'Fascinating revelations' Max Hastings, Sunday Times 'An immensely valuable guide to a great and terrible industry' The Economist 'The book I have long been waiting for... Essential reading' Michael Klare Petroleum has always been used by humans: as an adhesive by Neanderthals, as a waterproofing agent in Noah's Ark and as a weapon during the Crusades. Its eventual extraction from the earth in vast quantities transformed light, heat and power. A Pipeline Runs Through It is a fresh, in-depth look at the social, economic, and geopolitical forces involved in our transition to the modern oil age. It tells an extraordinary origin story, from the pre-industrial history of petroleum through to large-scale production in the mid-nineteenth century and the development of a dominant, fully-fledged oil industry by the early twentieth century. This was always a story of imperialist violence, economic exploitation and environmental destruction. The near total eradication of the Native Americans of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio has barely been mentioned as a precondition for the emergence of the first oil region in the United States. The growth of Royal Dutch-Shell involved the genocidal subjugation of people of the Dutch East Indies and the exploitation of oil in the Middle East arose seamlessly out of Britain's prior political and military interventions in the region. Finally, in an entirely new analysis, the book shows how the British navy's increasingly desperate dependence on vulnerable foreign sources of oil may have been a catalytic ingredient in the outbreak of the First World War. The rise of oil has shaped the modern world, and this is the book to understand it.

In this book, Barney Walsh presents an in-depth study of China’s involvement in East Africa through specific focus on President Museveni of Uganda who has been uniquely influential in utilising China’s presence to shape regional security dynamics in his favour. Focussing primarily on the period 2010–2015, Walsh places the spotlight on the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ formed between Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, who undertook high-profile, exciting but controversial regional integration projects without Tanzania and Burundi. Key to those efforts were Chinese-funded mega-infrastructure projects, such as the Standard Gauge Railway and Uganda’s oil pipeline. Walsh’s analysis of the East African Community (EAC) reveals China’s role in ongoing security issues related to terrorism, resulting from the country’s role in small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation and the global ivory trade. Additionally, China is heavily implicated in the region’s ‘oil sector’, as it is a market for oil, involved in developing the sector, and a key partner in mega-infrastructure construction. Throughout this, though the EAC as an institution has been trying to stabilise regional security dynamics and strengthen its institutional role, it has been unduly influenced by the personalities and presence of key African leaders. Here, Museveni’s role in such processes has been crucial, as he has made great efforts to utilise Chinese engagement in order to shape regional processes.

Winner of the Diversity, Inclusion and Equality Award at the Business Book Awards 2021 ‘Underpinned by scholarship...entertaining…Legrain’s book fizzes with practical ideas.’ The Economist ‘The beauty of diversity is that innovation often comes about by serendipity. As Scott Page observed, one day in 1904, at the World Fair in St Louis, the ice cream vendor ran out of cups. Ernest Hami, a Syrian waffle vendor in the booth next door, rolled up some waffles to make cones – and the rest is history.’ Filled with data, anecdotes and optimism, Them and Us is an endorsement of cultural differences at a time of acute national introspection. By every measure, from productivity to new perspectives, immigrants bring something beneficial to society. If patriotism means wanting the best for your country, we should be welcoming immigrants with open arms.

As the Cold War raged on in the 1970s and 1980s, much of southern Africa, from Angola to Mozambique, became caught up in the superpower competition as local and regional proxies for both Moscow and Washington fought it out on the battlefield. Thus, the struggle to determine the future of a newly independent Mozambique was shaped by multiple factors beyond the control of its people in the course of its 16-year conflict from 1977-1992\. These factors also contributed to the longevity and ferocity of the Mozambican war that would leave an estimated one million dead, millions more displaced and made homeless, and a country in ruins. From the rise of the Resistencia Nacional Mocambicana, or Renamo, in 1977 as a Rhodesian weapon against Zimbabwean nationalist guerrillas operating in Mozambique, through South African patronage in the 1980s and to Renamo's evolution as a self-sufficient insurgency, the forces of Mozambican nationalism became inexorably intertwined with the geopolitics of the region and the international manifestations of the Cold War. Thus, both government and rebel forces found themselves repeatedly beholden to external interests - be it American, Soviet, Cuban, South African or Rhodesian - as each sought to advance its own agenda and future vision of the country. However, it would be Mozambicans themselves who spilled their blood in a clash of men and arms that spanned the length and breadth of the country. And ultimately this is their story of sacrifice and triumph.

The incredible story of a breathtaking rescue in the frenzied final hours of the US evacuation of Afghanistan — and how a brave Afghan mother and a compassionate American officer engineered a daring escape. When the US began its withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Afghan army instantly collapsed, Homeira Qaderi was marked for death at the hands of the Taliban. A celebrated author, academic, and champion for women’s liberation, Homeira had achieved celebrity in her home country by winning custody of her son in a contentious divorce, a rarity in Afghanistan’s patriarchal society. Despite her fierce determination to stay in her homeland, it finally became clear to Homeira that escaping was the only way she and her family would survive. However, like so many, she was mired in the chaos that ensued at Kabul Airport, struggling to get on a plane with her eight-year-old son, Siawash, along with her parents and the rest of their family.  Meanwhile, a young US foreign service officer, Sam Aronson, who had volunteered to help rescue the more than 100,000 Americans and their Afghan helpers stranded in Kabul, learned that the CIA had established a secret entrance into Kabul Airport two miles away from the desperate crowds crushing toward the gates. He started bringing families directly through, and on the very last day of the evacuation, Sam was contacted by Homeira’s literary agent, who persuaded him to help Homeira get out.  The story that follows is unbelievable but true. Zuckoff’s firsthand accounts come exclusively and directly from Homeira, Aronson, and Homeira’s literary agent. The Secret Gate is beyond riveting, and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. 

By delving into the complex, cross-generational exchanges that characterize any political project as rampant as empire, this thought-provoking study focuses on children and their ambivalent, intimate relationships with maps and practices of mapping at the dawn of the "American Century." Considering children as students, map and puzzle makers, letter writers, and playmates, Mahshid Mayar interrogates the ways turn-of-the-century American children encountered, made sense of, and produced spatial narratives and cognitive maps of the United States and the world. Mayar further probes how children's diverse patterns of consuming, relating to, and appropriating the "truths" that maps represent turned cartography into a site of personal and political contention. To investigate where in the world the United States imagined itself at the end of the nineteenth century, this book calls for new modes of mapping the United States as it studies the nation on regional, hemispheric, and global scales. By examining the multilayered liaison between imperial pedagogy and geopolitical literacy across a wide range of archival evidence, Mayar delivers a careful microhistorical study of U.S. empire.

How globalized information networks can be used for strategic advantage.Until recently, globalization was viewed, on balance, as an inherently good thing that would benefit people and societies nearly everywhere. Now there is growing concern that some countries will use their position in globalized networks to gain undue influence over other societies through their dominance of information and financial networks, a concept known as 'weaponized interdependence'. In exploring the conditions under which China, Russia, and the United States might be expected to weaponize control of information and manipulate the global economy, the contributors to this volume challenge scholars and practitioners to think differently about foreign economic policy, national security, and statecraft for the twenty-first century. The book addresses such questions as: What areas of the global economy are most vulnerable to unilateral control of information and financial networks? How sustainable is the use of weaponized interdependence? What are the possible responses from targeted actors? And how sustainable is the open global economy if weaponized interdependence becomes a default tool for managing international relations?

The paradox of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia The Obama administration's pivot-to-Asia policy establishes an important place for Southeast Asia in U.S. foreign policy. But Washington's attention to the region has fluctuated dramatically, from the intense intervention of the cold war era to near neglect in more recent years. As a consequence, countries in Southeast Asia worry that the United States once again will become distracted by other problems and disengage from the region. This book written by an astute observer of the region and U.S. policy casts light on the sources of these anxieties. A main consideration is that it still is not clear how Southeast Asia fits into U.S. strategy for Asia and the broader world. Is the region central to U.S. policymaking, or an afterthought? Ambivalent Engagement highlights a dilemma that is becoming increasingly conspicuous and problematic. Southeast Asia continues to rely on the United States to play an active role in the region even though it is an external power. But the countries of Southeast Asia have very different views about precisely what role the United States should play. The consequences of this ambivalence will grow in importance with the expanding role of yet another outside power, China.

This book is a compilation of papers presented at a day-long conference organized in Chennai, on March 28, 2019, by the Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S) in partnership with the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Madras, and supported by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard on the theme, “Securing India's Maritime Neighbourhood: Challenges and Opportunities�. Contributors included a whole galaxy of luminaries from the serving and veteran echelons of the Indian Armed Forces, the diplomatic community, maritime industry, doyens of Indian academia, and distinguished personalities from the Fourth Estate. A number of facets of seminal importance to national security were addressed in the book. These included conceptual, geopolitical, economic, environmental, and technological issues.

"The Book is a window on Indian cultural diplomacy, which is set against the backdrop of its ethos of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (The World is a Family). It is pivoted to the 'Idea of India' that gets manifested through acceptance of diversity and celebration of pluralism. The Book in 15 chapters under 8 sections provides a comprehensive picture on the concept of cultural diplomacy; its relationship with public diplomacy and soft power; its place in the diplomatic architecture and its growing centrality. Unlike soft power, cultural diplomacy is not in the paradigm of power. The Book also provides an in depth study on the origins and evolution of Indian cultural diplomacy over the years. It reviews the role of the Ministries of Culture and External Affairs and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). It examines various instrumentalities, such as Cultural Agreements, Festivals of India, Cultural Centres and Chairs of Indian Studies, used by India, to achieve its objectives. The role played by Education, Media and Diaspora, as bridge builders is evaluated. The Book peeps into global cultural hubs, like the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and the working of cultural diplomacy at grassroots level at Chandigarh and Chicago. Two chapters in the Book look at the operation of cultural diplomacy in the Indian diplomatic missions and foreign diplomatic missions in India. This adds a practical dimension to the conceptual framework, as seen by practitioners of diplomacy. The final chapter provides an overview on the existing reality. A section on 'The Way Ahead' makes a number of practical recommendations in five clusters, to take cultural diplomacy to a higher plateau. Finally, it raises a set of pertinent issues and points for consideration by theoreticians and practitioners of cultural diplomacy. The Book would serve as a useful reference point for further studies, as it fills the existing void in the literature on cultural diplomacy."

Daesh is worse than the Taliban, which is now trying to bring a new ideology as Daesh-ism which is anti – Islam. This book brings out the alarming situation of the presence of Daesh in Pakistan and its expanding activities. It serves the international community as a reminder of the role they need to play in crushing this monster.

Partition—the physical division of territory along ethno-religious lines into separate nation-states—is often presented as a successful political "solution" to ethnic conflict. In the twentieth century, at least three new political entities—the Irish Free State, the Dominions (later Republics) of India and Pakistan, and the State of Israel—emerged as results of partition. This volume offers the first collective history of the concept of partition, tracing its emergence in the aftermath of the First World War and locating its genealogy in the politics of twentieth-century empire and decolonization. Making use of the transnational framework of the British Empire, which presided over the three major partitions of the twentieth century, contributors draw out concrete connections among the cases of Ireland, Pakistan, and Israel—the mutual influences, shared personnel, economic justifications, and material interests that propelled the idea of partition forward and resulted in the violent creation of new post-colonial political spaces. In so doing, the volume seeks to move beyond the nationalist frameworks that served in the first instance to promote partition as a natural phenomenon.

The second volume of the India Tibet Relations (1947-1962) begins soon after signature of 17-Point Agreement in May 1951. During the years under study (1951-54), the position of India on the Roof of the World changed drastically. This volume shall go in depth into the slow deterioration of the age-old Indo-Tibet relations, gradually being replaced by a cruder relation with the new occupiers of Tibet. The Indian officials posted in Lhasa, Gyantse, Yatung or Gartok were the first to realize the true face of the Chinese `liberators’. During this period, very few Tibetans had the courage to fight the ineluctable; most Tibetans, whether from the aristocracy or the clergy, collaborated with the occupying forces. “Will Tibet find her soul again?� wrote the Indian Trade Agent in Gyantse in one of his reports. The question is still hanging.

Today, China’s economy is behaving in a rather similar way to most other countries. This is true even after the government’s influence on industry which in some sectors is similar to what we see in some European countries such as France. China uses the same measurement yardsticks for GDP, foreign trade, inflation, industrial output, etc. as almost every other country. As such, comparisons are possible and called for. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the world’s second largest economy by nominal GDP and by purchasing power parity after the United States. It is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10%over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world. On a per capita income basis, China ranked 90th by nominal GDP and 91st by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The provinces in the coastal regions of China tend to be more industrialized, while regions in the hinterland are less developed. As China’s economic importance has grown, so has attention to the structure and health of the economy. Growth in the People's Republic of China's restructuring economy continued to decelerate in 2016, but the government ensured stability through targeted fiscal and monetary support. Inflation started to rise, and the current account surplus narrowed but remained sizeable. These trends will continue in 2017 and 2018. Structural reform needs to be accelerated to boost productivity and sustain growth as outlined in the current 5-year plan. As the book addresses this crucial issue quite deftly, it is hoped that it would prove to be a source of great information for the reader.

This book explains the emergence of sub-regional cooperation mechanism in the maritime domain in South Asia. It deals with the trilateral cooperation of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives as they share common maritime connectivity. This book also analyses political, economic, cultural and security relationship between the three countries and explains the role of China in the Indian Ocean region and its impact on South Asia.

Germany, the most racist of countries less than a century ago, has for the past two years welcomed over one million refugees, more than any other European country. To find out the secret behind this turn of character, Tuvia Tenenbom, a Jew born in Israel, presented himself as a Jordanian and was able to gain entry into many refugee camps.

Living in squalid conditions in airless rooms, and with barely edible food, the refugees begged Tuvia to help them get out of the camps. When not with the refugees, Tuvia traveled through the land and mingled with the local people who shared with him that they, the Germans, were the kindest people in Europe, far superior to the "inhumane” Jews.

Tuvia Tenenbom's provocative re-enactment of the refugee reality in the middle of Europe, coupled with the rising anti-Semitism of the people who proclaim themselves to be kind, exposes the hypocrisy of the "Refugees Welcome" mantra chiming throughout the Western world.

South Asia one of the most populous, densely populated and volatile regions in the world remains in a state of `Unpleasant Stability’. Despite rich historical, cultural and political linkages, the region has embarrassingly poor mutual understanding and hence integration. While the failure of South Asia’s desired evolution as a cohesive region can be attributed to several factors ranging from terrorism, strained bilateral relations and the absence of military and strategic cooperation; India’s own engagement in the region has been found wanting, even though it has evolved over the years. A reinvigorated South Asia has the potential to vastly improve the lives of its 1.7 billion citizens – nearly one-fourth of all humanity – particularly India, the largest country of the region. The book is an important and valuable contribution as it attempts to bring under one volume a holistic understanding of the concept of strategic stability in South Asia; opportunities and challenges in the present geopolitical and geo-economic environment; to include rise of religious fundamentalism, strategic alliances / emerging partnerships between countries of the region and extra regional powers. It also analyses and puts forth recommendations for India’s own rise, peace and stability a `sine qua non’ for India to retain its pre–eminence in South Asia.