Search results for ""author benjamin isakhan""

The Legacy of Iraq reflects on the abject failure of the 2003 intervention to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy, underpinned by free-market capitalism, its citizens free to live in peace and prosperity. It argues that mistakes made by the coalition and the Iraqi political elite set a sequence of events in motion that have had devastating consequences for Iraq, the Middle East and for the rest of the world.

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This book re-examines the history of democracy, broadening the traditional view with previously unexplored examples. This substantial reference work critically examines the history of democracy, from ancient history to the directions it might take in the future. Over the course of 42 chapters, it explores the full breadth of the origins of democracy and expands the canon of democratic history by exploring new - and sometimes surprising - examples from around the world. Split into 9 parts, each part contains an introduction to the period followed by three to five case studies of specific governments or political movements. This is the first book to study lesser-known histories of democracy, and looks again at familiar examples. It includes historical accounts from leading scholars that document the development of democratic practices in their area or epoch of interest.

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This book re examines the history of democracy, broadening the traditional view with previously unexplored examples. This substantial reference work critically examines the history of democracy, from ancient history to the directions it might take in the future. Over the course of 42 chapters, it explores the full breadth of the origins of democracy and expands the canon of democratic history by exploring new - and sometimes surprising - examples from around the world. Split into 9 parts, each part contains an introduction to the period followed by three to five case studies of specific governments or political movements. This is the first book to study lesser known histories of democracy alongside familiar examples. It includes historical accounts from leading scholars that document the development of democratic practices in their area or epoch of interest. Contributors include Jack Goody, John Keane, Larbi Sadiki, James Anderson, John Fisher and Seymour Drescher. Examples include ancient India, medieval Venetia, Native America, Iraqis, ancient Athens, Women's Suffrage and the Anti Apartheid movement.

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The activities of ISIS since 2014 have brought back to centre stage a series of very old and very troubling questions about the integrity and viability of the Iraqi state. However, most analysts have framed recent events in terms of their immediate past and without the contextual background to explain their evolution. State and Society in Iraq moves beyond a short-sighted analysis to place the complex and contested nature of Iraqi politics within a broader and deeper historical examination. In doing so, the chapters demonstrate that beyond the overwhelming emphasis on failed occupations, cruel tyrants, ethnic separatists and violent religious fanatics, is an Iraqi people who have routinely agitated against the state, advocated for legitimate and accountable government, and called for inter-communal harmony.When, the authors maintain, the Iraqi people are given agency in the complex process of consent, negotiation and resistance that underpin successful state-society relations, the nation can move beyond patterns of oppression and cruelty, of dangerous rhetoric and divisive politics, and towards a cohesive, peaceful and prosperous future - despite the many difficulties and the steep challenges that lie ahead.

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