Comparative politics Books

Book SynopsisThe contributors to this volume show that the themes of empire, colony, and national liberation movements can be addressed in a European continental as much as in Asian, Latin American, or African contexts. There is a further benefit from a within-Europe comparison: It calls into question the tendency to assume fundamental differences between "western" and "eastern" Europe, including the now largely abandoned distinction between a "western" nationalism, defined as a civil nationalism, and an "eastern" one, defined as ethnic. It also answers the question whether intra-European comparison of this kind is possible, in a context where post-Soviet scholarship is often invisible in Anglo-American scholarship. As Norman Davies reminds us, low public awareness of Europe's smaller and, in west-European minds, "more distant" nations, underlies the persistence of false generalizations about them, including assumptions like "that the whole of the west was advanced while the whole of the east was backward."

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Book SynopsisThis book is a contribution to European comparative history involving Portugal and Slovakia, but also the larger geographic units of Iberia and Slavic Central Europe. While developments in Portugal and Slovakia predominate, Spain, the Czech lands, and other regions are discussed as well. The subjects investigated include the position of women and the activities of messianic thinkers in the seventeenth century as well as semi-fascist Catholic political movements in the twentieth century. The authors look at the subject matter from the viewpoint of politics, social phenomena, and culture. The cultural dimension includes religion and ideology, both of which have clearly been of critical importance in Portuguese and Slovak history. It also includes problems of ethno-linguistic and national identity and the more recent phenomenon of multiculturalism, whose social promotion is controversial and uncertain.

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Book SynopsisThe theory and concept of multi-level governance (MLG) is a fairly recent one, emerging from the deepening integration of the European Union in the early 1990s and the development of free trade agreements around the world. MLG enlarges the traditional approaches, namely those of neo-institutionalism and multinational federalism, by offering a better understanding of the role of the state, regions and provinces. The book analyses the changes that have taken place as well as those that might take place in the future.Table of ContentsPreface: Wyn Grant, University of WarwickIntroduction: Guy Lachapelle, Concordia University and Pablo Onate, Universidad de Valencia1. Multi-Level Governance and the Reconfiguration of Politics - New Regionalism, Federalism and the Devolution of Power in Comparative PerspectiveMichael Stein and Lisa Turkewitsch, University of TorontoAn Assessment of Multi-level Governance as an Analytical Concept Applied to Federations and Decentralised Unitary Systems:Germany versus the United KingdomYannis Papadopoulos, University of LausanneProblems of Democratic Accountability in Network and Multi-level GovernanceAlain G.-Gagnon, Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM)Multi-level Governance and the Reconfiguration of Political Space2. Trust in Government in Multi-level Governance SystemsFrancisco Llera Ramo, Universidad del Pais VascoThe Rise and Fall of Institutional Trust in Spain Guy Laforest and Camille Brunelle-Hamman, Universite LavalTrust and Mistrust between Harper and Quebec3. The International Role and Responsibilities of Sub-state EntitiesDavid Criekmans, University of AntwerpThe Diplomatic Activities of Regional Sub-State Entities : Towards a Multi-Level Diplomacy?Stephane Paquin, Ecole nationale d'administration publique (ENAP) Multi-level Governance and International Trade Negotiations: the Case of Canada's Trade Agreements Joaquim Molins and Ivan Medina, Autonomous University of BarcelonaBusiness Associations and Multi-level Dynamics in Spain and the UK4. The Collective Actors and their Relations in Multi-lever Layered-out Systems: the Role of Political PartiesLori Thorlakson, University of AlbertaPolitical Parties and Party Systems in Multi-level Layered-out Systems: CanadaGuy Lachapelle, Concordia UniversityPolitical Parties as a Tool of Identity Paradiplomacy: the Case of the Parti Quebecois and the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity Juan Rodriguez and Astrid Barrio, Universidad de ValenciaPolitical Parties in Multi-level Spain: Organization, Influence and StrategiesKris Deschouwer, Free University of BrusselsThe Organization and Functioning of Parties in Multi-level Belgium5. The Parliamentary Representatives and the Decision-making ProcessPablo Onate, Universidad de ValenciaPolitical Careers in Spain: Movements between Political Arenas in a Multi-level SystemKlaus Stolz, Chemnitz University of TechnologyBringing Politicians back in: Political Careers and Political Class in Multi-level SystemsPeverill Squire, University of MissouriState Legislatures and the Policy Making Process in the United States

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Book SynopsisThe United Service Institution of India (USI) and the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) have taken an initiative to collaborate to document experiences and methodology of dealing with the terrorism and insurgencies in their respective nations. India and Nigeria are dealing with the violent extremism, secessionist movements and insurgencies due to economic, political and social reasons. Both nations have suffered economically and the conflicts are affecting internal harmony and social fabric of the states. The challenge to the governments is to restore peace, harmony and economic development. The overall objective of the joint study is to learn the lessons from the Indian and Nigerian experiences of dealing with the violent extremism, insurgency and militancy.

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Book SynopsisBattlefield India is a chronicle of the near past which tells us how the cycle of chaos repeats itself. The story starts in 1997 on the eve of India's 50th year as an independent nation, and ends in 2022 as free India celebrates its 75th birthday. The political, economic, and social events of the last 25 years are recounted through the voices of people the author has interviewed over the years. These voices include many who shall go down in the history books as legends of this period in India's long history: among others, the man behind the Green Revolution and a member of independent India's Constituent Assembly C Subramaniam, the former President of India R. Venkataraman, the eminent agronomist Dr M''s Swaminathan.

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Book SynopsisIn The Unfinished Quest, T.V. Paul charts India''s checkered path toward higher regional and global status, and sheds important light on its significance as the swing power that can mitigate China''s aggressive rise in the Indo-Pacific region. In 2022, India surpassed the United Kingdom, its former colonial ruler, as the fifth largest economy in the world. Since the 1990s, a series of US presidents and secretaries of state have all acclaimed India as a rising major power that deserves to be recognized as a lead actor in the international arena. All five permanent members of the UN Security Council except China have openly acknowledged the need to include India among their ranks. But even now, India has not attained the status of a globally recognized great power. In The Unfinished Quest, leading international relations and South Asia scholar T.V. Paul charts India''s checkered path toward higher regional and global status, covering both the successes and failures it has experienced sin

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when a tradition-bound institution encounters an iconoclastic president intent on changing how the government operates? In Disruption?, Sean M. Theriault has gathered nineteen leading authors from a range of subfields to provide a compelling understanding for if, how, and to what extent Trump disrupted the Senate. As the authors argue, Trump became trapped in the norms and rules of the Senate on some dimensions, while he became the story to which all senators needed to respond on others. This book shows how multiple facets of the Senate changed during Trump''s presidency, including the legislative process, party leadership, roll-call voting, and communications. Comprehensive in its coverage of the period and embedding it in a deep historical context, this book highlights how these changes reflected back on to not only the Trump administration, but also the very legitimacy of the Senate itself.

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Book SynopsisOne of the primary goals of the 1970s-era conservative legal movement was to undo New Deal policies that favored labor at the expense of capital. One of the movement''s most effective strategies turned out to be advancing bipartisan legislation on arbitration and convincing the courts that settling disputes that way was preferable to litigation. Today, most consumers and employees today are bound by arbitration agreements, in which they are required to submit all future grievances to a private, binding system of arbitration and forfeit access to the legal system. Arbitration as originally conceived well over a century ago, however, stands in stark contrast to the arbitration in practice today. What changed is that Congress, the Supreme Court, and the private sector began to promote its use in the late twentieth century as a means of protecting corporate and other powerful institutional defendants from the costs of litigation and government regulation itself.How did arbitration shift fr

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Book SynopsisThe nation-state is a double sleight of hand, naturalizing both the nation and the state encompassing it. No such naturalization is possible in multinational states. To explain why these countries experience political crises that bring their very existence into question, standard accounts point to conflicts over resources, security, and power. This book turns the spotlight on institutional symbolism.When minority nations in multinational states press for more self-government, they are not only looking to protect their interests. They are asking to be recognized as political communities in their own right. Yet satisfying their demands for recognition threatens to provoke a reaction from members of majority nations who see such changes as a symbolic repudiation of their own vision of politics. Secessionist crises flare up when majority backlash reverses symbolic concessions to minority nations. Through a synoptic historical sweep of Canada, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia,Trade Review"The Symbolic State is a theoretically and empirically ambitious book that challenges scholars of decentralization and secessionism to consider the distinctive dynamics that occur within multinational states. In particular it challenges broad-brush theories of federalism and 'indirect rule' that assume a universal relationship between territorial concessions and self-determination demands. The phenomenon is far more complex and contingent than much of the existing research acknowledges." Jason Sorens, Saint Anselm College and author of Secessionism: Identity, Interest, and Strategy“An innovative perspective on secessionist claims in multinational states. … Basta’s contribution opens up new ways to address secessionist claims in multinational states, the symbolic sway of institutional recognition, and the importance of unambiguous signalling by majority groups in the run-up to secession. In particular, by analysing processes and the symbolic meaning of institutions, he provides a useful contribution to the scholarship on multinational states and comparative politics.” Europe/Asia Studies“Basta’s study represents a much welcomed, needed, and highly recommendable book for multiple strands of scholarship, not just for the comparative study of multinational states, but even on the state as well as comparative politics in general." *Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft *

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Book SynopsisHow do democracies form and what makes them die? Daniel Ziblatt revisits this timely and classic question in a wide-ranging historical narrative that traces the evolution of modern political democracy in Europe from its modest beginnings in 1830s Britain to Adolf Hitler's 1933 seizure of power in Weimar Germany. Based on rich historical and quantitative evidence, the book offers a major reinterpretation of European history and the question of how stable political democracy is achieved. The barriers to inclusive political rule, Ziblatt finds, were not inevitably overcome by unstoppable tides of socioeconomic change, a simple triumph of a growing middle class, or even by working class collective action. Instead, political democracy's fate surprisingly hinged on how conservative political parties â the historical defenders of power, wealth, and privilege â recast themselves and coped with the rise of their own radical right. With striking modern parallels, the book has vital implicationsTrade Review'Daniel Ziblatt has written an incredibly important book about the development of democracy in Europe. Based on in-depth qualitative research and extremely innovative use of quantitative data, he has given us a new picture of German and British political development in particular. Focusing on opponents of democratization, Ziblatt asks why anti-democratic elites accepted democratization in some places (like Britain) but vociferously and often violently opposed it in other places (like Germany). Ziblatt points to the strength of conservative parties as the key variable. This book will be invaluable to anyone interested in European political history, democratization more generally, and the ways in which thoughtful historical research can illuminate contemporary debates.' Sheri Berman, Barnard College, New York'Daniel Ziblatt revolutionizes the literature on democratic transitions by linking it to subsequent democratic breakdown, and shows that it is the nature of conservative party organization that determines democracy's long-run stability. His focus on democracy's 'first wave' in the nineteenth century carries enormous implications for the future of democracy today.' Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, California'This book profoundly improves our understanding of historical regime trajectories. Only where inclusive, encompassing, and centralized conservative parties created a centripetal dynamic that could sideline reactionary challenges could regime change progress incrementally toward democracy. And only there, democracy proved resilient against renewed authoritarian challenges in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, Ziblatt's book may also have timely implications for twenty-first century challenges to democracy.' Herbert Kitschelt, George V. Allen Professor of International Relations, Duke University, North Carolina'This is the best book in comparative politics I have read in a decade. Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy is a book of stunning erudition and deep learning. It has profound implications for how we think about democratic development and dictatorship virtually everywhere in the world.' Jeffrey Kopstein, Chair of the Political Science Department, University of California, Irvine'With immensely erudite historical comparison, quantitative evidence, and probing archival research, Daniel Ziblatt demonstrates that the organizational capacity of conservative elites makes the crucial long-term contribution to preserving liberal democracy. He has, I fear, written the political parable for our own times.' Charles S. Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University, Massachusetts'First we had Capital in the Twenty-First Century, now we have Barrington Moore.' James Robinson, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago'… Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy is written in fire. It delves deep into long-forgotten electoral histories to emerge with insights of Tocquevillian power, to illuminate not only the past but also the present and future.' David Frum, The Atlantic'Ziblatt's well-written and astute analysis is of interest both to professional political scientists and historians and a wider audience of anyone curious about the course of European democratization.' Hermann Beck, The Journal of Modern History'The book contains a plethora of fascinating empirical analyses … it is a wonderful read, and I found myself so engrossed, especially in the German chapters, that I had a hard time putting the book down.' Jørgen Møller, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics'All in all, the book's scope is impressive. The author not just compares the development of conservative parties in Germany and the UK but also includes short side views about other European and even non-European countries to support his arguments.' Frieder Gunther, American Historical Review'… the book's scope is impressive. The author not just compares the development of conservative parties in Germany and the UK but also includes short side views about other European and even non-European countries to support his arguments. Daniel Ziblatt has added a viable argument to the debate on the survivability of democracies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which helps us to better understand why some countries were more inclined to choose anti-parliamentarian alternatives than others.' Frieder Gunther'Ziblatt's book offers a plethora of empirical examples analyzed through fascinating datasets collected from a wide range of sources (from memoires to census and parliamentary reports). The micro-level evidence for the case studies presents an insightful and detailed comparative historical analysis. The crafted use of nested analysis (quantitative and qualitative) for his case studies vividly presents the importance of center-right parties for democratization in Western Europe.' Zdravko Veljanov, Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft'… a brilliant scholarly work …' Fareed Zakaria, The Washington PostTable of Contents1. Two patterns of democratization; 2. The old regime and the conservative dilemma; 3. From 1688 to mass politics: British democratization; 4. A virtuous cycle? Conservative strength and Britain's settled path, 1884–1906; 5. Averting a democratic disaster in Britain, 1906–1922; 6. Weak party conservatism and the case of Germany; 7. Stalled democratization in Germany before 1914; 8. The unsettled path: conservative weakness in Weimar Germany, 1918–1928; 9. A deluge: conservative weakness and democratic breakdown in Germany; 10. How countries democratize: Europe and beyond; 11. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisExploreshow right-wing populists use religion as a cultural identity marker for minorities,while remaining distanced from Christian values, beliefs, and institutions.Based on interviews with key figures in the USA and Europe, this book asks howreligiously diversesocietiescan confront therise of a secular, populist and identitarian right.Table of Contents1. Introduction: the new crusaders; Part I. Foundations: 2. Definitions, methods, cases and sources; 3. A fourfold argument: the identity cleavage, the secular right, religious immunity, and Christian leadership; Part II. The German Churches and the AfD: Debunking Populist Sanctimony: 4. Christianity and democracy in Germany after WWII: from a marriage of convenience to happily ever after?; 5. The advent of the AfD in the context of the new identity cleavage; 6. Defenders of the faith? The AfD's Christian credentials under scrutiny; 7. Religious immunity: voting behaviour and the Church's social firewall; Part III. French Catholicism between the RN and laicité: between the devil and the dark blue sea: 8. La République Laïque vs. La France Catholique: the rise and decline of French 'Catho-Laïcité'; 9. France's new identity cleavage and the rise of the far right; 10. La fille ainée de l'Église? Christianism and secularism in the French populist right; 11. A successful dédiabolisation? Factors in understanding the weakening of religious immunity to populism in France; Part IV. A Faustian bargain? American Christianity and Trumpism.12. 'A Nation under God'? American civil religion between the wall of separation and Christian nationalism; 13. The new social cleavage: from religious culture wars to white identity politics; 14. The Saviour of Christian America? Trumpism's Christian credentials through the lens of the cultural-ethical triangle; 15. A Faustian bargain? Understanding white Christian support for Trump; Part V. Conclusion: 16. Squaring the circle: four cornerstones of a general theory of the relationship between right-wing populism and religion in the West; 17. Democracy after God? Faith, populism and the future of liberal democracy; Bibliography; Appendix A; Appendix B.

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Book SynopsisAbby Innes argues that the Soviet revolution and British neoliberalism failed for many of the same theoretical and practical reasons. She shows how Britain championed radical economic liberalisation only to weaken and ultimately break its own governing institutions.Trade Review'Abby Innes is one of the most original and provocative analysts of politics in Britain. Her inventive, erudite explorations of both right and left and the many pathologies that make them mimic each other explain so many of the problems which beset the country today.' Rory Stewart, Director of Give Directly, former UK Secretary of State for International Development and co-presenter of the podcast The Rest is Politics'Innes has written a creative, original and deeply insightful account of the modern British state. In comparing the utopianism of neo-liberal thinking and policymaking to that of the Soviet system, she shows how the attempt to translate closed theoretical models into practice leads to weakened forms of governance. This book is critical reading for those trying to understand both contemporary Britain and the nature of modern statecraft.' Jane Gingrich, Professor of Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI), University of Oxford'The neoclassical project of withdrawing the state from the market ironically rested upon the same fallacy as Soviet planning: that a self-regulating material utopia was possible. The result in both cases was stifling bureaucratic overreach, economic stagnation and system crisis, as the utopia could never be realised. That which is opposite is really the same. Innes offers us more than an analogy of decline. She gives us a forensic dissection of the same pathology in two quite different bodies. A bold and important book.' Mark Blyth, Professor of International Economics at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, Rhode Island'Political dogmatism kills, no matter what its ideological shape and pedigree. Abby Innes has given the most meticulous articulation of an insight that, through Václav Havel's writing, nourished the insurrections against the totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe. Thanks to her merciless dissection of the totalitarian logic of neo-liberalism and her scrupulous account of the damage it has inflicted on Britain, we should be better equipped to find a way out. In Late Soviet Britain, Abby Innes has recast the Enlightenment project by cleansing it of its modernist hubris. Emancipation without utopia requires politics without dogma, and this book charts a new road ahead.' Albena Azmanova, Author of The Scandal of Reason and the multiple-award-winning Capitalism on EdgeTable of ContentsIntroduction: the Gods that failed; Part I. The Materialist Utopias: 1. Rationality and closed-system reasoning; 2. General equilibrium and the balanced plan; 3. On bureaucracy; 4. On 'organised forgetting' in the governing science; Part II. Britain's Neoliberal Revolution: 5. The new public management, or Enterprise planning in capitalist form; 6. Quasi-markets in welfare, or The non-withering state; 7. Tax competition, or The return of regulatory bargaining; 8. Efficient markets and climate change, or Soviet cybernetics 2.0; Part III. The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal 'Movement Regime': 9. Neoliberalism: the Brezhnev years; 10. A politics for the end of time.

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Book SynopsisIs democracy in crisis? The current threats to democracy are not just political: they are deeply embedded in the democracies of today, in current economic, social, and cultural conditions. In Crises of Democracy, Adam Przeworski presents a panorama of the political situation throughout the world of established democracies, places it in the context of past misadventures of democratic regimes, and speculates on the prospects. Our present state of knowledge does not support facile conclusions. ''We should not believe the flood of writings that have all the answers''. Avoiding technical aspects, this book is addressed not only to professional social scientists, but to everyone concerned about the prospects of democracy.Trade Review'The mood in the democratic world these days is one of pessimism, but we are fortunate to have one of the grandmasters of comparative politics to help us understand the situation. Crises of Democracy is incisive, clear and full of insights into where we have been and where we might go.' Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of Law, University of Chicago'In this sober, highly illuminating look at the shaky state of democracy around the world, Adam Przeworski seeks to understand the causes of the explosion of populist, anti-establishment forces that have overtaken mature democracies in Europe and have resulted in the election of Donald Trump in the United States. Every page is chock full of insights. Przeworski, arguably the most brilliant comparativist of our time, carefully defines 'democracy crisis' and shows why many mature democracies are facing one now.' Mitchell A. Seligson, Centennial Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee'In the age of Trump, Putin, and Brexit, ordinary people and pundits alike increasingly wonder whether democracy is in a crisis or even danger. The flood of explanations ranges from factors as different as the decline of traditional parties, rising economic inequality, and the emergence of social media - to name just a few. What is sorely lacking is a perspective that separates what is unique about the present moment from what is history just repeating itself. Adam Przeworski, the world's leading authority on democracy and democratization, delivers precisely that - and he does so with an unparalleled historical perspective and the rigor of modern social science.' Milan Svolik, Yale University, Connecticut'The wealth of information and lucid narrative make Crises of Democracy an informative read.' Michal Boncza, Morning Star'This is a book by a remarkable man about a topic of immense importance and great urgency which he has been studying from one angle or another for most of his adult life. Its conclusions are careful, tentative and disconcerting. It is neither partisan nor melodramatic, yet also resolutely undidactic an object lesson in how to think seriously about politics but leave your readers better equipped to go on doing so coherently for themselves.' John Dunn, Society'… a major contribution to the comparative politics literature—and a must-read for political scientists and educated citizens concerned about the fate of democratic institutions in the contemporary era.' Stephen E. Hanson, Perspectives on PoliticsTable of Contents1. Introduction; Part I. The Past: Crises of Democracy: 2. General patterns; 3. Some stories; 4. Lessons from history: what to look for?; Part II. The Present: What Is Happening?: 5. The signs; 6. Potential causes; 7. Where to seek explanations?; 8. What may be unprecedented?; Part III. The Future?: 9. How democracy works; 10. Subversion by stealth; 11. What can and cannot happen?

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Book SynopsisNegative views of the United States abound, but we know too little about how such views affect politics. Drawing on careful research on post-Soviet Central Asia, Edward Schatz argues that anti-Americanism is best seen not as a rising tide that swamps or as a conflagration that overwhelms. Rather, "America" is a symbolic resource that resides quietly in the mundane but always has potential value for social and political mobilizers. Using a wide range of evidence and a novel analytic framework, Schatz considers how Islamist movements, human rights activists, and labor mobilizers across Central Asia avail themselves of this fact, thus changing their ability to pursue their respective agendas. By refocusing our analytic gaze away from high politics, he affords us a clearer view of the slower-moving, partially occluded, and socially embedded processes that ground how "America" becomes political. In turn, we gain a nuanced appreciation of the downstream effects of US foreign policy choices and a sober sense of the challenges posed by the politics of traveling images. Most treatments of anti-Americanism focus on politics in the realm of presidential elections and foreign policies. By focusing instead on symbols, Schatz lays bare how changing public attitudes shift social relations in politically significant ways, and considers how changing symbolic depictions of the United States recombine the raw material available for social mobilizers. Just like sediment traveling along waterways before reaching its final destination, the raw material that constitutes symbolic America can travel among various social groups, and can settle into place to form the basis of new social meanings. Symbolic America, Schatz shows us, matters for politics in Central Asia and beyond.Trade Review"Fresh, strikingly original, and with the wisdom of the long view, Slow Anti-Americanism compellingly shows the slow-burning complexities of anti-Americanism. Edward Schatz's careful observations offer critical guidance to scholars and policymakers about what America stands for in Central Asia and beyond." -- Alexander Cooley * Columbia University *"Relying on geological metaphors and the analysis of symbolic politics, Edward Schatz offers a theoretically nuanced and empirically innovative study of anti-Americanism in Central Asia. Slow Anti-Americanism is a valuable addition to a literature that is, once again, of growing importance in the analysis of U.S. foreign policy and world politics." -- Peter J. Katzenstein * Cornell University *"Edward Schatz looks at how negative perceptions of America conditioned the long-term success or failure of domestic political movements abroad. Turning the topic inside out on the strategic terrain of central Asia, this brilliant book heralds a paradigm shift in the study of public diplomacy. It deserves a large audience." -- Alex Langstaff * International Affairs *"Those interested in reflecting on the recent history of America's reputation abroad and what should be done differently in the future will want to readSlow Anti-Americanism... It takes readers far from the headspace of the foreign policy community and into the lives of activists and ordinary people in a part of the world where the reputation of the United States has changed greatly over the last 30 years." –Laura Adams, the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs"Whereas scholars have tended to view anti-Americanism as either a psychological or a cultural 'clash of civilizations' phenomenon, Edward Schatz looks at how negative perceptions of America conditioned the long-term success or failure of domestic political movements abroad. Turning the topic inside out on the strategic terrain of central Asia, this brilliant book heralds a paradigm shift in the study of public diplomacy. It deserves a large audience." -- Alex Langstaff * International Affairs *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction: Slow Anti-Americanism chapter abstractWhile anti-Americanism is typically studied through the lens of "high politics," this introductory chapter contends that such approaches blind us to the political dynamics of this important phenomenon. Instead, the chapter introduces slow anti-Americanism, which takes better stock of the phenomenon. The chapter shows that attention to the symbolic power of "America" allows us to view how social and political mobilizers use changing symbolic raw material to further their goals. It emphasizes that changes to symbolic America may occur slowly, leaving resonant social meanings in their wake. Such meanings can be quarried by future generations for political benefit. The chapter previews how the Central Asian cases provide new analytic traction on a complex problem. 1America's Changing Image chapter abstractThis chapter traces how images of the United States changed in the Central Asian region from the Soviet period into the post-Soviet period. Setting the stage for the discussion of social movements that follows, this chapter makes three points. First, Central Asia's initial imaginings of the United States were the product of the Soviet period, and symbolic America for Central Asians was similar to what it was for other Soviet citizens—an ambiguous cluster of polyvalent but resonant images. Second, after an initial post-Soviet period of being overwhelmed by positive images of the United States, Central Asian opinions of the US declined. This downward trend occurred less because of concrete changes to US policy than because of the slow-moving processes of sedimentation. Third, because images of the United States had multiplied and diversified, a wider range of images became available for social mobilizers. They would be the symbolic raw material for Central Asia's social movements to use in the 2000's and beyond. 2Islamist Trajectories chapter abstractThis chapter traces the arcs of Islamist mobilizers. First, it introduces a plural understanding of Islamism, recognizing that whatever theological consensus the pious might seek, real-world contexts witness a striking variety of ways that religion and politics intersect. Second, the chapter highlights the rise of Islamic piety since the Soviet collapse, arguing against a simplistic notion that greater piety necessarily produces a politics inflected by religion. Finally, the chapter details how three Islamist movements—Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan—use the changing American image. The examples underscore that, while America's image matters in Central Asia, how precisely its significance becomes political depends on image-making efforts at play in each movement. 3Human Rights Trajectories chapter abstractThis chapter traces the arcs of human rights activism in Central Asia. It argues that the post-9/11 securitization of US foreign policy indeed did complicate the pursuit of a human-rights agenda but in complex way. This chapter uses the extended example of Kyrgyzstan and its two "revolutions" in 2005 and 2010 to highlight how the shift to symbolic America had a different impact, depending on whether activism was classic street protests or via professional rule-of-law advocacy. 4Labor, Disorganized chapter abstractThis chapter takes stock of a third and final type of activism: labor. By all appearances, labor was in a position to take full advantage of shifts to symbolic America. In Central Asia, as across post-socialist space more generally, societies had experienced dramatic macro-economic contraction and massive dislocation in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse. Once-robust and explicit labor protections were quickly dismantled or hollowed out. Ordinary people suffered greatly, and labor—the notional cornerstone of state socialism—had ample grievances. Yet, while labor activists in Central Asia were well aware of the United States and its symbolic power, they did not avail themselves of the opportunity to use symbolic America in their framing efforts. This chapter explores the impact of this missed opportunity. Conclusion: Shaping the Slow Politics of Anti-Americanism chapter abstractThis conclusion first recaps the arcs of Central Asian social mobilization and highlights how slow anti-Americanism helped to shake the political terrain across the region. It then turns to policy-relevant questions. What changes might shape how symbolic America affects global publics and global politics? While policymakers pay attention to the substance of their policies and sometimes pay attention to communicating their policies, they rarely concern themselves with matters of credibility. As research on framing effects suggests, however, the credibility of the messenger is crucial to effective public diplomacy and therefore essential to affecting how symbolic America shapes politics across the globe.

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Book SynopsisIn this now classic text, December Green and Laura Luehrmann show how history, economics, and politics converge to create the realities of life in the Global South. The authors offer an innovative blend of theory and empirical material as they introduce the politics of what was once called the “third world.” They consistently link theoretical concepts to a set of eight contemporary case studies: China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, and Zimbabwe. Features of the fourth edition, revised and updated from cover to cover, include: • An entirely new case study, Egypt. • Analysis of the status of regime transitions around the world. • A “report card” on the Millennium Development Goals. • Attention to the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and the New Development Bank. • More discussion of contentious politics, social mobilization and everyday forms of resistance. • New material on such continuing challenges as migration, human trafficking, weapons proliferation, pandemic diseases, and the impact of climate change. • An assessment of continuity and change in `international relations, with particular attention to policies during the Obama presidency and the significance for the Global South of the new US administration. The result is a text that has been successfully designed to challenge students’ preconceptions, arouse their curiosity, and foster critical thinking. Trade Review Praise for the previous editions: “This book outshines any other text I have seen.... The authors do a wonderful job of synthesizing a great deal of information and presenting it in terms that should engage an audience of undergraduates.” —Dwight Hahn, John Carroll University “The writing style is lively and the detail is impressive.... another welcome innovation is the welding together of the discussion of key issues with the eight country cases.” —Ross Burkhart, Boise State UniversityTable of ContentsComparing and Defining a Complex World. HISTORICAL LEGACIES. Precolonial History: What Once Was, and Why It Matters. How Colonialism Changed Everything. Independence: In Name Only? ECONOMIC REALITIES. Sustainable Human Development: A Progress Report. Adjustments, Conditions, and Alternatives. POLITICS AND POLITICAL CHANGE. Civil Society Takes on the State. Militaries, Militias, Guerrillas, and Terrorists. Transitions: Democracy, Dictatorship, and the Messy Middle. Authoritarian Backlash: Freedom in Decline? THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM. Sovereignty and the Role of International Organizations. Confronting Global Challenges. Global South Perspectives on the United States. CONCLUSION. Looking Forward: Contested Images of Power.

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Book SynopsisOne US military leader has called Israel “the intelligence equivalent of five CIAs.” An Israeli cabinet minister likens his country to “the equivalent of a dozen US aircraft carriers,” while the Jerusalem Post defines Israel as the executive of a “superior Western military force that” protects “America’s interests in the region.” Arab leaders have called Israel “a club the United States uses against the Arabs,” and “a poisoned dagger implanted in the heart of the Arab nation.” Israel’s first leaders proclaimed their new state in 1948 under a portrait of Theodore Herzl, who had defined the future Jewish state as “a settler colony for European Jews in the Middle East under the military umbrella of one of the Great Powers.” The first Great Power to sponsor Herzl’s dream was Great Britain in 1917 when foreign secretary Sir Arthur Balfour promised British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1967 Israel launched a successful war against the highly popular Arab nationalist movement of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, the most popular Arab leader since the Prophet Mohammed. Nasser rallied the world’s oppressed to the project of throwing off the chains of colonialism and subordination to the West. He inspired leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Muammar Gaddafi. Viewing Israel as a potentially valuable asset in suppressing liberation movements, Washington poured billions into Israel’s economy and military. Since 1967, Israel has undertaken innumerable operations on Washington’s behalf, against states that reject US supremacy and economic domination. The self-appointed Jewish state has become what Zionists from Herzl to an editor of Haaretz, the liberal Israeli newspaper, have defined as a watch-dog capable of sufficiently punishing neighboring countries discourteous towards the West.Stephen Gowans challenges the specious argument that Israel controls US foreign policy, tracing the development of the self-declared Jewish state, from its conception in the ideas of Theodore Herzl, to its birth as a European colony, through its efforts to suppress regional liberation movements, to its emergence as an extension of the Pentagon, integrated into the US empire as a pro-imperialist Sparta of the Middle East.Trade ReviewStephen Gowans' book is a concise and pertinent de-mythologizing of Zionist propaganda, from early Zionists and founders, to the fascist global right leadership at present ... a tantalizing historical read, and a huge and valuable resource text, both." —John Steppling, Counterpunch"This book is a timely response to three groups: those yet to grasp that Israel in its current form is an outrage comparable to apartheid South Africa; those who recognise this truth but fail (as had many sincere opponents of apartheid) to see the bigger picture of a Faustian bargain with Western elites; those who say the USA is a vassal—a client state of Israel." —Philip Roddis, Steel City Scribblings

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