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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > General
This book examines British defense policy since 1945 on a thematic basis, thereby offering both an international relations perspective and a domestic viewpoint.
Sovereignty has been a major and obsessive ingredient in
Canadian defense policy. "Arctic Leverage: Canadian Sovereignty and
Security" explores its historical development. How have territorial
sovereignty concerns affected Canadian defense policy and its
defense relationship with the United States? With the Arctic
Archipelago, Canada possesses a geostrategic buffer between two
superpowers, and claiming jurisdiction over its waters, has run
afoul of U.S. policy that designates the Northwest Passage as a
strait vital to the interest of the United States. French Caldwell
examines Canada's objectives: were the nuclear attack submarine
program and three ocean concept intended to increase Canada's voice
in collective security beyond its contribution? A valuable study
for defense policy experts and strategic policy makers, this volume
explores the fascinating role strategic real estate (the Arctic)
plays in defense relationships.
"Arctic Leverage" is the first thorough study of the
interrelationship of Canada and the United States with respect to
the Arctic. Taking an historical perspective Caldwell covers: the
establishment of sovereignty in the Arctic Archipelago; motivation
for and establishment of the U.S./Canadian defense relationship;
the role of territorial sovereignty in defense policy; the
strategic significance of the three ocean concept; sovereignty and
security implications of announcing and then writing off the
nuclear submarine program; and the 1987 White Paper after Canada's
1989-90 budget cuts.
This book offers a comprehensive study of the dynamics of civil-military relations in Pakistan. It asks how and why the Pakistan military has acquired such a salience in the polity and how it continues to influence decision-making on foreign and security policies and key domestic political, social and economic issues. It also examines the changes within the military, the impact of these changes on its disposition towards the state and society, and the implications for peace and security in nuclearized South Asia.
"Soldiers in a Storm: The Armed Forces in South Africa's Democratic
Transition" is a study of the role of the military in the creation
and development of South Africa's new post-apartheid system. Philip
Frankel asserts that the armed forces played a far greater role in
the end of apartheid than is currently acknowledged in the
literature, and that the relatively peaceful negotiations that
ended apartheid would not have been possible without the
participation of the South African National Defense Force and two
major liberation armies.Frankel also examines the topics of
military disengagement, civilianization, post-authoritarian
political behavior on the part of militaries, and the process of
democratic consolidation. He also discusses how many of these
themes have been explored in the context of Latin America, and he
points out that this is the only book that places these themes
within the context of South Africa. This is an important case study
with universal implications.
This book provides a fascinating analysis of the external and
internal linkages that have for decades impeded economic and
political reforms in the Arab world, and presents a new and
coherent framework that enables policy makers and practitioners to
better understand, identify and deal with the root causes of
terrorism.
"This volume investigates the role of the transnational terrorist
and criminal organizations in the peace-building processes, with a
particular focus on the Western Balkan region. Conducted within the
framework of human security analysis, the research focuses on the
security of the human being"--
"War, Chaos, and History" considers the implications of the
emerging field of research in chaos-complexity-non-linearity for
the study of war. This study examines the special dependence of
military professionals on history in their shaping of doctrines,
style, and attitudes in spite of the wide gap between the portrayal
of war in military history and the far greater intricacy of its
reality. Special foci in the analysis include: the fragility of
doctrine; the chronic confounding of plans and expectations in
actual operations; the congruences of chaos and creativity
theoretics; effects of war on the environment; and problems of
evidence and reportage. Three cases--battle cruisers, tank
destroyers, and heavy fighter aircraft--are presented to illustrate
paradoxes, especially the gap between vision and realization, and
the tension between the urge to control and the impulse to create
chaos in war.
Containing the histories (from 1945 to the present) of the nuclear
strategies of NATO, Britain and France, and of the defence
preferences of the FRG (West Germany), this book shows how
strategies were functions of a perceived Soviet threat and an
American 'nuclear guarantee'. There were three options for West
Europeans: a compromise with differing American needs in NATO,
pursued by Britain and the FRG; national nuclear forces, developed
by Britain and France; and projects for an independent European
nuclear force.
Why did the British win the Anglo-Boer War? Although there is truth
in the simple statement that they were much stronger than the
Boers, it does not explain everything. Therefore, the main focus of
this book is to analyse the most important strategic and
operational decisions made on both sides, and to measure them
according to accepted modern military theory. It is shown that both
the British and Boer war efforts were very haphazard at the
beginning, but that both learnt as the war went on. In the end, the
British got the Boers in a vice from which they could not escape.
Will there be war with China? This book provides the most complete
and accurate assessment of the probability of conflict between the
United States and the rising Asian superpower. Equally important,
it lays out an in-depth analysis of the possible pathways to peace.
Written like a geopolitical detective story, the narrative
encourages reader interaction by starting each chapter with an
intriguing question that often challenges conventional wisdom.
Based on interviews with more than thirty top experts, the author
highlights a number of disturbing facts about China's recent
military buildup and the shifting balance of power in Asia: the
Chinese are deploying game-changing "carrier killer" ballistic
missiles; some of America's supposed allies in Europe and Asia are
selling highly lethal weapons systems to China in a perverse twist
on globalization; and, on the U.S. side, debilitating cutbacks in
the military budget send a message to the world that America is not
serious about its "pivot to Asia." In the face of these threatening
developments, the book stresses the importance of maintaining US
military strength and preparedness and strengthening alliances,
while warning against a complacent optimism that relies on economic
engagement, negotiations, and nuclear deterrence to ensure peace.
Accessible to readers from all walks of life, this
multidisciplinary work blends geopolitics, economics, history,
international relations, military doctrine, and political science
to provide a better understanding of one of the most vexing
problems facing the world.
A young American enlists and begins his life in the Army with
pink-cheeked optimism. The realities of combat and imprisonment
during World War II test his will to survive. Written for his
children and grandchildren with both rawness and humor, this
journey to a labor camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia conveys
both despair and hope.
"This hard-hitting critique of US policy toward Latin America
includes a historical sketch of US relations with individual
countries. Black argues persuasively that the US has been the major
oppponent of needed reforms in Latin American countries and the
major proponent of predatory military establishments. The
unwavering US goal, she believes, has been preservation of the
established US empire in Latin America, but she cites differing
strategies to attain this goal used by conservatives (President
Reagan) and liberals (President Carter). She sees a weakening of US
hegemony, however, as pressures for reform become irresistable. . .
. This book should be read by all who view US policy toward Latin
America as benevolent." Choice
James I "the Conqueror," king of Arago-Catalonia, conquered
Mediterranean Spain from Islam during fifty crusading years
(1225-1276). From his many surrender treaties, only two survive in
their interlinear bilingual originals, both presented here. Each
reflects the fragmentation of post-Almohad Islam, the warrior
heroes of Islam carving recalcitrant principalities out of the
confusion, the hard-fought local negotiations and the confrontation
between two radically opposed mentalities.
The full meaning of these battered and deteriorated bits of
parchment emerges only from minute reconstruction of the Arabic and
Latinate texts and especially from ever-widening circles of
changing contexts in each world, an historical kaleidoscope.
Many surprises here await students of medieval Europe, the Islamic
West, Spain, the Crusades, diplomacy, Mudejars/Moriscos, and
cultural conflict and interchange.
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