toward Egypt?

•What was the foreign policy toward Iran?

•Does Iran want nuclear weapons?

•What was the foreign policy toward Iraq?

•What is China’s foreign policy?

Book Details

Publisher:               Doubleday [Random House]

Edition ISBN:         9780385536479

Pages to read:          256

Publication:             2013

1st Edition:              2013

Format:                    Hardcover 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          5

Overall          5

Review of 'Tis by Frank McCourt

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = History

Book Club Event = Book List (11/14/2026)

Intriguing Connections = 1) Biographies: Auto, Memoir, and Other Types, 2) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 3) How to Teach? How to Learn?, 4) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (United States of America), 5) What Poverty Means?, 

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“There’s a letter from my mother to say times are hard at home.  She knows my wages aren’t great and she’s grateful for the ten dollars every week but could I spare an extra few dollars for shoes for Michael and Alphie?  She had a job taking care of an old man but he was a great disappointment the way he died unexpected when she though he’d hand on till the New Year so that she’d have a few shillings for shoes and a Christmas Dinner, ham or something with a bit of dignity in it.  She says sick people shouldn’t hire people to take care of them and give them false hope of a job when they know very well they’re in the throes.” – Frank McCourt, Chapter 7, Page 39

“New York was the city of my dreams but now I’m here the dreams are gone and it’s not what I expected at all.  I never thought I’d be going around a hotel lobby cleaning up after people and scouring toilet bowls in the lavatories.  How could I ever write my mother or anyone in Limerick and tell them the way I’m living in this rich land with two dollars to last me for a week, a bald head and sore eyes, and a landlady who won’t let me turn on the light?” – Frank McCourt, Chapter 8, Page 48

 

“The class coming in were curious about the class going out and why everyone looking at this book and if it was that good why couldn’t they read it.  I reminded them they were seniors and the class going out were juniors.  Yeah, but why couldn’t they read that small book instead of Great Expectations?  I told them they could but they’d have to buy it and they said they’d pay anything not to read Great Expectations, anything.” – Frank McCourt, Chapter 47, Page 333

Review

Is This An Overview?

Frank is an Irish immigrant to America, who had dreamed of being in America.  Dreamed of America but when in America, thought about going back to Ireland.  Surrounded by wealth, but lived in poverty.  Struggled to support oneself, while sending part of the little income to relatives.  Was too ashamed to explain one’s situation to people back in Ireland.  Held various jobs, which included cleaning and military service.  Throughout the jobs, Frank wanted an education, and obtained various books to read.  Initially self-educated, but then obtained an accredited education to become a teacher.  As a teacher, Frank needed to figure out how to manage parents, kids, and supervisors.

 

Caveats?

This is a memoir about various experiences.  The experiences can be interesting, or comedic, or confusing, based on reader’s background.  As this book is about a singular perspective, there is a lack of information about general conditions.

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•Who is Frank McCourt?

•What jobs did Frank have?

•What books did Frank read?  What did Frank think about those books?

•What was Frank’s experience with religious institutions? 

•What was Frank’s experience in the military?

•What kind of cultural experience did Frank have?  

•Why did Frank immigrate?

•What was Frank’s education?

•What was Frank’s educator’s experience?

Book Details

Publisher:               Scribner [Simon & Schuster]

Edition ISBN:         9780684845241

Pages to read:          390

Publication:             1999

1st Edition:              1999

Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    2

Content          1

Overall          1

Review of The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = History, War

Book Club Event = Book List (10/10/2026)

Intriguing Connections = 1) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (Germany, Morocco, Russia, Spain), 

2) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 3) War, 4) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 

5) The Motive, Method, Ideology, and Consequences of Intervention, 

6) What Defines A Culture? How To Belong To A Community?, 7) What Is The Power Of Belief Systems?, 8) The Impact of Inequality, 9) War for Your Attention, 10) Why Do People Think Differently?, 

11) How To Allocate Resources?, 12) Capitalism, Socialism, their Alternatives and Critiques, 

13) How Competitive Is Competition?, 

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Perhaps the world economic situation was partly to blame.  During the war, Spanish employers had expanded their enterprises, but had now to contract.  They would fight labour now, since there was a glut of workers; in the war, there had been a shortage.  But in the clash of labour and capital, between 1917 and 1923, a class war was to be seen which often came close to outright conflict, and over issues other than economic: employers believed themselves threatened by bankruptcy if not revolution, the anarchists believed that they were on the brink of the millennium.  Since, whatever the views of the central government, the local military authorities usually agreed with employers, and often arrested strikers, the character of the conflict became more and more violent.” – Hugh Thomas, Chapter 2, Pages 40-41

“Another explanation for the conflict was that Spain was a conservative country in which an under-exploited economy was kept backward by a stagnant social structure, while a sophisticated political education and the pressure of population made the old system unworkable.  There had to be political change if the resources of the country were to be creatively employed.  But while radicals were prepared to overthrow the social structure to secure changes, conservatives were prepared to use force to shore up what they judged good in the old world.  Some of the Left were impatient, the Centre could not hold.” – Hugh Thomas, Chapter 12, Page 227

“So now there was to spread over Spain a cloud of violence, in which the quarrels of several generations would find outlet.  With communications difficult or non-existent, each town would find itself on its own, acting out its own drama, apparently in a vacuum.  There were soon to be not two Spains, but two thousand.  The geographical differences within Spain were a prime factor in the social disintegration of the nation.  Regional feeling had sown the wind, and now reaped the whirlwind.  Sovereign power ceased to exist and, in its absence, individuals, as well as towns, acted without constraint, as if they were outside society and history.  Within a month, thousands of people would have perished arbitrarily and without trial.” – Hugh Thomas, Chapter 14, Page 262

Review

Is This An Overview?

Spain had been struggling with various economic, educational, agricultural, and territorial governance problems.  The problems led to many different groups wanting to gain power, to change Spain in favor of how they wanted Spain to be.  Each had grievances.  Conflicts between the groups became more violent.  Burning the property and buildings of perceived oppressors, of perceived sources of problems for Spain.  Groups that tore Spain apart.  Due to lack of reliable communications, Spain was torn apart into a myriad of local communities.

 

The administrations failed as the government did not gain the support of powerful groups.  Some groups were willing to overthrow the social structure to make changes.  Others were willing to use violence to defend their rights.  Without sovereign power, people behaved without constraint.  Many were murdered arbitrarily and without trial.  Each group that held power in a region, persecuted every other group.  Censored and murdered anyone who opposed local dominant views.  Due to fear, people became less reliable sources of information, reducing information about what was happening.

 

The international community was not necessarily welcome in the domestic conflict, but Spain was a strategic region for geopolitical influence.  Various groups had ties to foreign states, with various states wanting to influence who held power in Spain.  Different groups would be supported with weapons from foreign states, that changed the course of the war.  Causes of conflicts were transmuted into extremes of opportune battles for victory or survival.  There were groups that wanted fascism.  There were groups that wanted to resist fascism, but used fascist means.  The outcome was fascism. 

 

Caveats?

The focus of the book are the military details of the Spanish Civil War.  There is information on the culture, history, and economy of Spain before the war, and how people managed to live during the war.  As Spain was torn apart by a myriad of local communities, having diverse views.  There can be difficulty in keeping track of the groups, along with their ideology, who supported them, and how their power changed.  This book can be more valuable for those who already have a background in Spain’s general history.

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What did the Spanish Civil War teach the international community?

•Before the war, what happed to the monarchy?

•What kind of government did Spain have before the war?

•What was the effect of the 1931 constitution? 

•What were the different groups which wanted power?

•What were the represented ideologies? 

•What was the effect of the army?

•What was the Popular Front?

•What was the socialist group?

•What were the anarchists?

•Who were the Republicans?

•Who were the monarchists? 

•Who were the fascists? 

•Who were the POUM?

•Who were the Bakuninists? 

•How did Catalonia affect the political system? 

•Who were the Basques?

•How did Morocco affect Spain? 

•How did religion affect Spain?

•What happened to the education system?

•What did the people think of property rights? 

•What did people think of the civil guard?

•What kind of geography does Spain have?

•What kind of agricultural system did Spain have?

•How did Russia affect Spain?

•How did Germany affect Spain?

•How did each group treat members of another group during the war?

•How did people behave without sovereign power?

•During the war, what happened to financial institutions?

•During the war, what did people eat? 

•What weapons did people have?

•Why was there a need for propaganda? 

•What were the conditions for peace?

•What was the outcome of the war?

•What effect did Spain have on WWII?

Book Details

Edition:                   Revised Edition

Publisher:               Modern Library [Random House]

Edition ISBN:         9780804152167

Pages to read:          1099

Publication:             1961

1st Edition:              2001

Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    3

Content          3

Overall          3