This report was produced by the CSIS Nuclear Consensus Working Group (NCWG) to assist the Obama administration in forging, during its second term, an enduring consensus about the U.S. nuclear posture. The report includes (1) seven individual statements from nuclear thinkers and practitioners across the "broad middle" of the spectrum of opinion on the role and value of U.S. nuclear weapons, the U.S. nuclear posture needed for this defined role, and a political strategy for sustaining the recommended posture; (2) a consensus statement signed by eight members of the NCWG; (3) A description of the process used by the NCWG to forge the signed statement, which includes the lessons learned from the facilitation process; and (4) A case study covering 2008-2012, which provides both a chronology of past attempts to broker consensus about the U.S. nuclear posture and the working group's assessment of the lessons learned.

A remarkably simple and yet profoundly deep narrative, this translation is an introduction to the remote world of the 19th-century Altai: a mountainous region of southern Siberia possessing unique flora and fauna and peaks rising to nearly 15,000 feet. Native Altai tribesman Mikhail Chelvalkov vividly describes the physical beauty of the region while chronicling many of the encounters that took place throughout his life as the population transformed from competing nomadic pagan tribes to a settled and harmonious Orthodox Christian culture. One of the first native disciples of the Russian Orthodox missionary priest Makarii Glukharev--who was made a saint in AD 2000--Chelvalkov's testament provides invaluable insights for students of Christian mission, ethnography, geography, and botany.

With the world and the human race facing serious problems ranging from global warming, environmental despoliation, terrorism, war and a major economic downturn, many writers are trying to goad mankind into action. The author argues they 'are written in an evangelical or rhetorical way, as though society can somehow be swayed into adopting some new or improved consciousness'. His aim is to 'open some eyes' so that responsible action may follow. To do this, he draws on his own experience, both as a chemist working as a patent agent, and as having undergone two years of analysis at the Jung Institute in Zurich. From this came the realization that, as Jung put it, for 'the whole to change, the individual must change himself'. It is too easy to make politicians, scientists and big business the scapegoats for the failings of the world. As Schumacher, author of "Small is Beautiful", wrote, the problems 'lie too deep in the heart and soul of every one of us. It is there that the main work of reform has to be done'. In a quest for understanding, the author, like Jung, turned to the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism and began to appreciate the significance of symbols as a subtle way of conveying understanding. Contemplating 'The Diamond Body', a Self symbol described in Richard Wilhelm's "The Secret of the Golden Flower", led him, as a chemist, to recognize the important nature of the tetrahedron, both as the simplest form of solid with four corners and faces and its crystalline expression in the Chinese Self symbol of the Diamond Body. He also realized the huge symbolic importance of the quaternity represented by the four valences of carbon in the structure of all living matter. 'The diamond and the star', writes the author, 'are such wonderful symbols that I have tried to observe them in a variety of contexts, so that their magic may stimulate the imagination'.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

A dragon with no wings sets out to meet Merlin who helps him to fly again. Zabaduk and Sammy are kidnapped. They escape, helped by Merlin, eagles and dolphins.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

The story is about a young man growing up in a world at war, seeking, through philosophy or through love, to get free from the darkness of his past. It takes place in C15 Greece (and Italy). It describes the struggles of Southern Greece to remain free from both Turkish and Western control. The story is told by John Asan Zaccaria, son of the erstwhile Baron of Arcadia, who has spent his childhood and early teens in prison with his father. He tells of his role in the resistance, in the diplomatic dealings with the Turks and Venetians, the final collapse of Byzantine rule, his escape from Greece to Italy, the continued fighting between Venetians and Turks, and the final desperate attempts of Greek freedom fighters. A dominant figure in the story, though in fact he dies before the action starts, is Gemisto Pletho, philosopher and patriot. The narrator becomes a member of the 'Plethonista' community in the mountains of Southern Greece. The story culminates in the death of Zaccaria's partner Nigella at the hands of zealots within the community and the collapse of the community. in which he was brought up, and his struggles to relate to the people and events of the world outside him. An aspect of this is his search for a philosophy of life, which becomes a conflict between the 'clear light' of Gemisto's rational system and the more opaque world of suffering and emotion which the narrator has himself experienced. He discovers how 'reason' can turn to dogmatism, and dogmatism to fundamentalism.