The Britannica Book of the Year 2012 provides a valuable viewpoint of the people and events that shaped the year and serves as a great reference source for the latest news on the ever changing populations, governments, and economies throughout the world. It is an accurate and comprehensive reference that you will reach for again and again.

The Britannica Book of the Year 2013 provides a valuable viewpoint of the people and events that shaped the year and serves as a great reference source for the latest news on the ever changing populations, governments, and economies throughout the world. It is an accurate and comprehensive reference that you will reach for again and again.

The Britannica Book of the Year 2014 provides a valuable viewpoint of the people and events that shaped the year and serves as a great reference source for the latest news on the ever changing populations, governments, and economies throughout the world. It is an accurate and comprehensive reference that you will reach for again and again.

Who's winning and who's losing? This book provides hard data for all who ponder the shifting sands of power, whether economic, military or demographic, and seek keys to decipher the media news. Going far beyond the major powers and the BRIC countries, this economic statistical work, issued every few years, presents historical statistics in nine sections. This is Volume 2, which lists (1) Population/Growth Rates of Population by country, (2) GDP Per Capita/Growth Rates of GDP Per Capita by country, and (3) GDP/Growth Rates of GDP by country. Volume 1 (sold separately) covers: (1) Population by rank, (2) GDP Per Capita by rank, (3) GDP by rank, (4) Growth Rates of Population by rank, (5) Growth Rates of GDP Per Capita by rank, (6) Growth Rates of GDP by rank. This biennial work contains data generally not available elsewhere, and in ways that help make it possible to draw useful comparisons. First, it provides statistical data for all countries of the world (236 countries, within their 2011 borders) since the year 1950 (by decade, with 2011 in addition), plus forecasts for 2020 and 2030. Second, it provides data for 135 countries since the year 1000 (with data for 1000, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1820, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1913, 1920, 1929, and 1938). Third, it provides data for 134 countries for the first year AD. In Volume 1 [572 pages], this data is arranged by rank, or size. In this, Volume 2 [438 pages], the countries are listed alphabetically. This book is based on the groundbreaking works of Angus Maddison but it gives data up to the most recent year available and calculates GDP (gross and per capita) in the prices of that year. For recent years, the World Bank, CIA, and Encyclopedia Britannica were principal sources. But, despite the author's great debt to these sources, the preponderance of data in the book is not direct citations from them but rather the result of calculations. Among other computational techniques he uses a new logarithmic interpolation which takes care of cross-country statistical distortions when calculating in the prices of the most recent year. For every line of data (for every country, each year), he provides a note on the technique used in obtaining his estimate (i.e., proxy, exponential interpolation, direct estimate with source citation, etc.). Dr. Avakov's annual title, "Quality of Life, Balance of Powers, and Nuclear Weapons," gives a current snapshot of world economic and military statistics. This work, "Two Thousand Years of Economic Statistics," gives world population figures and current GDP data in a historical perspective.

The Britannica Book fo the Year 2011 provides a valuable viewpoint on the people and events that shaped the year. In addition to keeping the Encyclopaedia Britannica updated, it serves as a great reference source for the latest news on the ever-changing populations, governments, and economies throughout the world.

The book contributes some original interpretations on the thought of Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). Instead of dwelling on the purely mathematical logic which tends to be the focus of professional philosophers, it explores Russell’s philosophy, especially his philosophy of science and philosophy of religion. It features some original interpretations of Bertrand Russell’s thoughts and it counters some competing interpretations of his philosophy. Russell could be labeled both a probabilist and empiricist, albeit with critical qualifications. He never left the Pythagorean/Platonic worldview entirely behind. Russell preferred Spinoza over Locke, and believed that many sciences simply beg questions rather than prove philosophic tenets. Although Russell rejected spiritualistic metaphysics, he was able to identify some value in George Berkeley’s philosophy. This book shows that Russell developed a philosophy incorporating atheism and spirituality.

Investigating the connections between multiculturalism, minorities, citizenship, and democracy in North Africa, this book argues that multiculturalism in this region– and in the Arab world at large – has reached a significant level in terms of scale and importance. In the rest of the world, there has been a trend – albeit a contested one – toward a greater recognition of minority rights. The Arab world however, particularly North Africa, seems to be an exception to this trend, as Arab states continue to promote highly unitary and homogenizing ideas of nationhood and state unity, whilst discouraging, or even forbidding, minority political mobilization. The central theoretical premise of this book is that North Africa is a multicultural region, where culture is inherently linked to politics, religion, gender, and society, and a place where democracy is gradually taking root despite many political and economic hurdles. Addressing the lacuna in literature on this issue, this book opens new avenues of thought and research on diversity, linking policy based on cultural difference to democratic culture and to social justice. Multiculturalism and Democracy in North Africa will be of use to students and researchers with an interest in Sociology, Cultural Studies, and Political Science more broadly.

Global problems require global solutions. The United Nations as presently constituted, however, is incapable of addressing many global problems effectively. One nation– one vote decisionmaking in most UN agencies fails to reflect the distribution of power in the world at large, while the allocation of power in the Security Council is both unfair and anachronistic. Hence, nations are reluctant to endow the United Nations with the authority and the resources it needs. Extensive reform is essential. This analysis is rooted in the proposition that the design of decisionmaking systems greatly affects their legitimacy and effectiveness. Joseph Schwartzberg proposes numerous systemic improvements to the UN system, largely through weighted voting formulas that balance the needs of shareholders and stakeholders in diverse agencies. It indicates ways in which the interests of regions can supplement those of nations while voices of nongovernmental organizations and ordinary citizens can also be heard. In numerous contexts, it promotes meritocracy and gender equity. The book's aim is not to create an unrealistic utopia, but rather to establish a workable world in which the force of law supplants the law of force; a world committed to justice and continuous yet sustainable development. The author argues that, given the many existential threats now confronting our planet, the time frame for decisive action is short. The task is daunting and success is not guaranteed, but in view of the urgency of our situation, we can find ways of mustering the will, imagination, and resources to do the job.

Join the conversation with one of sociology’s best-known thinkers. Essentials of Sociology, Second Edition adapted from George Ritzer’s Introduction to Sociology, Third Edition, provides the same rock-solid foundation in a shorter and more streamlined format. Like the original Ritzer text, Essentials of Sociology illuminates traditional sociological concepts and theories, and focuses on some of the most compelling contemporary social phenomena: globalization, consumer culture, the Internet, and the “McDonaldization” of society. As technology flattens the globe, students are challenged to apply a sociological perspective to their world, and to see how “public” sociologists are engaging with the critical issues of today.