Several regions of the world are characterized by persistent internal conflict and deeply rooted structures of violence. This work explores why domestic and international efforts to re-establish order, human security, democratic processes, and a developing economy are proving difficult to achieve.

"Economic reform by Third World governments is usually portrayed as the product of outside pressure, especially from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. This welcome collection provides an important counter-perspective by putting domestic politics at center stage. Miles Kahler demonstrates that international institutions only rarely play an important role."--Orbis' "Joan Nelson and her collaborators have performed a valuable service for those concerned about the politics of reform by bringing together a series of informed and insightful essays that address clearly and concisely the difficult political dilemmas of economic adjustment."--Merilee S. Grindle,Economic Development and Cultural Change

In Fragile World: Ecology and the Church, scholars and activists from Christian communities as far-flung as Honduras, the Philippines, Colombia, and Kenya present a global angle on the global ecological crisis--in both its material and spiritual senses--and offer Catholic resources for responding to it. This volume explores the deep interconnections, for better and for worse, between the global North and the global South, and analyzes the relationship among the physical environment, human society, culture, theology, and economics--the "integral ecology" described by Pope Francis in Laudato Si'. Integral ecology demands that we think deeply about humans and the physical environment, but also about the God who both created the world and sustains it in being. At its root, the ecological crisis is a theological crisis, not only in the way that humans regard creation and their place in it, but in the way that humans think about God. For Pope Francis in Laudato Si', the root of the crisis is that we humans have tried to put ourselves in God's place. According to Pope Francis, therefore, "A fragile world, entrusted by God to human care, challenges us to devise intelligent ways of directing, developing, and limiting our power."

This book gathers the work of leading scholars from several disciplines on fragile regions, especially those regions seeking to preserve, strengthen or create processes to restore or reestablish security and effective social and economic management. It tackles the multifarious issues that shape and affect fragile regions, drawing upon a wide range of intellectual and methodological approaches, including such fields as area studies, natural resource science, biology, environmental and resource economics and management, and political economy. The volume brings together the perspectives of a diverse group of contributors from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Managing Fragile Regions: Method and Application addresses a variety of factors – natural, political, administrative, legislative, economic, social, and cultural – and examines how they exert influences on the operational mechanisms of fragile regions, especially in the contexts of peace and security, economic development, and environmental management. The volume’s nine chapters cover a wide range of examples of fragile regions and their challenges. It will be of interest and utility to practitioners and policy-makers engaged in disaster management and post-disaster reconstruction. Students, researchers, and other professionals involved in resource management, regional science, and environmental science will also find it valuable reading.

Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited form of mental retardation. Revised for its third edition, this book discusses the clinical approach to diagnosing the disorder, supported by current research, and presents information on treatment.

The story of Fragile Blue interweaves three different themes. Almost everyone has had some surprising experiences connected to their conscious and unconsciousness awareness. The first thread in this story starts by painting a brief picture of some of these subtle and faintly remembered experiences. Such observations by their very nature are neither true nor false because they cannot be analysed within a purely objective framework. The second thread in the story is conjectured around the possibility that intelligent species at a cosmic level may have developed some form of Mayday Principle. Such a principle may be built around similar values in human culture. Within such a Mayday Principle, when someone or some group, finds themselves in extreme danger and appeal for help they should be given as much assistance as possible. The level of that assistance will reflect on the maturity of the group giving the assistance rather than the receiver. The third thread in the story looks at the possibilities of how our global civilisation could metamorphose into a spacefaring civilisation. The forces that are shaping our present and our future seem to be moving our species towards a global civilisation however defined. This process, of Homo sapiens evolving through global civilisation towards a spacefaring one, is seen to be tested by the iron law of survivability.

This report serves as a tool to better monitor the levels, timing and composition of resource flows to fragile states, and presents salient facts on aid flows to fragile states, the impact on fragile states of the three crises and the need for a whole-of-government response.

In Fragile X-Associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS), the editors present information on all aspects of FXTAS, including clinical features and current supportive management, radiological, psychological, and pathological findings, genotype-phenotype relationships, animal models and basic molecular mechanisms. Genetic counseling issues are also discussed. The book should serve as a resource for professionals in all fields regarding diagnosis, management, and counseling of patients with FXTAS and their families, as well as presenting the molecular basis for disease that may lead to the identification of new markers to predict disease risk and eventually lead to target treatments.

Critical questions remain unanswered on the events of the cold-blooded and devastating terror attacks in Mumbai on 26 November 2008. Investigative and introspective, this book offers a lucid and graphic account of the ill-fated day and traces the changing dynamics of terror in South Asia. Using new insights, it explores South Asia’s regional dynamics of antagonism, the ever-present challenge to the frontiers of India, Pakistan and the terrorism question, the strife in Afghanistan and the self-serving selective US ‘war on terror’. This will be an engaging read for those interested in defence, security and strategic studies, politics, international relations, peace and conflict studies, and South Asian studies as well as the general reader.