Summary of The End of Power

Surprised by the limitations on his power after he became a senior government minister in Venezuela in 1989, Moisés Naím explores whether other powerful people and organizations have experienced a similar erosion of influence. His sweeping examination of how people and institutions acquire, use and lose power offers insights into why governments can’t get anything done and how obscure start-ups can abruptly displace rival giants. Conglomerates, organized religion and powerful nations still enjoy great power, but Naím provides evidence that today’s more dispersed power proves easier to obtain and to lose, but harder to exercise. His argument ranges across politics, war, business, philanthropy and religion. getAbstract recommends his analysis to anyone interested in the broad trends that shape society. Naím’s other recommendation comes from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who selected this book as the first entry on his public reading list and, by so doing, made it a bestseller.