Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012: Geopolitical, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Shifts by Tomas Kavaliauskas, is an in-depth study of the transformations in Central Europe in the years since the fall of Communism. Using a comparative analysis of geopolitical, ethical, cultural, and socioeconomic shifts, this essential text investigates postcommunist countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. Next to transitological interpretations, this study ventures upon negative and positive freedom (Isaiah Berlin) in Central Europe after two decades of post-communist transition. Kavaliauskas questions the meaning of completeness of postcommunist transition, both geopolitical and socioeconomic, when there are many transformations that do not necessarily mean unequivocal progress. The author also analyses why Central Europe in 1989, armed with civil disobedience, could not maintain its moral politics. But the book touches sensitive issues of memory as well: an examination of May 9th is provided from the Russian and the Baltic perspectives, revealing two opposing world views regarding this date of liberation or occupation. Finally, Kavaliauskas analyzes the tragedy at Smolensk airport, which became an inseparable part of Central European identity. Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012 is an essential contribution to the literature on Central Europe and the lasting effects of Communism and its aftermath.

On the accession of Louis XIII in 1610 following the assassination of his father, the Bourbon dynasty stood on unstable foundations. For all of Henri IV's undoubted achievements, he had left his son a realm that was still prey to the ambitions of an aristocracy that possessed independent military force and was prepared to resort to violence and vendetta in order to defend its interests and honour. To establish his personal authority, Louis XIII was forced to resort to conspiracy and murder, and even then his authority was constantly challenged. Yet a little over a century later, as the reign of Louis XIV drew to a close, such disobedience was impossible. Instead, a simple royal command expressing the sovereign's disgrace was sufficient to compel the most powerful men and women in the kingdom to submit to imprisonment or internal exile without a trial or an opportunity to justify their conduct, abandoning their normal lives, leaving families, careers, offices, and possessions behind in obedience to their sovereign. To explain that transformation, this volume examines the development of this new 'politics of disgrace', why it emerged, how it was conceptualised, the conventions that governed its use, and reactions to it, not only from the perspective of the monarch and his noble subjects, but also the great corporations of the realm and the wider public. Although that new model of disgrace proved remarkably successful, influencing the ideas and actions of the dominant social elites, it was nevertheless contested, and the critique of disgrace connects to the second aim of this work, which is to use shifting attitudes to the practice as a means of investigating the nature of Ancien Regime political culture and some of the dramatic and profound changes it experienced in the years separating Louis XIII's dramatic seizure of power from the French Revolution.

Gives voice to the conscripts who are forced to serve indefinitely without remuneration under the ENS in a powerful critical survey of its effect from the Liberation Struggle to today. The Eritrean National Service (ENS) lies at the core of the post-independence state, not only supplying its military, but affecting every aspect of the country's economy, its social services, its public sector and its politics. Over half the workforce are forcibly enrolled into it by the government, driving the country's youth to escape national service by seeking employment and asylum elsewhere. Yet how did the ENS, which began during the 1961-91 liberation struggle as part of the idea of the "common good" - in which individual interests were sacrificed in pursuit of the grand scheme of independence and the country's development - degenerate into forced labour and a modern form ofslavery? And why, when Eritrea no longer faces existential threat, does the government continue to demand such service from its citizens? This book provides for the first time an in-depth and critical scrutiny of the ENS'sachievements and failures and its overarching impact on the social fabric of Eritrea. The author discusses the historical backdrop to the ENS and the rationales underlying it; its goals and objectives; its transformative effects,as well as its impact on the country's defence capability, national unity, national identity construction and nation-building. He also analyses the extent to which the national service functions as an effective mechanism of transmitting the core values of the liberation struggle to the conscripts and through them to the rest of country's population. Finally, the book assesses whether the core aims and objectives of the ENS proclaimed by various governmentshave been or are in the process of being accomplished and, drawing on the testimony of the hitherto voiceless conscripts themselves, its impact on their lives and livelihoods. GAIM KIBREAB is Professor of Research andDirector of Refugee Studies, School of Law and Social Science, London South Bank University. He is the author of Eritrea: A Dream Deferred (James Currey, 2009) and People on the Edge in the Horn (James Currey, 1996).

From the Palestinian struggle against Israeli Apartheid, to First Nations' mass campaigns against pipeline construction in North America, Indigenous peoples are at the forefront of some of the crucial struggles of our age. Rich with their distinct histories and cultures, they are connected by the shared enemy they face: settler colonialism. In this introduction to the subject, Sai Englert highlights the ways in which settler colonialism has and continues to shape our global economic and political order. From the rapacious accumulation of resources, land, and labour, through Indigenous dispossession and genocide, to the development of racism as a form of social control, settler colonialism is deeply connected to many of today's social ills. To understand settler colonialism as an ongoing process, is therefore also to start engaging with contemporary social movements and solidarity campaigns differently. It is to start seeing how distinct struggles for justice and liberation are intertwined.

The continuing churn of political advisers in Donald Trump's White House serve as a reminder of the salience and relevance of political advice. Political Advice: Past, Present and Future brings several very different voices to bear on the problem of advice and influence; the distinction in so far as it is valid between political and policy advice; the two-way parasitism of adviser and advised; the nature and idioms of political advice literature; the changing (and sometimes unchanging) nature of expertise; the ever-pressing issue of access and exclusion; and how that is controlled. This volume of essays feeds into a contemporary concern, set in a wider historical context. Moreover, the volume treats political advice in an interdisciplinary fashion with contributions from classics and literature as well as from history and politics. The unique practitioners' perspective to the problem of political advice is brought by the contributions of politicians, political advisers and senior civil servants.

The United States' use of torture and harsh interrogation techniques during the "War on Terror" has sparked fervent debate among citizens and scholars surrounding the human rights of war criminals. Does all force qualify as "necessary and appropriate" in this period of political unrest? Examining Torture brings together some of the best recent scholarship on the incidence of torture in a comparative and international context. The contributors to this volume use both quantitative and qualitative studies to examine the causes and consequences of torture policies and the resulting public opinion. Policy makers as well as scholars and those concerned with human rights will find this collection invaluable.

In the need to move crisis to ordering, communities will come together with less freedom to dominate and less time to equivocate. Mark Findlay's treatment of regulatory sociability charts the anticipated and even inevitable transition from self to mutual interest, which is the essence of taking communities of shared risk to shared fate. In the context of today's greatest global crises, he explains that for the sake of sustainability, human diversity can bond in different ways to achieve fate.

This book is the first account of the personal lives of the nearly 1,000 long-term political prisoners arrested under various sedition laws for their opposition to World War I, their trade union activities, or their unpopular political or religious beliefs. Based on the author's exclusive access to the uncensored prison files of many of these prisoners, and information obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act, Kohn relays the powerful prison experiences of some of America's most famous and colorful labor, socialist, and peace leaders. With over ten years of research, and access to tens of thousands of pages of never-before released U.S. Department of Justice records, Stephen Kohn has been able to recreate the actual prison experiences of these political prisoners.

Several democratic countries have used emergency powers to restrict or suspend individual liberties in order to fight terrorism more effectively. Emergency powers are controversial in their potential to undermine democracy and civil liberties. Freeman challenges popular arguments of both the supporters of emergency powers, who focus on their expected effectiveness, and the critics, who focus on the dangers. In reality, the recent experiences of four different democratic states that have invoked emergency powers show that a positive outcome is just as likely as negative outcome.

As the United States fights its war against terrorism, it should heed the lessons learned by other democracies in similar struggles, particularly Great Britain's relationship with Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s, Uruguay's response to the Tupamaros in the late 60s and early 70s, Canada's dealings with the FLQ in 1970, and Peru's conflict with the Shining Path movement in the 80s and early 90s.

Abortion remains one of the most politicized issues globally and whilst some countries such as the USA continue to experience restrictions to access to abortion, Northern Ireland stands out as having enacted historical positive change in abortion law, from an almost complete ban throughout the Twentieth Century to decriminalization achieved in 2019. This book documents and analyzes how this historical change was achieved. This, the second of two volumes, places emphasis on allies and support for abortion provision, illustrating how the movement has relied upon an intersectional network of social movement actors, NGOs and fundraisers to maintain momentum and inclusivity. It also focuses on the reality of abortion provision. Each chapter is written by those directly involved in the long-fought battle to change abortion law - including those with personal experience of seeking abortions, activists, academics, legal experts, political actors, NGOs, and volunteers. This interdisciplinary text will be of relevance to academics and students in the disciplines of law, policy, political science, and sociology, but also to organizers and policy makers in other global contexts and across other social justice campaigns.

Forget Breaking Bad, this is the extraordinary story of the 1970s Welsh LSD ring that supplied the world, told by a cop in deepest cover on the case. Life undercover was one great adrenaline rush fuelled by copious amounts of alcohol, hash, weed and some cocaine. I was off the leash. In the mid-1970s, at the age of 29, Stephen Bentley, a fresh-faced detective, turned himself into Steve Jackson, a dope-smoking, hard-drinking hippie. His time spent undercover with a gang making and distributing LSD helped bring down two criminal networks - but the operation also led to deep personal aftershocks felt long after the case closed. As we get up-close-and-personal with the people who were the operators of the drug supply chain that fuelled 70s counter-culture, the story becomes laden with heavy drug-taking, blurred lines between cop, criminal and friend, and creeping doubts about who Steve really is. Taking us into the unlikely setting of the rural Welsh valleys and infiltrating the gang that was responsible for about 90% of the LSD production in the UK, Steve Bentley's insider account shows what it really takes to go undercover - to befriend, to betray and to bury your sense of self. Now in development as an 8-part TV series.

Thriving in the context of political vacuums created by state weakness, the armed non-state actors in the Middle East, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Kurds increasingly demonstrate features of both state and non-state actors and act autonomously in their foreign policy. Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship investigates the growing influence of Middle Eastern non-state actors as agents of foreign policy through an analysis of the U.S.-Kurdish relationship. Ozum Yesiltas analyzes the underlying causes of increased U.S.-Kurdish cooperation since the early 1990s and addresses the extent to which existing approaches in international relations are adequate in explaining the changing political landscape in the Middle East that brought the U.S. and Kurds together in new ways. Yesiltas draws attention to the ways in which U.S-Kurdish interactions contributed to the escalation of Kurdish nationalism as a transnational phenomenon, and how the growing saliency of Kurdish transnational politics reshapes U.S. foreign policy and broader regional order.

Journalists have often put themselves in danger to convey crucial information to the public. Many journalists have even died doing their jobs, investigating crimes or traveling to battle zones-and sometimes documenting events in their own communities. Recently, reporters have been assaulted, mocked and silenced, their reports dubbed "fake news" and them, "enemies of the people." A free press is one of the country's most reliable foundations for ensuring a democracy for current and future generations. With a focus on American journalism, this book tackles issues affecting today's news through profiling journalists killed on the job, whether from violent conspiracy, terrorism or mass shootings.

This volume provides in a single source a thorough grounding in the origin, development, and current controversies surrounding the free practice of religion. The first boatloads of European settlers did not come to America advocating religious tolerance. They came seeking the freedom to practice their own religion. Other sects, they believed, were wrong at best and, at worst, not to be tolerated. The question of what constitutes "legitimate," constitutionally protected religious practice has been debated ever since. Does it include the use of peyote? Polygamy? Refusing medical care for a sick child? Freedom of Religion follows the evolving understanding of the concept of religious freedom from Great Britain to the New World, through hundreds of U.S. courtrooms, to the volatile modern-day issues of school prayer and faith-based initiatives. The thorough, responsible, and cool-headed analysis presented here offers readers a solid grounding in the constitutional issues behind the headlines. Four chapters discuss the development of religious freedom from its roots in tribal societies through key court decisions of the 1990s A chronology outlines significant events and court decisions from 1776 to 2001, and a table lists all of the pertinent cases alphabetically

Events of protest and dissent have been the subject of much global debate and media attention. However, no one book has dealt with the wide range of protests nor with the terminology associated with the state and police response to it. This dictionary explores a variety of issues related to the policing of public order, protest and political violence providing a comprehensive overview of international protest since 1945. It defines the key terms associated with these activities and, through the use of a number of international case studies, it includes numerous examples of protest and dissent that have taken place across the world, and the groups and organisations which have utilized these forms of political expression.Written in an accessible style, each entry is accompanied by a list of sources and suggestions for further reading through which readers can extend their knowledge of each of the topics. This unique and in-depth resource will be an essential guide for scholars across Criminology, Criminal Justice, Policing, Political History and International Relations.

Defending Europe seeks to clarify the competing ambitions, the contrasting visions and the trans-Atlantic tensions related to the recent quest by Europe for autonomy in the sphere of security and defense. Scholars from both sides of the Atlantic explore the development of ESDI within NATO, the revival of the WEU and the launch of the EU's Common European Security and Defense Policy. Among the issues discussed are the Euro-American capabilities gap, concerns regarding decoupling, discrimination, and duplication, and the complications posed by NATO/EU enlargement. Two contrary conclusions debate whether ESDP is more likely to strengthen or undermine the Atlantic Alliance. This informative foray into trans-Atlantic security and defense issues is a crucial addition to the ongoing dialogue concerning this shifting and evolving relationship.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA and its partners had been engaging in warrantless mass surveillance, using the internet and cellphone data, and driven by fear of terrorism under the sign of security . In this compelling account, surveillance expert David Lyon guides the reader through Snowden s ongoing disclosures: the technological shifts involved, the steady rise of invisible monitoring of innocent citizens, the collusion of government agencies and for-profit companies and the implications for how we conceive of privacy in a democratic society infused by the lure of big data. Lyon discusses the distinct global reactions to Snowden and shows why some basic issues must be faced: how we frame surveillance, and the place of the human in a digital world. Surveillance after Snowden is crucial reading for anyone interested in politics, technology and society.

Everyday People provides a comprehensive assessment of Trump supporters including white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, the Christian right, and cult followers and offers students a discussion of how this group is a symptom of a much larger social issue and movement in the United States. McNamara examines the appeal of Trump as a president and explains why so many people voted for him in the first place. The text reviews the most recent and relevant literature on Trump supporters and their makeup including historical documents, government reports, research studies, and media sources, to unpack and understand the issues in an objective and empirical way. Students will understand the source and substance of the controversies surrounding Trump and his followers and understand how fear and complacency causes people to suspend rational thinking and to develop misguided loyalties.

Shining a light on how Iraqi Kurds used the opportunity created by the aftermath of the 1991 Kurdish uprising to hold elections and form a parliament, and on how Kurdish officials later consolidated their regional government following the 2003 Iraq War, Iraqi Kurds and Nation-Building considers the political and economic shortfalls of the government and the obstacles facing Iraqi Kurds in a country still struggling to emerge from eight years of internal conflict and foreign occupation.

Tang Shuxiu and her husband are on an 800-mile train journey from Beijing to Shifang, where they believe their only child has perished in a recent earthquake. Three days after the event, Tang is too dehydrated to cry. Liu Ting becomes a national hero when he brings his mother to college, a celebration of filial piety in a nation that now legally compels adult children to visit their elderly parents. Tian Qingeng and his parents are deeply in debt. They have bought an apartment they hope will improve his eligibility in a nation that has 30 million bachelors, or 'bare branches'. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mei Fong has spent eight years documenting the effects of the one-child policy across all of Chinese society. In this critically acclaimed account, she weaves together personal stories, history and politics to produce an extraordinary, evocative investigation into how the policy has changed China and why the repercussions will be felt across the world for decades to come.

This book traces three decades of securitisation in Angola. As a governing strategy during war and peacetime, it muted the aspirations of those on opposing sides, distorted the state, emboldened elites and redefined the identity of Angolans. Through this lens, Paula Cristina Roque provides an original account of Angola's post-conflict state-building. Securitisation protected the interests of President dos Santos, the ruling MPLA party and the elites supporting the regime. Angola's array of security forces and infrastructure provided an alternative to a fully functioning executive, at national, provincial and local levels. The intrusive way in which any form of dissent or activism was crushed allowed the presidency to control the direction and narrative of the post-war years. But the facade of democracy, development and stability hid a very different reality for the majority of Angolans, who remained poor, disenfranchised and marginalised. Roque explores the inner workings of the intelligence services, army and presidential guard, explaining the trajectory of a survivalist and fearful regime presiding over scarcities and injustices. She shows that the survival of national security and governing elites was the highest priority. The 'shadows' held far more power than institutions, and weakened them-widening the gap between government and governed.

Wasburn compares U.S. commercial news reports on a wide variety of events with those produced by the news media of several other nations. The events include the Falklands War, the Iran-Iraq War, the Tiananmen Square Uprising, several political assassinations, major trade disputes between the U.S. and Japan, the "Intifada," U.S. presidential nominating conventions and a presidential inauguration.

Different patterns of coverage--amount of attention given an event, language used to describe an event, selection of particular occurrences to characterize an event, and descriptions of U.S. and international public opinion of the event--are shown to reflect different political, economic, and strategic interests of nations, historical contexts in which news was constructed, national differences in values that influence the production of news, and differences in historically specific relations between news media and the governments of their countries. Attention is given to contrasts between the national image of the United States constructed by U.S. commercial news media and the images of the United States produced by various foreign news media. This book will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and researchers involved with political communication, journalism, political science, and political sociology.