Mexicans have long dreamt of the First World, and in recent times it has landed with a thud. Under the guise of globalization, Mexico opened its borders, reformed its political system, and transformed its economy. The impacts have been paradoxical. In First World Dreams Alexander Dawson explores the contradictions and challenges which Mexico has experienced in embracing the market so wholeheartedly. A vibrant civil society is marred by human rights abuses and violent rebellion. Market reforms have produced a stable economy, economic growth and great fortunes, while devastating much of the countryside and crippling domestic producers. Mexico is today one of the world's largest exporting nations, yet has a perpetually negative trade balance. It is in a constant state of becoming a democracy, a nation where human rights are respected, a modern industrial nation, and a more violent, fragmented place where the chasms of wealth and poverty threaten to undo the dreams of modernity.

From Fouad Ajami, an acclaimed author and chronicler of Arab politics, comes a compelling account of how a generation of Arab intellectuals tried to introduce cultural renewals in their homelands through the forces of modernity and secularism. Ultimately, they came to face disappointment, exile, and, on occasion, death. Brilliantly weaving together the strands of a tumultuous century in Arab political thought, history, and poetry, Ajami takes us from the ruins of Beirut's once glittering metropolis to the land of Egypt, where struggle rages between a modernist impulse and an Islamist insurgency, from Nasser's pan-Arab nationalist ambitions to the emergence of an uneasy Pax Americana in Arab lands, from the triumphalism of the Gulf War to the continuing anguished debate over the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. For anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East, here is an insider's unflinching analysis of the collision between intellectual life and political realities in the Arab world today.

Since 1989 the history of Iraq has been one of the world's most traumatic. In this book, Thabit Abdullah places the Iraqi people at the centre of changes which began with the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and ended with the current American-led occupation. Battles for control of oil, the vacuum created by Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and the devastating impact of sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iraqi society over the past two decades. Abdullah argues that current ethnic tensions and religious divisions are a response to this destruction of civil society, rather than a consequence of having 'artificial' borders, inherent in Iraq's very existence. This powerful and often moving account provides a uniquely measured insight into the recent political and social history of Iraq. It is an ideal introduction for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of this important and controversial nation.

Few studies have highlighted the stories of middle-class children of immigrants who move to their ancestral homelands—countries with which they share cultural ties but haven’t necessarily had direct contact. Chasing the American Dream in China addresses this gap by examining the lives of highly educated American-born Chinese (ABC) professionals who “return” to the People’s Republic of China to build their careers. Analyzing the motivations and experiences of these individuals deepens our knowledge about transnationalism among the second-generation as they grapple with complex issues of identity and societal belonging in the ethnic homeland. This book demonstrates how these professional migrants maneuver between countries and cultures to further their careers and maximize opportunities in the rapidly changing global economy. When used strategically, the versatile nature of their ethnic identities positions them as indispensable bridges between the global superpowers of China and the United States in their competition for global dominance.

A unique self-help guide to dream interpretation using techniques and icons from cultures around the world. • Challenges the assumption that all symbols universally signify the same thing to all dreamers. • Includes numerous stories, games, and exercises for inducing, recalling, interpreting, and utilizing dreams. • Extends beyond Jung and Freud to include dream theory from numerous world cultures, including the Temiar of Malaya, the African Ibans, the Lepchka of the Himalayas, and the Ute of North America. Dreaming can be used as a tool for understanding our own consciousness, enhancing creativity, receiving visions, conquering fears, interpreting recent events, healing the body, and evolving the soul. Tapping into the vast dreaming experiences and lore of the world's cultures--from the Siwa people of the Libyan desert to the Naskapi Indians of Labrador--Sarvananda Bluestone challenges the assumption that all symbols universally signify the same thing to all dreamers. The World Dream Book encourages readers to develop their own, personalized symbols for understanding their consciousness and provides a series of stories, multicultural techniques, and games to help them do so. Playful explorations, such as the aboriginal "Sipping the Water of the Moon," teach how to induce, recall, interpret, and utilize the power of dreams. Readers will discover how a stone under a pillow can help us remember a dream and will explore their own dormant artist and writer as they reclaim the power of their sleeping consciousness. Sarvananda Bluestone applies his uniquely engaging style to demonstrate that, with a few simple tools, everybody has the capacity to unleash their full dreaming potential.

* Chronicles all three of Mallory's Everest expeditions * Illuminates how Mallory reconciled his ambitions on Everest with his unquestioned love for his wife and family Since the discovery in 1999 of George Mallory's body on Everest, controversy has raged over whether Mallory and Andrew Irvine could have summitted the mountain. Every detail of the climb has been dissected and Mallory's skill as a mountaineer has been hotly debated. Observing the debate, Peter and Leni Gillman felt that the essence of who Mallory was as an individual had been lost. In The Wildest Dream they offer the most comprehensive biography ever written about one of the 20th century's most intriguing personalities. Exploring Mallory's early years, the Gillmans take the reader to Cambridge and Bloomsbury where Mallory consorted with some of the most colorful literary and artistic figures of Edwardian England: Rupert Brooke, James and Lytton Strachey, Maynard and Geoffrey Keynes, and Duncan Grant, among others. The Wildest Dream moves on to examine exactly what Mallory accomplished as a climber, evaluating the quality of his routes and skills within the context of climbing in the early 1900s. At the heart of this biography, and of Mallory's life, is his wife, Ruth. The letters they exchanged during the many separations caused by World War I and three Everest expeditions reveal the depth of their commitment to each other and the unwavering support and strength Ruth offered George. The Everest expeditions are also insightfully rendered, offering perspective on criticisms levied at Mallory after the 1921 and 1922 attempts. The authors examine how Mallory, a dedicated husband and father, arrived at his fateful decision to participate in the doomed 1924 expedition and why he continued to press for a summit attempt when the odds seemed stacked against him. As Mallory once declared, a climber was what he was, and this is what climbers did; this was how they fulfilled their wildest dreams.

Dreams told in the group are conjoint individual and group creations. They are both influenced by the group atmosphere and may in turn influence it and the individual, promoting change and development. Dreams have a deepening effect on therapeutic work and, due to their unconscious content, they may represent the most authentic exchange between individual and group. This state-of-the-art book provides help for therapists encountering a dream told in their group. It covers the major theoretical perspectives for their understanding, as well as representing different psychological schools and their approaches to the technical issues of group dream therapy. Despite the variety of sources, the clinical approaches described complement each other, and the book details many case studies, including a first dream in the group, an unconscious meeting between women and men, and other polarities within the individual and the group.

Olympic gymnast Trixie Dalca's world is destroyed the day her sister Ileana falls during training, slips into a coma, and dies. To cope with the loss, Trixie turns to her best friend, American gymnast Shaye Sylvester. Together with Shaye and amateur documentary filmmaker Abby Vicari, the three unlikely investigators question whether Ileana's death was merely a tragic accident or murder.

Europe is a strange continent. Strictly speaking it is not a continent at all but a mere peninsula tacked on to Asia, from where many of its first inhabitants undoubtedly came. And yet, despite its huge variety- of features, languages, landscape and peoples- this smallest of continents has achieved a clear cultural identity. It is certainly true that 'Eurospeak' lacks poetry and that the myths of today are mainly nationalist, chauvinistic and of the 'No to Europe-type'. But, says the author, 'My Europe is not the Europe that regulates the curve on bananas, quarrels over subsidies for farmers or fights for places on the Council or Commission. I still believe in dreams, especially the European dream.' The author quotes Vaclav Havel 'Without dreaming of a better Europe, we shall never build a better Europe'. Going back to the origins of the European idea, Dr Schwimmer traces the true content of Robert Schumann's vision and shows how this must still be our inspiration. But the author goes back beyond that and looks at other visions of a Federal Europe. From the Hapsburg Empire to the League of Nations and Woodrow Wilson's celebrated speech in 1918, various concepts are examined carefully. In propounding his dream for the future, the author takes on the Eurosceptics directly and shows how Europe must be the key to its inhabitants tackling the problems of world terrorism, human rights and the internal strife of Russia and the Balkan States.

Drugs and the American Dream presents an up-to-date anthology of chiefly contemporary readings that explore the myriad sociological correlates of licit and illicit drug use in the United States. Unique approach to the topic that offers an organizing theme of sociological concepts-age, social class, ethnicity, gender, as well as societal response to drug use including drug education, treatment, and policy. The book is interdisciplinary in terms of approach, making it useful in a variety of contexts. Includes a wide array of ethnographic articles that place reader directly into the perspectives of drug users through their own voices Brief framing introductions to each article provide "interconnective tissue," guiding the student to the heart of what's important in the piece that follows. Offers a balanced approach to various substances-tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, and illegal drugs. Provides students with a realistic perspective on the extent of substance use in American society as well as a critical appreciation of the real versus imagined harms associated with use of various substances.