Atossa Araxia Abrahamian Knihy

The buying and selling of citizenship has become a legitimate, thriving business in just a few years. Entrepreneurs are renouncing America and Europe in favor of tax havens in the Caribbean with the help of a cottage industry of lawyers, bankers, and consultants that specialize in expatriation. But as journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian discovered, the story of twenty-first century citizenship is bigger than millionaires buying their second or third passport. When she learned that mysterious middlemen had persuaded the Comoro Islands to turn to selling citizenship as a new source of revenue, she decided to follow the money trail to the Middle East. There, she found that officials in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates had bulk-ordered passports for their bidoon, or stateless population, transforming these men, women, and children without countries into Comorian citizens practically overnight. In her timely and eye-opening first book, Abrahamian travels the globe to meet these willing and unwitting "cosmopolites," or citizens of the world, who show us how transactional and unpredictable national citizenship in the twenty-first century can be. -- Amazon.com

This gripping account explores a hidden world shaped by wealth, where traditional laws hold little power. Through the lens of a journalist, readers uncover how this parallel universe serves as a sanctuary for the affluent and influential, highlighting the stark contrast between societal borders and financial boundaries. The narrative delves into the implications of this divide, offering insights into the dynamics of privilege and the impact of wealth on society.

'This book did nothing less than make me re-see the world . . . Original, and very clever' - Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland Borders draw one map of the world; money draws another. A journalist's riveting account exposes a parallel universe exempt from the laws of the land, and how the wealthy and powerful benefit from it. The map of the globe shows the world we think we know: sovereign nations that grant and restrict their citizens' rights. Beneath, above, and tucked inside its neatly delineated borders, however, a parallel universe has been engineered into existence, consisting of thousands of extraterritorial zones that operate largely autonomously, increasingly for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful. Atossa Abrahamian traces the rise of the hidden globe to thirteenth-century Switzerland, where poor cantons marketed the commodity they had--bodies, in the form of mercenary fighters. Following its evolution around the world, she reveals how prize-winning economists, eccentric theorists, visionary statesmen, and consultants masterminded its export in the form of free trade zones, flags of convenience, offshore detention centers where immigrants languish in limbo, and charter cities controlled by by foreign governments and multinational foreign corporations--and even into outer space, where tiny Luxembourg aspires to mining rights on asteroids. By mapping the hidden geography that decides who wins and who loses in this new global order--and how it might be otherwise--The Hidden Globe fascinates, enrages, and inspires. 'Atossa Abrahamian boldly renews our sense of reality and brilliantly illuminates our political impasse.' - Pankaj Mishra, author of The Age of Anger

Wie Geld nationales Recht aushebelt »Auf ihren Reisen in verschiedene Teile der Welt beschreibt Abrahamian die heimtückisch miteinander verbundenen globalen Regime der Ungleichheit und Ungerechtigkeit. Dabei [...] beleuchtet sie auf brillante Weise unsere politische Sackgasse.« Pankaj Mishra Freihandelszonen, die von Steuergesetzen ausgenommen sind. Offshore-Haftanstalten, in denen Menschen auf unbestimmte Zeit inhaftiert werden. Charter-Städte, die von multinationalen ausländischen Unternehmen kontrolliert werden. Schiffe, die unter falscher Flagge fahren. All diese Orte bilden das Niemandsland. Hier gelten die Rechte und Gesetze nicht, die in den uns bekannten Nationalstaaten bestehen. Und das nutzen die Wohlhabenden und Mächtigen zu ihrem Vorteil. In einer fesselnden Investigativreportage, in der sie uns rund um den Globus führt, verfolgt die Journalistin Atossa Abrahamian die Entstehung und Entwicklung dieses verborgenen Universums. Sie enthüllt die schmutzigen Geschäfte preisgekrönter Ökonomen, exzentrischer Theoretiker und visionärer Berater und zeigt, wie diese letztendlich die globale Ordnung bestimmen. »Spannend, scharfsinnig und nachdenklich.« Daniel Immerwahr »Faszinierend – liest sich wie ein Roman.« Anne-Marie Slaughter