The recent commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's election as the thirty-fifth president of the United States serves as a reminder of a period of time that many Americans perceive as idyllic. Just as his election, despite a near-run thing, had instilled a pervasive sense of hope throughout the country, his assassination stunned the entire nation, scarring the psyche of a generation of Americans. More than half a century later, JFK continues to inspire debates about the effectiveness of the presidency, as well as his own political legacy, making the senator from Massachusetts the object of many enduring myths: that he would have been one of the country's greatest leaders had he lived, he would have kept the US out of a full-fledged Vietnam war, and that he was a martyr of right-wing assassins. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, who did get the US deeply involved in Vietnam while pursuing the social reforms of the Great Society at home and abroad, also casts a long shadow in the twenty-first century, as the nation continues to deal with poverty, racism, and social injustice. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Kennedy-Johnson Era covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, including the president, his advisors, his family, his opponents, and his critics, as well as members of Congress, military leaders, and international leaders. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about John F. Kennedy.

Based on in-depth interviews with tribal Sheiks involved in the Awakening and their American military counterparts, Confronting al Qaeda is a study of decision-making processes and the political psychology of the Sunni Awakening in al Anbar. It traces the change in American military strategy that made the Awakening collaboration between the Sunni tribes and the U.S. forces possible. It explains how the evolution of the tribal leaders' perspective and of the American military strategy led to defeat al Qaeda in al Anbar. The process of these changing mutual images is detailed as well as how the cooperation between groups led to further evolution of perceptions. Political and military realities urgently forced these perceptual and social identity shifts initially, but the process of cooperation and engagement accelerated these shifts through increasingly mutually beneficial cooperation and interaction during the battle with al Qaeda in Iraq.

Composer and cultural official Nicolas Nabokov (1903-78) led an unusual life even for a composer who was also a high-level diplomat. Nabokov was for nearly three decades an outstanding and far-sighted player in international cultural exchanges during the Cold War, much admired by some of the most distinguished minds of his century for the range of his interests and the breadth of his vision. Nicolas Nabokov: A Life in Freedom and Music follows Nabokov's life through its fascinating details: a privileged Russian childhood before the Revolution; exile, first to Germany, then to France; the beginnings of a promising musical career, launched under the aegis of Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes with Ode in 1928; his twelve-year "American exile" during which he occupied several academic positions; his return to Europe after the war to participate in the denazification of Germany; his involvement in anti-Stalinist causes in the first years of the Cold War; his participation in the Congress for Cultural Freedom; his role as cultural adviser to the Mayor of Berlin and director of the Berlin Festival in the early 1960s; the resumption of his American academic and musical career in the late 1960s and 1970s. Nabokov is unique not only in that he was involved on a high level in international cultural politics, but also in that his life intersected at all times with a vast array of people within, and also well beyond, the confines of classical music. Drawing on a vast array of primary sources, Vincent Giroud's first-ever biography of Nabokov will be of interest readers interested in twentieth-century music, Russian music, Russian emigration, and the Cold War, particularly in its cultural aspects. Musicians and musicologists interested in Nabokov as a composer, or in twentieth century Russian composers in general, will find in the book information not available anywhere else.

From the late 1940s until the early 1990s, the Cold War was perhaps the most critical and defining aspect of American culture, influencing television, music, and movies, among other forms of popular entertainment. Films in particular were at the center of the battle for the hearts and minds of the American public. Throughout this period, the Cold War influenced what movies got produced, how such movies were made, and how audiences understood the films they watched. In the post-Cold War era, some genres of film suffered from the shift in our national narratives, while others were quickly reimagined for an audience with different political and social fears. In Hollywood and the End of the Cold War: Signs of Cinematic Change, Bryn Upton compares films from the late Cold War era with movies of similar themes from the post-Cold War era. In this volume, Upton pays particular attention to shifts in narrative that reflect changes in American culture, attitudes, and ideas. In exploring how the absence of the Cold War has changed the way we understand and interpret film, this volume seeks to answer several key questions such as: Has the end of the Cold War altered how we tell our stories? Has it changed how we perceive ourselves? In what ways has our popular culture been affected by the absence of this once dominant presence? With its focus on themes that are central to the concerns of many historians-including civil religion, social fracture, and the culture wars-Hollywood and the End of the Cold War will serve as a useful tool for those seeking to integrate film into the classroom, as well as for film scholars exploring representations of sociopolitical change on screen.

This is a superb new study of Japanese culture in the post-war period, focusing on a handful of filmmakers who created movies for a politically conscious audience. Out of a background of war, occupation and the legacies of Japan's post-defeat politics there emerged a dissentient group of avant-garde filmmakers who created a counter-cinema that addressed a newly constituted, politically conscious audience. While there was no formal manifesto for this movement and the various key filmmakers of the period (Oshima Nagisa, Imamura Shohei, Yoshida Yoshishige, Hani Susumu, Wakamatsu Koji and Okamoto Kihachi) experimented with very different conceptions of visual style, it is possible to identify a sensibility that motivated many of these filmmakers: a generational consciousness based on political opposition that was intimately linked to the student movements of the 1950s, and shared experiences as Japan's first generation of post-war filmmakers artistically stifled by a monopolistic and hierarchal commercial studio system that had emerged reinvigorated in the wake of the 'red purges' of the late-1940s. "Politics, Porn and Protest: Japanese Avant-Garde Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s" provides a much needed overview of these filmmakers and reconsiders the question of dissent in the cultural landscape of Japan in the post-war period.

Evolution and Power: China's Struggle, Survival, and Success, edited by Xiaobing Li and Xiansheng Tian, brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to provide a comprehensive look at China s rapid socio-economic transformation and the dramatic changes in its political institution and culture. Investigating subjects such as party history, leadership style, personality, political movements, civil-military relations, intersection of politics and law, and democratization, this volume situates current legitimacy and constitutional debates in the context of both the country s ideology, traditions, and the wider global community. The contributors to this volume clarify key Chinese conceptual frameworks to explain previous subjects that have been confusing or neglected, offering case studies and policy analyses connected with power struggles and political crises in China. A general pattern is introduced and developed to illuminate contemporary problems with government accountability, public opposition, and political transparency. Evolution and Power provides essential scholarship on China s political development and growth.

Explores the ways television documents, satirizes, and critiques the political era of the Trump presidency. In American Television during a Television Presidency, Karen McNally and contributors critically examine the various ways in which television became transfixed by the Trump presidency and the broader political, social, and cultural climate. This book is the first to fully address the relationship between TV and a presidency consistently conducted with television in mind. The sixteen chapters cover everything from the political theater of televised impeachment hearings to the potent narratives of fictional drama and the stinging critiques of comedy, as they consider the wide-ranging ways in which television engages with the shifting political culture that emerged during this period. Approaching television both historically and in the contemporary moment, the contributors-an international group of scholars from a variety of academic disciplines-illuminate the indelible links that exist between television, American politics, and the nation's broader culture. As it interrogates a presidency played out through the lens of the TV camera and reviews a medium immersing itself in a compelling and inescapable subject, American Television during a Television Presidency sets out to explore what defines the television of the Trump era as a distinctive time in TV history. From inequalities to resistance, and from fandom to historical memory, this book opens up new territory in which to critically analyze television's complex relationship with Donald Trump, his presidency, and the political culture of this unsettled and simultaneously groundbreaking era. Undergraduate and graduate students and scholars of film and television studies, comedy studies, and cultural studies will value this strong collection.

An essential new reference work for students and general readers interested in the history, dynamics, and influence of evangelicalism in recent American history, politics, and culture. What makes evangelical or "born-again" Christians different from those who identify themselves more simply as "Christian"? What percentage of Americans believe in the Rapture? How are evangelicalism and Baptism similar? What is the influence of evangelical religions on U.S. politics? Readers of Evangelical America: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Religious Culture will learn the answers to these questions and many more through this single-volume work's coverage of the many dimensions of and diversity within evangelicalism and through its documentation of the specific contributions evangelicals have made in American society and culture. It also illustrates the Evangelical movement's influence internationally in key issues such as human rights, environmentalism, and gender and sexuality. Provides readers with an understanding of contemporary American evangelicalism's history, key individuals, organizations, and beliefs through detailed coverage of more than 180 topics Documents the diversity of the Evangelical movement under a common core umbrella of doctrinal beliefs Displays the breadth of American evangelical interaction in social and cultural issues and in debates in recent American history

Hurricane Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast in 2005, leaving an unparalleled trail of physical destruction. In addition to that damage, the storm wrought massive psychological and cultural trauma on Gulf Coast residents and on America as a whole. Details of the devastation were quickly reported-and misreported-by media outlets, and a slew of articles and books followed, offering a spectrum of socio-political commentaries and analyses. But beyond the reportage and the commentary, a series of fictional and creative accounts of the Katrina-experience have emerged in various mediums: novels, plays, films, television shows, songs, graphic novels, collections of photographs, and works of creative non-fiction that blur the lines between reportage, memoir, and poetry. The creative outpouring brings to mind Salman Rushdie's observation that, "Man is the storytelling animal, the only creature on earth that tells itself stories to understand what kind of creature it is." This book accepts the urge behind Rushdie's formula: humans tell stories in order to understand ourselves, our world, and our place in it. Indeed, the creative output on Katrina represents efforts to construct a cohesive narrative out of the wreckage of a cataclysmic event. However, this book goes further than merely cataloguing the ways that Katrina narratives support Rushdie's rich claim. This collection represents a concentrated attempt to chart the effects of Katrina on our cultural identity; it seeks to not merely catalogue the trauma of the event but to explore the ways that such an event functions in and on the literature that represents it. The body of work that sprung out of Katrina offers a unique critical opportunity to better understand the genres that structure our stories and the ways stories reflect and produce culture and identity. These essays raise new questions about the representative genres themselves. The stories are efforts to represent and understand the human condition, but so are the organizing principles that communicate the stories. That is, Katrina-narratives present an opportunity to interrogate the ways that specific narrative structures inform our understanding and develop our cultural identity. This book offers a critical processing of the newly emerging and diverse canon of Katrina texts.

This book explores the origins, conduct, and failure of Greek Cypriot nationalists to achieve the unification of Cyprus with Greece. Andrew Novo addresses the anti-colonial struggle in the context of: the competition for the nationalist narrative in Cyprus between the Left and Right, the duelling Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot nationalisms in Cyprus, the role of Turkey and Greece in the conflict on the island, and the concerns of the British Empire during its retrenchment following the Second World War. More than a narrative history of the period, an analysis of British policy, or a description of counter-insurgency operations, this book lays out an examination of the underpinnings of the enosis cause and its manifestation in action. It argues that the strategic myopia of the enosis movement shackled the cause, defined its conduct, and was the primary reason for its failure. Divided and occupied, Cyprus, and the world, deal with its unresolved legacy to this day.

This original and fresh book explores Okinawa's makeover as a tourist mecca in the long historical shadow and among the physical ruins of the Pacific War's most devastating land battle. Gerald Figal considers how a place burdened by a history of semicolonialism, memories of war and occupation, economic hardship, and contentious current political affairs has reshaped itself into a resort destination. Drawing on an innovative mix of detailed archival research and extensive fieldwork, Gerald Figal considers the ways Okinawa has accommodated war experience and its legacies within the manufacture and promotion of both a "tropical paradise" image and a heritage tourism site identified with the premodern Ryukyu Kingdom. Tracing the postwar formation of "Tourist Okinawa," Figal addresses interrelated issues of economic sustainability, local political autonomy, interregional and international relations, environmental preservation, historical and cultural self-representation, and especially Okinawa's role as a global peace site laboring under the legacies of war. From the end of World War Two to the present, the author follows Okinawa's evolution through three main themes: war memorialization, tourism-influenced environmental and historical restoration, and invasion and occupation represented by U.S. military bases and beach resorts. Creatively, accessibly, and eloquently written, this compelling work highlights a set of islands that represent key issues facing contemporary Japan.

Dwight Eisenhower had a measurable impact on the foreign policy decisions of his Democratic successors during the 1960s due to his reputation as a military and foreign policy expert as well as his continued popularity when and after he left office. Eisenhower sought to influence his successors' policies for a number of reasons, including his underrated partisanship, his desire to protect the reputation of his administration, and his real concerns about the ability of his successors to successfully counter the communist challenge to American interests. Despite his steadily declining health, Eisenhower played both a public and behind-the-scenes role in shaping American foreign policy during the 1960s that had long-term consequences for the country. This book traces the interactions between Eisenhower and his two successors from the pre-inaugural meetings with John F. Kennedy, their direct contacts on Cuba, the use of intermediaries such as John McCone and General Andrew Goodpaster, and the constant contact initiated by Lyndon B. Johnson. Through these direct and indirect contacts, Eisenhower constrained the choices available to Kennedy and Johnson and shaped the politics and policies of the United States until the final months of his life.

In Taiwan Straits: Crisis in Asia and the Role of the U.S. Navy, historian Bruce Elleman surveys the situation that has led to the current tensions between China and Taiwan. Starting in 1949, the final phase of the civil war in China, which ended with Communist rule of the mainland and nationalist control of Taiwan, this work explores how the 100-mile wide passage of water, known as the Taiwan Strait has served as the geographic flashpoint between the two nations. Even though U.S. Navy destroyers have patrolled this body of water from 1950 to 1979, it has seen four crises-1954-55, 1958, 1962, and, after the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy, 1995-96-that threatened to push Taiwan and China to the brink of war. Notwithstanding the role of the United States in defusing cross-strait tensions for some three decades and the cold peace that has settled in since then, the Taiwan Strait continues to be a major source of anxiety for the region and the world. Taiwan Straits: Crisis in Asia and the Role of the U.S. Navy traces the evolution of this tension between the two nations, details the history of the crises between them, and brings this story forward into the present by considering continuing sources of conflict, present diplomatic efforts by the aggrieved nations, and other key interests-from the United States and Europe to other regional powers-and future possible outcomes in the ongoing struggle between China and Taiwan relations. Simply written and cogently argued, it is the ideal source for military personnel, diplomats, and scholars and student of the modern Far East.

In recent years there has been much interest in collective memory and commemoration. It is often assumed that when nations celebrate a historic day, they put aside the divisions of the present to recall the past in a spirit of unity. As Billig and Marinho show, this does not apply to the Portuguese parliament's annual celebration of 25 April 1974, the day when the dictatorship, established by Salazar and continued by Caetano, was finally overthrown. Most speakers at the ceremony say little about the actual events of the day itself; and in their speeches they continue with the partisan politics of the present as combatively as ever. To understand this, the authors examine in detail how the members of parliament do politics within the ceremony of remembrance; how they engage in remembering and forgetting the great day; how they use the low rhetoric of manipulation and point-scoring, as well as high-minded political rhetoric. The book stresses that the members of the audience contribute to the meaning of the ceremony by their partisan displays of approval and disapproval. Throughout, the authors demonstrate that, to uncover the deeper meanings of political rhetoric, it is necessary to take note of significant absences. The Politics and Rhetoric of Commemoration illustrates how an in-depth case-study can be invaluable for understanding wider processes. The authors are not content just to uncover unnoticed features of the Portuguese celebration. They use the particular example to provide original insights about the rhetoric of celebrating and the politics of remembering, as well as throwing new light onto the nature of party political discourse.

Political Scandals: The Consequences of Temporary Gratification questions whether the consequences associated with non-sex-based scandals carry greater penalties than sex-based political scandals in the twenty-first century. Featuring a detailed analysis of over 50 political scandals, this book examines the impact those events have on the lives of political officials, their families, and public trust. Political Scandals diminishes the typical sensationalism associated with scandal coverage and dissects what happens when human beings yield to greed, power, sex, lust, and theft in their personal and professional lives.

Twenty-three countries currently allow women to serve in front-line combat positions and others with a high likelihood of direct enemy contact. This book examines how these decisions did or did not evolve in 47 countries. This timely and fascinating book explores how different countries have determined to allow women in the military to take on combat roles-whether out of a need for personnel, a desire for the military to reflect the values of the society, or the opinion that women improve military effectiveness-or, in contrast, have disallowed such a move on behalf of the state. In addition, many countries have insurgent or dissident factions, in that have led armed resistance to state authority in which women have been present, requiring national militaries and peacekeepers to engage them, incorporate them, or disarm and deradicalize them. This country-by country analysis of the role of women in conflicts includes insightful essays on such countries as Afghanistan, China, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Each essay provides important background information to help readers to understand the cultural and political contexts in which women have been integrated into their countries' militaries, have engaged in combat during the course of conflict, and have come to positions of political power that affect military decisions. Delineates the ways in which women are incorporated into national militaries in both the United States and countries around the world Offers in each entry the distinct national context in which countries have decided to employ women in warfare Reveals how different nations choose to include or exclude women from the military, providing key insight into each nation's values and priorities Examines how governments treat women serving in combat: battlefield experience can "earn" a woman citizenship or be cause for shunning her, depending on the state

This book assesses South African history within imperial and global networks of power, trade and communication. South African modernity is understood in terms of the interplay between internal and external forces. Key historical themes, including the emergence of an industrialised economy, the development of systematic racial discrimination and popular resistance against racial power, and the influence of national and ethnic identities on political and social organisation, are set out in relation to imperial and global influences. This book is central to our understanding of South Africa in the context of world history.

In 2008 a media firestorm erupted when snippets of Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s sermons were picked up by media outlets around the world. At that time presidential candidate Barack Obama was a member of Wright's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Wright's words were frequently used to question the patriotism of Obama. The scrutiny over Obama and Wright's relationship made Trinity UCC a flashpoint in the 2008 campaign. The Moment tells the inside story of Trinity UCC during this time of turmoil. Carl and Shelby Grant describe "the Moment" as it unfolded, from Wright's first appearances in the media to Obama's resignation from Trinity Church. They also provide helpful background information, including general history of the black church, African American immigration to Chicago, and black politics in the Windy City. In this context, the voices of Trinity UCC members come alive to show the impact of "the Moment" within and beyond the presidential election, illustrating the thorny intersections of religion, race, politics, and the media in the United States.

Now in its fifth edition, Origins of the Cold War 1941-1949 covers the formative years of the momentous struggle that developed between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. This accessible text explains how the Cold War originated and developed between 1941 and 1949 and involved the entire globe, with proxy wars being fought much to the detriment of the developing world. The fifth edition is revised, updated and expanded to include new material on topics such as the efforts of the Soviet Union, the UK and France to prevent the outbreak of World War II; the reasons behind the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; atomic diplomacy and the role played by Soviet spies in the West; the culture wars and propaganda; Churchill's efforts to entice the US into the war against Germany; the role of Hollywood in promoting intervention; the US's insouciance concerning the danger of a Japanese attack; the astonishing success of the Soviet Union in recruiting high level American officials to provide invaluable information on politics, science, engineering and avionics; and more. Incorporating the most recent scholarship, Martin McCauley provides students with an invaluable introduction to a fascinating period that shaped today's world. The book is an important staple for courses on modern global history and international affairs.