STOIC SKILLS, IRAN AND POSSESSIVE INDIVIDUALISM

The Stoic Skills substack identifies key skills – critical thinking, attention management, financial literacy, adaptability and self-reflection with the latter being the most important.

Then a couple of recent books about IRAN

Post-revolutionary Conditions – renewed versions of the Iranian Freedom 
Struggle Alborz Ghandehari (2025)
The Long War on Iran – new events, old questions Behrooz Ghamani (2025) 
who spent some years in prison for his Marxist beliefs with a serious cancer, 
then released and allowed to migrate to the US where he is now a sociology 
Professor

Possessive Individualism was a topic which excited me in my university days which has been the subject of no fewer than three books in recent years

Possessive Individualism - a crisis of capitalism Daniel Bromley  (2019)
Reconsidering CB McPerson – from possesive individualism to democratic theory 
and beyond Phillip Hansen (2019)
The Political Thought of CB McPherson Frank Cunningham (2019)
The Political Theory of Possesive Individualism CB McPherson (1962 - 1990 ed)

Cannibal Capitalism Nancy Fraser (2022)    
Politics Without Politicians – the case for citizen rule Helene Landemore (2026) 
A useful look at what rendition offers for electoral politics
Hyperpolitics – extreme politicisation without political consequences Anton Jaeger 
(2026) A short book – a mere 100pp
Braver New World – the countries making things others won't John Kampfner (2026) 
A book which tries to draw lessons from the advantages of other countries eg how 
the Japanese deal positively with old age; how the Finns educate children; or how 
the Indonesians deal with the sick 
Tribal Politics – how Brexit divided Britain Sara Hobolt and James Lilley (2026) 
A more sociological look at how Brexit has divided the UK than the usual talk of 
“anywheres and somewheres”
Public Administration and the Illiberal Challenge Michael Bauer (2026) a short book 
(96pp) which 
addresses the illiberal challenge facing public administration amidst the rise of 
authoritarian populism and democratic backsliding. It investigates how populist 
governments seek to reshape state bureaucracies, often undermining liberal 
democratic principles such as pluralism, expertise, and constitutional safeguards, 
and examines how public administration must respond to safeguard democratic 
integrity. Drawing on global examples, the book identifies strategies of populist 
administrative manipulation, patterns of bureaucratic compliance and resistance 
and critical gaps in scholarly understanding. It develops a framework for 
analyzing these dynamics and proposes normative principles to defend active 
democratic bureaucracy. Through theoretical inquiry and practical recommendations, 
it advocates for robust, ethically grounded public administration capable of 
countering illiberal pressures. Its central thesis underscores the need to restore 
the intellectual foundation of public administration as a social science deeply 
embedded in and committed to the democratic policy process. 

The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins Ivan Katchanovski (2026) 
Probably the best book on the war
The Fraud – Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney and the crisis of british democracy  
Paul Holden (2025) A detailed and frightening account of the extent of Starmer’s 
betrayal of the hopes of millions of Brits with extensive notes 
The Weaponization of Expertise – how elites fuel populism Jacob Russell 
and Dennis Patterson (2025)
The Technological Republic – hard power, soft belief and the future of the West 
Alex Karp (2025) Karp is linked to the founders of PALANTIR and anything 
written by him should be taken with a pinch of strong salt.