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Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history
This study uses a comparative analysis of the Malayan Emergency,
the American experience in Vietnam, and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM to
examine the role and effectiveness of artillery units in complex
counterinsurgency environments. Through this analysis, four factors
emerge which impact the employment of artillery units: the
counterinsurgency effort's requirement for indirect fires;
constraints and limitations on indirect fires; the
counterinsurgency effort's force organization; and the conversion
cost of nonstandard roles for artillery units. In conclusion, the
study offers five broadly descriptive fundamentals for employing
artillery units in a counterinsurgency environment: invest in
tactical leadership, exploit lessons learned, support the
operational approach and strategic framework, maintain pragmatic
fire support capability, and minimize collateral damage. Finally,
the study examines the role of education for leaders in a
counterinsurgency, and its influence on these imperative
fundamentals.
It has often been assumed that the subjects of the Ottoman sultans
were unable to travel beyond their localities - since peasants
needed the permission of their local administrators before they
could leave their villages. According to this view, only soldiers
and members of the governing elite would have been free to travel.
However, Suraiya Faroqhi's extensive archival research shows that
this was not the case; pious men from all walks of life went on
pilgrimage to Mecca, slaves fled from their masters and
craftspeople travelled in search of work. Most travellers in the
Ottoman era headed for Istanbul in search of better prospects and
even in peacetime the Ottoman administration recruited artisans to
repair fortresses and sent them far away from their home towns. In
this book, Suraiya Faroqhi provides a revisionist study of those
artisans who chose - or were obliged - to travel and those who
stayed predominantly in their home localities. She considers the
occasions and conditions which triggered travel among the artisans,
and the knowledge that they had of the capital as a spatial entity.
She shows that even those craftsmen who did not travel extensively
had some level of mobility and that the Ottoman sultans and
viziers, who spent so much effort in attempting to control the
movements of their subjects, could often only do so within very
narrow limits. Challenging existing historiography and providing an
important new revisionist perspective, this book will be essential
reading for students and scholars of Ottoman history.
This study of a series of artistic representations of the Asia
Pacific War experience in a variety of Japanese media is premised
on Walter Davis' assertion that traumatic events and experiences
must be 'constituted' before they can be assimilated, integrated
and understood. Arguing that the contribution of the arts to the
constitution, integration and comprehension of traumatic historical
events has yet to be sufficiently acknowledged or articulated, the
contributors to this volume examine how various Japanese authors
and other artists have drawn upon their imaginative powers to
create affect-charged forms and images of the extreme violence,
psychological damage and ideological contradiction surrounding the
War. In so doing, they seek to further the process whereby reading
and viewing audiences are encouraged to virtually engage,
internalize, 'know' and respond to trauma in concrete, ethical
terms.
Giulia Falato's work on Alfonso Vagnone S.J.' s (1568-1640) Tongyou
jiaoyu (On the Education of Children) offers a systematic study of
the earliest treatise on European pedagogy and its first annotated
translation in English. In particular, it highlights the role of
Tongyou jiaoyu as a cultural bridge between the Chinese and Western
traditions. Drawing from archival materials and multi-language
literature, Falato produces an insightful account of the Jesuit's
background, the pedagogical debate in late-Ming China, and the
making and main sources of the treatise. Through the diachronic
analysis of a selection of philosophical terms, this work also
provides a fresh perspective on the Jesuits' lexical innovations
and contribution to the formation of the modern Chinese lexicon.
"Britain in the Middle East" provides a comprehensive survey of
British involvement in the Middle East, exploring their mutual
construction and influence across the entire historical sweep of
their relationship. In the 17th century, Britain was establishing
trade links in the Middle East, using its position in India to
increasingly exclude other European powers. Over the coming
centuries this commercial influence developed into political power
and finally formal empire, as the British sought to control their
regional hegemony through military force. Robert Harrison charts
this relationship, exploring how the Middle East served as the
launchpad for British offensive action in the World Wars, and how
resentment against colonial rule in the region led ultimately to
political and Islamic revolutions and Britain's demise as a global,
imperial power.
This study examines how China has developed a diplomatic mechanism
to expand its international influence through the establishment of
strategic partnerships. These strategic partnerships have sparked a
debate among analysts. On the one hand, some optimistic studies
applaud the win-win objective of China's foreign policy and portray
China as a successful model for developing countries. On the other
hand, more skeptical studies depict China as a rising imperial
power that represents a competitive threat to Latin America. This
book focuses on China's strategic partnerships with Argentina,
Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela within the oil sector. It stresses
how Chinese strategic partnerships with each of these four
countries have diverged across cases over time (1991-2015). The
study finds that the strategic partnerships are asymmetrical in
which China benefits more than four Latin American countries in a
variety of aspects. I suggest Latin American countries to push for
greater diversification of export agenda toward China, to develop
new productive partnerships beyond traditional sectors and to
increase the competitiveness of firms. Meanwhile, China's
diplomatic actions toward Latin America are more than likely to
result in forms of change, particularly across my four country
cases, and where strategic partnerships are concerned.
The Confucian-Legalist State analyzes the history of China between
the 11th century BCE and 1911 under the guidance of a new theory of
social change. It centers on two questions. First, how and why
China was unified and developed into a bureaucratic empire under
the state of Qin in 221 BCE? Second, how was it that, until the
nineteenth century, the political and cultural structure of China
that was institutionalized during the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE
- 8 CE) showed great resilience, despite great changes in
demography, socioeconomic structure, ethnic composition, market
relations, religious landscapes, technology, and in other respects
brought by rebellions or nomadic conquests? In addressing these two
questions, author Dingxin Zhao also explains numerous other
historical patterns of China, including but not limited to the
nature of ancient China's interstate relations, the logics behind
the rising importance of imperil Confucianism during the Western
Han dynasty and behind the formation of Neo-Confucian society
during the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE), the changing nature of
China's religious ecology under the age of Buddhism and
Neo-Confucianism, the pattern of interactions between nomads and
sedentary Chinese empires, the rise and dominance of civilian
government, and China's inability to develop industrial capitalism
without the coercion of Western imperialism.
In Opposition to Philosophy in Safavid Iran Ata Anzali and S.M.
Hadi Gerami offer a critical edition of what is arguably the most
erudite and extensive critique of philosophy from the Safavid
period. The editors' extensive introduction offers an in-depth
analysis that places the work within the broader framework of
Safavid intellectual and social history.
This revised edition examines North and South Korea's political,
socio-economic, and cultural history from the Neolithic period to
the early 21st century, including issues of recent political unrest
and preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Korea continues to
be featured in the news, especially after the succession of Kim
Jong-un as leader of North Korea and his threats of nuclear attack.
Yet the reported instability of the North is contrasted by the
rapid modernization revolution of the South. Author Djun Kil Kim
analyzes how tragic experiences in the regions' collective
history-particularly Japanese colonial rule and the division of the
country-have contributed to the dichotomous state of affairs in the
Koreas. This comprehensive overview traces the development of two
contradistinctive nations-North and South Korea-with communism in
the north and democracy and industrialization in the south
transforming the geopolitical and geo-economic condition of each
area. Author Kim explores specific doctrines that revolutionized
Korea: Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in the mid-7th and the late
14th centuries; and communism and American functionalism in the
20th century. The second edition includes an updated timeline, new
biographical sketches of notable people, and an additional chapter
covering the events of 2004 through the present day. Includes an
expanded bibliography with additional print and electronic sources
Provides updated accounts of both North and South Korea's more
recent events that enable readers to grasp the global significance
and power of both nations
This second volume of collected essays, complement to volume one,
focuses upon the art and culture of the third millennium B.C.E. in
ancient Mesopotamia. Stress is upon the ability of free-standing
sculpture and public monuments not only to reflect cultural
attitudes, but to affect a viewing audience. Using Sumerian and
Akkadian texts as well as works, the power of visual experience is
pursued toward an understanding not only of the monuments but of
their times and our own. "These beautifully produced volumes bring
together essays written over a 35-year period, creating a whole
that is much more than the sum of its parts...No library should be
without this impressive collection." J.C. Exum
China and Russia are rising economic and political powers that
share thousands of miles of border. Despite their proximity, their
interactions with each other - and with their third neighbour
Mongolia - are rarely discussed. Although the three countries share
a boundary, their traditions, languages and worldviews are
remarkably different. Frontier Encounters presents a wide range of
views on how the borders between these unique countries are
enacted, produced, and crossed. It sheds light on global
uncertainties: China's search for energy resources and the
employment of its huge population, Russia's fear of Chinese
migration, and the precarious independence of Mongolia as its
neighbours negotiate to extract its plentiful resources. Bringing
together anthropologists, sociologists and economists, this timely
collection of essays offers new perspectives on an area that is
currently of enormous economic, strategic and geo-political
relevance.
Science and Confucian Statecraft in East Asia explores science and
technology as practiced in the governments of premodern China and
Korea. Contrary to the stereotypical image of East Asian
bureaucracy as a generally negative force having hindered free
enquiries and scientific progress, this volume offers a more
nuanced picture of how science and technology was deployed in the
service of state governance in East Asia. Presenting richly
documented cases of the major state-sponsored sciences, astronomy,
medicine, gunpowder production, and hydraulics, this book
illustrates how rulers' and scholar-officials' concern for
efficient and legitimate governance shaped production, circulation,
and application of natural knowledge and useful techniques.
Contributors include: Francesca Bray, Christopher Cullen, Asaf
Goldschmidt, Cho-ying Li, Jongtae Lim, Peter Lorge, Joong-Yang
Moon, Kwon soo Park, Dongwon Shin, Pierre-Etienne Will
The volume Middle East and North Africa: Climate, Culture and
Conflicts focuses on the intricate interrelationships between
nature, culture and society in this ecologically, historically and
politically fragile region. As such, it debates ideas of
eco-theology from Muslim and Jewish perspectives, followed by
mythological interpretations and geo-archeological resp. historical
analyses of the interrelationships and impacts of climate and other
environmental factors on the development of ancient civilizations
and cultures. The section "Present" addresses current conflict
scenarios as a result of climate change, i.e. water scarcity,
droughts, desertification and similar factors. The final section is
concerned with potentials of international cooperation in pursuit
of developing and ensuring sustainable energy resources and moves
across different scales of environmental and religious education,
from awareness raising to perspectives of best practice examples.
Contributors are Katajun Amirpur, Helmut Bruckner, Eckart Ehlers,
Max Engel, Kerstin Fritzsche, Ursula Kowanda-Yassin, Tobias von
Lossow, Ephraim Meir, Rosel Pientka-Hinz, Matthias Schmidt, and
Franz Trieb.
This book provides a general overview of the daily life in a vast
empire which contained numerous ethnic, linguistic, and religious
communities. The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic imperial monarchy
that existed for over 600 years. At the height of its power in the
16th and 17th centuries, it encompassed three continents and served
as the core of global interactions between the east and the west.
And while the Empire was defeated after World War I and dissolved
in 1920, the far-reaching effects and influences of the Ottoman
Empire are still clearly visible in today's world cultures. Daily
Life in the Ottoman Empire allows readers to gain critical insight
into the pluralistic social and cultural history of an empire that
ruled a vast region extending from Budapest in Hungary to Mecca in
Arabia. Each chapter presents an in-depth analysis of a particular
aspect of daily life in the Ottoman Empire. The extensive
bibliography provides rich and diverse sources of further reading
An index provides quick reference to the individuals and places
mentioned in the text
Heirs of the Apostles offers a panoramic survey of Arabic-speaking
Christians-descendants of the Christian communities established in
the Middle East by the apostles-and their history, religion, and
culture in the early Islamic and medieval periods. The subjects
range from Arabic translations of the Bible, to the status of
Christians in the Muslim-governed lands, Muslim-Christian polemic,
and Christian-Muslim and Christian-Jewish relations. The volume is
offered as a Festschrift to Sidney H. Griffith, the doyen of
Christian Arabic Studies in North America, on his eightieth
birthday. Contributors are: David Bertaina, Elie Dannaoui, Stephen
Davis, Nathan P. Gibson, Cornelia Horn, Sandra Toenies Keating,
Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, Johannes Pahlitzsch, Andrew Platt,
Thomas W. Ricks, Barbara Roggema, Harald Suermann, Mark N. Swanson,
Shawqi Talia, Jack Tannous, David Thomas, Jennifer Tobkin,
Alexander Treiger, Ronny Vollandt, Clare Wilde, and Jason
Zaborowski.
Sex in the Middle East and North Africa examines the sexual
practices, politics, and complexities of the modern Arab world.
Short chapters feature a variety of experts in anthropology,
sociology, health science, and cultural studies. Many of the
chapters are based on original ethnographic and interview work with
subjects involved in these practices and include their voices. The
book is organized into three sections: Single and Dating, Engaged
and Married, and It's Complicated. The allusion to categories of
relationship status on social media is at once a nod to the
compulsion to categorize, recognition of the many ways that
categorization is rarely straightforward, and acknowledgment that
much of the intimate lives described by the contributors is
mediated by online technologies.
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