The bottom-line message of this book is democracy resurgent - but not triumphant. There are any number of conceivable anti-democratic threats and no prospect of ever achieving either a satisfactory or a permanent level of democracy in all countries and societies. Any lowering of the guard by democracy's defenders in academia or real world politics risks the danger of democracy once again falling upon hard times or even regressing.

Only recently have international relations scholars started to seriously examine the influence of collective memory on foreign policy formation and relations between states and peoples. The ways in which the memories of past events are interpreted, misinterpreted, or even manipulated in public discourse create the context that shapes international relations.

"Power and the Past" brings together leading history and international relations scholars to provide a groundbreaking examination of the impact of collective memory. This timely study makes a contribution to developing a theory of memory and international relations and also examines specific cases of collective memory's influence resulting from the legacies of World War II, the Holocaust, and September 11. Addressing concerns shared by world leaders and international institutions as well as scholars of international studies, this volume illustrates clearly how the memory of past events alters the ways countries interact in the present, how memory shapes public debate and policymaking, and how memory may aid or more frequently impede conflict resolution.

This book examines the interaction of domestic and foreign issues in the lives of ethnic Americans. Arguing that the damaging impact of ethnic influences on U.S. foreign affairs has been overstated and misrepresented, Shain brings a new dimension to the public debate on multiculturalism by exploring its transnational aspects. Ethnic groups, despite residual attachments to their homelands, do not betray American political values and ideals, but, on the contrary, their involvement in homeland related affairs has been instrumental in their dissemination inside and outside the U.S.. Shain evaluates ethnic groups in the U.S. from a broad theoretical and comparative perspective, and his case studies include, among others, Arab-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and African-Americans.

Paperback edition of the pathbreaking book on the role of exiles in international relations, with a new foreword (including material on the war in Iraq).
"In a world increasingly shaped by transnational organizations and processes, this is a timely and welcome subject, and Yossi Shain provides an informative overview."
--Rogers Brubaker, Harvard University, in "The American Journal of Sociology"
"Engrossing."
--"International Affairs"
"Mr. Shain is at his best stitching together information that hitherto had not been systematically related to analytical themes. . . . A major contribution to understanding the patterns and complexities of the politics of those at home abroad."
--"International Migration Review"
""The Frontier of Loyalty" is the first comprehensive and theoretically oriented study of exile politics; the types of exile activity; the relation to both the home and host governments; and the difficulties and ambiguities of exile politics, particularly the struggle for legitimacy as spokesman for the opposition at home and for recognition from the outside."
--- Juan J. Linz, Yale University
"An ingenious and sensitive analysis of political exiles as 'voice from without, ' which contributes to our understanding of the transnational character of contemporary politics."
--- Aristide R. Zolberg, New School for Social Research
"Drawing upon a wide literature on contemporary political exiles, Yossi Shain presents a sophisticated, learned and sensible survey of their place in political life today. More important, his meditation on the role of exiles proves such essential political categories as legitimacy,
national loyalty, and opposition inthe modern state. One test of any work of scholarship is whether it enhances our understanding of concepts that we have previously taken for granted. By this measure, Shain's book passes with flying colors."
--- Michael R. Marrus, University of Toronto

Between States is a two-part study compiled in one book. It is the first book to assess systematically the broad implications of interim governments in the establishment of democratic regimes and on the existence of states. Drawing on historical and contemporary democratization experiences, Shain and Linz, the principal authors, explore four ideal types of interim government: opposition-led provisional governments, power-sharing interim governments, incumbent-led caretaker governments, and international interim government by the United Nations. In the second part of this book, other contributors evaluate the subject further in extensive case studies.

The bottom-line message of this book is democracy resurgent - but not triumphant. There are any number of conceivable anti-democratic threats and no prospect of ever achieving either a satisfactory or a permanent level of democracy in all countries and societies. Any lowering of the guard by democracy's defenders in academia or real-world politics risks the danger of democracy once again falling upon hard times or even regressing.