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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political science & theory
In Media in Postapartheid South Africa, author Sean Jacobs turns to
media politics and the consumption of media as a way to understand
recent political developments in South Africa and their relations
with the African continent and the world. Jacobs looks at how mass
media defi nes the physical and human geography of the society and
what it means for comprehending changing notions of citizenship in
postapartheid South Africa. Jacobs claims that the media have
unprecedented control over the distribution of public goods, rights
claims, and South Africa's integration into the global political
economy in ways that were impossible under the state-controlled
media that dominated the apartheid years. Jacobs takes a probing
look at television commercials and the representation of South
Africans, reality television shows and South African continental
expansion, soap operas and postapartheid identity politics, and the
internet as a space for reassertions and reconfi gurations of
identity. As South Africa becomes more integrated into the global
economy, Jacobs argues that local media have more weight in shaping
how consumers view these products in unexpected and consequential
ways.
Michael Oppenheimer's Pivotal Countries, Alternate Futures is both
a synthesis of our knowledge on scenario planning and a practical
guide for policymakers. One of America's leading scenario planners,
Oppenheimer has advised the Department of State, the Defense
Intelligence Agency, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President's
Science Advisor, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the
Brookings Institution. In this book, he develops a sophisticated
and coherent method for foreign policy specialists who necessarily
deal with rapidly changing situations involving high levels of
uncertainty. As he explains, figuring out possible outcomes and
designing and appropriate policy requires an ability to identify
the drivers of change, the potential wild card events, and the
central policy questions in any given situation. Once policymakers
determine these, they must plan a scenario. To do that, planners
need to know how to build the best team of experts possible, run a
session, and create credible narratives for different scenario
alternatives. To illustrate how it all works, Oppenheimer draws
from a range of real-life planning scenarios, including China,
Syria, and the Iran nuclear crisis. To be sure, new crises will
arise that supplant these current ones, but his basic method will
aid policymakers in almost every future situation. While nothing
ever goes completely to plan-least of all international
conflict-preparing with multiple scenarios in mind will always be
the least worst approach to global and regional crises.
Methodologically rigorous and comprehensive, Pivotal Countries,
Alternate Futures will be essential reading for policymakers and
policy students trying to determine the best path forward in any
given crisis.
This thought-provoking book addresses the legal questions raised by
the nexus between the rule of law and areas of limited statehood,
in which the State lacks the ability to exercise the full depth of
its governmental authority. Working from an international law
perspective, it examines the implications of limited statehood for
the traditional State-based framing of the international legal
order. Featuring original contributions written by renowned
international scholars, chapters investigate key issues arising at
the junction between domestic and international rule of law and
areas of limited statehood, as well as the alternative modes of
governance that develop therein, both with and without the approval
of the State. Contributors discuss the impact of contested
sovereignty on the rule of law, international responsibility with
regard to rebel governance in these areas, and the consequences of
limited statehood for international peace and security. This book
will be useful for students and scholars of international law and
international relations, particularly those working on sovereignty
and statehood, non-state actors, State responsibility, and the rule
of law. It will also appeal to practitioners and policy-makers
working in these same fields in either State or global governance
apparatus.
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