Regional / International studies Books

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Book SynopsisThe medieval Republic of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik) was a prosperous small open economy, rivalling bigger competitors. This study collects together evidence on how Ragusa compared to other economies of the region, and addresses the difficult question of why it outperformed its Dalmatian rivals (Kotor, Split and Zadar).Table of ContentsPART I: OVERVIEW OF BOOK 1. Introduction 2 . Key Aspects of The New Institutional Economics (NIE) PART II: ECONOMIC HISTORY OF RAGUSA/DUBROVNIK 3. History of Ragusa in Eastern Mediterranean Context 4. Economic Evolution and Rise to Prosperity 5. Quantifying Ragusan Prosperity and Disproportionate East Mediterranean Role 6. The Relative Decline after Vasco da Gama Circumnavigation PART III. PRUDENT MACROECONOMIC POLICIES 7. The System of Governance , Wise Policies , and Market-Friendly Institutions 8. Macro Policies 1: Fiscal Probity the Starting Point for Good Institutions 9. Macro Policies 2: Monetary and Financial Prudence , Minimal Public Debt PART IV. GROWTH-PROMOTING INSTITUTIONS 10. Institutions Friendly to Commerce- in today's jargon 'Ease of Doing Business' 11. An Open Legal System with Effective Rule-of-Law 12. 'Sufficient ' Social Fairness Provides Stability 13. Maximal Diplomacy with Minimal Military PART V. CONCLUSIONS 14.How Unique Was Ragusa? Some Comparison with Venice and Others 15. A Successful Case of Institutional Optimality Before its Time: What lessons for the 21st. century?

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Book SynopsisLatin America was one of the regions least affected by the global financial crisis of 2008. Latin America after the Financial Crisis explains how the global financial crisis affected the region and why it was not as severe as other crises in the past.Trade Review“Latin America after the Financial Crisis is stronger on diagnosis than innovative policy prescription. … a richly textured view of how Latin America experienced the global financial crisis. Opening with commonly understood causes of the crisis in globalized capital markets, the book contests the neoclassical view that unsound monetary policy, regulatory failures, fraudulent practices, and external shocks were at the core of the seismic crisis.” (Patrice Franko, Latin American Research Review, Vol. 54 (1), 2019)Table of Contents1. Introduction; Juan Santarcangelo 2. Unraveling the Sub-prime Global Financial Crisis; Orlando Justo and Juan Santarcangelo 3. The Global Crisis and its Effects on the Accumulation in Argentina; Juan Santarcangelo and Guido Perrone 4. The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Brazil from 2008 to the Present; Paul Cooney and Gilberto Marquez 5. Boom and Bust in Colombia 1990-2013; Guillermo Maya Munoz and Daniel Restrepo Soto 6. The Global Crisis and the Chilean Economy; Claudio Lara Cortes 7. The Impact of the Global Post-2007 Economic Crisis and Subsequent Lethargic Performance on Cuba's Economy; Al Campbell 8. The Structural Causes of the Severity of the World Crisis in Mexico; Abelardo Marina Flores and Sergio Camara Izquierdo 9. Venezuela and the International Crisis; Diego Mansilla 10. The Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis in Latin America; Paul Cooney, Orlando Justo and Juan Santarcangelo

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Book SynopsisArgentina is a country of enormous potential and challenging problems. In recent decades, violence and military dictatorships have upset the political system, and economic instability has held in check efforts to develop the country's industries. This up-to-date one-volume history of Argentina provides a solid and engaging introduction to the persons, events, and factors that have helped shape the nation. Covering the entire sweep of Argentina's history from pre-Columbian times to 2001, the narrative outlines the connections between the colonial era and the nineteenth century and focuses closely on the last three decades of the twentieth century, during which Argentina dealt with the legacies of Peronism and of military dictatorship, as well as the challenges of establishing a stable democracy. Also included are a timeline of historic events in Argentina, biographical sketches of key people in its history, a glossary of terms, and a bibliographic essay of works in English for further s

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Book SynopsisBrazil is a vast, complex country with great potential but an uneven history. This concise one-volume history will introduce readers to the history of Brazil from its origins to today. It emphasizes current affairs, including Brazil's return to democracy after more than two decades of military rule, and the economic consequences of adopting free-market policies as part of the creation of the global marketplace. The History of Brazil unfolds in narrative chronological chapters beginning with the Portuguese conquest and continues up to the present day. Short biographical sketches of 40 prominent Brazilians, a glossary of Portuguese terms, and a bibliographical essay add reference value to this work. This is the only up-to-date history of Brazil, current through 1999 and only concise one-volume history available to the student or traveller.

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Book SynopsisCosmopolitanism and friendship have become key themes for understanding ethnicity and nationalism. In this deeply original study of the Mongols, leading scholar Uradyn E. Bulag draws on these themes to develop a new concept he terms collaborative nationalism. He uses this concept to explore the paradoxical dilemma of minorities in China as they fight not against being excluded but against being embraced too tightly in the bonds of friendship. Going beyond traditional binary relationships, he offers a unique triangular perspective that illuminates the complexity of regional interaction. Thus, Collaborative Nationalism traces the regional and global significance of the Mongols in the fierce competition among China, Japan, Mongolia, and Russia to appropriate the Mongol heritage to buttress their own national identities. The book considers a rich array of case studies that range from Chinggis Khan to reincarnate lamas, from cadres to minority revolutionary history, and from building the Trade ReviewBulag's brilliant new book examines China's 'culture of intimacy,' in which minorities like the Mongolians and Tibetans are embraced in a suffocating hug. In a theoretical tour-de-force, Bulag overturns old conceptions of majority-minority relations, replacing them with a notion of society as a triadic space of possibilities. This is an essential book for understanding China, seeing it not as a unity but as a field of collaboration and contention. -- Caroline Humphrey, University of CambridgeUradyn Bulag, a distinguished ethnographer of Mongolia, explores emotional and political ties between Mongols and Chinese in this intriguing new book. Mongolia, as a former great empire that divided into an independent nation and a subordinated ethnic group within China, offers an unusual and fascinating case study that will interest students of nationalism and of Chinese history, as well as theorists of contemporary identities in the age of globalization. -- Peter Perdue, Yale UniversityBulag has succeeded in capturing—or recapturing—the significance of Inner Mongolia to the geopolitics of East Asia. In showing how virtually all twentieth-century regimes in Northeast Asia competed to appropriate the world-conquering symbolism of Chinggis Khan, and, paradoxically, the spiritual power of Lamaism, Collaborative Nationalism makes a case for Mongol agency in this exemplary study of the 'new’ political history. -- Prasenjit Duara, National University of SingaporeTable of ContentsIntroduction: Triangulating China's Ethnopolitics Part I: Subimperial Desires Chapter 1: Hunting Chinggis Khan's Skull and Soul Chapter 2: Lamas to the Rescue: Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism and Imperial Nationalisms Part II: Collaborative Nationalism Chapter 3: Friendship, Treason, and Collaborative Nationalism Chapter 4: Yearning for Friendship: The Political in Minority Revolutionary History Part III: Interethnic Intimacy Chapter 5: The Flight of the Golden Pony: Socialism and the Stillbirth of the Mongolian Working Class Chapter 6: Interethnic Adoption and the Regime of Affection Conclusion: The Specter of Interethnic Friendship Bibliography

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Book SynopsisNow thoroughly updated, this widely praised book provides a thoughtful and balanced examination of the development of Russian foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. This edition also places developments of the past two decades into the broader sweep of Russian history. Jeffrey Mankoff argues that Russia''s more assertive behavior since Vladimir Putin became president in 2000 has resulted from both a deep-seated consensus among its elite about Russia''s identity and interests as well as a favorable convergence of eventsincluding the persistence of high energy prices and the check on U.S. power resulting from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because these factors are the result of long-term trends, the author argues that there is little reason to expect that the election of Dmitry Medvedev will fundamentally alter Russian foreign policy behavior.Presenting an evenhanded treatment of controversial issues, Mankoff analyzes Russia''s interactions with major global actors, including Trade ReviewRussian foreign policy has never been explicitly anti-American and Russian leaders have always sought good relations with the United States to the extent that it was compatible with their main goal: Russia is a great power. With this second edition, revised and enlarged, the author hopes to show how this hypothesis remains relevant and shapes the behavior of Russia on the international scene. According J.Mankoff, the statement of Russian foreign policy is the culmination of a process begun under President Yeltsin when the majority of the Russian political elite considered that the integration of Russia in the West was neither possible nor desirable. Despite the presence of some stereotypes widespread in the place of Russia, the richness of the analyzes presented in the book helps in any case to understand the ambitions and aspirations of post-Soviet Russia on the international scene. * The French Journal of Political Science *Mankoff argues convincingly that there is little reason to believe that Russia will challenge the West or start a confrontation; they are so highly interdependent that any attempt at open confrontation would be reduced to a senseless zero-sum game. Hence—and despite its sometimes-biased overtones—Mankoff’s book is thoroughly researched and provides in-depth knowledge and expertise regarding the contours of Russian foreign-policy thinking. Furthermore, Mankoff has successfully found a balance that makes the book valuable for both informed and uninformed audiences. Anyone with an interest in the thorny issue of Russia’s foreign policy should read this book. * Review of Central and East European Law *Very well-written. . . . After a lucid analysis of the main forces driving Russian foreign policy, the book turns to the relationship between Russia and some of the major global powers, namely the US, the EU and China. . . . The way in which the book combines rigorous and thorough research work, a clear-cut argumentation and structure, and a very dense but accessible style makes it one of the best available on the subject. Consequently, it should be read by scholars of Russian foreign policy as well as all those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the topic, all too often treated in a conventional or, worse, partisan way, either justifying or condemning Russia’s foreign policy without explaining it. * The International Spectator *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Guns of August Chapter 1: Contours of Russian Foreign Policy Chapter 2: Bulldogs Fighting Under the Rug: The Making of Russian Foreign Policy Chapter 3: Resetting Expectations: Russia and the United States Chapter 4: Europe: Between Integration and Confrontation Chapter 5: Rising China and Russia's Asian Vector Chapter 6: Playing with Home Field Advantage? Russia and its Post-Soviet Neighbors Conclusion: Dealing with Russia's Foreign Policy Reawakening

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Book SynopsisNow in a thoroughly updated edition, Resistant Islands offers the first comprehensive overview of Okinawan history from earliest times to the present, focusing especially on the recent period of colonization by Japan, its disastrous fate during World War II, and its current status as a glorified US military base. The base is a hot-button issue in Japan and has become more widely known in the wake of Japan's 2011 natural disasters and the US military role in emergency relief. Okinawa rejects the base-dominated role allocated it by the US and Japanese governments under which priority attaches to its military functions, as a kind of stationary aircraft carrier. The result has been to throw US-Japan relations into crisis, bringing down one prime minister who tried to stop construction of yet another base on the island and threatening the incumbent if he is unable to deliver Okinawan approval of the new base. Okinawa thus has become a template for reassessing the troubled US-Japan relationsTrade ReviewIn recent years, the main source of friction in the US–Japanese defense relationship has been local opposition to the basing of U.S. marines on the Japanese island of Okinawa. . . . McCormack and Norimatsu lay bare the resentment’s deeper historical roots. . . . The larger frame for McCormack and Norimatsu’s analysis is their sharply worded indictment of the US–Japanese relationship, which they believe is constructed not so much to defend Japan as to serve a US forward deployment strategy aimed at Southeast Asia and China. -- Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University * Foreign Affairs *The U.S. bases in Okinawa continue to be an irritant in bilateral relations. This book shifts our focus from Tokyo and Washington to the perceptions and grievances of Okinawans and why they oppose the US presence. The authors help readers understand a grassroots democratic movement challenging the garrison island status quo. * Japan Times *Resistant Islands draws a wide picture around the efforts by the people of the Okinawa island chain, Japan's southernmost prefecture, to throw off the enormous US military presence lodged on their limited land area since the horrific battles of early 1945, when a quarter of the Okinawan population died as drafted civilian pawns in the defense. * Interpreter *Deeply informed and rich in insight, this study brings to light the conquest of the peaceful and prosperous territory of Okinawa, its brutal integration into the nation-state/imperial system of East Asia, and after the murderous slaughter of World War II its conversion to a U.S. military base under the administration of America’s Japanese client state. And finally the courageous resistance of a proud people determined to regain what has been lost in centuries of oppression and to lead the way to an Asian community of justice and hope. It is a tale of horror and inspiration, with lessons of large and enduring significance. -- Noam Chomsky, MITYou may pick up this book because you think you ought to read an "Okinawan-centered" view of modern Japanese history, but you will find yourself riveted and wanting to recommend it to friends with no particular ties to Japan or Okinawa. The peculiar and noxious US-Japan dance designed to defer, preferably forever, respect for sovereignty, constitutionality, and democracy, in Japan as a whole and in Okinawa especially, makes for sober reading for citizens of the United States and the world. The outlines may be familiar to those who’ve had US interests reign paramount in their own societies, but the painstakingly researched details will find all readers catching their breath. The whole is written with the graceful clarity of principled commitment. The penultimate chapter, devoted to transmitting the voices of Okinawan activists spanning several generations, an enactment of such principle, is a gift to all readers. -- Norma Field, University of ChicagoResistant Islands is a tour de force—not only a stunning introduction to the resilience and vision of the people of Okinawa but also a devastating critique of official Tokyo’s obsequiousness to dictates emanating from Washington. -- John Dower, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Okinawa problem is a key pivot of modern Japan. It condenses the internal tensions between East Asia and the West, between war and peace; within it the most basic contradictions of the contemporary world are concentrated. This book possesses keen and spirited insight, revealing that these deep contradictions belong to Okinawa and to human kind. -- Sun Ge, Chinese Academy of Social Science, BeijingWhy, despite the end of the Cold War and the end of Liberal Democratic Party predominant party rule, does Okinawa still host 75 percent of US military installations in a prefecture making up no more than 0.6 percent of the land mass of the Japanese archipelago? Placing the base issue in the historical context of Japan's incorporation of the Ryukyu Islands into the Japanese state in the 1870s and the 'smoke and mirrors' reversion of Okinawa from US control to formal Japanese sovereignty in 1972, Gavan McCormack and Satoko Oka Norimatsu offer a trenchant analysis of the fate of the islands as a military outpost of the American eagle. With chapters on the current battle over the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in the face of local resistance, along with a penetrating analysis of the alliance under Prime Ministers Hatoyama and Kan, this book should be read by everyone interested in understanding the true nature of the US-Japan alliance from the perspective of the inhabitants of Okinawa. -- Glenn D. Hook, University of SheffieldEssential reading for all those interested in Pacific politics, even if they do not share the authors' passionate sympathy for the underdog. Apart from the book's readability, its historical depth and accuracy explains why the possibility that the Okinawan public might opt for Chinese rather than Japanese sovereignty—which is already agitating Japan's right-wing—will play a crucial role in the coming US-Chinese Cold War. The Japanese government is caught between a rock and a hard place. The hard place is Okinawa, but the rock, the deep military alliance with the United States, is of the Japanese governmental elite's own choosing. -- Ronald Dore, Grizzana, ItalyResistant Islands offers unique perspectives on the island’s tragic history and current plight. * Asian Studies Review *This book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary US-Japan relations. It draws on public statements and 'confidential' communications by officials of both governments . . . They reveal, in graphic detail and colorful language, the unrelieved condescension of US officials and the shameless subservience of their Japanese counterparts in this decidedly '[un]equal partnership.' The messages include 'secret accords' to maintain extraterritorial status for U.S. forces in Japan and to perpetuate the disproportionate US military presence in Okinawa with the option to introduce nuclear weapons even after its reversion to Japanese administration in 1972. . . .The most moving portions of this book are the personal statements by individuals who have resisted US and Japanese oppression through their public protests, their writings, and their policies as elected officials. * The Journal of Japanese Studies *Frankly speaking, there are things here that I myself [as Prime Minister of Japan, 2009-2010] was unaware of, including the documents published by Wikileaks. I am impressed at what a thorough job the authors have done. -- Hatoyama Yukio, Former Prime Minister of JapanAt last the indispensable book has appeared. These two non-Okinawan authors have a sensitivity to Okinawa greater than that of many Okinawans. They dig deeply to give us an extremely persuasive account of the problems facing Okinawa, For scholars who would seek the truth about Okinawa. For scholars who would seek the truth about Okinawa, this is a must-have book. -- Ota Masahide, Former Governor of OkinawaTable of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition Notes on Names Chronology Chapter 1: Ryukyu/Okinawa: From Disposal to Resistance Chapter 2: War, Memory, and Commemoration Chapter 3: Japan’s American Embrace and the “Partnership” for Peace and Prosperity Chapter 4: Okinawa: Separation and Reversion Chapter 5: Henoko: The Unwanted Base Chapter 6: The Hatoyama Revolt Chapter 7: Post–Cold War: Elections and Democracy Chapter 8: Environment: The “Nonassessment” Chapter 9: “Deepening” the Alliance: The Kan Agenda Chapter 10: “Deepening” the Alliance: Washington Agendas Chapter 11: Senkaku/Diaoyu: Okinawa as Militarized Outpost or as Bridge of Nations? Chapter 12: Turning History Around: History as Lived Experience Chapter 13: Prospect Chapter 14: The All-Okinawa Movement since 2013 Bibliography Index About the Authors

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Book SynopsisThis book offers the first detailed English-language examination of the Great Vietnamese Famine of 1945, which left at least a million dead, and links it persuasively to the largely unexpected Viet Minh seizure of power only months later. Drawing on extensive research in French archives, Geoffrey C. Gunn offers an important new interpretation of JapaneseVichy French wartime economic exploitation of Vietnam's agricultural potential. He analyzes successes and failures of French colonial rice programs and policies from the early 1900s to 1945, drawing clear connections between colonialism and agrarian unrest in the 1930s and the rise of the Viet Minh in the 1940s. Gunn asks whether the famine signaled a loss of the French administration's mandate of heaven, or whether the overall dire human condition was the determining factor in facilitating communist victory in August 1945. In the broader sweep of Vietnamese history, including the rise of the communist party, the picture that emerges isTrade ReviewFamine and war are frequent bedfellows, with civilian deaths due to starvation and malnutrition sometimes outnumbering battlefield casualties. This scenario was clearly the case in colonial Indochina as WW II reached its climax. The great famine of 1944-45 is largely unknown or forgotten in the West, and this new book by Gunn appears to be the first title in English to discuss it at length. In examining the famine, Gunn discusses the role of natural disaster, rice requisitions by the occupying Japanese forces, and ineffective administration by Vichy French authorities. However, most of the book is a prelude to the famine itself, as Gunn examines Vietnamese agriculture, prewar resistance to French rule, and the rise of the Viet Minh and its efforts to gain a foothold in rural areas. This book is a welcome addition to scholarship on Vietnam . . . Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers, faculty, graduate students. * CHOICE *The Great Vietnamese Famine of 1944–1945 claimed two million lives, Ho Chi Minh declared as the Viet Minh seized power in Hanoi during September 1945. . . . Seeking to unravel the causes of the disaster and the emergence of the Viet Minh as an organised force, Gunn brings to bear 30 years of experience in Indochina. . . . Gunn is reluctant to pin blame for the Great Famine on any single group; more research is needed, he notes; there was a combination of circumstance and action and it is that combination he has elucidated with care and clarity. * Asian Affairs *Of particular interest to many readers . . . will be Vietnam’s great famine which provides the book’s subtitle. . . .So little has been written on it [the famine]. That makes the present book’s piecing together of bits of evidence a welcome addition to the literature. . . .The book will take a place as a valuable addition to work on the history of Vietnam and of famines. * Economic History Review *In this study of the political, economic and military struggles between the French, the Japanese and the Indochina Communist Party (ICP) over the producing, marketing and consuming of rice in Vietnam, Geoffrey Gunn enhances and augments our understanding of the long-term and short-term causes of the Viet Minh victory in 1945. . . .Rice Wars will reward readers if only for the expertise and compassion with which Gunn deals with the famine. . . .Gunn addresses one of the more important and difficult questions about modern Vietnamese history when he interrelates the famine with the political, economic and military conditions that enabled the Viet Minh to guide and participate in a movement against the expropriation of most of the rice crop by the Japanese. * Journal of Contemporary Asia *Rice Wars is a welcome addition to the scholarship on modern Vietnamese history as well as the history of war and famine. The book sets out to understand the causes of the famine and to argue that this humanitarian disaster contributed to the Viet Minh’s rise to power in August 1945…. Rice Wars provides a good overview of the agrarian situation of French colonial Vietnam, and more importantly, it affords a comprehensive examination of the Great Vietnamese Famine and its context. * Pacific Affairs *Despite resulting in the deaths of between one and two million people, the great famine of 1945 that decimated the population of northern Vietnam has received little scholarly attention. Geoffrey Gunn’s meticulously researched and historically grounded study fills this surprising gap. Gunn examines the role rice played, both in the colonial economy and in promoting earlier revolutionary activity before focusing on the war years from 1940 to 1945. His apportionment of blame between French authorities and Japanese occupation forces is balanced and judicious, and his study as a whole contributes significantly to our understanding of the reasons for famine and how it could have been prevented. -- Martin Stuart-FoxGeoffrey Gunn’s Rice Wars in Colonial Vietnam is a superb multidimensional analysis of the great famine that struck northern Vietnam in 1945. Gunn has mined the French colonial archives for new sources of information and applied what he terms ‘a correlated political economy approach’ to identify the various factors at play that led to social revolution, the demise of French colonialism, and the triumph of communism in modern Vietnam. -- Carlyle A. ThayerGeoffrey Gunn analyzes the causes of the 1945 Vietnamese famine, the pre-famine French-managed agrarian system, and post-famine developments. He absolves France of some of the responsibility, puts the main blame on Japan, and discusses the agrarian policies of the Viet Minh. With its focus on the political economy of rice cultivation and food distribution the book forms a most valuable contribution to our understanding of the Vietnamese Revolution and the background for the Indochina Wars. -- Stein TønnessonTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: The Agrarian Setting Chapter 2: Anticolonial Resistance Chapter 3: The Rice Rebellions, 1930–31 Chapter 4: The Popular Front Years, 1936–39 Chapter 5: Vichy and the Japanese Occupation, 1940–45 Chapter 6: Allied Power Plays over Indochina Chapter 7: The “August Revolution” of 1945 and Its Defense Chapter 8: The Great Vietnam Famine, 1944–45 Epilogue Glossary References

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Book SynopsisThis unique book, now fully updated, provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of life in North Korea today. Drawing on decades of experience, noted experts Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh explore a world few outsiders can imagine. In vivid detail, the authors describe how the secretive and authoritarian government of Kim Jong-un shapes every aspect of its citizens'' lives, how the command socialist economy has utterly failed, and how ordinary individuals struggle to survive through small-scale capitalism. Weighing the very limited individual rights allowed, the authors illustrate how the political class system and the legal system serve solely as tools of the regime.The key to understanding how the North Korean people live, the authors argue, is to realize that their only allowed role is to support Kim Jong-un, whose grandfather founded the country in the late 1940s. Still a cypher, Kim Jong-un, as did his father before him, controls his people by keeping them isolated and banning Trade ReviewAs extreme economic hardship has driven more North Koreans to the south, they are bringing with them an inside look at a very closed nation. In an updated edition of their 2009 book, Hassig and Oh look at the slowly fracturing secretiveness of the Hermit Kingdom. From the defectors come details of numerous individual efforts to quietly subvert the dictates of the Kim dynasty by illegally growing crops on patches of appropriated land or trading goods on black markets to survive. Since the late 1940s when Kim Il-sung took control, the country has been controlled by the Kim dynasty, demanding loyalty and obedience in the face of continued failure to provide for citizens despite overblown claims of collectivist harmony and abundance. In their highly secretive and regimented society, citizens are compelled to join mandatory groups that meet to discuss work or community issues and to criticize themselves for purported shortcomings in service to the government. This is a fascinating look at the very slow infiltration of outside influences despite efforts by the North Korean government to maintain isolation. * Booklist *Hassig and Oh give a panoramic view of this hermit nation. It is probably the most comprehensive work currently available because it covers almost every aspect of life in this isolated society. The authors provide rich data in their examination of the three-generation Kim regime to let readers understand its historical development, its tight political control over its citizens, and its failures in agriculture, health care, other economic areas, and international relationships. More important, based on surveys and interviews with numerous northern defectors, the authors illustrate the lives of ordinary people in the north, such as how they cope with their daily lives under political control, how they doggedly try to survive during natural and economic hardships, and how they perceive the Kim regime and the outside world. Most important, the authors emphasize the change of people in the change of a regime. Continuous exposure to external information is the most important way for North Koreans to better understand their lives under dictatorship and broaden their perceptions of the outside world, which will eventually lead to fundamental changes in the nation. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisThis collection of essays offers a new paradigm, in which the trans-Saharan and trans-Atlantic worlds of slavery are brought into focus under the same lens. While slave studies have considered either trans-Atlantic or Islamic slavery, rarely has any study combined the enslavement of Africans in America and the Lands of Islam in one volume. Both the Saharan and Atlantic worlds imported enslaved populations from western and central Sudan, but in general the two markets have been treated in isolation and without reference to the common bond of Islam and the multiple roles that Islam has played in the history of slavery, whether in West Africa itself, the Americas, or the Islamic Mediterranean. Western Africa served as the point of dispersion across desert and sea, but it was also the final destination of many of those who were enslaved but who were not transported across the Atlantic or the Sahara. The relationship between Islam and slavery is explored as a series of frontiers: in the Americas between enslaved Muslims and their Christian masters and the types of resistance and accommodation that arose there; in West Africa between Muslim and non-Muslim societies and the attempts at defining who was a Muslim in terms of issues of enslavement; in North Africa between Muslim masters and the enslaved population from West Africa and the popularity of spirit possession cults. The resistance of Muslims to assimilation and the accommodation of Muslims to bondage also created other frontiers that are explored in this book.

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Book SynopsisIsrael's Operation Cast Lead thrust the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip into the center of the debate about the Israel/Palestine conflict. In this updated and expanded edition, Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé survey the fallout from Israel's conduct in Gaza, including their latest incursions, and place it in historical context. Noam Chomsky is widely regarded to be one of the foremost critics of US foreign policy in the world. He has published numerous groundbreaking books, articles, and essays on global politics, history, and linguistics. Since 2003 he has written a monthly column for the New York Times syndicate. His recent books include Masters of Mankind and Hopes and Prospects. Haymarket Books recently released updated editions of twelve of his classic books. Ilan Pappé is the bestselling author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine: A History of Modern Palestine and The Israel/Palestine Question. Frank Barat is a human rights activist and author. He was the coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and is now the president of the Palestine Legal Action Network. His books include Freedom is a Constant Struggle, Gaza in Crisis, Corporate Complicity in Israel's Occupation, and On Palestine.

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Book SynopsisThe Annotated We represents the first fully annotated translation of Evgeny Zamiatin’s classic novel in English. Generally recognized as the first modern anti-utopian novel, Zamiatin’s We has puzzled scholars and critics alike, for it is both serious and playful, full of games. Long considered to be enigmatic, it stands out as unique among his works, and its importance is beyond doubt, for it not only holds the distinction of being the first work of its kind, but is also widely believed to have provided thematic elements for the two most famous dystopian works of the twentieth century, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. This new English translation employs language and syntax that mirror the precision and economy of Zamiatin’s Russian in his “poem in prose.” The commentary that accompanies the text sheds light on Zamiatin’s use of language as well as on the broad array of allusions that mark it, while at the same time suggesting many previously unacknowledged sources for the novel’s playfulness.Trade ReviewIn this translation of Zamiatin's We (1921; first English translation, 1924)—the first modern anti utopian novel—Wozniuk strives for consistency and accuracy. He tries to duplicate the style of the original, and in this he succeeds. The translation reads well and smoothly, better than most of the translations that have preceded it. Wozniuk's annotations draw on previous research but offer original insights that provide new subtexts and sources. Wozniuk also uses the copious notes to explain his choice of English for Russian phrases and to cite variants of the texts in order to reveal Zamiatin's creative process. In sum, Wozniuk's commentary illuminates the richness of the prose as it aids the reader in understanding the ideas that drive the novel. This book is ideal for students of Russian literature and should be the standard in courses that include We in the syllabus. The book is also valuable for students of literary translation. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; general readers. * CHOICE *Woznuik's translation, augmented by the arguments he makes for his choices...will sensitize those readers who do understand the language.... This acute translator-annotator has rendered a great prod to scholarship on the novel. * The Russian Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Zamiatin, Revolution and Utopia We, a novel by Evgeny Zamiatin Translator’s Annotations to the Text of Evgeny Zamiatin’s We Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn this magisterial work, Sami Zubaida draws on a distinguished career's worth of experience trying to understand the region to address the fundamental question in Middle East studies: what is the Middle East? He argues, controversially, that to see it through the prism of Islam, as it is conventionally viewed, is to completely misunderstand it. Many of what we think of as the 'Islamic' characteristics of the region are products of culture and society, not religion.To think of Islam itself as an essential, anti-modern force in the region rather than something shaped by specific historical-economic processes is, Zubaida argues, a mistake. Instead, he offers us an alternative view of the region, its historic cosmpolitanism, its religious and cultural diversity, its rapid adoption of new media cultures, which reveals a multi-faceted and complex region teeming with multiple identities. Wide-ranging, erudite and powerfully argued, Zubaida's work will be essential reading for future generations of students of this fascinating region.Table of ContentsIntroduction * 1. Is There a Muslim Society? * 2. Political Modernity in the Middle East * 3. Shifting Social Boundaries and Identities in the Modern Middle East * 5. Islam and Nationalism: Continuities and Contradictions * 6. The Public and the Private in Middle Eastern History and Society

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Book SynopsisThe intertwined stories of the great English 'Varsity' universities have many colourful aspects in common, yet each also boasts elements of true distinctiveness. So while the histories of Oxford and Cambridge are both characterised by seething town and gown rivalries, doctrinal conflicts and heretical outbursts, shifts of political and religious allegiance and gripping stories of individual heroism and defiance, they are also narratives of difference and distinctiveness. G.R. Evans explores the remarkable and unique contribution that Cambridge University has made to society and culture, both in Britain and right across the globe, and will subsequently publish her history of Oxford University to complete a major new history of the two universities. Ranging across 800 years of vivid history, packed with incident, Evans here explores great thinkers such as John Duns Scotus - the 13th century Franciscan Friar who gave his name his name to 'dunces' - and celebrates the extraordinary molecular breakthroughs of Watson and Crick in the 20th century. Moving from the radical new thinking of the Cambridge Platonists and the brilliant scientific discoveries of Isaac Newton to the discovery of the Double Helix and the notorious 'Garden House Hotel Riot' of 1970, the book is published to co-incide with the 800th anniversary of the University's foundation in 1209. The first short history of its kind, it will be a lasting and treasured resource for all Cambridge alumni/ae.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements 1. Cambridge in living memory: the last hundred years i. Where is the University? ii. Running their own show iii. Shall we let women in? iv. Meeting national needs: putting Cambridge in the spotlight v. The First World War and the spectre of state inspection again vi. Between the Wars vii. World War II and a new world for Cambridge viii Student revolution and eccentric dons: the swinging sixties ix. The Colleges and the University rethink their relationship x. Could Cambridge remain in a world of its own? xi. Cambridge discovers ‘administration’ xii. Cambridge’s academics lose their security xiii. A business-facing Cambridge? xiv. Intellectual property rights and academic freedoms xv. The capsize of CAPSA xv. So where are we now? 2. How it all began i. Europe invents universities ii. How it all began in Cambridge iii. Student life: the beginning of colleges iii. What was it like to study for a degree in medieval Cambridge? iv. The Dunce and the dunces: Cambridge as a backwater 3. Cambridge and the Tudor Revolution i. Margaret Beaumont and John Fisher turn Cambridge’s fortunes round ii. The world as Cambridge’s oyster iii. Cambridge joins the ‘Renaissance’ iv. Erasmus, Luther and a ‘Reformation’ Cambridge iv. The Cambridge translators v. Visitations: the bid for state control of Cambridge vi. Edward VI and Cambridge vii. Queen Mary and the martyrs viii. Queen Elizabeth, Cambridge and protestant nationhood 4. Seventeenth and eighteenth century Cambridge: puritans and scientists i. James I and Cambridge ii. Hybrid vigour iii. The Cambridge Platonists and the redrawing of the boundaries of theology iv. Cambridge adjusts the relationship between God and nature v. Isaac Newton: a Cambridge character in close-up vi. Cambridge ‘networking’ on the international scene vii. Puritan rigour, Civil War and Restoration viii. John Milton and new trends in Cambridge language study ix. From logic to experimental science x. Enlightenment or marking time? 5. The nineteenth century transformation i. Students have fun ii. The early nineteenth century call for reform iii. Scientific research becomes an academic activity with industrial outreach iv. Forming the academic sciences and making them intellectually respectable v. The ‘learned societies’ adjust their standards vi. 'Call him a scientist' vii. Must science exclude theology? viii. Professorships and the emergence of academic specialization ix. Teaching: should new ‘useful ‘ subjects replace the classics? x. Cambridge reconsiders its duty to society: the long legacy of Prince Albert’s Chancellorship xi. Applying science: Cambridge and the industrial uses of university research xii. Widening access xiii. Entrances and exits xiv. Cambridge graduates: good men, good citizens xv. Enter the Cambridge University Reporter Conclusion Glossary Abbreviations Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis book argues that two conflicting styles of nationalist imagination led to the violent rending of Cyprus in 1974 and sustained that division over decades. Based on research in both southern and northern Cyprus, the work demonstrates how the conflict emerged through the Cypriot's encounters with modernity under British colonialism, and through a consequent re-imagining of the body politic in a new world in which Cypriots were defined as part of a European periphery. Rebecca Bryant demonstrates how Muslims and Christians were transformed into Turks and Greeks, and what it meant epistemologically, ontollogically and politically when they were.Trade Review'A timely and welcome contribution.' - Middle Eastern Studies

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Book SynopsisThis book explores China’s quest for energy sources, raw materials and natural resources around the world, with a specific emphasis on oil. China’s ubiquitous presence in Africa, Asia and Latin America is reshaping the world with regards to economics, politics and national security. It offers a comprehensive examination of China’s energy security strategy. The first two chapters delve into Chinese relations with energy markets and the world, and the global geopolitics of China's resource quest. This introductory section is complemented by three in-depth country case studies: Angola, Brazil and Cambodia. The two concluding chapters cover opportunities and risks to China, and examine how strategies can be developed into tangible actions. The volume also examines a number of overlapping debates regarding the varieties of capitalisms (autocratic vs. democratic), the urgent need for rebalancing as the world undergoes global financial crises and contestations to traditional powers, and the issues surrounding natural resource extraction in the context of global governance, neoliberalism and poverty traps.Key Features· Offers an in-depth analysis on the geopolitics of China's resource quest.· Assists students and scholars in understanding the Chinese model of autocratic capitalism and China’s novel ways of securing resources across three continents.· Explains China’s energy security strategy and its implications on US national security.· Explores the links between international relations and the geopolitics of scarcity.Trade Review"The Hungry Dragon arrives at a perfect time. Burgos and Ear, already authorities on China’s appetite for resources across the world in journals as varied as Asian Survey, Geopolitics and the Journal of Contemporary China, have written a book of incredible scope and breadth. The Hungry Dragon is the culmination of their scholarly efforts and indispensable for students and scholars of China and energy security alike. If you want to know about China’s energy security strategy and how the rest of the world, but most importantly America, should react, read this book!" - Wei Liang, Monterey Institute of International Studies and co-editor, China and Global Trade Governance: China’s Ten-Year Experience in the World Trade Organization"The dragon has awakened. Its appetite for energy and natural resources vastly exceed its internal supplies. This book examines the geopolitical ramifications of China’s quest for critical inputs. Given the increasing interconnectedness of global economies and the inherent limits of energy and natural resources, this book should be on your reading list. The authors write with fluid style and frame the key elements that pertain to this seminally important issue that applies to everyone, especially energy-gluttonous Americans who occupy 5% of the world population but consume 25% of world energy." - Jack Odle, Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University"Despite much alarmism about China's rise and global resource shortages, this well constructed volume suggests that fears of disruptions are misplaced. While the global economy is changing rapidly, China's growing confidence in international affairs means that it's rise is both peaceful and transformative. A very useful corrective to simplistic alarmism, this volume deserves a wide readership among both development and international relations scholars and policy makers."- Simon Dalby, CIGI chair in the Political Economy of Climate Change, Balsillie School of International Affairs."The Chinese empire has reawakened! The hungry dragon provides an outstanding vision of China’s quest to engross oil and other natural resources. Whether you are an expert in energy economics, international trade or national security, or if you simply have an interest on any of these areas, this book is a must read. The authors are recognized scholars with an excellent track record in their respective areas of research. Their experience and interesting writing style make this a very distinctive piece of work." - Dr Marco A. Palma, Associate Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M University ‘The hungry dragon provides an outstanding vision of China’s quest to engross oil and other natural resources … this book is a must read.’- Dr Marco A. Palma, Associate Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M University Burgos and Ear, already authorities on China’s appetite for resources across the world in journals … have written a book of incredible scope and breadth.’ - Wei Liang, Monterey Institute of International Studies and co-editor, China and Global Trade Governance: China’s Ten-Year Experience in the World Trade Organization‘The authors write with fluid style and frame the key elements that pertain to this seminally important issue that applies to everyone.’ - Jack Odle, Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University‘A very useful corrective to simplistic alarmism, this volume deserves a wide readership among both development and international relations scholars and policy makers.’ - Simon Dalby, CIGI chair in the Political Economy of Climate Change, Balsillie School of International Affairs'... a complete research on the China’s economy for the interest of the international community ... The research of Burgos Cáceres and Sophal Ear is easily accessible to a general audi-ence interested in understanding how China became a global power in our century, but also provides enough data to orient any study on the topic for academic specialists and policy practitioners.' - Albeiro Rodas, Don Bosco Foundation of Cambodia 'With its hard realist no-nonsense subtext on China’s voracious appetite for finite resources matched by genuine concerns over potential for conflict and alarming environmental trends, the authors have produced a compelling, if fact-packed, text that should seek a wider audience.' - Geoffrey C. Gunn, Emeritus, Nagasaki University'The Hungry Dragon by Burgos Cáceres and Sophal Ear is a rare book and a treat to read... The data and analysis contained in the book go a long way in illuminating a dynamic geopolitical situation where large global powers, and their money and influence, play a pivotal role in political economies of the countries where the resources are extracted.' Sean Yiath, University of California‘The hungry dragon provides an outstanding vision of China’s quest to engross oil and other natural resources … this book is a must read.’- Dr Marco A. Palma, Associate Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M University Burgos and Ear, already authorities on China’s appetite for resources across the world in journals … have written a book of incredible scope and breadth.’ - Wei Liang, Monterey Institute of International Studies and co-editor, China and Global Trade Governance: China’s Ten-Year Experience in the World Trade Organization‘The authors write with fluid style and frame the key elements that pertain to this seminally important issue that applies to everyone.’ - Jack Odle, Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University‘A very useful corrective to simplistic alarmism, this volume deserves a wide readership among both development and international relations scholars and policy makers.’ - Simon Dalby, CIGI chair in the Political Economy of Climate Change, Balsillie School of International Affairs'... a complete research on the China’s economy for the interest of the international community ... The research of Burgos Cáceres and Sophal Ear is easily accessible to a general audi-ence interested in understanding how China became a global power in our century, but also provides enough data to orient any study on the topic for academic specialists and policy practitioners.' - Albeiro Rodas, Don Bosco Foundation of Cambodia 'With its hard realist no-nonsense subtext on China’s voracious appetite for finite resources matched by genuine concerns over potential for conflict and alarming environmental trends, the authors have produced a compelling, if fact-packed, text that should seek a wider audience.' - Geoffrey C. Gunn, Emeritus, Nagasaki UniversityTable of ContentsPreface I. Introduction Chapter 1: China, Energy, and the World Chapter 2: The Geopolitics of China’s Global Resources Quest II. Country Case Studies Chapter 3: Angola Chapter 4: Brazil Chapter 5: Cambodia III. Conclusion Chapter 6: Assessing Opportunities, Mitigating Risks Chapter 7: From Strategies to Actions Bibliography Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisIn recent years the British mass media have discovered a new and urgent social problem - the Asian gang. Images of urban deprivation and the Underclass have combined with fears of growing youth militancy and masculinities-in-crisis to position Asian, and especially Muslim, young men as the new folk devil. This reimagination of Asian young men has focused on violence, drug abuse and crime, set against a backdrop of cultural conflict, generational confusion and religious fundamentalism. The Asian gang, it seems, is the inevitable product of these social forces. But what is the reality? Based on three years fieldwork with a group of Bangladeshi young men in inner-city London, this book attempts to explore the complex mythologies and realities of contemporary Asian youth experience. Taking the gang as its starting point, the study examines the interaction of representation and reality, ethnicity and masculinity in a textured, in-depth and personal perspective that challenges traditional views on Asian communities and identities.Trade Review'Refreshing and highly readable.'Contemporary Sociology'Alexander's book is a fascinating analysis of the social construction and demonisation of Asian young men as members of 'the Asian Gang' ... A fascinating and challenging account of the construction of meaning of racialised masculinity and a welcome addition to studies of the social construction of identity.'Gender, Place and Culture'It is rare to find a book that comes anywhere near allowing its informants to 'live and breathe' within the scope of its bleached pages. Claire Alexander's book on young 'Bengali' men in London does just that.'Ethnic and Racial Studies'This is an exceptional book that is both lucid and engaged ... The Asian Gang could be a landmark in how to conduct social research.'Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies'Through interviews with several young people Alexander nicely debunks the notion that they might embrace a unified Asian identity based exclusively (or primarily) on ethnicity.

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Book SynopsisFirst Civilizations is the second edition of a popular student text first published in 1996 in Montreal by Les Editions Champ Fleury. This much updated and expanded edition provides an introductory overview of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. It was conceived primarily for students who have little or no knowledge of ancient history or archaeology. The book begins with the role of history and archaeology in understanding the past, and continues with the origins of agriculture and the formation of the Sumerian city-states in Mesopotamia. Three subsequent chapters concentrate on Assyrian and Babylonian history and culture. The second half of the book focuses on Egypt, begining with the physical environment of the Nile, the formation of the Egyptian state and the Old Kingdom. Subsequent chapters discuss the Middle Kingdom, the Hyksos period,and the 18th Dynasty, with space devoted to Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, the Ramesside period. The text ends with the Persian conquest of Mesopotamia and Egypt.First Civilizations also contains sections on astronomy, medicine, architecture, eschatology and burial practices, mummification, religion and discusses the myths of Gilgamesh, Isis and Osiris. Each chapter has a basic bibliography which emphasizes English language encyclopedias, books and journals specializing in the ancient Near East.Table of ContentsPart One: Mesopotamia; 1. Introduction: History and Archaeology as Tools for Understanding the Past; 2. Agriculture and the Origins of Civilization; 3. The Early Dynastic Period and the Sumerian City-States; 4. The Akkadians and the Ur III Dynasty; 5. Mesopotamia in the Second Millennium BC: The Babylonians and the Kassites (2000 - 1600 BC); 6. The Assyrians; 7. The Last Babylonian Dynasty; 8. Mythology and Religion: The Story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu; 9. Science and Nature: Astronomy and Medicine in Mesopotamia and Egypt; Part Two: Egypt; 10. Egypt: The Black Land; 11. The Old Kingdom and the Pyramid Age (2572 -2134 BC); 12. The Middle Kingdom; 13. The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom; 14. Akhenaten and the Amarna Period; 15. The 19th Dynasty and the Ramesside Kings; 16. Egypt in the Late Second and First Millennium BC: The Kushites, Libyans and Assyrians; 17. The Persians; 18. Epilogue

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