Bored housewives, kept in seclusion, smuggling in Harlequin romances. Modish young men transformed into Islamic militants. A baker unwittingly caught in a web of intrigue, an imam whose faith is tested by urban corruption, a lonely divorcee accused of prostitution—all take part in Merzak Allouache's novel of a society on the brink of crisis. Allouache tells the story of the people of    More >

Traditional, urban Egyptian women—baladi women—extol themselves with the proverb, "A baladi woman can play with an egg and a stone without breaking the egg." Evelyn Early illustrates this and other expressions of baladi women's self-identity by observing and recording their everyday discourse and how these women—who consider themselves destitute yet    More >

Baltic Sea Security offers a multifaceted discussion of the complex security issues affecting the Baltic region—with important implications for the cohesion of the wider transatlantic alliance. Regional and international experts provide in-depth analysis of the current levels of defense and security cooperation among the Western countries in the Baltic basin, focusing on military    More >

This in-depth security review of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania assesses current challenges pertaining to defense and deterrence, societal security and resilience, economic security, and cybersecurity. The authors also explore potential avenues for subregional cooperation, offering detailed recommendations on how best to proceed with a more coherent, goal-oriented, and efficient cooperation    More >

Frustrated by the abrogation of promises by nuclear weapons states to disarm, countries that have foregone nuclear weapons joined forces with key members of civil society in efforts that culminated in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). How did this initiative succeed—in defiance of the major powers—in changing the discourse around nuclear weapons? What roles    More >

When is killing an abusive partner an act of murder, and when is it self-defense? How does our criminal justice system deal with battered women who kill, and to what effect? Rachel Schneider traces the lives of women who sought clemency after being imprisoned for killing their abusers, drawing on a series of intimate interviews to explore the circumstances leading up to the killings, the    More >

How did a president-elect whose win was hardly convincing, and who had the narrowest margin of congressional support imaginable, create an advantage for himself that prevailed in the face of unexpected and unprecedented challenges? To answer this question, John Burke offers an in-depth account of George W. Bush's unconventional transition to power—and the significant developments that    More >

How has the dramatic influx of Latino populations in the US South challenged and changed traditional conceptions of race? Are barriers facing Latinos the same as those confronted by African Americans? The authors of Being Brown in Dixie use the Latino experience of living and working in the South to explore the shifting complexities of race relations. Systematically considering such central issues    More >

It is often said that sex sells, but who pays the price? Jennifer Wesely probes the sources and consequences of sexualization in girls' and women's lives. Offering new insights into an enduring problem, she documents the increasingly pervasive and powerful nature of raunch culture and demonstrates how females are being sexualized in ways that are more extreme and damaging than ever    More >

At the heart of China's Belt and Road Initiative lies the creation of not only an economic land belt linking countries on the original Silk Road through Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, but also a maritime "road" linking its port facilities with the African coast. In Belt and Road Initiative, contributors from China and Africa consider how China's vision could support    More >