Book Excerpts

 |
|
|
| |
The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle |
| |
of the Second Korean Nuclear Crisis |
| |
|
| |
Yoichi Funabashi |
| |
The Brookings Institution |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-8157-3010-1 |
| |
|
For more than a century, the Korean Peninsula has been the focus of major powers, most recently through the six-power talks, with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States striving to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear-weapons program. Yoichi Funabashi, editor in chief of the Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo, explores the historical and security concerns of the six nations since 2002 and provides insights into future diplomacy and policymaking for the region.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
Immigrants: Your Country |
| |
Needs Them |
| |
|
| |
Philippe Legrain |
| |
Little, Brown |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-316-73248-2 |
| |
|
Immigration allows people to escape poverty, argues Philippe Legrain, British economist and journalist. Combining reporting and economic analysis, Legrain argues that relentless patrolling borders carries hidden costs while the diversity provided by low-skilled or high-skilled migrant workers offers many benefits. In the end, Legrain, who has served as special adviser to the director-general of the World Trade Organization, argues for open borders and offers recommendations for integration.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
Shari'a: Islamic Law in |
| |
the Contemporary Context |
| |
|
| |
Edited by Abbas Amanat and Frank Griffel |
| |
Stanford University Press |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-8047-5639-6 |
| |
|
Shari'a is considered by many as Islamic religious law. But the cultural concept covers not only moral and legal matters, including religious rituals and rules for marriage, taxation and war, but also issues of behavior and etiquette. Modern and fundamentalist Muslims are polarized over how much modern nations can rely on Shari'a. Yale professors Abbas Amanat and Frank Griffel are editors "Shari'a: Islamic Law in the Contemporary Cotext," a book of essays that analyze Islamic thought on justice, global citizenship, democracy, social contract and other legal topics.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
The Future of Globalization |
| |
Explorations in Light of Recent Turbulence |
| |
|
| |
Edited by Ernesto Zedillo |
| |
Routledge |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-415-77185-6 |
| |
|
Contemporary globalization has been severely jeopardized by recent turmoil. The end of the economic expansion of the 1990s, the 9/11 tragedy, and the war in Iraq have shocked the international system to an extent not seen in years. Not only have the fairness and adequacy of globalization been doubted by various parties for some time now, but lately its very irreversibility has been called into question by the sheer force of geopolitical and economic turbulence. This book considers the forces that propel globalization and those that resist it. Local and regional experiences from Bangladesh, China, India, Latin America, and the Middle East are analyzed, as well as some of globalization's most potent risks.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
Chasing the Sun: Rethinking |
| |
East Asian Policy |
| |
|
| |
Morton Abramowitz and Stephen Bosworth |
| |
The Century Foundation Press |
| |
ISBN: 978-087078-500-9 |
| |
|
China's rise has begun to change the system itself as well as the U.S. role in it. Given the wide ramifications of our relations, both countries have no choice but to get along with each other. The U.S. government should consistently make clear that it supports China's rapid growth, that it views China as a necessary collaborator in international affairs whatever our differences, that the United States will remain deeply engaged in East Asia, and that it will not pursue an anti-China alliance.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
Global Warming and Agriculture: |
| |
Impact Estimates by Country |
| |
|
| |
William R. Cline |
| |
Center for Global Development and Peterson Institute for
International Economics |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-88132-403-7 |
| |
|
Public policy on global warming has reached a critical new phase. Calls for action are
escalating, reflecting such developments as heightened public awareness after Hurricane
Katrina, the influential documentary film by former US Vice President Al Gore, and the
high-profile "Stern Review" by Sir Nicholas Stern for the UK Treasury. Relatively little
attention has gone, however, to the likely impact of global warming at the country
level, especially in the developing world, the social and economic implications in
China, India, Brazil, and the poor countries of the tropical belt in Africa. In this book,
William R. Cline of the Center for Global Development and the Peterson Institute for
International Economics examines the effects of global warming and its economic impact.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
The Paradox of a Global USA |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Edited by Bruce Mazlish, Nayan Chanda and Kenneth Weisbrode |
| |
Stanford University Press |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-8047-5156-8 |
| |
|
New technology, particularly in transportation and communication sectors,
hastens many global interconnections. The US presided over much technological
innovation throughout the 20th century, and so supp0rters and opponents of
globalization alike often equate the phenomenon with Americanization. Even
so, the US often embraces some anti-global policies. "Global civil society may
hold out the vision of the transcendence of particularistic ties, but the still-existing
national and traditional definitions of these connections generally prevail," writes
Bruce Mazlish, who edited the book along with Nayan Chanda and Kenneth
Weisbrode. In an interdisciplinary way, the book examines the paradoxes of
US history, economics, military intervention and policy.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
Managing Sino-American Crises: Case |
| |
Studies and Analysis |
| |
|
| |
Edited by Michael D. Swaine and Zhang Tuosheng with Danielle F.S. Cohen |
| |
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-87003-228-8 |
| |
|
Nations can manage crises with self-restraint. The history of how China
and the US have managed crises, standoffs and disagreements - over the
Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the status of Taiwan - is
examined by Michael D. Swaine of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and
Zhang Tuosheng of the China Foundation for International and Strategic
Studies, with Danielle F.S. Cohen. The book offers both Chinese and US
perspectives on key historical events and concludes with specific
recommendations for management of such confrontations.
continue...
 |
|
|
| |
Containment: Rebuilding a Strategy |
| |
Against Global Terror |
| |
|
| |
Ian Shapiro |
| |
Princeton University Press |
| |
ISBN: 978-0-691-12928-0 |
| |
|
Containment is a powerful tool for powerful nations and remains a potent strategy
for preserving democracy, argues Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science
and director of the MacMillan Center at Yale University. After the 9/11 attacks,
the US panicked. The Bush administration quickly abandoned a longstanding US
policy of containment without debate or approval from Congress, and instead relied
on unilateralism and preemptive attack. As a result, the US has squandered resources
and lost credibility around the globe. Containment is a pragmatic alternative that is
not appeasement. Instead, as a strategy and policy, containment demonstrates
the stark contrast between a nation that upholds humanity's greatest values and
the nations that don't.
continue...
more excerpts
|