Order and Compromise questions the historicity of government practices in Turkey from the late Ottoman Empire up to the present day. It explores how institutions at work are being framed by constant interactions with non-institutional characters from various social realms. This volume thus approaches the state-society continuum as a complex and shifting system of positions. Inasmuch as they order and ordain, state authorities leave room for compromise, something which has hitherto been little studied in concrete terms. By combining in-depth case studies with an interdisciplinary conceptual framework, this collection helps apprehend the morphology and dynamics of public action and state-society relations in Turkey. Contributors are: Marc Aymes, Olivier Bouquet, Nicolas Camelio, Nathalie Clayer, Anouck Gabriela Corte-Real Pinto, Berna Ekal, Benoit Fliche, Muriel Girard, Benjamin Gourisse, Sumbul Kaya, Noemi Levy Aksu, Elise Massicard, Jean-Francois Perouse, Clemence Scalbert Yucel, Emmanuel Szurek and Claire Visier.

The Vietnam War is one of the defining conflicts of the twentieth century: not only did it divide American society at every level; the conflict also represented a key shift in Asian anti-colonialism and shaped the course of the Cold War. Despite its political and social importance, popular memory of the war is dominated by myths and stereotypes. In this incisive new text, John Dumbrell debunks popular assumptions about the war and reassesses the key political, military and historical controversies associated with one of the most contentious and divisive wars of recent times. Drawing upon an extensive range of newly accessible sources, Rethinking the Vietnam War assesses all aspects of the conflict - ranging across domestic electoral politics in the USA to the divided communist leadership in Hanoi and grassroots antiwar movements around the world. The book charts the full course of the war - from the origins of American involvement, the growing internationalization of the conflict and the swing year of 1968 to bitter twists in Sino-Soviet rivalry and the eventual withdrawal of American forces. Situating the conflict within an international context, John Dumbrell also considers competing interpretations of the war and points the way to the resolution of debates which have divided international opinion for decades.

In the nineteenth century the Dead Sea and the Tigris-Euphrates river system had great political significance: the one as a possible gateway for a Russian invasion of Egypt, the other as a potentially faster route to India. This is the traditional explanation for the presence of the international powers in the region. This important new book questions this view. Through a study of two important projects of the time -- international efforts to determine the exact level of the Dead Sea, and Chesney's Euphrates Expedition to find a quicker route to India -- Professor Goren shows how other forces than the interests of empire, were involved. He reveals the important role played by private individuals and establishes a wealth of new connections between the key players; and he reveals for the first time an important Irish nexus. The resulting work adds an important new dimension to our existing understanding of this period.

The first of a new series, the Contemporary Archive of the Islamic World, this title draws on the resources of World of Information, a British publisher that since 1975 has published analyses of the politics and economics of all the Middle East countries. For decades Syria lay at the heart of Middle Eastern affairs. Under Assad rulers, and sharing a border with Israel, Syria's fortunes have been complex. Strategic alliances were formed and fell apart. Domestic rebellions were quelled, often violently. Since 2011, Syria has been in the world's headlines every day, riven by a civil war that has risked bringing the world's major powers into open conflict. The CAIW provides an essential background to a complex international problem.

Jami in Regional Contexts: The Reception of 'Abd Al-Rahman Jami's Works in the Islamicate World is the first attempt to present in a comprehensive manner how 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 898/1492), a most influential figure in the Persian-speaking world, reshaped the canons of Islamic mysticism, literature and poetry and how, in turn, this new canon prompted the formation of regional traditions. As a result, a renewed geography of intellectual practices emerges as well as questions surrounding authorship and authority in the making of vernacular cultures. Specialists of Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Georgian, Malay, Pashto, Sanskrit, Urdu, Turkish, and Bengali thus provide a unique connected account of the conception and reception of Jami's works throughout the Eurasian continent and maritime Southeast Asia.

This collection of essays offers a comprehensive study of the impact of cultural life and intellectual thought on society in Medieval India. Doubtless, if the impact of interaction between the followers of Hindu and Islamic traditions of culture under the Arab and Ghaznavid rulers remained confined, to Sind and the Panjab from the eighth to the twelfth centuries AD, the Ghurian conquest of north India led to far-reaching socio-political changes in the subcontinent. The scientific instruments and devices that found their way with the emigrants from the neighbouring countries after the foundation of the sultanate in the beginning of the thirteenth century became the accompaniments of civilised life and generated new components of elite culture. The essays in this volume shift the focus from the pre-occupation with battles and court politics that dominate the studies of the period and help us understand the complex social phenomena. The essays arranged are first concerned with intellectual life and thought and then come those that deal with literary works containing historical information of supplementary and corroborative importance. The works analysed not only cast light on currents and cross currents resulting from the role played by the elite but also open new vistas for further investigation. The discovery of new sources is of methodological significance as they provide insights into certain aspects not much known. The contributors are scholars of eminence and belong to India, England, USA and Australia.

How should failed states in Africa be understood? Catherine Scott here critically engages with the concept of state failure and provides an historical reinterpretation. She shows that, although the concept emerged in the context of the post-Cold War new world order, the phenomenon has been attendant throughout (and even before) the development of the Westphalian state system. Contemporary failed states, however, differ from their historical counterparts in one fundamental respect: they fail within their existing borders and continue to be recognised as something that they are not. This peculiarity derives from international norms instituted in the era of decolonisation, which resulted in the inviolability of state borders and the supposed universality of statehood. Scott argues that contemporary failed states are, in fact, failed post-colonies. Thus understood, state failure is less the failure of existing states and more the failed rooting and institutionalisation of imported and reified models of Western statehood. Drawing on insights from the histories of Uganda and Burundi, from pre-colonial polity formation to the present day, she explores why and how there have been failures to create effective and legitimate national states within the bounds of inherited colonial jurisdictions on much of the African continent.

Baghdad: From its Beginnings to the 14th Century offers an exhaustive handbook that covers all possible themes connected to the history of this urban complex in Iraq, from its origins rooted in late antique Mesopotamia up to the aftermath of the Mongol invasion in 1258. Against the common perception of a city founded 762 in a vacuum, which, after experiencing a heyday in a mythical "golden age" under the early 'Abbasids, entered since 900 a long period of decline that ended with a complete collapse by savage people from the East in 1258, the volume emphasizes the continuity of Baghdad's urban life, and shows how it was marked by its destiny as caliphal seat and cultural hub. Contributors Mehmetcan Akpinar, Nuha Alshaar, Pavel Basharin, David Bennett, Michal Biran, Richard W. Bulliet, Kirill Dmitriev, Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Beatrice Gruendler, Sebastian Gunther, Olof Heilo, Damien Janos, Christopher Melchert, Michael Morony, Bernard O'Kane, Klaus Oschema, Letizia Osti, Parvaneh Pourshariati, Vanessa van Renterghem, Jens Scheiner, Angela Schottenhammer, Y. Zvi Stampfer, Johannes Thomann, Isabel Toral.

This volume reproduces in full Mountbatten's own account of the last five months of British rule in India based on reports he sent to London at the time. Written with disarming frankness, we witness the failure of Mountbatten's initial attempts to secure independence on the basis of a united India. He then turned to some form of agreed partition and his eventual success was achieved after considerable feats of diplomacy. The figures of Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and other key leaders loom large in this account. Mountbatten provides a valuable introductory historical survey and a chapter in which he draws up his conclusions. There are thirteen appendices providing the texts of key documents and an index of the persona involved in these momentous events. Before becoming the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten played a major part in the defeat of Japan in the Second World War. He was Supreme Allied Commander, South-East Asia Command between 1943 and 1946. Here he was also responsible for preparing Burma for civilian rule. Mountbatten served as first Governor-General of the new Dominion of India and after he left India in June 1948 he held a number of senior posts. He was First Sea Lord in Britain between 1955 and 1959 and then became (until 1965) Chief of the U.K. Defence Staff.

From as early as the 1600s, Dutch scholars and scholarship have displayed a keen interest in the studies of the Islamic world. Over the centuries, they have collected a wealth of source texts in various languages, Turkish texts being prominent among them. The present catalogue is the fourth and final volume in a series that covers the Turkish manuscripts preserved in public libraries and museums in the Netherlands. The volume gives a detailed description of Turkish manuscripts in minor Dutch collections, found in libraries and museums in Amsterdam, Groningen, The Hague, Leiden, Rotterdam and Utrecht, which hitherto have received little or no attention.

Filling an important gap in extraterritoriality studies and in the history of Anglo-Korean relations, this benchmark study examines Britain's exercise of extraterritorial rights in Korea from 1884 until Korea's formal annexation by Japan in 1910. It shows how the treaty provisions-which provided for Britain's ideal extra-territorial regime-were influenced by Britain's considerably greater experience in Japan beginning in 1859. The caseload proved miniscule in the absence of any large British commercial or maritime presence. Nevertheless, it provides an insight into extra-territoriality's operation outside major commercial centres and ports. Britain's protection of Chinese interests in Korea in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895 is also covered.

Aristotle's theory of eternal continuous motion and his argument from everlasting change and motion to the existence of an unmoved primary cause of motion, provided in book VIII of his Physics, is one of the most influential and persistent doctrines of ancient Greek philosophy. Nevertheless, the exact wording of Aristotle's discourse is doubtful and contentious at many places. The present critical edition of Ishaq ibn Hunayn's Arabic translation (9th c.) is supposed to replace the faulty edition by A. Badawi and aims at contributing to the clarification of these textual difficulties by means of a detailed collation of the Arabic text with the most important Greek manuscripts, supported by comprehensive Greek and Arabic glossaries.

Based on a collaboration between historians of Chinese and European politics, Political Communication in Chinese and European History, 800-1600 offers a first comprehensive overview of current research on political communication in middle-period European and Chinese history. The chapters present new work on the sources and processes of political communication in European and Chinese history partly through juxtaposing and combining formerly separate historiographies and partly through direct comparison. Contrary to earlier comparative work on empires and state formation, which aimed to explain similarities and differences with encompassing models and new theories of divergence, the goal is to further conversations between historians by engaging regional historiographies from the bottom up.

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.