The Second World War is considered the pivotal event of the twentieth century, and the Encyclopedia of World War II, by prolific military historian Axelrod, is a well-written and complete reference to the war for students and general readers. Not exhaustive, the reference covers the typical ideological, military, political, and social topics “most commonly sought by students and instructors”; and its entries are, as the introduction claims, “useful, relevant, and interesting.” Some 737 concise, descriptive, noninterpretive entries are arranged alphabetically, covering topics such as Aachen, Battle of; Bazooka; Chiang Kai-shek; Dachau concentration camp; Fascism; Lebensraum; Phony War; Waffen SS; and Yalta Agreement. Approximately 40 percent of the entries are biographical. Length ranges from 200 to 3,000 words, and larger entries, such as Aircraft carriers, include subheadings (in this case, describing the fleets of the chief combatants). Aircraft, British exemplifies the many technical summaries of the equipment of the war’s chief combatants. Entries for major battles and campaigns (El Alamein, Kursk, Stalingrad) range from 700 to 1,200 words, contain easy-to-read maps, and provide the tactical overview and strategic significance of the battle. Articles are cross-referenced and include short bibliographies. Although this may not be a necessary purchase for libraries that have the exhaustive five-volume Encyclopedia of World WarII: A Political, Social, and Military History (ABC-CLIO, 2005), its size and more-selective coverage make it a good choice for public, high-school, and undergraduate libraries.

When a popular revolt forced long-ruling Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign on February 11, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the victory of peaceful demonstrators in the heart of the Arab World. But Washington was late to endorse democracy - for decades the United States favored Egypt's rulers over its people. Since 1979, the United States had provided the Egyptian regime more than $60 billion in aid and immeasurable political support to secure its main interests in the region: Israeli security and strong relations with Persian Gulf oil producers. During the Egyptian uprising, the White House did not promote popular sovereignty but instead backed an "orderly transition" to one of Mubarak's cronies. Even after protesters derailed that plan, the anti-democratic U.S.-Egyptian alliance continued. Using untapped primary materials, this book helps explain why authoritarianism has persisted in Egypt with American support, even as policy makers claim to encourage democratic change.

The Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft (Southeast Europe Society or SOEG) was founded in 1940 to formulate wartime policy in Southeast Europe; its organizational life began and ended with the Third Reich.

The war began in October, 1853 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, and by March, 1854 had involved France and England. When the Russian Black Sea Fleet completely devastated the Turkish navy at the Battle of Sinope in November, 1853, England felt threatened. The threat came in a large part from the fact that for the first time, exploding shells were used in a naval engagement. To add to this, in France, Napoleon III desired to revive the military might of the French which had been destroyed 39 years earlier at Waterloo.

How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of his immensely influential economic philosophy—one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. The result is an accessible text that has sold well over half a million copies in English, has been translated into eighteen languages, and shows every sign of becoming more and more influential as time goes on.

Chronicling the emergence of an international society in the 1920s, Daniel Gorman describes how the shock of the First World War gave rise to a broad array of overlapping initiatives in international cooperation. Though national rivalries continued to plague world politics, ordinary citizens and state officials found common causes in politics, religion, culture, and sport with peers beyond their borders. The League of Nations, the turn to a less centralized British Empire, the beginning of an international ecumenical movement, international sporting events, and audacious plans for the abolition of war all signaled internationalism's growth. State actors played an important role in these developments and were aided by international voluntary organizations, church groups, and international networks of academics, athletes, women, pacifists, and humanitarian activists. These international networks became the forerunners of international NGOs and global governance.

Much has been written on how masculinity shapes international relations, but little feminist scholarship has focused on how international relations shape masculinity. Charlotte Hooper draws from feminist theory to provide an account of the relationship between masculinity and power. She explores how the theory and practice of international relations produces and sustains masculine identities and masculine rivalries. This volume asserts that international politics shapes multiple masculinities rather than one static masculinity, positing an interplay between a "hegemonic masculinity" (associated with elite, western male power) and other subordinated, feminized masculinities (typically associated with poor men, nonwestern men, men of color, and/or gay men). Employing feminist analyses to confront gender-biased stereotyping in various fields of international political theory -- including academic scholarship, journals, and popular literature like The Economist -- Hooper reconstructs the nexus of international relations and gender politics during this age of globalization.

To the Threshold of Power is the first volume of a two-part work that seeks to explain the origins and dynamics of the Fascist and National Socialist dictatorships. It lays a foundation for understanding the Nazi and Fascist regimes from their respective seizures of power in 1922 and 1933 to global war, genocide, and common ruin through parallel investigations of Italian and German society, institutions, and national myths; the supreme test of the First World War; and the post-1918 struggles from which the Fascist and National Socialist movements emerged. It emphasizes two principal sources of movement: the nationalist mythology of the intellectuals and the institutional culture and agendas of the two armies, especially the Imperial German Army and its Reichswehr successor. The book s climax is the cataclysm of 1914 18 and the rise and triumph of militarily organized radical nationalist movements Mussolini s Fasci di combattimento and Hitler s National Socialist German Workers Party dedicated to the perpetuation of the war and the overthrow of the post-1918 world order.

This book charts the demise of east European communism and analyses the failure of the communist experiment, the revolutionary events of 1989 and the post-communist aftermath as the legacy of both these processes. The author explains communism's initial ability to survive crises but then its cumulative decline in the face of dissidence, economic weakness and reform movements. By analyzing these issues in the context of the regions drive since the nineteenth-century to catch up with western Europe, this book concludes that the events of 1989 can cast light more widely still, on the fortunes of the three great ideas that the continent as a whole derived from revolutionary France: liberalism, socialism and nationalism.

In the predawn darkness of January 1, 1959, an airplane lifted off from an airstrip at Camp Columbia, a military base located on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. Aboard the aircraft were Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar and members of his family. Hours earlier, Batista had resigned as president of Cuba. He had decided to step down when he heard from his military commanders that Cuba’s demoralized army could no longer prevent revolutionaries from seizing Santa Clara, a key town in central Cuba. Before departing, Batista named Supreme Court Justice Carlos Modesto Piedra as Cuba’s new president. He also handed over command of the military to General Eulogio Cantillo.

Drugs, Oil, and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Indochina is an eye-opening journey into the deep politics of U.S. intervention in developing and third-world nations. Scott illuminates the connection between American business interests and American foreign policy with a factual depth that leaves little room for doubt. Scott also documents the CIA involvement--often via drug proxies--in furthering covert American interests. The details and references contained within the text add immeasurably to what is already an incredibly valuable and insightful history. This book is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the motivation behind American foreign policy and the military conflicts that have arisen out of American business interests on foreign soil.

I am grateful for the indispensable help of these people: Professor James Connolly, Soteris Geogallis (Cyprus High Commission, London), Sindy Goldberg (South Africa House, London), the late Brigadier Michael Harbottle, Malcolm Harper (United Nations Association UK), Walter Kirwan (Secretary-General, Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, Dublin), Dr Carolyn Kitching, Dr Riika Kuusisto (University of Helsinki), Simon Partridge, the late Dr Dick Richardson, Mrs Aileen Spencer (Corrymeela Link, Reading), Simon Whitby (University of Bradford Department of Peace Studies), Marianne Whittaker, Dr Robin Wilson (University of Sussex). I am most thankful to members of staff of the Catholic Institute for International Relations, London; the European Commission, London; and in Belfast to staff at the Fair Employment Commission, the Industrial Development Board and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. Librarians in the Universities of Bradford, Durham and Teesside and at the United Nations Information Centre, London, have resourcefully and readily dealt with my many enquiries. I am indebted particularly to the Series Editors at Routledge, Professor Eric Evans and Dr Ruth Henig, for invaluable advice and support. Heather McCallum, Senior Editor at Routledge, has indefatigably seen the project through. And Jane Thompson has once again most effectively produced the manuscript.

Збіґнєв Бжезінський - американський політолог, соціолог і державний діяч польського походження. Народився 18 березня 1928 року. З 1938 року жив у Канаді, в 50-х роках став громадянином США, де зробив академічну кар'єру - спочатку закінчив університет Макґіла, потім Ґарвардський університет. Викладав у Ґарвардському і Колумбійському університетах. В 60-х роках був на посту радника в адміністраціях Кенеді і Джонсона. В 1977-1981 роках займав посаду радника з питань національної безпеки в адміністрації Картера. "Велика шахівниця" була написана в 1997 році, в книзі Бжезінський відверто виклав свої погляди на тактику і стратегію які мають забезпечити Сполученим Штатам першість в світі. Не дивлячись на те що книга призначалась американським політикам, політологам і студентам, найбільшого розголосу і навіть скандалу книга зажила у Росії. На думку Бжезінського Росія можлива як імперія лише разом з Україною, без України Росія буде ставати все більш азійською і продовжить втрачати своє значення як світова наддержава.