Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2006

Political Science Top

Terrorism and the Politics of Fear shows how the mass media and propaganda about fear of crime and terrorism contribute to social policies that promote social control and threaten civil liberties. This excellent treatment of a timely subject will be indispensable to teachers and students of sociology, media, politics and criminology studies.

Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION: Are We Killers or Peacemakers? 1 CHAPTER ONE: Why Genocides? Are They Different Now Than in the Past? 11 The Four Main Motives Leading to Mass Political Murder 19 Are Modern Genocides and Ethnic Cleansings Different? Retribalization and the Modern State 45 CHAPTER TWO: The Psychological Foundations of Genocidal Killing 51 How to Get Ordinary People to Become Butchers 52 Organization 57 Emotional Appeals: Leaders and Followers 58 Essentializing Others 81 The Dangerous Similar Others 87 The Conditions of Genocide 90 CHAPTER THREE: Why Is Limited Warfare More Common Than Genocide? 95 Weighing the Costs of Genocidal Conflicts 97 Limiting the Damage of Warfare 99 Exogamy: Making the Enemy Part of the Family 103 Establishing Codes of Warfare and Exchange to Limit Violence 111 Are Rules of Exogamy, Codes of Honor, and Potlatching Still Relevant? 116 The Mercantile Compulsion 121 Morality and Modesty: Rejecting Certitude 134 Yearning for Solutions 147 CHAPTER FOUR: Strategies to Decrease the Chances of Mass Political Murder in Our Time 149 State Policies That Reduce Hostility between Groups 155 Limiting Demands for Justice and Revenge 180 Modest Solutions and Small-Scale Changes to Promote Tolerance 187 The Crucial Role of States in Promoting Peaceful Exchanges 199 Individual Rights and Pluralist Histories 203 CONCLUSION: Our Question Answered 211 References 219 Index 249

This thoughtful book explores the enduring tensions between state and society in the Philippines by tracing its history of state formation and the corresponding conflicts and collaborations between state leaders and social forces. One horn of the dilemma is the persistent inability of the state to provide basic services, guarantee peace and order, and foster economic development. The other is Filipinos' equally enduring suspicion of a strong state. The authors explore the development of institutional weakness and ineffectual governance, explain the tension between state centralization and local power, and address major issues of government reform, communist and Islamic resistance to the state, population growth and economic crisis, and the growing Filipino labor d.phpora. They focus on how the state has shaped and been shaped by its interaction with social forces, especially in the rituals of popular mobilization that have produced surprising and diverse political results.

The Soviet Union encompassed dozens of nationalities and ethnicities, and in the wake of its collapse, the politics of ethnicity within its former borders and throughout Eastern Europe have undergone tremendous changes. In this book, Zoltan Barany and Robert G. Moser bring together eminent scholars whose theoretically diverse and empirically rich research examines various facets of ethnicity in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia: ethnic identity and culture, mobilization, parties and voting, conflict, and ethnic migration. The contributors consider how ethnic forces have influenced political outcomes that range from voting to violence and protest mobilization to language acquisition. Conversely, each chapter demonstrates that political behavior itself has an impact on the forms and strength of ethnic identity. Thus, ethnicity is deemed to be a contested, malleable, and constructed force rather than a static characteristic inherent in the attributes of groups and individuals with a common religion, race, or national origin.

Attempts to construct resilient democracies have been as pervasive as reversals have been cruel in Latin America. Based on a wealth of original historical documents and contemporary interviews, this volume analyzes five centuries of political history through paradigmatic examples of outstanding democratic success and abysmal failure. It demonstrates that while factors highlighted by standard explanations matter, it is political culture that configures economic development, institutional choices and political pacts in ways that directly affect democracy's chances and quality.

A sweeping examination of Muslim public opinion about governance and democracy.

The alliance between Syria and Iran has proved to be an enduring feature on the political landscape of the Middle East. Moreover, since its inception after the Iranian Revolution, it has had a significant impact in terms of moulding events and bringing about major changes in this troubled region. The study demonstrates that, contrary to prevailing views, the alliance between the two states has been essentially defensive in nature. It emerged in response to a series of events and developments, most notably, the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and US adventurism in the Middle East. The book traces the critical stages in the evolution and consolidation of the alliance in the 1980s, and offers explanations for its longevity into the 21st century.

Much has changed in Germany over the past twenty years. In 1987 Peter Katzenstein produced a seminal analysis of the 'semisovereign' politics of West Germany, providing a compelling account of policy-making in Europe's largest economy. However, unification in 1990 changed Germany's institutional configuration radically, and created economic challenges on a huge scale. By building on the original study, an eminent team of scholars asks whether semisovereignty still exists in contemporary Germany and whether, as Katzenstein originally contended, it remains an asset. (The conclusion is provided by Peter Katzenstein.)

This book explores the relationship between the process of state formation and political identities in the context of Sudan's conflict. It examines conflict and politics of identity in the Sudan. It argues that neither race, nor culture is at the center of the Sudan's tragedy. Instead, it is the racialized postcolonial state that imposed a single vision of nation through the policy of Arabization and Islamization. Idris examines how an ideology of hierarchy was historically constructed and politically institutionalized in the Sudan, acknowledging the centrality of the historical legacy of slavery and colonialism in the crisis of postcolonial citizenship in the Sudan.

Corruption is a threat to democracy and economic development in many societies. It arises in the ways people pursue, use and exchange wealth and power, and in the strength or weakness of the state, political and social institutions that sustain and restrain those processes. Differences in these factors, Michael Johnston argues, give rise to four major syndromes of corruption: Influence Markets, Elite Cartels, Oligarchs and Clans, and Official Moguls. Johnston uses statistical measures to identify societies in each group, and case studies to show that the expected syndromes do arise.

Turkey is a pivotal state whose domestic political, economic, and social developments have important implications across the globe. Here a leading Turkish political scientist enhances understanding of the interactions of liberal democracy with longstanding cultural cleavages along secular-religious lines, ethnicity, and social class. This work focuses on how the process of urbanization and industrialization has led to social mobilization and population movements from villages into the cities and how competition to control the state and its networks of patronage has made politics contentious and fragmented. Intertwined with Turkey's domestic political and economic dynamics are the influences of relations, including tensions, with important external actors.

1. Iraq and the New Arab Public 2. The Structural Transformation of the Arab Public Sphere 3. The Iraqi Challenge and the Old Iraqi Public 4. The al-Jazeera Era 5. Baghdad Falls 6. New Iraq, New Arab Public Notes Bibliography Index

The 1948 Palestine War is known to Israelis as `the War of Independence'. But for Palestinians, the war is forever the Nakba, the `catastrophe'. The war led to the creation of the State of Israel and the destruction of much of Palestinian society by the Zionist forces. For all Palestinians, the Nakba has become central to history, memory and identity. This book focuses on Palestinian internal refugees in Israel and internally displaced Palestinians across the Green Line. It uses oral history and interviews to examine Palestinian identity and memory, indigenous rights, international protection, the `right of return', and a just solution in Palestine/Israel.

Foreword--By Christopher Donnelly * Introduction. The society-military interface in Russia--Stephen L. Webber * Part I. Military as symbol, image and text * The army as an institutional model--Lev Gudkov * Media-military relations in post-Soviet Russia: Who is the watchdog?--Bettina Renz * Confronting imperialism: The ambivalence of war in post-Soviet film--David Gillespie * Part II.nbsp; The political and economic interfaces with the military sphere * Back to hell: Civilian-military ‘audience costs’ and Russia’s wars in Chechnya-- Mikhail A. Alexseev * Military reform and regional politics--Pavel K. Baev * Society-military relations in Russia: The economic dimension--Julian Cooper * Part II. Citizenship, identity and the challenges of the society-military relationship * The citizenship dimension of the society-military interface--Stephen L. Webber and Alina Zilberman * Women, society and the military: Women soldiers in post-Soviet Russia--Jennifer G. Mathers * Saving Russia’s sons: The soldiers’ mothers and the Russian-Chechen wars-- Valerie Zawilski * The integration of the Cossacks into the Russian army: Political and military implications--Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski * Conclusion. Military and society in post-Soviet Russia: Reflections--Jennifer G. Mathers nbsp;

Preface ix A Note on Transliteration xiii Prologue A Shi'i-Led Reformation 1 Chapter 1: The Burden of the Past 16 Chapter 2: Containment Politics in the Persian Gulf 42 Chapter 3: The Struggle for Power in Iraq 72 Chapter 4: The Revival of Shi'ism in Lebanon 99 Chapter 5: Between Aspirations and Reality 129 Conclusion 158 Abbreviations 165 Notes 167 Further Reading 207 Acknowledgments 211 Index 213

Western societies are becoming increasingly complex and challenging to govern, yet the modern state continues to play a central role in governance. This book presents a detailed analysis of the challenges confronting the contemporary state and the processes through which the state addresses those challenges. The notion of "governing without government" is critiqued; instead, Pierre and Peters argue that what is happening a more a matter of state transformation than state decline.

In mid-2004 the Darfur crisis in Western Sudan forced itself onto the center stage of world affairs. Arab Janjaweed militias, who support the Khartoum government, have engaged in a campaign of violence against the residents of Western Sudan. A formerly obscure 'tribal conflict' in the heart of Africa has escalated into the first genocide of the twenty-first century. In sharp contrast to official reaction to the Rwandan massacres, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called the situation in Darfur a "genocide" in September 2004. Its characteristics-Arabism, Islamism, famine as a weapon of war, mass rape, international obfuscation, and a refusal to look evil squarely in the face-reflect many of the problems of the global South in general and of Africa in particular.Journalistic explanations of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe have been given to hurried generalizations and inaccuracies: the genocide has been portrayed as an ethnic clash marked by Arab-on-African violence, with the Janjaweed militias under strict government control, but neither of these impressions is strictly true. Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide explains what lies behind the conflict, how it came about, why it should not be oversimplified, and why it is so relevant to the future of the continent. Gérard Prunier sets out the ethnopolitical makeup of the Sudan and explains why the Darfur rebellion is regarded as a key threat to Arab power in the country-much more so than secessionism in the Christian South. This, he argues, accounts for the government'deployment of "exemplary violence" by the Janjaweed militias in order to intimidate other African Muslims into subservience. As the world watches; governments decide if, when, and how to intervene; and international organizations struggle to distribute aid, the knowledge in Prunier'book will provide crucial assistance.

The United States has made the spread of democracy in the Middle East the cornerstone of its foreign policy. Though administration officials expect democratic ideals will be embraced there with enthusiasm, much of the rest of the world has greeted this strategy with enormous skepticism. The Long War for Freedom is the first book to investigate whether a real base of support for reform, moderation, and democratization even exists in the region. Barry Rubin, one of the West's most trusted experts on Arab opinion and political culture, takes a close look at the brave, promising group of Arab liberals who have shown great personal courage and faced overwhelming odds to advocate new freedoms for their fellow citizens. Rubin's key insight is that the dynamic isn't a simple two-way fight-as it was with democratic reformers in Communist countries whom the Arab liberals are often compared to-between hardliners and reformers. Instead, the interplay is among the rulers, the religious radicals, and the reformers, who constantly pair off in different ways in different countries. Yet the questions remain: How receptive are Arab states to reform? What are the obstacles that stand in the way of its establishment there, and how can they be overcome? Would any further actions taken by the United States or Israel do more harm than good? The future of the world may rest in large part on what happens to the small band of heroes celebrated in The Long War for Freedom, since they may turn out to be the only real hope for peace and progress in the Middle East.

A vibrant civil society-characterized by the independently organized activity of people as citizens, undirected by state authority-is an essential support for the development of freedom, democracy, and prosperity. Thus it has been one important indicator of the success of post-communist transitions. This volume undertakes a systematic analysis of the development of civil society in post-Soviet Russia. An introduction and two historical chapters provide background, followed by chapters that analyze the Russian context and consider the roles of the media, business, organized crime, the church, the village, and the Putin administration in shaping the terrain of public life. Eight case studies then illustrate the range and depth of actual citizen organizations in various national and local community settings, and a concluding chapter weighs the findings.

Based on extensive original research and detailed historical case studies, this book links historical institutional analysis and social movement theory to a study of political systems in which new ethnic cleavages have emerged. It studies the surprising transformation of indigenous peoples' movements into viable political parties in the 1990s in four Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) and their failure to succeed in two others (Argentina, Peru). The study concludes with the democratic implications of the emergence of this phenomenon in the context of declining public support for parties.

The remarkable popular protest in Kiev and across Ukraine following the cooked presidential election of November 2004 has transformed the politics of eastern Europe. Andrew Wilson witnessed the events firsthand and here looks behind the headlines to ascertain what really happened and how it will affect the future of the region. It is a dramatic story: an outgoing president implicated via secret tape-recordings in corruption and murder; a shadowy world of political cheats and manipulators; the massive covert involvement of Putin’s Russia; the poisoning of the opposition challenger; and finally the mass protest of half a million Ukrainians that forced a second poll and the victory of Viktor Yushchenko. As well as giving an account of the election and its aftermath, the book examines the broader implications of the Orange Revolution and of Russia’s serious miscalculation of its level of influence. It explores the likely chain reaction in Moldova, Belarus, and the nervous autocracies of the Caucasus, and points to a historical transformation of the geopolitics of Eurasia.