Tony Blair has dominated British political life for more thana decade. Like Margaret Thatcher before him, he has changed theterms of political debate and provoked as much condemnation asadmiration. At the end of his era in power, this book presents awide-ranging overview of the achievements and failures of the Blairgovernments. Bringing together Britain's most eminent academics andcommentators on British politics and society, it examines theeffect of the Prime Minister and his administration on themachinery of government, economic and social policy and foreignrelations. Combining serious scholarship with clarity andaccessibility, this book represents the authoritative verdict onthe impact of the Blair years on British politics andsociety. Covers the full term of Blair's leadership of Labour ? AnthonySeldon is a recognized authority on British Prime Ministers, andTony Blair in particular ? Uniquely authoritative with a superbcollection of contributors including John Curtice, Vernon Bogdanor,Sir La
Praise for Nancy Soderberg's The Superpower Myth "A sensible, hard-headed, realistic alternative to the excesses of America's Iraq-era dealings with the world." -James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly "One of the greatest strengths of Soderberg's book is her insider's account of many of the seminal events of the 1990s. Soderberg [gives us] a bird's-eye view of such critical issues as intervention in the Balkans and Haiti and U.S. efforts to combat al Qaeda and hunt down Osama bin Laden." -Charles A. Kupchan, The Washington Post Book World "Does America Need a Foreign Policy? by Henry Kissinger, The Choice by Zbigniew Brzezinski, and The Superpower Myth by Nancy Soderberg-all of these authors have firsthand experience in government, and it shows. The Superpower Myth, which doubles as a memoir of Soderberg's years in the Clinton administration, is a history told from inside meeting rooms, full of detail about how government bureaucracies actually function
GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN'S GRASSROOTS BID FOR THE PRESIDENCY IS GENERATING EXCITEMENT IN EVERY CORNER OF AMERICA. In Winning Back America, Governor Dean writes for the first time about his life and the people and events that have shaped him, beginning with his upbringing in New York and taking us through his medical career, eleven and a half years as governor of Vermont, and finally into his presidential campaign. Howard Dean writes about: The years at college that changed the way he looks at America His decision to attend medical school and the origins of his commitment to children and to universal health care Meeting his wife, Judith Steinberg, and bringing up a family in Vermont One dramatic day that he began as an internist and ended as governor The successes of his governorship His decision to run for president of the United States His vision for the country Winning Back America is Howard Dean in his own words. Dean tells h
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Why were urban women veiled in the early 1900s, unveiled from 1936 to 1979, and reveiled after the 1979 revolution? This question forms the basis of Hamideh Sedghi's original and unprecedented contribution to politics and Middle Eastern studies. Using primary and secondary sources, Sedghi offers new knowledge on women's agency in relation to state power. In this rigorous analysis she places contention over women at the centre of the political struggle between secular and religious forces and demonstrates that control over women's identities, sexuality, and labor has been central to the consolidation of state power. Sedghi links politics and culture with economics to present an integrated analysis of the private and public lives of different classes of women and their modes of resistance to state power.
Though reticent in public,George Bush has openly shared his private thoughts in correspondence throughout his life.Fortunately,since the former president does not plan to write his autobiography,this collection of letters,diary entries,and memos,with his accompanying commentary,willfill that void.As he writes in his preface,"So what we have here are letters from the past and present.Letters that are light and hopefully amusing.Letters written when my heart was heavy or full of joy.Serious letters.Nutty letters.Caring and rejoicing letters...It's all about heartbeat." Organized chronologically,the volume begins with eighteen-year-old George's letters to his parents during World War II,at the time he was commissioned,he was the youngest pilot in the Navy.Readers will gain insights into Bush's career highlights-the oil business,his two terms in Congress,his ambassadorship to the U.N.,his service as an envoy to China his tenure with the Central Intelligence Agency,and of course,the vice presidency,the preside
In this distillation of frontline experiences and culturalinsights, Anita Pratap, one of the finest journalists India hasever produced, faithfully reports on the consequences of war,ethnic conflict, earthquakes, cyclones, prejudices, and themindless hatred and fear that has hurt so much of the world.Wherever there was a story to be told-from her native India toAfghanistan and Sri Lanka-Pratap braved the odds to send in reportsfrom the front, managing to track down elusive stories and makeheadlines. With determined diligence she exposed the terrors insidesuch frightening regimes as the Taliban, returning home each timewith a renewed determination to appreciate and celebrate theordinary.
From the woman who has reported on every president from Kennedy to Clinton comes a privileged glimpse into the White House -- and a telling record of the ever-changing relationship between the presidency and the press. Helen Thomas wanted to be a reporter from her earliest years. She turned a copy-aide job at the Washington Daily News into a powerful and successful career spanning thirty-seven years and eight U.S. presidents. Assigned to the White House press corps in 1961. Thomas was the first woman to close a press conference with "Thank you. Mr. President." She was also the first female president of the White House Correspondents Association and the first woman member, later president, of the Gridiron Club. In this revealing memoir, which includes hundreds of anecdotes, observations, and personal details. Thomas looks back on a career spent with presidents at home and abroad, on the ground and in the air. Providing a unique view of the past four decades of presidential history. Front Row at the W
In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners’ minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Senator Obama called “the audacity of hope.” Now, in The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics–a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the “endless clash of armies” we see in congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of “our improbable experiment in democracy.” He explores those forces–from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media–that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating hu
Corey Grace-a handsome and charismatic Republican senator from Ohio-is plunged by an act of terrorism into a fierce presidential primary battle with the favorite of the party establishment and a magnetic leader of the Christian right. A decorated Gulf War Air Force pilot known for speaking his mind, Grace’s reputation for voting his own conscience rather than the party line—together with his growing romance with Lexie Hart, an African-American movie star—has earned him a reputation as a maverick and an iconoclast. But Grace is still haunted by a tragic mistake buried deep in his past, and now his integrity will be put to the test in this most brutal of political contests, in which nothing in his past or present life is off-limits. Depicting contemporary power politics at its most ruthless, The Race takes on the most incendiary issues in American culture: racism, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, gay rights, and the rise of media monopolies with their own agenda and lust for power. As the
The renowned biographer and New York Times bestselling author of The Kennedy Women returns with this first volume in a multigenerational history that will forever change the way America views its most famous family ... 作者简介: Harper's,playboy,The New Republic,New York,Washingtonian,and The New York Times Magazine.Helives in Washington,D.C.,and Palm Beach,Florida.
This book examines Thomas Jefferson's attempt to combine respect for a fundamental constitution with the fact that no set of laws can foresee every event. His solution to this problem offers a democratic, yet strong, alternative to the more common, Hamiltonian solution. Jefferson scholars have long written of 'two Jeffersons,' one before he became president and one after he became president. The first was opposed to a strong executive, while the second embraced one out of necessity. This book challenges this account. It presents Jefferson's understanding of executive power, which, though it developed over time, pointed to an executive that was both democratic and powerful. 作者简介： Jeremy D. Bailey is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Duquesne University. He was the co-winner of the 2004 APSA E. E. Schattschneider Award for best dissertation in American politics written in 2002 or 2003.
We have just experienced the worst financial crash the worldhas seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. While realeconomies in general did not crash as they did in the 1930s, thefinancial parts of the economy certainly did, or, at least, camevery close to doing so. Hundreds of banks in the United States andEurope have been closed by their supervisory authorities, forciblymerged with stronger partners, nationalized or recapitalized withthe tax payers' money. Banks and insurance companies had, by mid2010, already written off some 2000 billion dollars in creditwrite-downs on loans and securities. In this book, Johan Lybeckdraws on his experience as both an academic economist and aprofessional banker to present a detailed yet non-technicalanalysis of the crash. He describes how the crisis began in early2007, explains why it happened and shows how it compares to earlierfinancial crises. · Integrates macro theory and financial facts to provide adetailed yet non-technical analysis of the recent f
Hillhouse's gripping debut,a cold war thriller,has so many unexpected pleasures that its flaws barely register.It's 1989,and American professor Faith Whitney is staying in Germany with the faint(and dimming)hope of learning about her missing father;to make a living,she smuggles minor items(Stalin china,Nazi crystal,etc.)from East Berlin to West.After being captured by the East German Stasi,Faith is forced to smuggle for them or face imprisonment.KGB agent Zara Bogdanov is another antagonist,but a sympathetic one;ambitious and beautiful,she's also openly gay,a strike against her advancement.Capturing Faith and getting her to spy for the KGB would be a feather in Zara's cap,but her motives are unclear,even to herself.Their extended cat-and-mouse game,fueled by a flirty mutual attraction(though Faith is straight),gives an enticing pulse to the sometimes implausible plot.An extended section in which Faith transports hazardous material feels like a climax,but the story continues for another 50-odd pages.The book m
This book, by one of America's most intelligent and decent political writers, tells liberals how the conservative movement rose and fell, and how they could emulate its successes while avoiding its failures." —George Packer, author of Blood of the Liberals and The Assassins' Gate "No one is better than Todd Gitlin at describing the crucial dynamic through which movements gain or lose political power. Justly celebrated for his seminal work on such dynamics during the 1960s, Gitlin now explains everything that's happened since, with passion and wisdom—and happily, because of Bushism's collapse, legitimate optimism about the future." —Michael Tomasky, Editor, Guardian America "An impassioned yet realistic plea for Democrats and liberals to become more serious about politics. They would do well to follow his advice." —Alan Wolfe, Director, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College "A brilliant and indispensable book. Gitlin convincingly
Burke's seminal work was written during the early months ofthe French Revolution, and it predicted with uncanny accuracy manyof its worst excesses, including the Reign of Terror. A scathingattack on the revolution's attitudes to existing institutions,property and religion, it makes a cogent case for upholdinginherited rights and established customs, argues for piecemealreform rather than revolutionary change - and deplores theinfluence Burke feared the revolution might have in Britain."Reflections on the Revolution in France" is now widely regarded asa classic statement of conservative political thought, and is oneof the eighteenth century's great works of political rhetoric.
Since delivering his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has been hailed as the clear savior of not only the Democratic party, but of the integrity of American politics. Despite the fact that he burst onto the national scene seemingly overnight, his name recognition has grown by leaps and bounds ever since. Barack Obama in His Own Words, a book of quotes from the Illinois Senator, allows those who aren't as familiar with his politics to learn quickly where he stands on abortion, religion, AIDS, his critics, foreign policy, Iraq, the War on Terror, unemployment, gay marriage, and a host of other important issues facing America and the world. 作者简介： Lisa Rogak is the author of In His Own Words: Colin Powell and Howard Dean In His Own Words. Her works have been reviewed and otherwise mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, Parade Magazine, USA Today, Family Circle, and hundreds of other publications. She lives in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
As his parents finished packing the few personal belongines they were permitted to take out of Germany,the bespectacled 15-year-old stood in the corner of the apartment memorizing the details of the scene.He was a bookish and reflective child,with that odd mixture of ego and insecurity that can come from growing up smart yet persecuted.“I'll be back someday.”he saide to the cutoms inspector who was surveying the boses.Years later,he would recall how the offciual looded at him“with the disdain of ages”and said nothing. Henry Kissinger was right:he did come bacd to his Bavarian birthplace,first as a soldier with the U.S. Army counterintelligence corps,them as a ren owned scholar of international relations,and eventually as the dominant relations,and eventually as the dominant statesman of his era. Bya the time he was made secretary of stalte in 1973,he had become,according to the Gallup Poll,the most admired person in America.In addition.as the conducted foreign ploicy with the air of a gues
The late 1990s saw a number of attacks against American military and governmental offices,most notably the U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998. On September 11,2001, however,the scale of this conflict changed dramatically,The hijacking of four commercial airliners on that sunny Tuesday morning led to the deaths of some 3,000 people. As in 1998, the terrorist group responsible for this devastating campaign was Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, or "The Base," a loose network of extremists many of whom are willing to die for their cause, the promotion of a militant form of Islam and the destruction of the West. In Al-Qaeda, Jane Corbin, the award-winning senior BBC correspondent for Panorama the British equivalent of 60 Minutes -- crosses four continents in search of bin Laden's terror network. The result of four years research, reporting and travel throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Aanerica, she has conducted hundreds of interviews with key eyewitnesses, investigators, and intelligence officers a
An engaging be hind-the-scenes look at the lesser-knownforces that fueled the profound social reforms of the 1960s Provocative and incisive , The Liberal Hour reveals how Washington, so often portrayed as a target of reform inthe 1960s, was in fact the era's most effective engine of change.The movements of the 1960s have always drawn the most attentionfrom the decade's chroniclers, but it was in the halls ofgovernment-so often the target of protesters' wrath-that theenduring reforms of the era were produced. With nuance and panache,Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot present the real-lifecharacters-from giants like JFK and Johnson to lesser-knownsenators and congressmen-who drove these reforms and were criticalto the passage of key legislation. The Liberal Hour offersan engrossing portrait of this extraordinary moment when moreprogressive legislation was passed than in almost any other era inAmerican history.
The thesis of this provocative and potentially important book is the increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures--Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu, and African--in current struggles across the globe. Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist at Harvard University and foreign policy aide to President Clinton, argues that policymakers should be mindful of this development when they interfere in other nations' affairs. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
If any journalist can expose the U.N. with wit, style, and common sense, it’s Eric Shawn. He’s a pit bull with a pen! (Ann Coulter). The United Nations is supposed to be a guardian of peace and goodwill. Instead, it has degenerated into a corrupt and cowardly organization. How did that happen? The U.N. Exposed will tell you It is the best investigative work on the U.N. in print. (Bill O’Reilly). Eric Shawn’s explosive book breaks open the world of the diplomatic elite, shows what really goes on behind closed doors and reveals how the international bureaucrats on New York’s East River are an even bigger problem than we ever imagined. (Sean Hannity).
