Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ian Bremmer Books
Ian Bremmer

Ian Bremmer Books

Political Scientist

Related Quotes

“In the introduction, I wrote that COVID had started a war, and nobody won. Let me amend that. Technology won, specifically, the makers of disruptive new technologies and all those who benefit from them. Before the pandemic, American politicians were shaking their fists at the country’s leading tech companies. Republicans insisted that new media was as hopelessly biased against them as traditional media, and they demanded action. Democrats warned that tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Alphabet, and Netflix had amassed too much market (and therefore political) power, that citizens had lost control of how these companies use the data they generate, and that the companies should therefore be broken into smaller, less dangerous pieces. European governments led a so-called techlash against the American tech powerhouses, which they accused of violating their customers’ privacy. COVID didn’t put an end to any of these criticisms, but it reminded policymakers and citizens alike just how indispensable digital technologies have become. Companies survived the pandemic only by allowing wired workers to log in from home. Consumers avoided possible infection by shopping online. Specially made drones helped deliver lifesaving medicine in rich and poor countries alike. Advances in telemedicine helped scientists and doctors understand and fight the virus. Artificial intelligence helped hospitals predict how many beds and ventilators they would need at any one time. A spike in Google searches using phrases that included specific symptoms helped health officials detect outbreaks in places where doctors and hospitals are few and far between. AI played a crucial role in vaccine development by absorbing all available medical literature to identify links between the genetic properties of the virus and the chemical composition and effects of existing drugs.”

Covid 19Remote WorkDisruptive TechnologyTech Giants
Book:The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World
Create image

“The developed world should neither shelter nor militarily destabilize authoritarian regimes unless those regimes represent an imminent threat to the national security of other states. Developed states should instead work to create the conditions most favorable for a closed regime's safe passage through the least stable segment of the J curve however and whenever the slide toward instability comes. And developed states should minimize the risk these states pose the rest of the world as their transition toward modernity begins.”

WorldShouldStatesRiskConditionsSecuritySafeThreatTransitionPassagesRegimesStableShelterNational SecurityCurvesSlidesModernityInstability
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“Political scientists don't work at banks which is a problem. As political issues become more important for the markets, analysts at banks are asked all sorts of questions they don't have the ability to answer. And if you're getting paid to answer questions as analysts at banks are you never want to be in the position of saying you don't know.”

IfsKnowsWantImportantProblemPoliticalAbilityAnswersIssuesPositionScientistPaidAnalystsPolitical Issues
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“Whether it is gun control lobby, health care lobby, or abortion, pro-choice lobby, whatever it is, people are always trying to say that it is about restricting rights and they are never really prepared to talk about what the honest tradeoffs are. One of the things we need to do a better job of is actually painting those tradeoffs.”

PeopleNeedsTryingCareJobsChoicesRightsHonestPaintingGunPreparedHealth CareAbortionGun ControlAlways TryingBetter JobsPro Choice Abortion
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“In the nearer term, the likeliest source of risk is a conflict between China and the U.S. These are now the two largest economies in the world, and the combination of their economic interdependence, the sharp differences in their political and economic values, and the growing divergence in their interests makes this relationship potentially dangerous for everyone who might be affected by it - which means pretty much everyone.”

WorldMeanTwoMightPoliticalValuesTermInterestDifferencesEconomyGrowingRiskEconomicDangerousSourceConflictChinaCombinationAffectedInterdependenceDivergenceEconomic Value
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“There is always the risk that a conflagration in the Middle East becomes larger and more dangerous. In this scenario, we discover that the Arab Spring was merely the prelude to a deeper and much farther-reaching upheaval in the region that has greater impact on countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

CountryGreaterRiskMiddleDangerousSpringImpactDeeperEastReachingRegionsIranMiddle EastScenariosArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisUpheavalPreludeArab Spring
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“We don't gaze into a crystal ball. I do not believe that we predict things. I think political science is bad at prediction. I think what we really do well is in a number of instances where politics matters, we can do a better job of tell you what is happening now, than other people. So, we can look at Syria today. We can look at the Eurozone today. And we can look at areas where politics is a driver and we can give you a pretty good sense in those areas of here is how to understand today.”

PeopleThinkingGivingBelieveTodayPoliticalSyriaPolitical ScienceCrystal Ball
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“I think the best way to control a population is to urbanize and to educate women. We have seen historically in many, many countries that once women are educated and have opportunities, and that happens when they live in cities and once they improve their economies, they no longer want to have eight kids. They want to have one or two or maybe three. And that is much more sustainable for them because they have other opportunities.”

ThinkingCountryKidsOpportunityEconomyEducatedEducate
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“I would rather people not smoke. I certainly appreciate the fact that smoking is not legal in restaurants and bars. That used to stop me from going out at night because you'd go someplace and your clothes would reek and you wouldn't enjoy the experience and that affects your rights. It's always a question. Whenever you are talking about these issues, it's not a question of restricting rights. It's a question of restricting whose rights, and providing for whose rights and that's a tricky balance.”

PeopleNightEnjoyBalanceAppreciateSmokingTricky
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“I think it's fantastically narcissistic to believe that in the entire universe, with all of the planetary systems that we've already discovered and the countless others that are out there, that we are the only forms of life. Now, the real question is not are there other forms of life out there, but are there other intelligent forms of life out there right now. Because the universe is not only really big but it's also really long. It's been around for a long time; it's going to be around for a long time.”

ThinkingBelieveLongRealUniverseIntelligentNarcissisticReally Long
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“We're wealthy people. We're sitting here in New York, Washington. We live in a fantastically wealthy country. We don't have to worry about food. We don't have to worry about clothing. We wore the same shirt. We don't have to worry about our safety. It's very easy for us to be environmentalists. It's very easy for me to be an environmentalist. It's very easy for me to care about making sure that we protect the forests and the whales, and all that stuff. It's very hard for someone who makes $1,000 a year or some who makes less than $1 a day to care about the environment.”

PeopleCountryCareEasyWorryEnvironmentProtectSafetyShirtsWealthyEnvironmentalist
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image

“Berlin is still a very edgy place, a very cosmopolitan place. It's a place where completely different ideas and cultures come together and clash in a very warm way. In a very warm-hearted way. It's a very young city. It's a vibrant city. It's an exciting city. It's a city that's also scarred by history. I think that's to be celebrated and graffiti is to be celebrated. Graffiti in Berlin is very different than when they spray something on the wall dividing the west bank and Israel. And should be treated as such in Berlin.”

ThinkingDifferentTogetherCultureWallExcitingClashGraffiti
Author:Ian Bremmer
Create image