Since the regime of Slobodan Milosevic was spectacularly overthrown on October 5, 2000, little has been written about subsequent political developments in Serbia. The perception of Milosevic as a criminal leader who plunged the former Yugoslavia into bloodshed and used violence to achieve his aims is not widely disputed among Western observers. However, to what extent is this view of Milosevic shared by people in Serbia? Here Janine Clark offers insights into and an understanding of this troubled country. She argues that many Serbs do not regard Milosevic as a criminal leader but rather as a "bad" leader whose greatest crimes were against his own people. This has important implications for how Serbia deals with its past and for reconciliation and peace-building in the former Yugoslavia.

Instead of backing away from the fight, the North Vietnamese mortar, recoilless rifle, heavy machine gun, sapper and regular infantry attacks increased. The last offensive around Ripcord was starting to look like the last stand. Unwilling to keep American soldiers at high risk at this stage of the war; Ripcord was evacuated on 23 July. The battle went unnoticed for 30 years until Keith Nolan's book, "RIPCORD," was published. As powerful and gripping as was the story of great leadership and courageous fighting by our soldiers, the magnitude of the enemy force still remained unknown. The author, the 3rd Brigade commander during the siege and evacuation, made trips to Vietnam in 2001 and 2004 and interviewed the 324B Division Commander whose first-ever division sole mission, was to destroy Firebase Ripcord. The full story is now told.

British post-imperial decline has been much examined. In these memoirs, David Hannay, one of Britain's leading behind-the-scenes players in this process, provides fascinating frontline information and insights into Britain's complex relations with Washington and Europe. From his early career in the Middle East to his role as a top diplomat, Hannay presents a detailed and authoritative narrative of British foreign policy in the second half of the 20th Century. A key player in European policy-making, he was directly involved in bringing about the UK's entry into the European Community, as well as being closely involved in the Annan plan while he was the UK's Special Representative in Cyprus. Hannay illuminates vital themes in the early relationship between Britain and the EU that are increasingly relevant today: British membership, EU enlargement and Britain's contribution to the European budget. From the complex relations between Margaret Thatcher and her diplomatic establishment to Britain's decisions leading up to the 1970s oil supply crisis, Hannay analyses the causes and consequences of major British foreign policy decisions over the past 50 years. An informed and balanced ringside view of diplomatic history over 50 years, this book will fascinate general readers and prove essential reading for specialists.

An examination of the life of General Manton S. Eddy, this study details his experiences in World War II as leader of the U.S. 9th Infantry Division through North Africa, Sicily and France, and subsequently, as commander of XII Corps, into the heart of Germany. While much has been written about the top military leaders of this era, there is little information about corps commanders whose missions were limited to doing battle and whose organizations were tailored exclusively for this task. Eddy's career provides a model for the Army's most ambitious officers, particularly those who, like Eddy, faced the challenge without family connections or the traditional West Point education. He devoted his life to the U.S. Army, enhancing his innate talents through the incorporation of a daily program of self-education.

Eddy had an excellent grasp of the basic principles of military tactics and strategy. He attained this art through home study and assiduous application at the Army's professional education institutions, in particular at the Command and General Staff College, where he served as an instructor for four years. He focused on people, quickly learning and applying basic skills to draw out their best efforts. He came to know what to expect from them in the chaos and under the pressure of combat. This facilitated his development of strong, mission-oriented subordinates. His personal goal was always to maximize all available power at the correct point for crushing his nation's enemies, and to this end, he was extraordinarily successful.

By adopting a unique biographical approach, this book examines the aims and intentions of twelve important and influential individuals who worked for the British Military Government in occupied Germany during the first three years after the end of the Second World War. British policy was distinctive, and the British zone was the largest and economically most important of all four zones. Although the three Western Allies all ended in the same place with the creation of an independent Federal Republic of (West) Germany in 1949, they took different paths to get there. The role of the British has been much misunderstood. Winning the Peace strikes a balance between earlier self-congratulatory accounts of the British occupation, and the later more critical historiography. It highlights diversity of aims and personal backgrounds and in so doing explains some of the complexities and apparent contradictions in British occupation policy. The book concludes that, despite diversity among those studied, all twelve individuals followed a policy described as the 'three Rs' - Reconstruction, Renewal and Reconciliation - rather than the 'four Ds' - De-militarisation, De-nazification, De-industrialisation, and Democratisation - highlighted in earlier histories of the occupation. Whilst reflecting on the role of human agency, Christopher Knowles examines why individuals sometimes failed to achieve what they originally intended, and how their aims and perceptions changed over time to reveal broader political, sociological and cultural forces, outside their direct control. This book is an innovative study for those interested in the Allied occupation, the post-war history of Germany and the study of military occupation generally.

Linking two defining narratives of the twentieth century, Sutton's comparative study of Hong Kong and Cyprus - where two of the empire's most effective communist parties operated - examines how British colonial policy-makers took to cultural and ideological battlegrounds to fight the anti-colonial imperialism of their communist enemies in the Cold War. The structure and intentional nature of the British colonial system grants unprecedented access to British perceptions and strategies, which sought to balance constructive socio-political investments with regressive and self-defeating repression, neither of which Britain could afford in the Cold War conflict of empires.

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. Harnessing Chaos is an explanation of changes in dominant politicized assumptions about what the Bible 'really means' in English culture since the 1960s. James G. Crossley looks at how the social upheavals of the 1960s, and the economic shift from the post-war dominance of Keynesianism to the post-1970s dominance of neoliberalism, brought about certain emphases and nuances in the ways in which the Bible is popularly understood, particularly in relation to dominant political ideas. This book examines the decline of politically radical biblical interpretation in parliamentary politics and the victory of (a modified form of) Margaret Thatcher's re-reading of the liberal Bible tradition, following the normalisation of (a modified form of) Thatcherism more generally. Part I looks at the potential options for politicized readings of the Bible at the end of the the1960s, focussing on the examples of Christopher Hill and Enoch Powell. Part II analyses the role of Thatcher's specific contribution to political interpretation of the Bible and assumptions about 'religion'. Part III highlights the importance of (often unintended) ideological changes towards forms of Thatcherite interpretation in popular culture and with particular reference to Monty Python's Life of Brian and the Manchester music scene between 1976 and 1994. Part IV concerns the modification of Thatcher's Bible, particularly with reference to the embrace of socially liberal values, by looking at the electoral decline of the Conservative Party through the work of Jeffrey Archer on Judas and the final victory of Thatcherism through Tony Blair's exegesis. Some consideration is then given to the Bible in an Age of Coalition and how politically radical biblical interpretations retain a presence outside parliamentary politics. Harnessing Chaos concludes with reflections on why politicians in English politicians bother using the Bible at all.

After years of relative neglect, the reconstruction of post-war Germany has recently become a major research focus for historians. The contributors to this volume were among the first to evaluate the archives relevant to their topic and are hence able to present many fresh insights into Allied occupation policy in the late 1940s, revealing the painful adjustment which German industry, institutions and citizens had to make in the post-1945 world.

Gallagher thinks in neat, clear categories and writes with a style to match. -Foreign Affairs Modern Romania makes a significant contribution to the political history of Romania and Central Europe, as well as to the literature on the dynamics of political and social change in the region. The book has special merit in identifying a number of factors that threaten the stability of democracy in Romania-the most insidious of these being the endemic corruption which affects all aspects of society. Gallagher sounds a timely warning note about Romanias future. -Dennis Deletant, author of Ceausescu and the Securitate T]his volume serves as an excellent introduction...For those familiar with the country, Gallagher offers much food for thought, and although some may not agree with the tenor of his conclusions, there can be no doubt that he has pointed to some of the important issues that Romania must grapple with as it enters this new phase of European Union membership. -Slavic Review Since the 1989 fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, Romania, arguably the most regimented of states in the Soviet bloc, has struggled with the transition from totalitarian state to democratic nation. In this insightful examination of modern Romania, Tom Gallagher provides an overview of Romanias unique political and social history, focusing on both its national identity as well as the legacy of Soviet rule. Gallagher provides an in-depth look at Romania since 1989, focusing on the governments attempts at economic reform, engagement with democracy, problems with corruption among the ruling elite, as well as the weakness of civil society and the resilience of implacable expressions of nationalism. Ultimately, Gallagher argues that thus far democracy has essentially failed in Romania. In fact, he warns that Romania is on its way to becoming one of the most unequal states in Europe and quite possibly a future trouble-spot unless efforts to resume much-needed reforms are undertaken. Tom Gallagher holds the Chair of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at Bradford University. He is the author of many books, most recently Outcast Europe, Balkans From The Ottomans To Milosevic: 1789 - 1989.

This book traces the origins and activities of an alliance of conservative Communist Party authorities and Russian nationalists during the late Soviet era. Specifically, it examines how and to what extent hitherto orthodox Communists sought political allies in the Russian nationalist movement in order to garner support for halting the reform program and saving the Soviet state from collapse. Focusing on the perestroika period, Dr. Kevin O'Connor explains in detail how Marxism-Leninsim receded into irrelevance, forcing orthodox Communists to abandon their Marxist principles in favor of great Russian nationalism.

The troubled early years of the postwar period, culminating in the Korean War, led to the formation of NATO as the Western response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union and its satellites at the time. These years determined the shape of world politics for nearly half a century and although the world situation is changing it is still unclear what the outcome of the present upheavals will be. Then, as now, the 'German Question' was one of the main issues facing Europe to which a clear answer has yet to be found. This volume contains significant insights into the origins of this question, which are dependent upon the different national perspectives of military historians from West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Italy, France and Britain, and as such offers an important contribution to the present debate.

This book examines how the Cold War had a far-reaching impact on theatre by presenting a range of current scholarship on the topic from scholars from a dozen countries. They represent in turn a variety of perspectives, methodologies and theatrical genres, including not only Bertolt Brecht, Jerzy Grotowski and Peter Brook, but also Polish folk-dancing, documentary theatre and opera production. The contributions demonstrate that there was much more at stake and a much larger investment of ideological and economic capital than a simple dichotomy between East versus West or socialism versus capitalism might suggest. Culture, and theatrical culture in particular with its high degree of representational power, was recognized as an important medium in the ideological struggles that characterize this epoch. Most importantly, the volume explores how theatre can be reconceptualized in terms of transnational or even global processes which, it will be argued, were an integral part of Cold War rivalries.

The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force," was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. In June of 1971, small portions of the report were leaked to the press and widely distributed. However, the publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete and suffered from many quality issues.

On the 40th anniversary of the leak to the press, the National Archives, along with the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential Libraries, has released the complete report. The 48 boxes in this series contain a complete copy of the 7,000 page report along with numerous copies of different volumes of the report, all declassified. Approximately 34% of the report is available for the first time.

What is unique about this, compared to other versions, is that:

* The complete Report is now available with no redactions compared to previous releases

* The Report is presented as Leslie Gelb presented it to then Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford on January 15, 1969

* All the supplemental back-documentation is included. In the Gravel Edition, 80% of the documents in Part V.B. were not included

This release includes the complete account of peace negotiations, significant portions of which were not previously available either in the House Armed Services Committee redacted copy of the Report or in the Gravel Edition.

This facsimiile edition includes:

* Part VI. A. Settlement of the Conflict. Negotiations, 1965-67: The Public Record

* Part VI. B. Settlement of the Conflict. Negotiations, 1965-67: Announced Position Statements

Distinguished German historians and journalists examine Germany's new position in Europe after unification in relation to its neighbouring states since 1871 and its role in furthering European integration since 1949. The authors ask: - Does Germany need a new foreign policy? Have her priorities changed in the light of the end of the Cold War? - Does Germany need to define her own national interests rather than identifying herself with the European Union?Contributors: G. Gillessen, G. Schollgen, J. Fest, J. Thies, J. Joffe, C. Bertram, H.-P. Schwarz

In April of 1975, Lebanon, the tranquil Middle Eastern country called the Switzerland of the Orient, exploded into a violent conflict that lasted almost two decades. This book explores the convoluted politics and forces within Lebanon and the Near East that made the atmosphere in that tiny republic highly charged, thus inhibiting conflict resolution. This comprehensive study describes the strategies, battles, and conferences that kept Lebanon aflame, despite the best efforts of all concerned parties to terminate the bloodshed. Abraham looks at Lebanon from the inside-out, highlighting the conflicting politics of Lebanese leaders, the failure of the democratic left to take over the state, and the underlying problem of the PLO's presence in the country.

The ruling communist parties of the postwar Soviet Bloc possessed nearly unprecedented power to shape every level of society; perhaps in part because of this, they have been routinely depicted as monolithic, austere, and even opaque institutions. Communist Parties Revisited takes a markedly different approach, investigating everyday life within basic organizations to illuminate the inner workings of Eastern Bloc parties. Ranging across national and transnational contexts, the contributions assembled here reconstruct the rituals of party meetings, functionaries' informal practices, intra-party power struggles, and the social production of ideology to give a detailed account of state socialist policymaking on a micro-historical scale.

This volume begins in a period in which bitterness and revenge vied with hope and a new ideal of liberty. The Reconstruction imposed by the North upon the South is examined by the author from all points of view. He traces the steps by which the economy recovered and by which the USA emerged as the world's industrial giant. Factors as various as the anarchy of the Wild West and the gold rush, the completion of the railroad system, the maturing of the great centers of learning, the numerous manifestations of opportunity and strength led to the formation of a distinct culture and to a new consciousness of nationhood. They also gave birth, Professor Wright argues, to the American Dream, an elusive idea of such force that it informed much of the twentieth century in the USA and, as American power became pre-eminent, influenced the world at large. After describing the key American involvement in the European, Pacific and Asian wars, and the development of culture, politics, and ideology at home, the author examines the dissipation of that dream in the disillusion and corruption of the Reagan years.

Ironically, this was the time when the USA emerged as the world's sole super-power. And the country remained - as it had been for almost all its history - the ideal destination for the poor and downtrodden of the world, a beacon of opportunity, hope and, above all, of liberty.

Why was there such a far-reaching consensus concerning the utopian goal of national homogeneity in the first half of the twentieth century? Ethnic cleansing is analyzed here as a result of the formation of democratic nation-states, the international order based on them, and European modernity in general. Almost all mass-scale population removals were rationally and precisely organized and carried out in cold blood, with revenge, hatred and other strong emotions playing only a minor role. This book not only considers the majority of population removals which occurred in Eastern Europe, but is also an encompassing, comparative study including Western Europe, interrogating the motivations of Western statesmen and their involvement in large-scale population removals. It also reaches beyond the European continent and considers the reverberations of colonial rule and ethnic cleansing in the former British colonies.

"A dozen experts provide a coherent picture of the Taliban and the Great Game. . . . They discuss the emergence of the Taliban, their military development, the civil war, and their relations with foreign powers. Several of the authors conclusively demonstrate that the Taliban(and their organized opposition) are the creatures of external powers.... Richard Mackenzie provides a devastating summary of the ineptitute with which U.S. policies have been conducted . . . the volume makes it all too clear that outside powers will determine Afghanistan's fate."
--Middle East Quarterly

"A useful analysis of the Taliban and politics and society in Afghanistan today. The four chapters on the intensive foreign involvement--by Pakistan, the United States, Russian, the Central Asian republics, Saudi Arabia, and Iran--show that the venerable "great game" once played between Britain and czarist Russia now has multiple players."
--Foreign Affairs

"A fascinating and thorough analysis of the very complex political/military situation that evolved in Afghanistan follwing the demise of the Soviet puppet regime in 1992. This volume also provides an insightful study of the rise of a new form of puritanical Islamic fundamentalism that overran Kabul in September 1996--namely, the Taliban, and its impact on Afghan society. . . . Highly recommended."
--Choice

"[It] is an important collection of essays by leading experts on Afghanistan and the Taliban...an invaluable academic resource for anyone seeking to understand how the Taliban came to rule and "ruin" Afghanistan."
--"Washington Times"

In 1996, the world watched with varying degrees of interest, surprise, and unease as armed, ultra-fundamentalist insurgents overthrew the Afghan government. Within days of their victory, the Taliban, a militant Islamic sect, were issuing draconian religious decrees, restricting women's employment and movement, rounding up Afghans at gunpoint to pray five times a day, and publicly executing political opponents and criminals.

Composed of essays commissioned from the foremost experts on the Taliban, this anthology traces the movement's origins, its ascendance, the reasons for its success, and its role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Crucial to the Taliban's staying power as a governing force will be its relations with neighboring countries and with the West. Interestingly, given their intense hatred of Iran, the Taliban were enthusiastically supported by the U.S. government up to the very moment of their triumphant arrival in Kabul.

Examining yet another country on the brink of ethnic disintegration, Fundamentalism Reborn? is a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the history, rise to power, and future of the most dramatic manifestation of Islamic fundamentalism since the Iranian revolution.

Were Lincoln alive today what would his response be to the immense and complex issues confronting the United States of America? In Lincoln's day the issues facing the country dating from Lincoln's first political speech (1838) until his death in the opening of his second term (1865) were momentous to his generation, just as the issues facing the country in the early 21st Century are immense to its generation. The people of Lincoln's day needed leadership. The people of the United States today also need leadership-not just any kind of leadership-but leadership that is anchored solidly on the fundamental principles and practices of the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Within the understanding that people of Lincoln's generation were as people are today in their essential characteristics, good and bad, join in an investigation that utilizes Lincoln's own words from his early career and adapts them in principle to the practices of today. Lincoln was a great leader who rescued the Union and restored the country. We can learn from his leadership-if we simply take the time to read and then apply what we learn into the contemporary circumstances that define our issues.

Shaping the lives of young men in college who would answer their nation's military call in the Korean War, were the sage veterans from World War II. The vets became the mentors for the male freshmen at The University of Texas in 1947 and '48, and these young men would later be called to arms in the Korean conflict beginning in 1950. The war began in June, less than five years after the cessation of hostilities of World War II-and the American public was not ready for a new and major conflict to be thrust upon them. The draft of young men was instituted, and therefore many thousands of young Americans served during one of the bloodiest of wars. Balancing tragedy with humor, anecdotes of the period make for interesting reading about an era where stress, crime and drugs were subjects rarely mentioned in America on the home front-plus school violence was unheard of. Of course, there was no television in the'40s, and very little central air-conditioning in the early '50s. Still, it was a very pleasant era, good music abounded and folks often gathered around the piano to sing. High Forties, Low Fifties describes the easy times but takes the reader overseas to the war that suddenly breaks out. The hi-jinks of college life described segue to the chaos of the Korean conflict, and the reader is treated to heroics and humor in the nonfiction book.

Here, sociologist Ralph Pyle investigates the extent to which a male-dominated, Ivy League educated Protestant establishment in the United States since World War II has given way to an elite whose diversity is more representative of the general population. While there is evidence that major changes have diminished the social, political, and economic prerogatives of the traditional Protestant establishment, the author finds that those in command positions of the most influential institutions bear a strong resemblance to their predecessors who directed affairs in an earlier era. Even if the current expansion of influence among previously disempowered groups continues at its present rate, the disproportionate power of white Protestant Ivy Leaguers will persist for several decades to come.

Nearly a decade and a half after 9/11, the study of international politics has yet to address some of the most pressing issues raised by the attacks, most notably the relationships between Al Qaeda's international systemic origins and its international societal effects. This theoretically broad-ranging and empirically far-reaching study addresses that question and others, advancing the study of international politics into new historical settings while providing insights into pressing policy challenges. Looking at actors that depart from established structural and behavioral patterns provides opportunities to examine how those deviations help generate the norms and identities that constitute international society. Systematic examination of the Assassins, Mongols, and Barbary powers provides historical comparison and context to our contemporary struggle, while enriching and deepening our understanding of the systemic forces behind, and societal effects of, these confounding powers.

For much of the postwar era, French society had a contradictory view of passenger trains, scorning them as quaint anachronisms on the one hand, yet also fearing their economic and social impact. All this changed with the introduction of the famed Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) between Paris and Lyon in the early 1980s. In vivid detail, Meunier describes the political, economic, and social factors that both helped and hindered the development of the world's fastest, most technologically advanced train.

The present-day enthusiasm in France for high-speed rail travel dates only to the successful launch of the now-famous TGV in 1981. Until now, most published accounts of French high-speed rail have been of a technical nature and have ignored or minimized the historical, political, economic, and social context. Historians have been left with detailed descriptions of locomotives and experimental test runs, but there has been scant information cercerning why the machines were built and why the tests were carried out in the first place. This book is the first full-length treatment of high-speed rail travel and the bibliography is one of the most complete on the subject.