Based on first-person accounts, interviews, declassified documents, and secondary background sources, this book gives readers insight into the significant actions and innovative techniques of the struggle for East Timorese independence from 1999 to 2006. The book begins with a two-chapter historical overview of the circumstances that caused the United Nations to intervene in East Timor in 1999, and then continues with a detailed account of the referendum on independence and the military operations required to restore order after the Timorese people decided upon freedom from Indonesia. In the final three chapters, Ballard describes the actions taken to support the first national elections, the writing of a constitution, and the formation of a new national government in East Timor. The final chapter compares UN operations in East Timor to previous operations in Somalia, Eastern Europe and Haiti, and outlines key lessons for the future, including the critical importance of economic development and good governance in fledgling states

Since the end of the Cold War, considerable scholarly debates have been devoted to the nature and scope of international state-building interventions in ‘fragile’, post-colonial states and their effectiveness in instituting democratic rule. By examining the construction of political institutions in East Timor, this book highlights the relationship between the social and political realms during these processes. Focusing on the roles of East Timorese leaders and civil society organisations during the independence movement, it analyses the effectiveness of democracy building in East Timor. It examines the processes of drafting the new constitution, establishing key political institutions (such as the electoral system), and articulating a new vision of citizenship and social justice. The book argues that East Timor offers a relatively successful case of democratic transition, enabled by a consistent set of goals and aspirations, grassroots political legitimacy and participation, and the development of a democratic civil nation. Offering a coherent argument for why democracy has been successful in East Timor and the roles of political leaders and civil society during democratic transition, this book will be of interest to those studying Southeast Asian Politics, International Politics, and Democracy.

Emmanuel Neba-Fuh in this comprehensive chronological compilation and thorough narrative of the history of white supremacy in Africa provide an unflinching fresh case that African poverty - a central tenet of the “shithole” demonization, is not a natural feature of geography or a consequence of culture, but a direct product of imperial extraction from the continent – a practice that continues into the present. A brutal and nefarious tale of slave trade, genocides, massacres, dictators supported, progressive leaders murdered, weapon-smuggling, cloak-and-dagger secret services, corruption, international conspiracy, and spectacular military operations, he raised the most basic and fundamental question - how was Africa (the world’s richest continent) raped and reduced to what Donald J. Trump called “shithole?” By V. Mbanwie

An examination of the international diplomacy and decision-making that accompanied the collapse of Yugoslavia and its descent into war and chaos. The author assesses the involvement of the UN, the EC and the CSCE and examines the peacekeeping efforts of UNPROFOR, NATO and the WEU.

Today is Fathers Day and our children are planning a get together at their house. As is usual for this time of day, there was the morning fog replaced later by a clear sky, bright sunshine and warmth. The expected high temperature today is 71 degrees Fahrenheit up from this mornings 65 but nowhere near the 91 degrees that thermometers would normally register on Fathers day when I was a kid. Our children have invited us over to celebrate, since our oldest son is now a father himself, and as my wife and I drove over to their duplex, I realized that three generations of my family will be there and it became clear to me that the time had come for me to provide them with a biographical accounting that will fill in some blanks about their paternal roots and give them a clearer understanding of one half of their cultural heritage. It may have appeared to our children during their short childhood visits to the ancestral homeland of their father, that their aunts, uncles and cousins lived differently, and were apparently not as sophisticated as the people with whom they interacted in Berkeley. They were too young to appreciate the fact that their aunts and uncles had successful careers as teachers, master welders, policemen, grocery chain manager, and personal assistant to the President of their countrys Senate. They probably judged that their cousins toys were comparatively primitive viewed against the electronic marvels that they were accustomed to, nor were they as numerous. Television reception there was deplorable compared to what they were used to at home, and the duration of programming was limited, but academically, their young relatives skills were comparable to their own. On one occasion they were awed by the ability of a few of their cousins to build a functional lean-to that fitted into the games they were

George Schultz recounts his years working for the Reagan administration, including foreign policy and the power struggle between the State Department and the National Security Council, in this candid reflection on his years as Secretary of State. Turmoil and Triumph isn’t just a memoir—though it is that, too—it’s a thrilling retrospective on the eight tumultuous years that Schultz worked as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan. Under Schultz’s strong leadership, America braved a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, increasingly damaging waves of terrorism abroad, scandals such as the Iran-Contra crisis, and eventually the end of the decades-long Cold War. With the strong convictions and startling candor for which Schultz is known, this personal account takes readers into the heart of the Reagan administration, revealing the behind-the-scenes talks and churning tensions that informed a transitional decade that many Americans now look back on as one of the country’s most exalted.

Until fairly recently, only serial killers and lunatics had profiles. Yet today, almost everyone is profiled through social media, mobile phones, and a multitude of other methods. But where does the idea of “profiling” come from, how has it changed over time, and what are its implications? In this book, Andreas Bernard examines contemporary profiling’s roots in late-nineteenth-century criminology, psychology, and psychiatry. Data collection techniques previously used exclusively by police or to identify groups of people are now applied to all individuals in society. GPS transmitters and measuring devices are now unconsciously embraced to have fun, communicate, make money, or even find a partner. Drawing perceptive parallels between modern technologies and their antecedents, Bernard shows how we have unwittingly internalized what were once instruments of external control and repression. This illuminating genealogy of contemporary digital culture will be of interest to students and scholars in media and communication, and to anyone concerned about the power technologies hold over our lives.

Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth connects the rise of film and the rise of America as a cultural center and twentieth-century world power. Silent film, Paula Cohen reveals, allowed America to sever its literary and linguistic ties to Europe and answer the call by nineteenth-century writers like Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman for an original form of expression compatible with American strengths and weaknesses. When film finally began to talk in 1927, the medium had already done its work. It had helped translate representation into a dynamic visual form and had "Americanized" the world. Cohen explores the way film emerged as an American medium through its synthesis of three basic elements: the body, the landscape, and the face. Nineteenth-century American culture had already charged these elements with meaning--the body through vaudeville and burlesque, landscape through landscape painting and moving panoramas, and the face through portrait photography. Integrating these popular forms, silent film also developed genres that showcased each of its basic elements: the body in comedy, the landscape in the western, and the face in melodrama. At the same time, it helped produce a new idea of character, embodied in the American movie star. Cohen's book offers a fascinating new perspective on American cultural history. It shows how nineteenth-century literature can be said to anticipate twentieth-century film--how Douglas Fairbanks was, in a sense, successor to Walt Whitman. And rather than condemning the culture of celebrity and consumption that early Hollywood helped inspire, the book highlights the creative and democratic features of the silent-film ethos. Just as notable, Cohen champions the concept of the "American myth" in the wake of recent attempts to discredit it. She maintains that American silent film helped consolidate and promote a myth of possibility and self-making that continues to dominate the public imagination and stands behind the best impulses of our contemporary world.

For 2,000 years, Catholicism—the largest religion in the world and in the United States—has shaped global history on a scale unequaled by any other institution. But until now, Catholics interested in their faith have been hard-pressed to find an accessible, affirmative, and exciting history of the Church. Triumph is that history. Inside, you'll discover the spectacular story of the Church from Biblical times and the early days of St. Peter—the first pope—to the twilight years of John Paul II. It is a sweeping drama of Roman legions, great crusades, epic battles, toppled empires, heroic saints, and enduring faith. And, there are stormy controversies: Dark Age skullduggery, the Inquistition, the Renaissance popes, the Reformation, the Church's refusal to accept sexual liberation and contemporary allegations like those made in Hitler's Pope and Papal Sin. A brawling, colorful history full of inspiring pageantry and spirited polemic, Triumph will exhilarate, amuse, and infuriate as it extols the glories of Catholic history and the gripping stories of its greatest men and women.

A Catholic Classic -- UPDATED AND EXPANDED! For 2,000 years, Catholicism—the largest religion in the world and in the United States—has shaped global history on a scale unequaled by any other institution. Triumph offers an accessible, affirmative, and exciting entry into that history. Inside, you'll discover the spectacular story of the Church from Biblical times and the early days of St. Peter—the first pope—to Pope John Paul the Great (already a saint), Pope Benedict XVI (a master theologian), and the controversies surrounding Pope Francis. It is a sweeping drama of Roman legions, great crusades, epic battles, toppled empires, heroic saints, and enduring faith, as well as Dark Age skullduggery, the Inquisition, the Renaissance popes, and the Protestant Revolt. A classic for twenty years -- now updated and expanded -- Triumph is a brawling, colorful history full of inspiring pageantry and spirited polemic that will exhilarate, amuse, and infuriate as it extols the power and the glory the Catholic Church and the gripping stories of some of its greatest men and women.