The United States had tremendous opportunities after World War II. The nation's industrial might, geared to defeat Germany and Japan, could now be focused on domestic production. Real wages were up, the GNP was on the rise, industrial production was up, and inflation was under control. The future looked bright for the average American. But this abundance was punctuated with anxiety. Within four years of the end of the war, the Soviet Union had become the new enemy: they had the bomb and China and Eastern Europe had fallen into the Soviet sphere of influence. These two points, the abundance of the growing economy and the anxiety of the Cold War, defined the period from 1945-1960.

"The American Search for Mideast Peace" synthesizes and interprets a large amount of information gleaned from personal accounts, partisan critiques, government documents, and the public record to portray and explain the current state of the U.S. search for Mideast peace. This analytical volume distills the events which have taken place during the past two decades. It begins by identifying the hope for Middle East peace that gripped Washington in 1967 and proceeds via an examination of steps that cumulatively undermined that goal. Tschirgi concludes that both the normative and structural aspects of peace as envisaged by Washington in 1967 are now probably beyond attainment. Throughout the text, Tschirgi focuses on various strategies of decision-making employed by the United States. He thoroughly analyzes Washington's approach to peacemaking and seeks to uncover the political dynamics arising from and affecting the context of American policymaking. Students and scholars specializing in Middle East politics, as well as the general reader will find "The American Search for Mideast Peace" both informative and fascinating.

"The American Search for Mideast Peace" is divided into five well-defined chapters. Chapter One examines the Johnson administration, and presents both a background to U.S. involvement with the Palestine issue prior to 1967 and an overview of developments after that date. The next four chapters examine chronologically, in full detail, the various approaches taken by the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan in the Middle East. In the final chapter, Tschirgi deals with the underlying dynamics that have shaped two decades off an American search for Mideast peace and examines their implications for the future.

"This useful compilation of essays serves as an introduction and guide to the complexities arising from the theft of Jewish property during WWII...This anthology belongs in every library."
-- "Choice"

The campaign for the restitution of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust has touched a raw nerve within European society, bringing many nations to confront their wartime past. Together with the end of the Cold War and generational change, the campaign has created a need to reevaluate conventional historical truths.

Following an unprecedented media campaign, pressure from Jewish organizations, and public opinion, more than 40 European commissions were established to investigate their fellow countrymen's behavior during the war and to ascertain how stolen property was dealt with in its aftermath.

The Plunder of Jewish Property During the Holocaust brings together a range of distinguished international experts to examine the major cases concerning restitution in several countries, covering specific issues such as Nazi gold, wartime theft of works of art, and the ownership of dormant accounts in Swiss banks. The contributors incorporate insights from diverse disciplines such as international law, economics, history, and political science which, taken as a whole, make clear that some chapters of European history will have to be rewritten.

With a preface by Edgar Bronfman and Israel Singer

This book is a tale of loss: the loss of Iran as America's main ally and agent in the Middle East and the downfall of the short-lived Pahlavi monarchy and America's inability and unwillingness to prevent its demise. Khomeini's triumph altered America's perception of Islam and fundamentally changed its relationship with Iran.

In a fast-moving and incisive narrative, Roger Buckley traces the evolution of the Asia-Pacific region from the surrender of Japan in 1945 to the present day. His perspective is from that of the United States, the main player in the region since the end of the First World War and he explores its policies through its relationship with the Soviet Union, China and, importantly, with Japan during occupation and beyond. As an expert in international relations, Buckley examines the subject from a geopolitical and military point of view.

Conflict Dynamics presents case studies of six nation-states: Sierra Leone, the Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Peru. In the book, Alethia H. Cook and Marie Olson Lounsbery examine the evolving nature of violence in intrastate conflicts, as well as the governments and groups involved, by focusing on the context of the relationships involved, the capacities of the conflict s participants, and the actors goals. The authors first present a theoretical framework through which the changeable mix of relative group capacities and the resulting tactical decisions can be examined systematically and as conflicts evolve over time. They then apply that framework to the six case studies to show its usefulness in better understanding conflicts individually and in comparison. While previous research on civil wars has tended to focus on causes and outcomes, Conflict Dynamics takes a more comprehensive approach to understanding conflict behavior. The shifting nature of relative group capacity (measured in many different ways), coupled with dynamic group goals, determines the tactical decisions of civil war actors and the paths a rebellion will take. The case studies illustrate the relevance of third parties to this process and how their interventions can influence tactics. The progression of violence in conflicts is inextricably linked to the decisions made in their midst. These influence future iterations of the conflictual relationship. Complex groups on both sides both drive and are driven by the decisions made. Understanding conflicts requires that these reciprocal impacts be considered. The comparative framework demonstrated in this book allows one to flesh out this complexity.

This chronology provides a detailed look at the history of Israel and the Jewish World from 1948 to the peace agreement with the PLO in September 1993. After a survey of the Holocaust and the immediate post-World War II years, the Edelheits begin their detailed chronology with the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948. The volume is augmented by a glossary, bibliography, and name, place, and subject indexes.

The historic signing of the Israel-Palestinian Arab peace accord of September 1993 in Washington, D.C., signalled the dawn of a new era in Middle Eastern politics. But, the often bewildering speed of recent events means that the historical background to those events has been lost, leading to confusion, misunderstanding, and misinformation. Scholars and interested readers alike need a source of clear and concise information on Israeli and Middle Eastern history in the last half-century.

Following up on "A World in Turmoil," this book reviews the most important events in the 45 year history of the reestablished state of Israel. Risen from the ashes of the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century--the near destruction of European Jewry during the Nazi Holocaust--the state of Israel represents both the Jewish return to sovereignty and is a touchstone for values of peace, honor, and national self-determination. It covers a broad spectrum of events connected with Israel, the postwar Jewish world, and the Middle East. From the ever-turning developments in Israeli political life to the battlefields of six wars, the text provides a useful introduction to the history of one of the world's most crucial regions. An introductory essay helps to place the events in their broader context, while a glossary, bibliography, and name, place, and subject indexes allow readers to seek more information on topics of interest.

The economic relationship between the U.S. and China during the 1940s has long been neglected, with few scholarly works focusing on the period. This era was overshadowed by the political and diplomatic changes during and after the failure of the Nationalists in 1949. Without a close and insightful look into the reconstruction of China with American involvement during the late 1940s, one cannot identify the problems which led to the Nationalists' failure, nor can one answer the questions dealing with the impact of American economic policy toward China during that time.

For decades the global gaze on South African society invariably focused on it as a symbol of the inevitable excesses of social engineering, racism and violence under the apartheid dispensation; with astonishment at the apparent exceptionalism of the 'miracle' transition that occurred to democratic rule and the dismantling of apartheid; and more recently, on the resurgence of newer manifestations of racialisation and violence in post-apartheid South Africa. Race, Memory and the Apartheid Archive: Towards a Transformative Psychosocial Praxis recognises and confronts this complex history of racialised oppression, as well as the future possibilities and impossibilities of transforming South African society through a re-engagement with the apartheid archive - an archive that holds the promise of not only revisiting and augmenting our history through the storied lives of ordinary citizens, but also allows us to understand the continued impact of this past on our present social, subjective and psychological realities. Located within a psychosocial approach that is uniquely suited to the socio-historical and psychical analysis of racism, this book relies mainly on the memories, stories and narratives of ordinary people, submitted to the Apartheid Archive Project, as its source material. It provokes us into thinking about racism as grounded as much in affective as in macro-political means, in the functioning of both intrapsychic and material forms, perpetuated as much in private as in institutional domains, and the ways in which these understandings can contribute to social transformation.

Clarissa de Waal's new book explains Albania's 'transition' from Communism via the experiences of a diverse range of families, highland villagers, urban elite and shanty dwellers - whose lives she has followed since 1992. As such, this is a history - of economic, social and political change - told from the perspective of the participants. We see how far the archaic world of customary law continues to pervade highland life, from dispute settlement to arranged marriages. At the same time, the author shows us members of the ex-communist elite in Tirana embracing rentier capitalism, while squatters on state farmland live under constant threat of eviction. Albania, the author suggests, is a country wracked by contradictions. Clarissa de Waal's new book will inform and engage all those interested in Albania and southeast Europe. Catapulted from totalitarianism to free market capitalism in 1991, Albania emerged from half a century of isolation to find itself an anomaly in Europe: a third world country economically and infra-structurally, first world in terms of education, literature and the arts. This portrait of Albania's 'transition' is based on the experiences of a diverse range of families - highland villagers, urban elite, shanty dwellers - whose lives the anthropologist author has followed closely since 1992. Village life is conveyed in vivid detail. The villagers deal with the grinding poverty of village life with humour, charm and reslience. Rural life, despite concerted attempts by the communist regime to eradicate 'backwardness', is still pervaded by the archaic world of customary law, a system whose influence spans dispute settlement, forest rights, marriage arrangement and blood-feuds. In the capital, Tirana, members of the former communist elite are courted by innumerable missionary groups and foreign 'experts'. These groups, with the means and the connections to do so, are seen to be uninhibitedly embracing rentier capitalism. Meanwhile, highland villagers with no means of subsistence after the closure of state enterprises, have descended to squat on undistributed state farmland, there to live under constant threat of eviction. Mass unemployment, widespread lawlessness and government laissez-faire have led to a scale of emigration unparalleled elsewhere in former communist Europe. The shock of nation-wide revolt in 1997 triggered alarm and international intervention. But new reforms were followed all too quickly by a reversion to government laissez-faire and unchecked corruption. Clarissa de Waal's new book is a history of economic, political and social transition based on the author's anthropological research. As such the reader sees the fundamental changes taking place in Albania from the perspective of the participants. Entertaining as well as informative, "Albania Today" will engage not just those interested in Albania and southeast Europe, but equally anyone with an interest in the impact on individuals and families of the economic and political transition.

This book sheds light on the growing phenomenon of cyberactivism in the Arab world, with a special focus on the Egyptian political blogosphere and its role in paving the way to democratization and socio-political change in Egypt, which culminated in Egypt's historical popular revolution on Jan. 25, 2011. In doing so, it examines the relevance and applicability of the concepts of citizen journalism and civic engagement to the discourses and deliberations in five of the most popular political blogs in Egypt, through exploring the potential connection between virtual activism, as represented in the postings on these blogs, and real activism in Egyptian political life, as represented in the calls for social, economic and political reform on the streets.

Despite increasing scholarship on the cultural Cold War, focus has been persistently been fixed on superpowers and their actions, missing the important role played by individuals and organizations all over Europe during the Cold War years. This volume focuses on cultural diplomacy and artistic interaction between Eastern and Western Europe after 1945. It aims at providing an essentially European point of view on the cultural Cold War, providing fresh insight into little known connections and cooperation in different artistic fields. Chapters of the volume address photography and architecture, popular as well as classical music, theatre and film, and fine arts. By examining different actors ranging from individuals to organizations such as universities, the volume brings new perspective on the mechanisms and workings of the cultural Cold War. Finally, the volume estimates the pertinence of the Cold War and its influence in post-1991 world. The volume offers an overview on the role culture played in international politics, as well as its role in the Cold War more generally, through interesting examples and case studies.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of state-society development in the most volatile region of the world. In the Middle East, various anti-systemic movement and radical Islam often clashed and resisted the political, cultural, economic, and military domination of the region by the world's major imperial powers. Emadi investigates state, revolution, and development in the Middle Eastern states of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria in the immediate post-World War II period. Maintaining that the state is an instrument of class domination, exhibiting a certain degree of autonomy in the creation and design of domestic development programs, he details the role of class in an attempt to provide a better understanding of the diverse factors at work. Politics of the Dispossessed provides an alternative analysis of development in regional politics and its context in world politics, aspects that are generally neglected by most mainstream studies. It examines state formation, internal development strategies, and how class conflict and ideology led to class alliance on an international basis, as well as the external interference in the internal affairs of these societies. It also explores the process of political and ethnic integration of the Middle East into the global economic system and the resulting counter-strategies of the nationalist and Islamic resistance to the increasing superpower domination of the international system.

When the Berlin Wall fell, so did the East German communist regime. Then began the complex task of creating a single German state. This work is a readable and informative narrative written for high school and college students and the general public. A series of essays presents the social and political forces that shaped the 1989 revolution and the political decisions of both Eastern and Western Germans in the twelve hectic months before unification in 1990. Following a timeline of events, a narrative historical overview places the revolution in the context of post-World War II German history. Other topical essays address the effect of mass emigration from East to West Germany, the role of the Protestant clergy in the revolution, foreign reactions to the revolution, the social and economic effects of unification, and an assessment of the future of a united Germany and its position in the European community. Ready-reference features include biographical essays on key individuals, the text of key primary documents relating to the revolution and unification, a glossary of terms, and an annotated bibliography.

Richard Leiby, who teaches German history at Rosemont College, uses both primary and secondary sources to examine the background, sequence of events, and assessment of German unification in a readable narrative for students and interested readers. The text of primary documents and the biographical sketches drawn from both English sources and German sources in English translation will help students to understand the positions of those involved. This work is ideal for student research and understanding of recent German and European affairs.

This volume fills this gap by examining the many ways in which political parties, the business world, foreign policymakers, and the intelligence community experienced, confronted, and even actively contributed to domestic and transnational forms of dissent.

This work determines the processes that strengthen hostility between opposing groups and identifies those who are willing to act in order to change these situations. The backdrop of the Arab-Israeli conflict is used to demonstrate how collective identities are shaped by membership in ethnic and religious groups, and how these identities influence attitudes and behavior. It examines political attitudes, hatred of "others," and willingness to assume responsibility for the various social issues of this conflict. This book takes a fresh approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict by relating it to three distinct societies: Jews, Arabs, and Palestinians. Though it deals with conflict, this assessment is optimistic in the sense that it shows that bridges can be built and maintained among these groups. These bridges are still small and fragile, but may be the structures upon which more elaborate relationships may be developed.

"This set of 18 essays offers a variety of interesting commentaries a 'progressive forum' on the Clinton sex scandal. . . . The collection includes (in part) ruminations on body imagery, the idea of 'the Jewess, ' the association of sexual recklessness with notions of race and class, the peculiarities of Clinton's politics (as well as his personal behavior) that made him vulnerable to such an attack, and the implications for Clinton's (reluctant) feminist supporters."
--"Library Journal"

"The book contains more than its share of smart writing"
--"Salon.com"

Alongside the O.J. Simpson trial, the affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky now stands as the seminal cultural event of the 90s. Alternatively transfixed and repelled by this sexual scandal, confusion still reigns over its meanings and implications. How are we to make sense of a tale that is often wild and bizarre, yet replete with serious political and cultural implications?

Our Monica, Ourselves provides a forum for thinking through the cultural, political, and public policy issues raised by the investigation, publicity, and Congressional impeachment proceedings surrounding the affair. It pulls this spectacle out of the framework provided by the conventions of the corporate news media, with its particular notions of what constitutes a newsworthy event. Drawing from a broad range of scholars, Our Monica, Ourselves considers Monica Lewinsky's Jewishness, Linda Tripp's face, the President's penis, the role of shame in public discourse, and what it's like to have sex as the president, as well as specific legal and historical issues at stake in the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

Thoughtful but accessible, immediate yet far reaching, Our Monica, Ourselves will change the way we think about the Clinton affair, while helping us reimagine culture and politics writ large.

Contributors include: Lauren Berlant, Eric O. Clarke, Ann Cvetkovich, Simone Weil Davis, Lisa Duggan, Jane Gallop, Marjorie Garber, Janet R. Jakobsen, James R. Kincaid, Laura Kipnis, Tomasz Kitlinski, Pawel Leszkowicz, Joe Lockard, Catharine Lumby, Toby Miller, Dana D. Nelson, Anna Marie Smith, Ellen Willis, and Eli Zaretsky.

"The Refuge and the Fortress" offers an account of academic refugees in Britain, including those who fled Nazi Germany, and through their testimonies, seeks to understand the qualities they bestowed on their adoptive country. It provides an honest portrayal of the encounters of people from other cultures with the characteristics of the British.

An important contribution to the political science and military history literature, this is the first book to present the Argentinean side of the battle for the Malvinas (Falklands) in May 1982. The author, a senior official in the Argentine Air Force who took part in the conflict himself, uses a wealth of documents, including previously unreleased British intelligence data and records of conversations between the top authorities, to construct a comprehensive account of the political and diplomatic aspects of the war, as well as the day-by-day military operations in the South Atlantic.

The author begins by examining the facts and circumstances that put Great Britain and Argentina on a collision course, paying particular attention to the points at which war could have been avoided. He goes on to provide a detailed account of events, such as the attempts by the United States to intervene, the deployment of forces, the battle of May 1, the sinking of the cruiser ARA General Belgrano and the subsequent sinking of the British destroyer HMS Sheffield, the battle of San Carlos, the fight for Darwin-Goose Green, the march to Fitz Roy and Mount Kent, and the last stand of Puerto Argentino. In addition to offering a full portrayal of the battles and conflicts themselves, Moro also provides a cogent analysis of the interaction of political and military events in modern conflict, a particularly valuable case study of U.S.-Latin American relations, and a fascinating examination of weapons systems in modern warfare. Moro takes issue with published British reports that treat the war as a discreet event that is now over, arguing that the conflict is not only still alive but also threatens both hemispheric peace and U.S. influence in Latin America.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more than a local or regional dispute. Its ongoing and escalating nature increases the risk that the violence will spill over its present borders and contribute to both extremism and terrorism. While the Intifada from 1987 to 1993 was largely a popular uprising and a political struggle, the recent clash is a war with a steady escalation between conventional and unconventional forces. It is in the interest of all major powers, the international community, and the United Nations to press both sides to accept a realistic peace plan. Noted Middle East expert Anthony Cordesman details this continuing struggle by explaining the issues at stake for each side; the various combatants (both directly and indirectly engaged); as well as the course of the war in its various incarnations. The situation on the ground is complex and the quest for peace is ever more uncertain. If the Intifada was a struggle for recognition that a peace had to be reached that was just for both sides, the Israeli-Palestinian War has polarized both sides away from peace, convincing them of the justice of their own cause and tactics and the fundamental injustice of the other side's tactics and goals. Each side has used human rights, international law, and civilian casualties as political weapons. The history of a near century of conflict is used to justify war rather than a search for peace.

Japan and China look back on a history of friendship as well as friction, particularly in recent decades. As the People's Republic of China's economy began to grow in the 1990s, so did its political weight within Asia and its economical relevance for Japan. Covering the years from 1989 to 2005, this book looks at Sino-Japanese relations through film and television drama in the crucial time of China's ascent to an economic superpower in opposition to Japan's own ailing economy. It provides an overview of how Japan views China through its visual media, offers explanations as to how oppositions between the two countries came to exist, and how and why certain myths about China have been conveyed. Griseldis Kirsch argues that the influence of visual media within society cannot be underestimated, nor should their value be lessened by them being perceived as part of 'popular culture'. Drawing on examples from a crucial 16 years in the history of post-war Japan and China, she explores to what extent these media were influenced by the political discourse of their time. In doing so, she adds another layer to the on-going debate on Sino-Japanese relations, bringing together disciplines such as media studies, history and area studies and thus filling a gap in existing research.

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, his foreign policy was at first seen to be the antithesis of that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Eid Mohamed highlights how in the wake of this change of US administration, Arab media, literature and cinema began to assert the value of America as a potential source of 'change' while attempting to renegotiate the Arab world's position in the international system. Arab cultural representation of the United States has variously changed and developed since 9/11, and again in the wake of the protests in 2011 and the ensuing political turmoil in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and of course, Syria. Taking this into account, Mohamed offers an examination of the ways in which stereotypes of America are both presented and challenged through cinema, fiction and the wider media and intellectual production. Rather than seeing this process as one where the Middle East reacts to and attempts to negotiate with western modernity, Mohamed instead highlights the significant interplay of religion, pop culture and politics and the role they play in shaping the complex relation between America and the nations of the Middle East.