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Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General
This book introduces the reader to different cases of cultural
intersections between Tibet and China in the field of Buddhism. The
ten chapters provide a series of insights into Sino-Tibetan
exchanges within religious practices and doctrines, material
culture and iconography. Spanning from pre-modern encounters in
Central Asia to contemporary forms of Sino-Tibetan hybridity in
Chinese-speaking environments, Sino-Tibetan Buddhism Across the
Ages produces further evidence that, beginning with the very
introduction of Buddhism into Tibet, there were constant and
fruitful contacts and blending between the Buddhist traditions
developing in China and those of Tibet. Contributors are Urs App,
Ester Bianchi, Isabelle Charleux, Martino Dibeltulo Concu, Alison
Denton Jones, Weirong Shen, Penghao Sun, Wei Wu, Fan Zhang, and
Linghui Zhang.
The book explores the political poetry recited by the Negev Bedouin
from the late Ottoman period to the late twentieth century. By
closely reading fifty poems Peled sheds light on the poets'
sentiments and worldviews. To get to the bottom of the issues that
inspired their poetry, he weaves an interpretive web informed by
the study of language, culture and history. The poems reveal that
the poets were perfectly aware of the workings of the power systems
that took control of their lives and lifestyle. Their poetry
indicates that they did not remain silent but practiced their art
in the face of their hardships, observing the collapse of their
world with a mixture of despair and inspiration, bitterness and
wit.
Italy played a vital role in the Cold War dynamics that shaped the
Middle East in the latter part of the 20th century. It was a junior
partner in the strategic plans of NATO and warmly appreciated by
some Arab countries for its regional approach. But Italian foreign
policy towards the Middle East balanced between promoting dialogue,
stability and cooperation on one hand, and colluding with global
superpower manoeuvres to exploit existing tensions and achieve
local influence on the other. Italy and the Middle East brings
together a range of experts on Italian international relations to
analyse, for the first time in English, the country's Cold War
relationship with the Middle East. Chapters covering a wide range
of defining twentieth century events - from the Arab-Israeli
conflict and the Lebanese Civil War, to the Iranian Revolution and
the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - demonstrate the nuances of
Italian foreign policy in dealing with the complexity of Middle
Eastern relations. The collection demonstrates the interaction of
local and global issues in shaping Italy's international relations
with the Middle East, making it essential reading to students of
the Cold War, regional interactions, and the international
relations of Italy and the Middle East.
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