Italy s foreign policy has often been dismissed as too idiosyncratic, inconsistent and lacking ambition.

This book offers new insights into the position Italy has attained in the international community in the 21st century. It explores how the country has sought to take advantage of its passage from a bipolar to a multipolar system and assesses the ways in which it has engaged internationally, its new responsibilities, and the manner in which it conducts its policies in the pursuit of its interests, whether political or commercial. It argues that although Italy is engaged internationally, there is a gap between its actions and what it actually delivers, and as long as this gap continues Italy is likely to remain a partial and unreliable foreign policy actor. Divided into three parts, this book explores:

• the context and processes which characterise Italy s external action
• its relations with crucial countries and regions such as the US, the EU, and the BRICs
• its security and defence policies.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, Foreign Policy analysis and Italian studies."

This book discusses how tensions and unknowns may impact future relations between a post-Brexit UK, the EU and the countries of the Gulf, including Iran. The authors of this book consider, in different ways, whether British and EU27 relations with the Gulf States may change or whether the traditions and the weight of their history reinforce the pre-existing patterns of these relationships. Ongoing changes in the Gulf, the present disputes and the trajectories economic reform also influence these discussions. The book analyses the changing positions of the US, China and Russia that are likely to impact Europe's interests. It explores outcomes of ongoing world challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the crash of oil prices, to further examine Post-Brexit Europe and UK policy challenges towards Iran and the GCC States.

Unlike much of the previous literature that have covered small states' channels of influence, this book focuses on the tensions created by the interaction of the national and international levels. The book is innovative in focusing on the domestic dimension involved in determining the performance of small states in European security organisations, while not ignoring the transnational and international structural factors that shape the domestic level. Offers new conceptual tools to advance the study of small states as well as detailed empirical material on various aspects of small states’ security policy in Europe.

A celebration of two thousand years of Christianity, this wide-ranging history starts with the birth of Jesus and maps out the broad sweep of Christian religion as it has developed through many cultures. The author sets out each period in its historical, political and philosophical context. Lucidly and compellingly written, this sensitive and accessible critique is a mine of information for the non-specialist, while the theologically educated reader will find in it a rare joy and a new clarity of vision.

But AD 2,000 is not the end of history. If, for the historian, the millennium is a platform for looking back at the panorama of the past, it is also a standpoint for looking forward. For those who celebrate the child born in the manger, what will the next two thousand years bring?

Unlike much of the previous literature that have covered small states' channels of influence, this book focuses on the tensions created by the interaction of the national and international levels. The book is innovative in focusing on the domestic dimension involved in determining the performance of small states in European security organisations, while not ignoring the transnational and international structural factors that shape the domestic level. Offers new conceptual tools to advance the study of small states as well as detailed empirical material on various aspects of small states' security policy in Europe.

Traditionally, city museums have been keepers of city history. Many have been exercises in nostalgia, reflecting city pride. However, a new generation of museums focuses increasingly on the city's present and future as well as its past, and on the city in all of its diversity, challenges, and possibilities. Above all, these museums are gateways to understanding the city--our greatest and most complex creation and the place where half the world's population now lives. In this book, experts in the field explore this 'new' city museum and the challenge of contributing positively to city development.

Traditionally, city museums have been keepers of city history. Many have been exercises in nostalgia, reflecting city pride. However, a new generation of museums focuses increasingly on the city's present and future as well as its past, and on the city in all of its diversity, challenges, and possibilities. Above all, these museums are gateways to understanding the city-our greatest and most complex creation and the place where half the world's population now lives. In this book, experts in the field explore this 'new' city museum and the challenge of contributing positively to city development.

New in paperback! This book comes at a time when opera-lovers, singers, directors, and critics alike are taking a new look at the dramatic soprano heroines created by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, endeavoring to delve beyond inherited scholarly interpretation and gain a richer understanding of these compelling female characters. Artistically limited by the bel canto musical tradition popular at the time, Verdi launched a new style dramma per musica which also demanded a new soprano archetype. This book illustrates the musical evolution of the Verdi and Puccini soprano while illuminating the dramatic scope and power of these great heroines. Avoiding critical reductionism, Verdi and Puccini Heroines provides an unprecedented and probing discussion of how these great soprano roles were conceived and executed. Accordingly, the authors take a three-dimensional look at these heroines, examining seven operas: Il Trovatore, La Forza del Destino, Aida, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. The chapters, which are fully self-contained analyses, contain translations, illustrative musical examples, supplementary notes, and references to each opera's literary sources. The musical analysis, while thorough, is descriptive and accessible to all levels of readers.

Italy's foreign policy has often been dismissed as too idiosyncratic, inconsistent and lacking ambition. This book offers new insights into the position Italy has attained in the international community in the 21st century. It explores how the country has sought to take advantage of its passage from a bipolar to a multipolar system and assesses the ways in which it has engaged internationally, its new responsibilities, and the manner in which it conducts its policies in the pursuit of its interests, whether political or commercial. It argues that although Italy is engaged internationally, there is a gap between its actions and what it actually delivers, and as long as this gap continues Italy is likely to remain a partial and unreliable foreign policy actor. Divided into three parts, this book explores: the context and processes which characterise Italy's external action its relations with crucial countries and regions such as the US, the EU, and the BRICs its security and defence policies. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, Foreign Policy analysis and Italian studies.

The fundamental objective of the European Community was to bring together the nations of Europe so that they should never need or want to go to war with each other again. The complementary objective was to ensure the economic and social progress of its member countries. It was hoped that by integrating the economies of member states, economic interdependence would lead to political interdependence and ultimately, a political union. At the same time wealth would be created and living standards raised throughout the Community. The purpose of this revised and extended book is to try to explain how the policies of the European Community are meant to achieve its primary objectives. A short history of the foundation and major events are included and the formal institutions and the actual decision-making processes are explained. Other chapters deal with the major areas of policy derived from Treaty obligations and subsequent declarations of Heads of Governments in the European Council taking their development up to the end of 1986 and agreement on the Single European Act.

This book discusses how tensions and unknowns may impact future relations between a post-Brexit UK, the EU and the countries of the Gulf, including Iran. The authors of this book consider, in different ways, whether British and EU27 relations with the Gulf States may change or whether the traditions and the weight of their history reinforce the pre-existing patterns of these relationships. Ongoing changes in the Gulf, the present disputes and the trajectories economic reform also influence these discussions. The book analyses the changing positions of the US, China and Russia that are likely to impact Europe's interests. It explores outcomes of ongoing world challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the crash of oil prices, to further examine Post-Brexit Europe and UK policy challenges towards Iran and the GCC States.

Filled with historic details of the time, Fire Bell in the Night explores the explosive tension between North and South, black and white, that gripped Charleston, South Carolina, in the summer of 1850. Geoffrey S. Edwards's first novel tells the story of New York Tribune reporter John Sharp, sent to cover the capital trial of Darcy Calhoun, a farmer who stands accused of harboring a fugitive slave. As the trial begins, John quickly realizes that not everything is as it appears in the genteel city of Charleston. A series of mysterious fires in white establishments brings the state militia, a curfew for the black population, and rising tension at the courthouse. To unravel the city's secrets, Sharp must enter Charleston's plantation society, where he is befriended by Tyler Breckenridge, owner of the Willowby plantation, and his beautiful sister Clio. Set against the backdrop of a nation headed toward civil war, Fire Bell in the Night is a page-turning account of a trial and one young reporter's efforts to discover the truth.

One of the most significant developments in 19th-century Italian opera was the genesis of the Verdi baritone. The authors argue that the composer's baritone characters embody "a quintessential humanity, expressing needs and temptations, confusions and understandings, griefs and joys that transcend the particulars of time and place." The Verdi Baritone explores seven of the most fascinating roles in the repertory, revealing how they were conceived and executed. This eloquent book opens with a discussion of Verdi's early triumph, Nabucco; proceeds with Ernani, Macbeth, Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Simon Boccanegra; and concludes with his final great tragedy, Otello. Voice students, professional performers, their teachers and coaches, and opera lovers, will gain insight into Verdi's masterful use of text, music, and staging to portray each character's inner self.

The major constitional, political and legal issues confronting the European Union as the end of the century approaches are discussed in this book by scholars in the field. Taking as their point of departure the Inter-Governmental Conference of 1996, which will set the parameters for the next stage of integration in Europe, they look at external and internal demands and pressures, and at the interests and strategies of the political actors involved. The result is a wide-ranging assessment of Europe's future.