Nerve agents are the world's deadliest means of chemical warfare. Nazi Germany developed the first military-grade nerve agents and massive industry for their manufacture-yet, strangely, the Third Reich never used them. At the end of the Second World War, the Allies were stunned to discover this advanced and extensive programme. The Soviets and Western powers embarked on a new arms race, amassing huge chemical arsenals. From their Nazi invention to the 2018 Novichok attack in Britain, Dan Kaszeta uncovers nerve agents' gradual spread across the world, despite international arms control efforts. They've been deployed in the Iran-Iraq War, by terrorists in Japan, in the Syrian Civil War, and by assassins in Malaysia and Salisbury-always with bitter consequences. 'Toxic' recounts the grisly history of these weapons of mass destruction: a deadly suite of invisible, odourless killers.

"The first in-depth reconstruction of the struggle based on fully original documentation. It is, indeed, a welcome and important book."
--"American Historical Review"

One of the longest-standing and most intractable problems in contemporary international politics, the Cyprus question continues to plague the international community. Isle of Discord sketches the post-war origins of the Cyprus problem from the first drive toward internationalization to the outbreak of armed struggle against the British colonial regime-to show how the potential for a peaceful resolution of the conflict was repeatedly and fatefully squandered.

Strategically located at the hub of three continents, the island of Cyprus has been a bone of contention between Greek and Turkish nationalists-and consequently between U.S., British, and U. N. policymakers. Detailing the central role of the nationalist Enosis movement, of the U.N., and of insidious factionalism in the area, Stefanidis brings new insight to this undertreated period of Cypriot history through U.S., British, and Greek records not before used.

A timely profile of this legacy of modern diplomatic history, Isle of Discord identifies the various forces, competing interests, and partisan pressures that helped shape the Cyprus problem.

The police force in Japan has frequently been idealized by Western commentators, who trace its origin to the American Occupation of Japan (1945-52) "Police in Occupation Japan" challenges the assumptions that underlie these accounts, focusing on the problems that attended the reform of the Japanese police during the Occupation. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, Christopher Aldous explores the extent to which America failed in its goal of "democratizing" the Japanese police force, arguing that deeply-rooted tradition, the pivotal importance of the black market, and America's decision to opt for an indirect Occupation led to resistance to reform. His study concludes with a consideration of the postwar legacy of the Occupation's police reform, and explores a number of recent controversies.

Controversy still surrounds the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt in 1956 and the role of senior British politicians such as the Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. This volume traces the history of Anglo-Egyptian relations since the opening of the canal, and Britain's wider interests in the region. The crisis itself, from its development to the invasion and the aftermath, is fully explored. The wider implications of the episode, both for Britain and on a global scale, are considered in detail. A wide range of documentary evidence is carefully woven into textual analysis. Included are: key UK and US government sources; photographs, cartoons; diary entries; interviews, and extracts from newspapers. The significance of individual sources - and their usefulness for historians - is highlighted.

This is the story of a life shaped by Egypt's national struggle and dominated by the conflict between the Arab world and Israel. It charts Sadat's progress from fanatical nationalist to Nasser's successor as President of Egypt, and from world statesman to tragic hero, who gave his life in the cause of peace. This study of one of the major figures in the struggle for peace in the Middle East, is of interest in the light of the ongoing peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

What role have parliaments played in the dramatic changes occurring in Eastern and Central Europe? Adopting a common research framework, the contributors analyze in detail the role and operations of parliaments in ten of the new democracies. They focus on what determines their capacity to have some impact on public policy. They identify the significance of parliaments operating in often hybrid systems of government, with the relationship between the executive and legislature not well defined, and with an absence of constraining influence that typify western political systems.

Soviet Jewish Aliyah 1989-92 provides new insights into a period of fundamental change in Israel and the Middle East. It explains how the Israeli government failed to effectively handle the integration of new emigres from the Soviet Union, and how it alienated traditional Likud supporters among Oriental Jews in Israel. Clive Jones's argument is that, by placing its ideological commitment to the retention of the West Bank above other priorities, the Likud leadership made itself beholden to the United States for financial assistance which was then denied. The resulting fundamental change in the composition and orientation of the Israeli political leadership has had a major influence on the course of the Arab-Israeli peace process.

The third revolution in human history--after the neolithic agrarian revolution and the modern industrial one--is the revolution of the professionals. Harold Perkin's brilliant new book examines the world's leading professional societies since World War II--the free market economies of the United States, Britain, France, West Germany, and Japan, and the defunct command economies of the Soviet Union and East Germany--and their domination by professional elites, notably state bureaucrats and corporate executives.
Perkins highlights their extraordinary achievements--the highest living standards and the longest, healthiest, most rewarding lives in human history--but warns of the self-destructive greed and corruption which threaten the future of us all.

The incredible, harrowing account of how American democracy was hacked by Moscow as part of a covert operation to influence the U.S. election and help Donald Trump gain the presidency. Russian Roulette is...the most thorough and riveting account. -- The New York Times Russian Roulette is a story of political skullduggery unprecedented in American history. It weaves together tales of international intrigue, cyber espionage, and superpower rivalry. After U.S.-Russia relations soured, as Vladimir Putin moved to reassert Russian strength on the global stage, Moscow trained its best hackers and trolls on U.S. political targets and exploited WikiLeaks to disseminate information that could affect the 2016 election. The Russians were wildly successful and the great break-in of 2016 was no third-rate burglary. It was far more sophisticated and sinister -- a brazen act of political espionage designed to interfere with American democracy. At the end of the day, Trump, the candidate who pursued business deals in Russia, won. And millions of Americans were left wondering, what the hell happened? This story of high-tech spying and multiple political feuds is told against the backdrop of Trump's strange relationship with Putin and the curious ties between members of his inner circle -- including Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn -- and Russia. Russian Roulette chronicles and explores this bizarre scandal, explains the stakes, and answers one of the biggest questions in American politics: How and why did a foreign government infiltrate the country's political process and gain influence in Washington?

Black Tulip is the dramatic story of history's top fighter ace, Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann. It's also the story of how his service under Hitler was simplified and elevated to Western mythology during the Cold War. Over 1,404 wartime missions, Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills, and his career contains all the dramas you would expect. There were the frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War that ended with conflict and angst. Just when Hartmann’s second career was faltering, he was adopted by a network of writers and commentators personally invested in his welfare and reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published elaborate, celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. With each dogfight tale put into print, Hartmann’s legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. A simplified, one-dimensional account of his life – devoid of the harder questions about allegiance and service under Hitler – has gone unchallenged for almost a generation. Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we’re used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we’ve inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.

The Bretton Woods system ensured a quarter of a century of relative stability on the world's financial markets. The quarter of a century which has followed has brought financial chaos and excessive financial volatility. Exchange Rate Chaos: 25 Years of Financial and Consumer Democracy describes and compares US and British financial history during this period. It highlights: * similarites in financial developments between the two countries * consumer democracy: Have the wishes of consumers dominated exchange rate policy? * The decline of the small investor and the hegemony of financial institutions * How the floating exchange rates are manipulated to government advantage One of the few financial histories to deal with the postwar period, this book shows how financial developments have shaped contemporary society and politics.

Providing an invaluable introductory resource for students studying cyber warfare, this book highlights the evolution of cyber conflict in modern times through dozens of key primary source documents related to its development and implementation. This meticulously curated primary source collection is designed to offer a broad examination of key documents related to cyber warfare, covering the subject from multiple perspectives. The earliest documents date from the late 20th century, when the concept and possibility of cyber attacks became a reality, while the most recent documents are from 2019. Each document is accompanied by an introduction and analysis written by an expert in the field that provides the necessary context for readers to learn about the complexities of cyber warfare. The title's nearly 100 documents are drawn primarily but not exclusively from government sources and allow readers to understand how policy, strategy, doctrine, and tactics of cyber warfare are created and devised, particularly in the United States. Although the U.S. is the global leader in cyber capabilities and is largely driving the determination of norms within the cyber domain, the title additionally contains a small number of international documents. This invaluable work will serve as an excellent starting point for anyone seeking to understand the nature and character of international cyber warfare. Covers in detail one of the defining forms of conflict of the 21st century-cyber warfare will significantly impact virtually every American citizen over the next two decades Provides more than 90 primary source documents and matching analysis, allowing readers to investigate the underpinnings of cyber warfare Enables readers to see the development of different concepts of cyber warfare through its chronological organization Reflects the deep knowledge of an editor who is a noted expert in cyber warfare and has taught for the United States Air Force for more than a decade

This volume brings together a series of recent analyses spanning the whole period of Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. The essays, by Western, Russian and East European experts present a wide and varied picture of the period. The authors use newly available materials to investigate different aspects of Soviet-East European relations - party affairs, military and political co-ordination, cultural and mass media policies, as well as the crises and conflicts emerging from the relationship itself. Odd Arne Westad is the author of "Cold War and Revolution". Iver B. Neumann is the author of "Splittelse og Samling".

This book examines the implications of the Persian Gulf crisis in order to enhance our understanding of the post-Cold War international system. More than just another analysis of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war, the book looks at the more general aspects of the use of force (political, economic, and military) evident in the Gulf crisis and what they can tell us about the emerging post-Cold War system. Contributors were selected on the basis of their ability to address specific questions and policy issues, and to cast their analyses at a broadly theoretical level.

Each chapter looks at a different aspect of conflict in the international system and how that relates to the Persian Gulf crisis. Several aspects of the crisis and the new international system are examined such as the role of the United Nations, the utility of economic sanctions, the historical origin of the crisis itself, the potential sources of conflict and responses to it, and the changing nature of the use of military force. To the extent that the lessons found contradict the common wisdoms that emerged in the immediate aftermath of the war, many of the chapters challenge the trend to find sweeping generalizations in the Gulf crisis that bear directly on international relations in the 1990s and beyond. Civilian and military policymakers, as well as students and teachers of international studies, will find this book of interest.

This book analyzes the ways in which US policy toward Iraq was dictated by America's broader Cold War strategy between 1958 and 1975. While most historians have focused on "hot" Cold War conflicts such as Cuba, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, few have recognized Iraq's significance as a Cold War battleground. This book argues that US decisions and actions were designed to deny the Soviet Union influence over Iraq and to create a strategic base in the oil-rich Gulf region. Using newly available primary sources and interviews, this book reveals new details on America's decision-making toward and actions against Iraq during the height of the Cold War and shows where Iraq fits into the broader historiography of the Cold War in the Middle East. Further, it raises important questions about widely held misconceptions of US-Iraqi relations, such as the CIA's alleged involvement in the 1963 Ba'thist coup and the theory that the US sold out the Kurds in 1975.

Taking an historical approach, the author explores both how the UN has affected world politics and how the international political system has formed and limited the work of the Organization. He looks at why the UN was created, how it was affected by the Cold War and how successive Secretaries General struggled to find a role for themselves. The book shows how negative and even hostile views of the UN were changed by the end of the Cold War and by the UN-sponsored action in the Gulf, why the UN overreached itself in Bosnia and Somalia and how it failed to stop the genocide in Rwanda. While the main focus of this book is the role of the UN in promoting international peace and security, it also examines the work of the UN in other areas, including human rights and environmental protection.

Through conflicts in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, this is the vivid memoir of British sniper Craig Harrison. It takes a tough mindset to be a successful sniper, to be able to dig in for days on your own as you wait for your target, to stay calm on a battlefield when you yourself have become the target the enemy most want to take out. Craig Harrison has what it takes and in November 2009 in Afghanistan, under intense pressure, he saved the lives of his comrades with the longest confirmed sniper kill - 2,475 metres, the length of twenty-five football pitches. In The Longest Kill, his unflinching autobiography, Craig catapults us into the heat of the action as he describes his active service in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, and gives heart-stopping accounts of his sniper ops as he fought for his life on the rooftops of Basra and the barren hills of Helmand province. Craig was blown up by an IED in Afghanistan and left battling severe PTSD. After his identity was revealed in the press he also had to cope with Al Qaeda threats against him and his family. For Craig, the price of heroism has been devastatingly high.

"When the Berlin Wall opened unexpectedly on November 9, 1989, it marked a rupture of global significance. For Germany's national history the event has become, next to the defeat of 1945, the most significant date in collective memory. For Cold War Europe the Berlin Wall represented a symbol of border crisis and of difference and division. This interdisciplinary volume addresses multiple consequences of the fall of the Wall: looking back at the physical barrier, its demise, and how it has been mediated in film and television; detailing the processes of restoring and revitalizing the city and the country that had been torn asunder; recognizing the new challenges of integrating socially and politically old and new minorities; and identifying how a new European identity may emerge "after the Wall." The anthology is targeted at scholars and advanced students in history, German studies, sociology, art history, and related fields"--

Afghanistan, 2008. After their eighteen-month epic tour of Helmand Province, the troops of 3 Para are back. This time, the weight of experience weighs heavily on their shoulders. In April 2006 the elite 3 Para Battle Group was despatched to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on a tour that has become a legend. All that summer the Paras were subjected to relentless Taliban attacks in one of the most gruelling campaigns fought by British troops in modern times. Two years later the Paras are back in the pounding heat of the Afghanistan front lines. The conflict has changed. The enemy has been forced to adopt new weaponry and tactics. But how much progress are we really making in the war against the insurgents? And is there an end in sight? In this searing account of 3 Para's return, bestselling author Patrick Bishop combines gripping, first-person accounts of front-line action with an unflinching look at the hard realities of our involvement in Afghanistan. Writing from a position of exclusive access alongside the Paras, he reveals the 'ground truth' of the mission our soldiers have been given. It's a sombre picture. But shining out from it are stories of courage, comradeship and humour, as well as a gripping account of an epic humanitarian operation through Taliban-infested country to deliver a vitally needed turbine to the Kajaki Dam. Frank, action-packed and absorbing, 'Ground Truth' is a timely and important book that will set the agenda for discussion of the Afghan conflict for years to come.

Tracing the evolution of the Bulgarian state and its people, from the beginning of the Bulgarian national revival in the middle of the nineteenth century to the entry of the country into the European Union, Richard Crampton examines key political, social, and economic developments, revealing the history of a country which evolved from a backward and troublesome Balkan state to become a modern European nation. The formation of the first modern Bulgarian state in 1878 played a major role in Bulgaria's evolution, determining its stance in the two World Wars. Seeing the collapse as well as the establishment and evolution of communist rule, Bulgaria survived an often painful journey from monolithic authoritarianism to representative democracy and the market system. This book follows this journey, and analyses the development of Bulgaria's political culture, examining the emergence of radical movements, both agrarian and socialist, as well as looking at the role of religion and the position of minorities. Crampton highlights the problems and dilemmas created by the country's position situated between east and west, problems which might not be entirely solved by the country's admission to the EU.

The Vietnam War was a thirty-year conflict that actually included several wars, cost billions of dollars, resulted in thousands of Vietnamese, French, and American deaths, and reverberated throughout the international community. Now in this new concise overview David Anderson lays out the origins, course, and historical legacies of the war for students. The text discusses the French colonial war and the Vietnamese phase of the conflict to 1975, but the primary focus of the text is on the American war in Vietnam. The author examines military, political, diplomatic, social and economic issues, both in Vietnam and the United States. With its brevity, readability, and authoritative overview, this is an ideal text for beginning or advanced undergraduate students.

This project advances the existing theoretical work on the CNN effect, a claim that innovations in the speed and quality of technology create conditions in which the media acts as an independent factor with significant influence. It provides a novel interpretation of the factors that drove Western policy towards military intervention in this area.

These riveting first-hand accounts of Turkish soldiers who have fought in the nasty internal war against the Kurds speak to universals: the shock of entering military life and the traumas of warfare; the changes in personality and relations with family and friends, the lingering emotional effects of violence, and the difficulties in returning to the 'real world', to borrow a phrase from Vietnam vets. Corruption, disillusionment and despair alternate with the small victories of humanity overcoming hellish conditions. Mater's reportage is in the best tradition of revealing the surreal, illuminating the universal truth of war's devastation. At a time when American troops are again caught in a vicious insurgency, the Kurdish issue has high visibility, and Turkey is a major actor in the Middle East, the experiences of these former soldiers resonate.

The Truman administration's decision to embark on an arms build-up in 1950 was a critical event. For the first time other than a World War, the United States became a global military presence. Unlike the World Wars, in this instance the deployment lasted decades, altering the nature of the Cold War and the United States' global role. Such a decision deserves a book dedicated to understanding the strategy and politics behind it. The Beginnings of the Cold War Arms Race serves that purpose. The Beginnings of the Cold War Arms Race reviews the state of American military affairs in the late 1940s and describes the role of atomic power in American strategy. It also outlines the factional fighting within the Truman administration over military spending and deployments and considers the Truman administration's perceptions of Soviet military power and intentions. The author presents a fascinating account of the strategy and politics behind the Truman administration's decision to engage in a massive arms build-up that initiated the Cold War arms race.