MISSION OF FOLLY is a candid report on Canada's participation in America's 'War onTerror' in Afghanistan. Laxer explores the policy vacuum that resulted in Canadian troopsbeing sent to fight a war that would last longer than any previous Canadian allied engagement.With passion and perspicacity he details the motives underlying the invasion and occupationof Afghanistan, outlines the recent history of that troubled nation, and challenges the assumptionthat infringement of human rights is sufficient justification for Canada's involvement.Laxer's familiarity with U.S. and Canadian global policy provides the backdrop for a concisestudy that will be of interest to a broad readership. JAMES LAXER is a Professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto. An award-winning author and a former Toronto Star columnist, Laxer is the author of twenty-one books, including "Perils of Empire" and "Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism." Click the 'Review Quote' link below to read reviews and endorsements of "Mission of Folly"

With the onset of the current economic crisis, one chapter in the economic history of the world is ending and a new one is beginning. What role will Canada play in this vastly altered world?
James Laxer examines the anatomy of the crash: the forces that have controlled the global system and the forces that have the capacity to usher in a new global system as the U.S.-centred age of globalization comes to an end. He explores what needs to be done to combat the crash in Canada, and poses the questions we all want to have answered. What comes next for the global economy, and what does this mean for Canada? Where will we fit in? Is an egalitarian economic future possible? What could an economics for humanity look like?
A reflective and useful treatise on where we go from here, "Beyond the Bubble" is a must-read by one of Canada's best-known political commentators.