This book looks at the militaries of the late-Soviet and post-Soviet republics. Beginning with the end of the Soviet era, it recognises that the successor states did not spring from nowhere, but inherited a legacy that influenced all that followed. The book discusses how politicians control the instruments that are the manifestation of the state’s monopoly on violence, and how society views and supports the military. By taking a bottom up empirical approach that examines the personnel, leaders, organisations and institutions, and their outlook and attitudes, the book presents a comprehensive picture of the armed forces, showing how the armed forces are very significantly shaped by the surrounding political and social environment. The book goes on to examine the armed forces in action, and highlights that to truly understand the militaries, studies need to go beyond looking at the static structures.

This book summarises the evolution of the higher education system in post-Soviet Georgia, amidst democratisation, economic liberalisation and European integration. The author gives an overview of the recent political history in Georgia, paying particular attention to both the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the Rose Revolution, and their roles in transforming the education system. The book seeks out national and international perspectives to understand how higher education in Georgia can be further developed to meet the needs of all Georgians, while also further advancing Euro-Atlantic integration. It will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative education, as well as the related fields of international development, political science and history.

Reliable and accurate, this complete information tool for the 21st century includes up-to-the-minute facts, statistics, dates and information, including 2004 presidential election results, World Series results, and an unique reference on medical breakthroughs.

Today more than ever, international headlines are dominated by dispatches from the many dictatorships that still dot the globe. Although Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been deposed, North Korea's Kim Jong-il continues to attract attention on the world stage; at the same time, other dictatorships, led by royal families, military juntas, and single political parties, persist in repressing and brutalizing their citizens without ever attracting anything like Saddam's or Kim Jong-il's level of international attention. In this fascinating, eye-opening read, New York Times bestselling author David Wallechinsky offers in-depth portraits of each of the twenty worst dictators -- and the governments they head -- currently in power: exposing their crimes, and revealing their strange personalities and mysterious backgrounds. Tyrants also reveals the extent that foreign corporations and governments support these tyrants despite their policies. Timely and provocative, crafted with the popular touch that has made Wallechinsky a bestselling author, Tyrants will awaken you to the criminal regimes of the present -- and pose challenging questions about America's role in curbing (or promoting) their power in the future. The Tyrant Hall of Shame includes: Kim Jong-il/North Korea Hu Jintao/China Seyed Ali Khamenei/Iran King Abdullah/Saudi Arabia Muammar al-Qaddafi/Libya Omar al-Bashir/Sudan Islam Karimov/Uzbekistan Saparmurat Niyazov/Turkmenistan Fidel Castro/Cuba