Where some may disagree is the author’s call for the centrality of the state in addressing climate change, citing Bolivia as a model. But Parenti nonetheless believes that, by necessity, our solutions lie in the capitalist system we now have and not in some large-scale transformation of society. If the book has an underlying weakness, it’s not an issue of ideology but of focus. The author’s interest in the decades-old political failures that contributed to the instability we see today provides context but too often comes at the expense of his task to fully explain what is happening on the ground today and to highlight solutions for these matters as we look to the future.
     Parenti’s contribution to the climate discussion is based on the outside expertise he is able to offer. In that, he joins the company of an expanding roster of journalists whose usual areas of study lie elsewhere but who find themselves writing about the pressing environmental matters of the day, as climate issues creep into nearly every aspect of life. A longtime embedded reporter like Parenti knows a tumultuous situation when he sees one. He has spent much of his career covering wars, and now he has come to identify what could be the greatest of them all – a hot global war that knows no national boundaries.