Books

"We All Worship the Same God"

October 1984 to February 1985

NewsHour | New Book Examines the Bin Laden Family

MARGARET WARNER, NewsHour: Osama bin Laden is known worldwide as founder of al-Qaida and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. But much less is known of his sprawling Saudi family and their multiple ties to the United States.

Join us for a conversation with former New York Times Washington Correspondent Adam Clymer, who will discuss his new book, Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right. Clymer argues that domination of the debate over the Panama Canal Treaties gave conservatives emotional appeal and helped build the foundation of the American conservative movement.

Frontline | Bush's War: Part 2

A generation after Three Mile Island's near-disaster in 1979, nuclear power remains politically radioactive. Though energy consumption has increased dramatically -- Americans upped their per capita household electrical use by a third between 1980 and 2001 -- no new nuclear plants have been built since 1996. We've let the Mighty Atom sit in the penalty box rather than settle whether we're Pro-Nuke or No-Nuke once and for all.

Grand explanations of how to understand the complex twenty-first century world have all fallen short-until now. In The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order, Parag Khanna shows how America's dominant moment has quickly been replaced by a geopolitical marketplace where the European Union and China compete with the U.S.

With the United States and China, who will rule whom? That's the central question of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Tokyo-based journalist and writer Eamonn Fingleton. His own answer is sobering. As American leaders fixate on the Middle East, China quietly consolidates both its geostrategic vision and its economic and military power. What is at stake is far more important than manufacturing jobs or the transparency of Sovereign Wealth Funds. It is a matter of which nation will control the global system America built, and the nations integrated into that system.

All right, I admit it. I sold out. Last Wednesday night, I went on "The Colbert Report," and I can't quite shake the feeling that I made a pact with the devil.

But did I?

I published a book four months ago, and everyone knows a sit-down with Stephen Colbert gives book sales a healthy bump.

So when a "Report" producer called last month to invite me to the show, I said what any author eager to sell more books would say: "Heck, yes!"

Has the right hijacked patriotism? Has the left ceded it? Does wearing a flag lapel pin make you a true patriot? Is dissenting against a war truly patriotic? Who decides?

Written by former speechwriter and senior domestic policy advisor to President Clinton, Eric Liu, and Seattle-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Nick Hanauer, The True Patriot argues that in these cynical times there should be a higher call: to country first.

The Internet, social networking and peer-to-peer (p2p) communication have transformed how people connect, as well as the scope, scale and speed of mass collaborations. This transformation has opened the door for self-emerging and increasingly complex virtual forums, allowing individuals to collaborate and organize from worlds apart.