
What we’re about
This group is for Washington area professionals who work in the international arena (US govt, World Bank, IMF, NGO, foreign embassy) or just someone with a passion for international affairs who wants to learn more and interact with like-minded people.
We meet every six weeks or so at Zorba’s Cafe in Dupont. The books we read are proposed and voted on at the end of the previous meeting. Reading the selected book is absolutely not required to attend.
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, by Edward LuttwackZorba's (Dupont Circle), Washington, DC
From the publisher's website:
Coup d’État astonished readers when it first appeared in 1968 because it showed, step by step, how governments could be overthrown. Translated into sixteen languages, it has inspired anti-coup precautions by regimes around the world. In addition to these detailed instructions, Edward Luttwak’s revised handbook offers an altogether new way of looking at political power—one that considers, for example, the vulnerability to coups of even the most stable democracies in the event of prolonged economic distress.The world has changed dramatically in the past half century, but not the essence of the coup d’état. It still requires the secret recruitment of military officers who command the loyalty of units well placed to seize important headquarters and key hubs in the capital city. The support of the armed forces as a whole is needed only in the aftermath, to avoid countercoups. And mass support is largely irrelevant, although passive acceptance is essential. To ensure it, violence must be kept to a minimum. The ideal coup is swift and bloodless. Very violent coups rarely succeed, and if they trigger a bloody civil war they fail utterly.
Luttwak identifies conditions that make countries vulnerable to a coup, and he outlines the necessary stages of planning, from recruitment of coconspirators to postcoup promises of progress and stability. But much more broadly, his investigation of coups—updated for the twenty-first century—uncovers important truths about the nature of political power.
How to find us:
We meet in the upstairs seating area at Zorba's in Dupont Circle. Look for a sign on a table with a picture of the book's cover on it.Links:
- Bookshop: By purchasing your book through this link, you help support local bookstores and defray the cost of DCIA's Meetup subscription.
- Amazon
- Harvard University Press
- Edward Luttwack on Wikipedia