This book presents an analysis of Caribbean fiscal problems, with particular emphasis on the relationship between high levels of public expenditure and balance of payments problems. The study examines deficit financing, public expenditure growth, and IMF stabilization policies. Other issues raised relate to income distribution and problems of taxation and tax reform. The work focuses on Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. The economies of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States are also considered.

This work will interest scholars in economics and economic policy-making, especially those in developing countries.

Currency fluctuation, currency wars and even potential currency collapse (the Euro, the Bitcoin) are all risks that commercial parties must consider and guard against. This book gathers together in one volume all the information and advice practitioners are likely to need when advising on, advancing or defending claims involving a foreign currency element. The determination of the proper currency (or currencies) of a claim often has a dramatic effect on the level of a court judgment or arbitration award that is ultimately obtained. It is, therefore, vital for practitioners to accurately assess claims which involve a foreign currency element. The authors guide the reader through the legal principles governing how foreign currency claims are treated in English law. The book covers both the treatment of foreign currency in substantive law as well as such procedural matters as how to claim interest correctly on a foreign currency claim and how to plead, prove or disprove the applicability of a particular currency. This book is an invaluable and essential resource for all lawyers involved in international commerce, but will be of particular interest to those engaged in international finance, commodity transactions, international shipping and transport, and the insurance of assets and liabilities abroad. "Those who practise in this country need guidance in navigating the tricky waters that The Despina R unleashed. This excellent book provides that guidance." The authors "have been uniquely well placed to meet the challenge of analysing what is a perplexing body of jurisprudence, and to suggest principled answers to currency issues that have not yet been the subject of judicial decision. They consider not merely claims in contract and tort, but every type of claim that might raise an issue in relation to a foreign currency." The Rt Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, KG, PC, President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, 2009-2012

A classic historical account of one of the most important conflicts in modern history, which determined much of the subsequent direction of European history Michael Howard was the leading British military historian of his generation Includes a new foreword by the historian Bertrand Taithe

Plan, build, and maintain highly secure Azure applications and workloads As business-critical applications and workloads move to the Microsoft Azure cloud, they must stand up against dangerous new threats. That means you must build robust security into your designs, use proven best practices across the entire development lifecycle, and combine multiple Azure services to optimize security. Now, a team of leading Azure security experts shows how to do just that. Drawing on extensive experience securing Azure workloads, the authors present a practical tutorial for addressing immediate security challenges, and a definitive design reference to rely on for years. Learn how to make the most of the platform by integrating multiple Azure security technologies at the application and network layers- taking you from design and development to testing, deployment, governance, and compliance. About You This book is for all Azure application designers, architects, developers, development managers, testers, and everyone who wants to make sure their cloud designs and code are as secure as possible. Discover powerful new ways to: Improve app / workload security, reduce attack surfaces, and implement zero trust in cloud code Apply security patterns to solve common problems more easily Model threats early, to plan effective mitigations Implement modern identity solutions with OpenID Connect and OAuth2 Make the most of Azure monitoring, logging, and Kusto queries Safeguard workloads with Azure Security Benchmark (ASB) best practices Review secure coding principles, write defensive code, fix insecure code, and test code security Leverage Azure cryptography and confidential computing technologies Understand compliance and risk programs Secure CI / CD automated workflows and pipelines Strengthen container and network security

With the death of Professor Sir Michael Howard, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) lost not only its president emeritus but the last of its founders and intellectual parents. The foremost military historian of his generation, Sir Michael embodied and epitomised a historical sensibility that informed all his writing. He will forever remain an icon not only for historians, but for all those who acknowledge the indispensability of history and the historical sensibility for any true understanding of present events. In tribute to Sir Michael and in celebration of his life and work, this Adelphi book collects a selection of his remarks and writings for IISS publications over six decades, as well as previously unprinted material. Through this collection, these works will reach a new generation of readers and be made more accessible to those fortunate enough to have read them already. They illustrate Sir Michael's role in the Institute's creation and his abiding presence in its evolving intellectual life, and serve as a historical document, tracing the development of strategic thought and preoccupations from the 1950s to the recent past. In addition to their historical value, Sir Michael's conclusions retain their immediacy and power. This book is therefore of direct relevance to anyone interested in contemporary events: whether the professional analyst, the student of international relations or the general reader.

The first half of this fascinating book contains a detailed exploration of Van Gogh's life, including his background, early career, influences and relationships. Beginning with his birth in 1853, it details his childhood, family life, education and work-life before he began painting in 1880. The second half of the book comprises an illustrated and comprehensive gallery, presenting over 280 representations of his significant works, from his early sketches and paintings to the hugely famous Sunflowers, Irises and The Starry Night. These superb reproductions are accompanied by thorough analysis within the context of Van Gogh's life and technique.

"On War" is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work's first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, statesmen, and intellectuals.

Michael Howard's ancestry, part Quaker, part German Jew, made him unpromising material for a commission in the Brigade of Guards. The three years he spent with his regiment were equally inappropriate perparation for the university chairs that he went on to hold at London, Oxford and Yale. In this autobiography he describes how these varied strands in his life came together. First there was a childhood in a world of privilege almost as remote from today as is that of the Roman Antonines. Then there came war service in Italy, a mixture of terror, tedium and Lucullan enjoyment. Finally, he was to persue an academic career in which he would pioneer the study both of war as an aspect of 'total history' and of international relations in the nuclear age. In addition to holding the Regius Chair of Modern History at Oxford he was to play a leading role in founding both the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the world-famous Department of War Studies at King's College London. His works (some translated into sizxteen languages) have him the Duff Cooper Prize,the Wolfson History Prize and the Chesney Gold Medal of the Royal United Services Institute.He ended up as a Fellow of the British Academy, a Companion of Honour and a member of the Order of Merit. So the discordant elements in his background and experience eventually harmonized very well. Professor Sir Michael Howard was Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford and Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. Amongst his most celebrated books are The Franco-Prussian War, War in European History and The Invention of Peace.

Isn't war rooted in the vested interests of the ruling classes? (But have not democracies proved as bellicose as other states?) Should not political disputes be settled by civilised negotiations? (But what if the adversary is not, by your standards, 'civilised'?) Ought states to steer clear of other states' internal conflicts? (Or should they help liberate oppressed peoples?) Which is better, appeasement or a war to end war? Such questions reflect the confusion that still besets liberal-minded men and women in the face of war, despite centuries during which they have tried to discover its causes and secure its abolition. Sir Michael Howard traces the pattern in their attitudes from Erasmus to the Americans after Vietnam, and concludes that peacemaking 'is a task which has to be tackled afresh every day of our lives'.

By the time the First World War ended in 1918, eight million people had died in what had been perhaps the most apocalyptic episode the world had known. This Very Short Introduction provides a concise and insightful history of the 'Great War', focusing on why it happened, how it was fought, and why it had the consequences it did. It examines the state of Europe in 1914 and the outbreak of war; the onset of attrition and crisis; the role of the US; the collapse of Russia; and the weakening and eventual surrender of the Central Powers. Looking at the historical controversies surrounding the causes and conduct of war, Michael Howard also describes how peace was ultimately made, and the potent legacy of resentment left to Germany. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Moronic metalheads Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) broadcast a cable-access show from Wayne's basement. Their wisecracks about youth, music and girls are picked up on by a TV executive (Rob Lowe), who pays them to produce a 'new, improved' programme for national TV. But the pair discover that fame has its price when they lose control of the show and the TV executive starts pursuing Wayne's girlfriend.

Many Western countries have seen an increase in the volume and importance of external consultants in the public policy process. This book is the first to investigate this phenomenon in a comparative and interdisciplinary way. The analysis shows who these consultants are, how widely and for what reasons they are used in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands and Sweden. In doing so, the book addresses the positive and negative implications of high levels of external policy consultancy, including its implications for the nature of the state (transforming into a contractor state?) and for democratically legitimized and accountable decision-making (transforming into consultocracy?). It provides valuable new insights for students and practitioners in the fields of public administration, public policy, public management, political science and human resource management.

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest of writers on war. Even though he wrote his only major work at a time when the range of firearms was fifty yards, much of what he had to say remains relevant today. Michael Howard explains Clausewitz's ideas in terms both of his experiences as a professional soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, and of the intellectual background of his time.

Although trained as a scientist and a philosopher, Rudolf Steiner always placed a high value on the practice of art and always worked artistically: whatever he did was done with great artistry. Furthermore, as a spiritual teacher, Steiner's ideal was the reunion of science, religion, and art in a new, human sacramental culture. The eleven lectures collected here reveal the many-facetted perspectives Steiner offered regarding the vital role of the visual arts in human affairs. For Steiner, art is above all a way of building a bridge between the spiritual and the physical realms. His views are not abstract theories or utopian ideals, but a constant striving through the inherent qualities of color and form to realize concrete artistic projects in architecture, sculpture, and painting.

On first meeting Steiner's radical ideas, many people -- artists as well as non-artists -- wonder what sense they can make of such an approach to art. The introduction by Michael Howard introduces these ideas by recounting one artist's experience of struggling to make Steiner's views and way of doing art his own. Ultimately, however each person must make their own relationship to Steiner's approach, buth the story of how one artist took up the challenge may stimulate others to do the same. The book includes numerous photographs.

In this concise and important treatise Michael Howard delineates between various modern neo-pagan Wiccan traditions, cunning folk traditions, heathen folk or the 'pagani, ' and an assortment of ritual magicians and pathworkers in order to present a 'gramarye' distinctly for those who aspire to the 'Old Craft.' An experienced practitioner, writer, researcher, folklorist and magazine editor of the respected witchcraft magazine, The Cauldron (since 1976), Howard elucidates important elements of the Traditional Craft, including preparation rituals, tools of 'the Arte, ' fellowship of the coven and the casting of circles, finally taking us through the Great Wheel of the Year and the assortment of sacred rites as performed within. The seasonal rituals are based on traditional witchcraft and folklore sources and have been specially written for this boo

In 1870 the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ordered the Prussian Army to invade France, inciting one of the most dramatic conflicts in European history. It transformed not only the states-system of the European continent but the whole climate of European moral and political thought. The overwhelming triumph of German military might, evoking general admiration and imitation, introduced an era of power politics, which was to reach its disastrous climax in 1914.

Michael Howard's The Franco-Prussian War is widely acclaimed as a classic and the definitive history of one of the most dramatic and decisive conflicts in the history of Europe. Evoking a palpable sense of the struggle and the high stakes of the war, Howard analyses the tactics, political dynamics, morale and actions that determined the course of the conflict. He also describes the crucial role played by key figures in the war, including Bismarck, the Prussian military commander Helmuth Von Moltke, and the French generals MacMahon, Chanzy and Trochu. He also sheds fascinating light on how difficult it was to bring the war to an end, with extremists in both France and Prussia pushing to prolong the conflict.

A tour de force of both European and military history, The Franco-Prussian War is a superb account of this dramatic and hugely important conflict, ideal for the student, historian and general reader alike.

This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Bertrand Taithe.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition Bertrand Taithe

Introduction

1. The Antagonists

2. The Outbreak

3. The First Disasters

4. The Army of the Rhine

5. The Army of Châlons

6. The Government of National Defence

7. Metz and Strasbourg

8. The Battle for Orléans

9. The Siege of Paris

10. Guerre à Outrance

11. The Peace.

Notes on Sources

Select Bibliography

Index

Victoria still ruled over the British Empire, the imperial Manchu dynasty over China, and the Romanov Tsars over Russia. The cinema was in its infancy, with radio and television still to be developed. The earliest cars were on the road, but air travel was yet to come. Before antibiotics and effective vaccines against many common diseases, death rates were high.

Over the course of the twentieth century, the human population of the world has tripled, space travel has left the realms of science fiction and become reality, two cataclysmic world wars and a host of other conflicts have been fought, the internal combustion engine has replaced the horse as the basic means of transport, computer technology has revolutionized communications.

In this ambitious book, some of the most distinguished historians in the world survey the momentous events and the significant themes of recent and contemporary times, with a look forward to what the future might bring. They trace the continuities which have persisted over a hundred years and analyse the changes which have marked the century's progress. Early chapters take a global overview of the century as a whole, from a variety of perspectives -- demographic, scientific, economic, and cultural. Further chapters chart the century's course continent by continent and region by region, all written by acknowledged experts.

Beautifully illustrated with both colour and black and white plates, and with a detailed chronology, suggestions for further reading, and a full index, The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century is a valuable repository of information, offering unparalleled insights into the century we live in.