Political Science : Political Freedom & Security

This tribute includes poems, prayers, children's drawings, and heartfelt exchanges drawn from the material posted on American Online in the days following the tragic attacks. more...

Price: $9.99

This book follows and complements the previous volume Biotechnology and International Law (Hart 2006) bringing a specific focus on human rights. It is the result of a collaborative effort which brings together the contributions of a select group of experts from academia and from international organisations with the purpose of discussing the extent to which current activities in the field of biotechnology can be regulated by existing human rights principles and standards, and what gaps, if any, need to be identified and filled with new legislative initiatives. Instruments such as the UNESCO Declaration on the Human Genome (1997) and on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005) are having an impact on customary international law. But what is the relevance of these instruments with respect to traditional concepts of state responsibility and the functioning of domestic remedies against misuse of biotechnologies? Are new legislative initiatives needed, and what are the pros and cons of a race toward the adoption of new ad hoc instruments in an area of such rapid technological development? Are there risks of normative and institutional fragmentation as a consequence of the proliferation of different regulatory regimes? Can we identify a core of human rights principles that define the boundaries of legitimate uses of biotechnology, the legal status of human genetic material, as well as the implications of the definition of the human genome as 'common heritage of humanity' for the purpose of patenting of genetic inventions? These and other questions are the focus of a fascinating collection of essays which, together, help to map this emerging field of inquiry. more...

Price: $126.00

The adventurous, insightful, and often chilling story of a young geographer’s road trip through the underworld of U.S. military and CIA “black ops” sites. Trevor Paglen is a scholar in geography, an artist, and a provocateur. His research into areas that officially “don’t exist” leads him on a globe-trotting adventure into a vast, undemocratic, and uncontrolled black empire—the unmarked spots on a map, where our military conducts its most clandestine operations. Run by an amorphous group of government agencies and private companies, this empire’s annual budget is over $40 billion, yet almost no one knows how it works or what it does. Paglen spies on the covert site at Groom Lake, Nevada, taking photos from a mountain top thirty miles away. He visits the widow of Walter Kazra, who, while working construction at Groom Lake, was poisoned by the toxic garbage pits there. The U.S. Air Force defense to his estate’s suit? The base does not exist. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case. Whether it’s from a hotel room in Vegas, secret prisons in Kabul, buried CIA aircraft in Central American jungles, Washington, D.C., suburbs, or a trailer in Shoshone Indian territory, Paglen’s reporting is impassioned, rigorous, relentless—and eye-opening. Blank Spots on the Map is an exposé of a world that, officially, isn’t even there. more...

Price: $25.95

An intimate and gripping look at terrorist violence during the Reconstruction era. Between 1867, when the defeated South was forced to establish new state governments that fully represented both black and white citizens, and 1877, when the last of these governments was overthrown, more than three thousand African Americans and their white allies were killed by terrorist violence. That violence was spread by roving vigilantes connected only by ideology, and by the hateful invective printed in widely read newspapers and pamphlets. Amid all the chaos, however, some men and women struggled to establish a “New South” in which former slaves would have new rights and a new prosperity would be shared by all. In his vivid, fast-paced narrative of the era now known as Reconstruction, Stephen Budiansky illuminates the lives of five remarkable men—two Union officers, a Confederate general, a Northern entrepreneur, and a former slave—whose idealism in the face of overwhelming hatred would not be matched for nearly a century. The Bloody Shirt is a story of violence, racism, division, and heroism that sheds new light on a crucial time in America’s history. more...

Price: $16.00

Burundi, situated in the heart of the Great Lakes Region, is one of the poorest nations in the world. Beset by coups d’états, presidential assassinations and genocide, the country has been caught in a cycle of violence and under-development whereby brief periods of peace have been followed by further state repression and armed conflict. The 2000 Arusha peace accords, the Pretoria agreement of late 2003, the peaceful elections of 2005, and the recent Dar es Salaam peace agreement with the Forces Nationales de Libération have ushered in a period of relative stability. This fragile political process, however, has not been matched by a parallel rebound in economic growth that has been observed in post-conflict African countries and is a precondition for long-lasting peace.This work aims to identify areas in Burundi’s rural economy with the greatest immediate potential to stimulate growth and consolidate peace over the next years. The short-term focus will be on the rural economy. It is vital however that the Government of Burundi and its partners address other critical areas in the medium term to sustain growth. The industrial and service sectors are of particular significance, as they need to absorb a burgeoning, youthful and increasingly urbanized generation. The first challenge is to take stock of international best practices and Burundian history, and develop a sound agricultural base as the critical foundation for sustainable growth. Our work identifies policy reforms and investments with potential to boost food supply and strengthen export crop competitiveness, thereby expanding rural growth. more...

Price: $28.00