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.

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.