BOOKS
The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920-1939Robert M. Citino In 1939, the German army shocked and terrorized the world with Blitzkrieg, its form of mobilized warfare. How the Germans rebuilt their army after defeat in World War I—circumventing the prohibitions of the treaty at Versailles—is one of the major questions in military history. Citino shows that German officers of the army of the Weimar Republic (the Reichswehr), men like General Hans More > | ![]() |
The Pedagogy of the Earth: Education for a Sustainable FutureCarlos Hernandez and Rashmi Mayur, editors The Pedagogy of the Earth is a rare collection of ideas and information by some of the finest scientists, development practitioners, public intellectuals, poets, and philosophers around the world and through the ages—gathered by the editors to enrich those who are endeavoring to build a sustainable and equitable future. The book includes work by Ray Bradbury, Rachel Carson, Daniel D. More > | ![]() |
The Pinochet RegimeCarlos Huneeus, translated from the Spanish by Lake Sagaris This seminal book was inspired by a series of questions: What explains the endurance of Augusto Pinochet's authoritarian regime in Chile, a country with a lengthy democratic tradition? What mechanisms secured the regime's political stability and broad-based support? What role did neoliberal ideas play in authoritarian discourse and policy? How could two such opposite forces as political More > | ![]() |
The Pletzl of Paris: Jewish Immigrant Workers in the Belle EpoqueNancy L. Green In a challenging new interpretation of Jewish immigrant history, Nancy L. Green traces the westward movement of East European Jews to France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and explores their experiences as immigrant workers. By 1914 some 40,000 East European Jews had settled in France, many of them in Paris's Marais district, known in Yiddish as the Pletzl, or More > | ![]() |
The Polar Pivot: Great Power Competition in the Arctic and AntarcticaRyan Patrick Burke Once impassable and inhospitable, both the Arctic region and Antarctica are rapidly emerging as geopolitically strategic hot spots. As Ryan Burke writes in The Polar Pivot, the ice is melting and the tensions rising. In this new environment, what are the stakes? Why are Russia and China racing to increase their military capabilities and infrastructures in the polar regions? What is the United More > | ![]() |
The Police in War: Fighting Insurgency, Terrorism, and Violent CrimeDavid H. Bayley and Robert M. Perito Frustrated efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan give urgency to the question of how to craft effective, humane, and legitimate security institutions in conflict-ridden states—and whether legitimate policing can in fact be developed in the midst of insurgency and terrorism. David H. Bayley and Robert M. Perito confront these questions head on. Against the backdrop of failed US attempts to More > | ![]() |
The Political Construction of Brazil: Society, Economy, and State Since IndependenceLuiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Spanning the period from the country’s independence in 1822 through mid-2016, Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira assesses the trajectory of Brazil's political, social, and economic development. Bresser-Pereira draws on his decades of first-hand experience to shed light on the many paradoxes that have characterized Brazil's polity, its society, and the relations between the two across nearly More > | ![]() |
The Political Economy of Armed Conflict: Beyond Greed and GrievanceKaren Ballentine and Jake Sherman, editors Globalization, suggest the authors of this collection, is creating new opportunities—some legal, some illicit—for armed factions to pursue their agendas in civil war. Within this context, they analyze the key dynamics of war economies and the challenges posed for conflict resolution and sustainable peace. Thematic chapters consider key issues in the political economy of internal wars, More > | ![]() |
The Political Economy of Contract Farming in ZimbabweFreedom Mazwi Freedom Mazwi examines patterns of agricultural finance in Zimbabwe since the radical Fast Track Land Resettlement Programme (FTLRP) was implemented in 2000—and, especially, the varying impact that the FTLRP reforms have had not only on land use, but also on the well-being of farmers. Focusing on contract farming in the tobacco and sugarcane sectors, Mazwi offers penetrating insights into More > | ![]() |
The Political Economy of Education in the Arab WorldHicham Alaoui and Robert Springborg, editors Despite substantial spending on education and robust support for reform both internally and by external donors, the quality of education in many, if not most, Arab countries remains low. Which raises the question: why? The authors of The Political Economy of Education in the Arab World find answers in the authoritarian political economies that shape the architecture of national governance More > | ![]() |