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Retrospect of Western Travel: In Three Volumes, Volume 2 (Cambridge Library Collection - North American History Ser. #Volume 2)
by Harriet Martineau Daniel FellerThis abridged version of Harriet Martineau's narrative of her travels in Jacksonian America preserves her reporting on slavery and other current topics of the day, as well as her insights on women's place in society, and her observations and vignettes of famous people such as John Calhoun.
Retrospective Pledge Voting and Political Accountability: The Costs of Broken Promises
by Theres MatthießThis book examines retrospective pledge voting; the phenomenon of whether and under which conditions citizens are likely to withdraw their support for political parties that have failed to turn their pre-election pledges into tangible policies once they have joined government. It puts forward a new theoretical framework on retrospective pledge voting. Whilst one would expect voters to punish government parties that have broken their promises by refusing to vote for them at the next election, little research has been done to show whether, and under what contexts, this is actually the case. Adopting a multi-methods approach, the book demonstrates that citizens do punish government parties that have shown a poor performance in fulfilling their election pledges, and that more sceptical citizens with negative pre-existing opinions punish pledge breakage more severely. Bringing together research on election pledges, government performance and voting, the book will appeal to all those interested in democratic representation, politics, public policy, and voter-party linkages.
Return Migration and Crises in Non-Western Countries (Mobility & Politics)
by Jungwon YeoThis edited book focuses on the intersection of return migration and crises in non-Western countries. The book explores a wide range of theoretical and methodological perspectives while offering practical insights to address the intricate issues surrounding return migration and crises. The topics covered within this volume include return migration trends, the pivotal roles and contributions of return migrants, the social, psychological, and policy challenges faced by returnees, emerging issues stemming from return migration in their home countries, and the public and formal responses to return migration and the reintegration of returnees, and the roles of crises in these areas.This edited volume brings together diverse perspectives of academic researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on return migration. The book features cases of multiple non-Western countries in Asia (Philippines, China, India), Europe (Lithuania, Turkey, & Ukraine), the Middle East and North Africa (Morocco), and South America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Peru & Dominican Republic). Findings provide a unique opportunity to critically explore current thinking on return migration and investigate the relationship between migration and crisis from varying policy and operational viewpoints. This book, hence, attends to practitioners to develop creative solutions to both global and local policies and practices of return migration management in emerging market countries, which will support and accommodate both their returnees and residents amid challenging times.
Return Migration to Afghanistan: Moving Back or Moving Forward? (Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship)
by Marieke van HouteThis book overcomes the dichotomies, generalizations and empirical shortcomings that surround the understanding of return migration within the migration–development–peace-building nexus. Using the concept of multidimensional embeddedness, it provides an encompassing view of returnees’ identification with and participation in one or multiple spaces of belonging. It introduces Afghan return migration from Europe as a relevant case study, since the country’s protracted history of conflict and migration shows how the globally changing political discourses of recent decades have shaped migration strategies. The author’s findings highlight the fact that policy is responding inadequately to complex issues of migration, conflict, development and return, since the expectations on which it is based only account for a small minority of returnees. This thought-provoking book will appeal to scholars of migration and refugee studies, as well as a wider audience of sociologists, anthropologists, demographers and policy makers.
Return Of The Dragon: China's Wounded Nationalism
by Maria H ChangAs Maoism recedes, and especially after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Beijing has increasingly turned to patriotic nationalism for its ideological inspiration and legitimation. Return of the Dragon begins with a discussion of the definitions, typologies, and theories of nationalism. The formation and development of the Chinese people are explored, including their myths of origins, early beginnings, the classical feudal period, and the enduring state and empire of the Middle Kingdom. The Opium War began the ?hundred years of humiliation? when dynastic China steadily deteriorated and eventually succumbed to the forces unleashed by imperialism. Western and Japanese imperialism also transformed the Chinese from a people into a nation. The ideas of early Chinese nationalists are explored, particularly those of Sun Yat-sen, whose thought stands in stark contrast to those of Mao, but shares significant similarities with the developmental nationalism of Deng Xiaoping.The last chapters of Return of the Dragon describe contemporary China's patriotic nationalism as it is represented in the writings of Chinese intellectuals, the youth, and the military. The portrait that emerges is a disquieting mix of narcissism and insecurity, wounded pride and resentment, a Darwinian worldview and an irredentist resolve to restore China to its former glory. The book concludes with an examination of the Chinese polity that remains authoritarian, as well as U.S. policy implications.
Return To Cold War
by Robert LegvoldThe 2014 crisis in Ukraine sent a tottering U. S. -Russian relationship over a cliff - a dangerous descent into deep mistrust, severed ties, and potential confrontation reminiscent of the Cold War period. In this incisive new analysis, leading expert on Soviet and Russian foreign policy, Robert Legvold, explores in detail this qualitatively new phase in a relationship that has alternated between hope and disappointment for much of the past two decades. Tracing the long and tortured path leading to this critical juncture, he contends that the recent deterioration of Russia-U. S. relations deserves to be understood as a return to cold war with great and lasting consequences. In drawing out the commonalities between the original cold war and the current confrontation, Return to Cold War brings a fresh perspective to what is happening between the two countries, its broader significance beyond the immediate issues of the day, and how political leaders in both countries might adjust their approaches in order, as the author urges, to make this new cold war "as short and shallow as possible. "
Return To Passion
by Carla BuchananLovers at long last? Behind her good-girl facade, Camille Ryan harbored a secret desire to write erotic romances. When one of her racy stories fell into the wrong hands, she had no choice but to flee her Bible-thumping Georgia town. Now her father's unexpected health scare turns her world upside down and brings the pseudonymous author back home to Fairdell-and to the man she sacrificed her happiness to protect. Remington Krane never got over losing Camille. When he shows up on her doorstep demanding answers, desire once again ignites, culminating in a night of passion they've waited years to fulfill. Camille fears the scandalous truth could ruin the business scion's mayoral bid. But when another woman orchestrates a campaign that could sabotage his second chance with Camille, it's Remi's turn to give up everything-except the woman he loves.
Return from Siberia
by John ShallmanIn the lead-up to the Bolshevik Revolution, one young revolutionary is condemned to exile in Siberia; a hundred years later, his ancestors discover his story and learn just how much history has repeated itself. In the midst of running a long-shot political campaign, Democratic political consultant John Simon discovers a 100-year-old manuscript written by his grandfather Joseph—a brilliant young revolutionary whose exile to Siberia by the last czar of Russia is just the beginning of an extraordinary tale of survival, romance, and revolution. Return From Siberia chronicles not only the Simon family's relationship to each other and the past, but also the remarkable story of a young man who sacrificed everything for his political ideals. As Joseph's manuscript is translated, chapter-by-chapter, the Simon family is pulled deep into their ancestor&’s story— in particular, the bitter rivalry between two brothers, whose competing visions of the American Dream are played out on the campaign trail and in their lives. Return from Siberia is a timely appraisal of modern politics and society juxtaposed with an inside look into the machinations of a young political mind 100 years ago. The true story documents an extraordinary time of political upheaval in Russia and Europe just prior to World War I while also drawing parallels to current day American politics and the current philosophical and ideological debates about immigration, Democratic Socialism, and Capitalism. Beyond the deep social, political, and philosophical themes, there is romance, adventure, betrayal, suspense, and the struggles of families today and in yesteryear. Return from Siberia illustrates how one modern family's connection to the past helps them resolve their future.
Return from the U.S.S.R.: Retour De L' U. R. S. S.
by André GideDuring the 1930s, Gide briefly became a communist, or more precisely, a fellow traveller (he never formally joined the Communist Party). As a distinguished writer sympathising with the cause of communism, he was invited to tour the Soviet Union as a guest of the Soviet Union of writers. The tour disillusioned him and he subsequently became quite critical of Soviet Communism. This criticism of Communism caused him to lose socialist friends, especially when he made a clean break with it in this book Return From The USSR first published in the 1930's.-Print ed.
Return of a Native: Learning from the Land
by Vron WareFrom a fixed point in the middle of English nowhere, Vron Ware takes you through time and space to explain why transcending the urban-rural divide is integral to the future of the planet.Rural England is a mythic space, a complex canvas on which people from many different backgrounds project all kinds of fantasies, prejudices, desires and fears. This book seeks to challenge many of these ideas, showing how the artificial divide between rural and urban works to conceal the underlying relationship between these two fundamental poles of human settlement.This investigation of rurality is oriented from a fixed point in north-west Hampshire, marked by a signpost that points in four directions to two towns, four villages and two hamlets. Through stories, interviews and reportage gathered over two decades, the book demolishes tired notions of rural England that cast it as a separate realm of existence, whether marooned in a perpetual time-warp, or reduced to a refuge for the retired, wealthy urbanites, extreme nature-lovers, and, more recently, anyone tired of waiting out the pandemic in towns and cities. It poses two simple questions: what does the word rural mean today? What will it mean tomorrow?The author is an ambivalent native, held captive to the land by an umbilical cord but always on the verge of fleeing home to the city. She writes from a feminist, postcolonial standpoint that is alert to the slow violence of historical processes taking place over many centuries; enslavement, colonialism, industrialisation, globalisation. Both argument and narrative are propelled by the urgent need to reconsider the concept of &‘countryside&’ in the context of the climate emergency and the patent collapse of ecosystems due to intensive farming which has poisoned the land.
Return of the "L" Word: A Liberal Vision for the New Century
by Douglas S. MasseySomewhere in the 1970s liberals in the United States lost their way. After successes like the New Deal, they became arrogant. So argues Douglas Massey in Return of the "L" Word. Faced with the difficult politics of race and class, liberals used the heavy hand of government to impose policies on a resentful public. Conservatives capitalized on this with a staunch ideology of free markets, limited government, and conservative social values. The time is ripe for a liberal realignment, declares Massey, but what has been lacking is a consistent liberal ideology that explains to voters, in simple terms, government's vital role in producing a healthier, more financially equitable, less divided society. This book supplies that ideology. Massey begins his powerful manifesto by laying out the liberals' mistakes over the past twenty years. Drawing on insights from the expanding field of economic sociology, he then sets forth a clear set of liberal principles to explain how markets work in society, principles he applies to articulate salable liberal policies. After outlining a new liberal political philosophy, Massey traces liberalism's opposition and says plainly: liberals should have no illusions about the competition's resolve and skill. He closes with a practical approach to liberal coalition-building in America. The political economy conservatives have constructed in recent decades has benefited 20 percent of the people. Liberal success requires a return to material rather than symbolic politics, showing most Americans why it is in their economic as well as moral interest to support the liberal cause.
Return of the Barbarians: Confronting Non-state Actors From Ancient Rome To The Present
by Jakub J. GrygielBarbarians are back. <P><P>These small, highly mobile, and stateless groups are no longer confined to the pages of history; they are a contemporary reality in groups such as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIL. <P>Return of the Barbarians re-examines the threat of violent non-state actors throughout history, revealing key lessons that are applicable today. From the Roman Empire and its barbarian challenge on the Danube and Rhine, Russia and the steppes to the nineteenth-century Comanches, Jakub J. Grygiel shows how these groups have presented peculiar, long-term problems that could rarely be solved with a finite war or clearly demarcated diplomacy. <P>To succeed and survive, states were often forced to alter their own internal structure, giving greater power and responsibility to the communities most directly affected by the barbarian menace. Understanding the barbarian challenge, and strategies employed to confront it, offers new insights into the contemporary security threats facing the Western world.<P> Examines the threat posed by violent non-state actors throughout history, presenting key lessons that are applicable to dealing with groups such as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIL today,<P> Proposes a historical analogy to current security challenges, offering a new way of thinking about trends in the security landscape,<P> Brings pre-modern history back into the discussion of international relations and security studies.
Return of the Dragon: Rising China and Regional Security
by Denny RoyDespites China's effort to maintain peace with its neighbors, its military and economic growth poses an undeniable threat. Regional states must account for a more powerful potential adversary in China, and China has become more ambitious in its efforts to control its surroundings. Historical baggage has only aggravated the situation, as China believes it is reclaiming its rightful place after a time of weakness and mistreatment, while other Asia-Pacific countries remember all too well their encounter with Chinese conflict and domination. Through a careful consideration of historical factors and raw data, Denny Roy thoroughly examines the benefits and consequences of a more politically, economically, and militarily potent China. Since China's intended sphere of influence encroaches on the autonomy of regional states, its attempts to increase its own security has diminished the security of its neighbors. Nevertheless, there is little incentive for states to change a status quo that is mostly good for China, and the PRC thrives through its participation in the global economy and multilateral institutions. Even so, Beijing remains extremely sensitive to challenges to the Chinese Communist Party's legitimacy and believes it is entitled to exercise influence on its periphery. On these issues, nationalism trumps any reluctance to upset the international system, and diplomatic disputes regarding the islands in the South China Sea, as well as controversial relations with North Korea, continue to undermine assurances of positive behavior. Roy's study reveals the actual dynamics working to make and unmake this volatile region, in which governments pursue China as a economic partner yet fear a future in which Beijing sets the rules of engagement.
Return of the Dragon: Rising China and Regional Security (Contemporary Asia in the World)
by Denny RoyDespite China's effort to maintain peace with its neighbors, its military and economic growth poses an undeniable threat. Regional states must account for a more powerful potential adversary in China, and China has become more ambitious in its efforts to control its surroundings. Historical baggage has only aggravated the situation as China believes it is reclaiming its rightful place after a time of weakness and mistreatment, and other Asia-Pacific countries remember all too well their encounter with Chinese conflict and domination.Through a careful consideration of historical factors and raw data, Denny Roy examines the benefits and consequences of a more politically, economically, and militarily potent China. Since China's intended sphere of influence encroaches on the autonomy of regional states, its attempts to increase its own security have weakened the security of its neighbors. Nevertheless, there is little incentive for Beijing to change a status quo that is mostly good for China, and the PRC thrives through its participation in the global economy and multilateral institutions. Even so, Beijing remains extremely sensitive to challenges to the Chinese Communist Party's legitimacy and believes it is entitled to exercise influence on its periphery. On these issues, nationalism trumps any reluctance to upset the international system. Diplomatic disputes regarding the islands in the South China Sea, as well as controversial relations with North Korea, continue to undermine Chinese promises of positive behavior. Roy's study reveals the dynamics defining this volatile region, in which governments pursue China as an economic partner yet fear Beijing's power to set the rules of engagement.
Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West
by R. R. RenoAfter the staggering slaughter of back-to-back world wars, the West embraced the ideal of the “open society.” The promise: By liberating ourselves from the old attachments to nation, clan, and religion that had fueled centuries of violence, we could build a prosperous world without borders, freed from dogmas and managed by experts. But the populism and nationalism that are upending politics in America and Europe are a sign that after three generations, the postwar consensus is breaking down. With compelling insight, R. R. Reno argues that we are witnessing the return of the “strong gods”—the powerful loyalties that bind men to their homeland and to one another. Reacting to the calamitous first half of the twentieth century, our political, cultural, and financial elites promoted open borders, open markets, and open minds. But this never-ending project of openness has hardened into a set of anti-dogmatic dogmas which destroy the social solidarity rooted in family, faith, and nation. While they worry about the return of fascism, our societies are dissolving. But man will not tolerate social dissolution indefinitely. He longs to be part of a “we”—the fruit of shared loves—which gives his life meaning. The strong gods will return, Reno warns, in one form or another. Our task is to attend to those that, appealing to our reason as well as our hearts, inspire the best of our traditions. Otherwise, we shall invite the darker gods whose return our open society was intended to forestall.
Return to D-Day: 35 Men, 70 Landings at Normandy
by The Greatest Generations Foundation Warriors Publishing Group<p>A World War II veteran in the twilight of his life stands once again on the soil where he fought the Nazis when he was a young man. He remembers those long-gone days of terror and valor and thinks of friends who died before his eyes. In a voice tinged with age and emotion, he talks about what he saw and heard and felt. Why would he want to revisit the places where he saw hell erupt around him? For many veterans, the experience brings a sense of closure to memories that often have been locked away like an old uniform. They find healing in places where once they witnessed the worst--and the best--that humanity has to offer. <p>Since 2004, The Greatest Generations Foundation has offered the opportunity for veterans to return to their battlefields at no cost to them. These voyages back to the battlefields are often emotional, providing aging veterans a long-overdue method of dealing with their war experiences, a chance to re-kindle pride in their service and sacrifices, and a venue to educate others. <p>In<i> Return to D-Day</i>, you can share in the stories of 35 such men, accompanied by John Riedy's striking photographs that capture the raw emotions of their return to a pivotal battlefield of World War II in Europe. These are tough men who did things in war that often seem impossible today, things that needed doing if the world was to shake free of Nazi tyranny. Standing on Normandy Beaches, once among the bloodiest battlegrounds of military history, they humbly reflect on those events with acute and incisive hindsight. These men changed the course of history.</p>
Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What It Needs to Do to Recover It
by Alan WolfeHas America, in its quest for goodness, sacrificed its sense of greatness? In this sharp-witted, historically informed book, veteran political observer Alan Wolfe argues that most Americans show greater concern with saving the country's soul than with making the nation great. Wolfe castigates both conservatives and liberals for opting for small-mindedness over greatness. Liberals, who at their best insisted on policies of national solidarity, have convinced themselves that small is beautiful, prefer multiculturalism to one nation, and are mistrustful of executive political power. Conservatives, who once embraced strong, active central government and an ideal of national citizenship, now support huge tax cuts that undermine America's future ability to undertake any ambitious, long-term project at home or abroad. No great society, in Wolfe's view, has ever been built on the cheap. Wolfe notes that neither the conservatives' call for small-scale faith-based initiatives nor the recent embrace on the left of a grassroots "civil society" can provide health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans or ensure national security in an age of terrorism. To find better solutions, Wolfe looks back at specific moments in our national experience, when, in the face of sharp resistance, aspirations for the idea of national greatness shaped American history. He demonstrates how a bold and ambitious political agenda, championed at various times by Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Abraham Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts, steered the country toward periods of national strength and unity. Steeped in a colorful, panoramic reading of history, Return to Greatness offers a fresh take on American national identity and purpose. A call to action for a renewed embrace of the ideal of an activist federal government and bold policy agendas, it is sure to become a centerpiece of national debate.
Return to Lost City (Dinotopia Series)
by Scott CiencinYoung Andrew and Lian pay a return visit to their old friends in Lost City, a place that served for years as the secret home of a noble tribe of Troodon knights. When they arrive, they find that an elder Troodon has gone off on a crazy, Don Quixote-like quest to prove he's still a great champion. Now it's up to Andrew, Lian, and their Troodon friend Arri to find this old knight and bring him back before he wreaks havoc in Dinotopia. But they may find out that his quest is not so crazy after all -- and that the lives of an entire saurian race may hang in the balance.
Return to Point Zero: The Turkish-Kurdish Question and How Politics and Ideas (Re)Make Empires, Nations, and States
by Murat SomerHow did the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict arise? Why have Turks and Kurds failed for so long to solve it? How can they solve it today? How can social scientists better analyze this and other protracted conflicts and propose better prescriptions for sustainable peace? Return to Point Zero develops a novel framework for analyzing the historical-structural and contemporary causes of ethnic-national conflicts, highlighting an understudied dimension: politics. Murat Somer argues that intramajority group politics rather than majority-minority differences better explains ethnic-national conflicts. Hence, the political-ideological divisions among Turks are the key to understanding the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict; though it was nationalism that produced the Kurdish Question during late-Ottoman imperial modernization, political elite decisions by the Turks created the Kurdish Conflict during the postimperial nation-state building. Today, ideational rigidities reinforce the conflict. Analyzing this conflict from "premodern" times to today, Somer emphasizes two distinct periods: the formative era of 1918–1926 and the post-2011 reformative period. Somer argues that during the formative era, political elites inadequately addressed three fundamental dilemmas of security, identity, and cooperation and includes a discussion of how the legacy of those political elite decisions impacted and framed peace attempts that have failed in the 1990s and 2010s. Return to Point Zero develops new concepts to analyze conflicts and concrete conflict-resolution proposals.
Return to Prosperity: How America Can Regain Its Economic Superpower Status
by Stephen Moore Arthur B. Laffer"WE CAN'T TAX AND SPEND OUR WAY BACK TO THE GOOD TIMES." -- Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore When Arthur B. Laffer spearheaded the theory of supply-side economics and became a member of President Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board, he took his place as an economic icon. More recently, he joined with Stephen Moore and Peter J. Tanous to write The End of Prosperity -- a clarion call delineating what is wrong with current political approaches to America's present economic challenges. Steve Forbes himself described The End of Prosperity as "brilliantly insightful," saying "READ IT -- AND ACT!" Now Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore follow the rousing success of The End of Prosperity with a book even more vital to America and Americans, delivering a plan that shows how our country can regain its lost prosperity. With the economy flat on its back, unemployment at a twenty-five-year high, and the housing default crisis still worsening, is this even possible? But America can once again become the land of economic opportunity, and this brilliant new book tells us exactly how. While President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama may hail from different parties, their response to the crisis has been strikingly similar. The Bush-Obama plan is a failure that has produced nothing except a cascade of trillions of dollars of debt. Is the situation hopeless? No, say Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore resoundingly, the situation is not hopeless. A return to prosperity is still entirely possible...if the correct strategies are followed. In The End of Prosperity, the authors primarily discussed how lower taxes are essential to economic growth. Now, in Return to Prosperity, they detail the other essential components: putting government at all levels on a low-fat diet; emphasizing debt reduction and retirement; and bringing back the investor class in America, where every American can "own a piece of the rock." In a time where most of the proposed solutions are fraught with peril, the argument provides a refreshing counterbalance. The Return to Prosperity is a prescription that gives America the fundamental tools it needs in order to set about recovery. This book is an urgently needed road map to renewed prosperity, and it is vital reading for anyone who worries that the current economy is faltering, with no clear plan articulated for recovery.
Return to Sender
by Ralph NaderIn letters addressed to Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, Ralph Nader provides incisive critiques of more than a decade of American policy decision and indecision. Each letter offers frank advice and shines light on government mishaps and missed opportunities for progress. With his signature dry wit, Nader holds these Presidents to their campaign promises. He also boldly points to the ignoble and sometimes heinous decisions made in pursuit of party platforms and misguided ideals. Covering a range of still-current topics--including the Iraq war, torture, the Crimean annexation, the minimum wage, worker's health legislation, and corporatism--these letters were wholesale ignored on receipt. Here they are reproduced to refute that fate in the spirit of true and healthy democracy.
Return to Sender: The Moral Economy of Peru's Migrant Remittances
by Karsten PaerregaardThe aim of this book is to examine how Peruvian migrants living in different parts of the world use their savings and experience in Peru as well as to the development of their regions of origin and new countries of settlement.<P> The book's title, Return to Sender, refers to the money that migrants send to their relatives and communities in Peru. But even though the sending of remittances is the book's main them, it also explores another less-documented aspect of migration: the many talents that Peruvian migrants mobilize to achieve their goals. The book is therefore not only a study of why and how migrants remit money home, but also an account of the ways they make their dreams come true and hereby enrich the surrounding society.
Return to Winter
by Douglas E. Schoen Melik KaylanThe United States is a nation in crisis. While Washington's ability to address our most pressing challenges has been rendered nearly impotent by ongoing partisan warfare, we face an array of foreign-policy crises for which we seem increasingly unprepared. Among these, none is more formidable than the unprecedented partnership developing between Russia and China, suspicious neighbors for centuries and fellow Communist antagonists during the Cold War. The two longtime foes have drawn increasingly close together because of a confluence of geostrategic, political, and economic interests-all of which have a common theme of diminishing, subverting, or displacing American power. While America's influence around the world recedes-in its military and diplomatic power, in its political leverage, in its economic might, and, perhaps most dangerously, in the power and appeal of its ideas-Russia and China have seen their influence increase. From their support for rogue regimes such as those in Iran, North Korea, and Syria to their military and nuclear buildups to their aggressive use of cyber warfare and intelligence theft, Moscow and Beijing are playing the game for keeps. Meanwhile America, pledged to "leading from behind," no longer does much leading at all. In Return to Winter, Douglas E. Schoen and Melik Kaylan systematically chronicle the growing threat from the Russian-Chinese Axis, and they argue that only a rebirth of American global leadership can counter the corrosive impact of this antidemocratic alliance, which may soon threaten the peace and security of the world.
Return to the Center: Culture, Public Space, and City Building in a Global Era
by Lawrence A. HerzogThe redesign and revitalization of traditional urban centres is the cutting edge of contemporary urban planning, as evidenced by the intense public and professional attention to the rebuilding of city cores from Berlin to New York City's "Ground Zero. " Spanish and Latin American cities have never received the recognition they deserve in the urban revitalization debate, yet they offer a very relevant model for this "return to the center. " These cultures have consistently embraced the notion of a city whose identity is grounded in its organic public spaces: plazas, promenades, commercial streets, and parks that invite pedestrian traffic and support a rich civic life. This groundbreaking book explores Spanish, Mexican, and Mexican-American border cities to learn what these urban areas can teach us about effectively using central public spaces to foster civic interaction, neighbourhood identity, and a sense of place. Herzog weaves the book around case studies of Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Mexico City and Querétaro, Mexico; and the Tijuana-San Diego border metropolis. He examines how each of these urban areas was formed and grew through time, with attention to the design lessons of key public spaces. The book offers original and incisive discussions that challenge current urban thinking about politics and public space, globalization, and the future of privatized communities, from gated suburbs to cyberspace. Herzog argues that well-designed, human-scaled city centres are still vitally necessary for maintaining community and civic life. Applicable to urban renewal projects around the globe, Herzog's book will be important reading for planners, architects, designers, and all citizens interested in creating more liveable cities.
Return to the Motherland: Displaced Soviets in WWII and the Cold War (Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History)
by Seth BernsteinReturn to the Motherland follows those who were displaced to the Third Reich back to the Soviet Union after the victory over Germany. At the end of World War II, millions of people from Soviet lands were living as refugees outside the borders of the USSR. Most had been forced laborers and prisoners of war, deported to the Third Reich to work as racial inferiors in a crushing environment. Seth Bernstein reveals the secret history of repatriation, the details of the journey, and the new identities, prospects, and dangers for migrants that were created by the tumult of war. He uses official and personal sources from declassified holdings in post-Soviet archives, more than one hundred oral history interviews, and transnational archival material. Most notably, he makes extensive use of secret police files declassified only after the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine in 2014. The stories described in Return to the Motherland reveal not only how the USSR grappled with the aftermath of war but also the universality of Stalinism's refugee crisis. While arrest was not guaranteed, persecution was ubiquitous. Within Soviet society, returnees met with a cold reception that demanded hard labor as payment for perceived disloyalty, soldiers perpetrated rape against returning Soviet women, and ordinary people avoided contact with repatriates, fearing arrest as traitors and spies. As Bernstein describes, Soviet displacement presented a challenge to social order and the opportunity to rebuild the country as a great power after a devastating war.