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What is the state and how can we best study it?

There are few today who can claim that the US occupation of Iraq has been a success, for either side. A War Too Far takes this on by looking back on the many unanswered questions about the invasion itself. What was the real reason for the Iraq War? Did George Bush ever have a strategy to confront al-Qaida in one arena? How does the invasion alter Iraq's relationship with Iran? And what does this mean for the future?*BR**BR*Examining the delicate balance of power in Iraq, this book explores the options for a US exit strategy, and how the invasion affects America's relationship with Iran.*BR**BR*Paul Rogers explores:*BR** The neo-conservative vision of a US-dominated Middle East*BR** The oil link - Iraq's significance in energy geopolitics*BR** Links with Israel - the development of close military co-operation between the US and Israeli military*BR** The growing possibility of a war on Iran and its potential repercussions

'One of the most important books in recent years. I cannot recommend it highly enough.' Robert W. McChesney

'One of the most important books in recent years. I cannot recommend it highly enough.' Robert W. McChesney

There exists today a tragic rift between Americans and the world's Muslims. Yet in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was widespread sympathy for the US throughout the Muslim world. *BR**BR*This book explores what happened. It examines the disconnect that leads Americans and Muslims to view the same words and images in fundamentally different ways. Partly a result of a centuries-old 'us' against 'them' dichotomy, the problem is exacerbated by an increasingly polarised media and by leaders on both sides who either don't understand or don't care what impact their words and policies have in the world at large.*BR**BR*Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens argues that the Arab media revolution and the rise of 'patriot-journalists' in the US marginalised voices of moderation, distorting perceptions on both sides of the divide with potentially disastrous results.

Was the Iraq war really an act of goodwill to liberate people from injustice? Or was it a strategic move to maintain US dominance globally? *BR**BR*This book casts a critical light on the real motives behind war and conflict. David Keen explores how winning war is rarely an end in itself; rather, war tends to be part of a wider political and economic game that is consistent with strengthening the enemy. Keen devises a radical framework for analysing an unending war project, where the 'war on terror' is an extension of the Cold War.*BR**BR*The book draws on the author's detailed study of wars in Sudan, Sierra Leone, as well as in a range of other conflicts.

A how-to guide on using video to change the world -- written by the world's leading video activists.

A how-to guide on using video to change the world -- written by the world's leading video activists.

After modernism and postmodernism, it is argued, the everyday supposedly is where a democracy of taste is brought into being - the place where art goes to recover its customary and collective pleasures, and where the shared pleasures of popular culture are indulged, from celebrity magazines to shopping malls.*BR**BR*John Roberts argues that this understanding of the everyday downgrades its revolutionary meaning and philosophical implications. Bringing radical political theory back to the centre of the discussion, he shows how notions of cultural democratization have been oversimplified. Asserting that the everyday should not be narrowly identified with the popular, Roberts critiques the way in which the concept is now overly associated with consumption and 'ordinariness'.*BR**BR*Engaging with the work of key thinkers including, Lukacs, Arvatov, Benjamin, Lefebvre, Gramsci, Barthes, Vaneigem, and de Certeau, Roberts shows how the concept of the everyday continues to be central to debates on ideology, revolution and praxis. He offers a lucid account of different approaches that developed over the course of the twentieth century, making this an ideal book for anyone looking for a politicised approach to cultural theory.

A textbook on global pharmaceutical policies

Identifies today's most pressing issues in the fight against corruption worldwide.

This new and updated edition of Michael Hudson's classic political economy text explores how and why the US came to achieve world economic hegemony. Originally published as the sequel to Hudson's bestselling Super Imperialism, Global Fracture explores American economic strategy during a key period in world history. *BR**BR*In 1973, many of the world's most indebted countries sought to free themselves of trade dependency and the debt trap by creating a New International Economic Order (NIEO). This aimed to improve the terms of trade for raw materials and build up agicultural and industrial self-sufficiency. *BR**BR*Global Fracture shows how the US undermined this progressive initiative and instead pushed for financial dominance over the rest of the world. Today, the NIEO is a forgotten interlude, its optimism replaced by the financial austerity imposed by the IMF and the World Bank.*BR**BR*Exploring how America achieved its economic aims, and tracing the implications this has had through subsequent decades, Michael Hudson covers various topics including trade embargoes, changing US attitudes to foreign aid, the rise of protectionism, government regulation of international investments, the impact on specific industries including the oil industry, the implications of the new economic order and the future of war.

A critical account of the politics of aid-giving.

Examining the broad contexts of US foreign policy and the lingering aftermath of the Vietnam War, David Ryan argues that these events created an opportunistic framing of 9/11, paving the way for the long-held neo-conservative desire for regime change and war in Iraq. *BR**BR*He examines the construction of the cultural framework for war following 9/11, the legitimacy of military force in Afghanistan, the rise of anti-Americanism, within the broader contexts over the struggle over legitimacy, identity and leadership.*BR**BR*Turning the 'clash of civilisations' thesis on its head, Ryan presents a careful analysis of the evolution of US foreign policy and its engagement with Iraq through the 1980s. While 9/11 provided the opportunity, the post-Vietnam context provides a more pertinent framework for this reflection on the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the strategic implications for US foreign policy.

A critical account of the politics of aid-giving.

Noam Chomsky, William Blum and others assess the impact of neo-conservatism on US foreign policy.

Examines the ways in which the American model is being imposed on the world, and outlines its economic and political consequences.

Noam Chomsky, Immanuel Wallerstein, Peter Gowen and others discuss the dynamics at work behind the 'War on Terrorism'.

From Bolivia to New Zealand, from South Africa to Russia and China, this is a round-the-world tour of resistance to neoliberalism. The anti-globalization movement is truly global, each region has its own specific groups and agendas, this book presents writers and activists from every continent to provide a truly international view of alternative social and political struggles.*BR**BR*Struggles against capitalism, privatisation, social exclusion and exploitation are mobilising many thousands. This book examines what has been achieved so far. The authors examine the World Social Forums as a dynamic for moving things forward. They explore the global anti-war movement and the successful mobilisation for the protests of 15th February 2003; they analyse new media strategies; and they offer a disturbing account on new police arrangements to control demonstrators.*BR**BR*Edited by Francois Polet, who is a member of the Tricontinental Centre and the World Forum for Alternatives -- a group that plays a prominent role in the World Social Forums -- the book includes contributions from Donatella della Porta, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Verity Burgmann, Paola Manduca and Bernard Dreano.

Critical overview of the writings of CLR James, the founder of 'post-national' studies

A Maoist revolution has been raging in Nepal since 1996. In 1999, Li Onesto became the first foreign journalist to travel deep into the guerrilla zones. Allowed unprecedented access, she interviewed political leaders, guerrilla fighters, villagers in areas under Maoist control, and relatives of those killed by government forces.*BR**BR*Millions in Nepal now live in areas under guerrilla control. Peasants are running grass-roots institutions, exercising what they call 'people's power'. Li Onesto describes these transformations -- the establishment of new governing committees and courts, the confiscation and re-division of land, new cultural and social practices, and the emergence of a new outlook.*BR**BR*Increasingly, the UK and US have directly intervened to provide political and military support to the counter-insurgency efforts of the Nepalese regime. Onesto analyzes this in the context of the broader international situation and the 'war on terrorism'.

Michael Hardt, Sergio Bologna, Kathi Weeks, Nick Dyer-Witheford and others explore the complexity of Negri's thought.

What is nation-building and is it ever going to succeed? A critical view from 'old Europe'.

Fascinating critique of Al Jazeera's politics, its agenda, its programmes and its treatment of the West.

On the Border chronicles a radical political education in a time and place charged with idealism and danger. A Polish Frenchman and a rabbi's son, Michel Warschawski left for Israel at the age of sixteen to to study the Talmud, and eventually became one of the most renowned figures of the Israeli left. Warschawski's involvement in radical politics led to inspiring alliances with Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Marxists. Yet as the border lines hardened, he became targeted by the Shin Bet, Israel's notorious intelligence agents. Finally arrested, incarcerated and interrogated for 20 days, Michel gives his readers an insider's view of the psychological and political pressures that Shin Bet brought to bear, even on Jews, and never lets you forget the severity of treatment that his Palestinian colleagues faced.In touch with the Jewish diaspora, and inspired by a socialism without borders, the book mixes sharp analysis of the ongoing conflict with deep personal insight into the events of the last three decades. The lessons he draws from his experience on the border between Israel and Palestine should be instructive for all the places where cultures rub against each other for better and worse. Warschawski's perspective offers hope for the rich cultural and political exchange that these places offer their inhabitants, and hope for his adopted land.

A great resource for students of politics and economics, and anyone looking for a grounded critical approach to this broad subject.

In the three years since Operation Defensive Shield - three years marked by denial, deceit, rage and resentment - one fact remains uncontroversial: never, until the operation, had there been such a wide breach between the Israeli collective consciousness and international public opinion. Israeli scholar Daniel Dor measures this gap and concludes that Israeli society has withdrawn into an unprecedented sense of isolation and victimization - largely because of the role played by the Israeli media.*BR**BR*Different media outlets provided their readers and viewers with significantly different perspectives on the operation, but they all shared a certain emotional attitude, not vis-a-vis the operation itself, but in relations to the global discourse of blame against Israel: they all projected an urgent, desperate, almost obsessive urge to suppress, to dismiss, to fend off guilt.*BR**BR*Basing his arguments on detailed analyses of media reports, Dor explores how the Israeli media work within the context of the global media and world opinion, rather than within the classic context of the nation-state - and what it means for the future of the country.

Examines the impact of power-sharing within local communities.

Globalization has brought with it many difficult and contradictory phenomena: violence, deep national insecurities, religious divisions and individual insecurities. This book takes a critical look at three key areas - globalism, nationalism, and state-terror - to confront common mythologies and identify the root causes of the problems we face. *BR**BR*Too many commentators still argue that globalization is predominantly a neo-liberal economic phenomenon; that nation-states are on the way out, and that terror is something that primarily comes from below. Global Matrix exposes the limitations of this argument. *BR**BR*Written by two leading scholars, this is a lucid study of what place the nation-state has in a globalizing world that will appeal to students across the political and social sciences.

'Vulnerability' is now a key term in globalisation studies. It is used to describe how globalisation impacts on individual security, local communities and even global flows of trade, finance and investment. Yet there has been little attempt to interrogate the term and what it is trying to express about globalisation.*BR**BR*Peadar Kirby examines what is really meant by 'vulnerability' and links it to new forms of violence that have resulted from decreased security and social cohesion. He argues that vulnerability and violence are characteristic features of a new world order dominated by neoliberal globalisation. Illustrating his argument with a wealth of examples taken from all over the world -- from the sudden collapse of the middle class in Argentina to increased levels of poverty internationally -- he offers a robust theoretical grounding that will be of use to anyone studying vulnerability and violence and their relation to contemporary globalisation.