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  Revolution and Terror

  Graeme Gill

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  This book is a study of the relationship between revolution and terror. Historically many have claimed that revolution inevitably devolves into terror, best reflected in the way in which after coming to power the revolutionary elite turns on itself, and one section of it uses terrorist means to eliminate another section. Graeme Gill argues that in order to understand the relationship between revolution and terror, it is necessary to distinguish between different types of terror. There are three such types: revolutionary terror, in which the aim is to destroy enemies and thereby consolidate the regime; transformational terror, designed to drive the politico-socio-economic transformation of society that is the purpose of the 'great' revolutions; and inverted terror, which is when terror is turned against part of the elite and regime more broadly. The analysis explains how these different types of terror are related to the revolutionary seizure of power, showing that revolutionary and transformational terror are organically connected to revolution while for inverted terror the connection is mediated through the leader. The argument is prosecuted through detailed analysis of the French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions. The study ends by assessing the contemporary salience of the lessons of the great revolutions in the light of the low level of violence in the negotiated revolutions of 1989.

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  The United States of Fear

  Tom Engelhardt

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  The creator of TomDispatch.com “focuses on the specific absurdities of American wars . . . strident, passionate, and problem-solving” (Mother Jones).   In 2008, when the US National Intelligence Council issued its latest report meant for the administration of newly elected president Barack Obama, it predicted that the planet’s “sole superpower” would suffer a modest decline and a soft landing fifteen years hence. In his new book, The United States of Fear, Tom Engelhardt makes clear that Americans should don their crash helmets and buckle their seat belts, because the United States is on the path to a major decline at a startling speed. Engelhardt offers a savage anatomy of how successive administrations in Washington took the “Soviet path”—pouring American treasure into the military, war, and national security—and so helped drive their country off the nearest cliff.   This is the startling tale of how fear was profitably shot into the national bloodstream, how the country—gripped by terror fantasies—was locked down, and how a brain-dead Washington elite fiddled (and profited) while America quietly burned.  Praise for Tom Engelhardt and The United States of Fear   “Engelhardt is absorbing and provocative. Everything he writes is of a satisfyingly congruent piece.” —The New York Times   “A politician’s worst nightmare.” —Mother Jones   “Tom Engelhardt is the I. F. Stone of the post-9/11 age.” —Andrew J. Bacevich, New York Times–bestselling author   “Tom Engelhardt, as always, focuses his laser-like intelligence on a core problem that the media avoid . . . A stunning polemic.” —Mike Davis, author of Ecology of Fear and The Monster at Our Door

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  The Lost Majority

  Michael Ashcroft

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  The 2017 general election was supposed to be a walkover for the Conservative Party – but the voters had other ideas.
  In The Lost Majority, Lord Ashcroft draws on his unique research to explain why the thumping victory the Tories expected never happened. His findings reveal what real voters made of the campaign, why Britain refused Theresa May's appeal for a clear mandate to negotiate Brexit and where the party now stands after more than a decade of 'modernisation' . And, critically, Ashcroft examines the challenges the Tories face in building a winning coalition when 13 million votes is no longer enough for outright victory.
  This is an indispensable guide that will provide food for thought to anyone wishing to examine in detail what really happened on 8 June, 2017, and how this will impact on future elections.

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  Fighting With Allies - America...

  Robin Renwick

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  It was Winston Churchill who, in his speech at Fulton, Missouri, advocated a 'special relationship between the British Commonwealth ... and the United States ... the continuance of intimate relationships between our military advisers, leading to the common study of potential dangers'.
  Through the eyes of Churchill, Roosevelt and their successors, Robin Renwick traces the development of the Anglo-American relationship since the desperate summer of 1940, and the part it played in shaping the post-war world.
  Detecting once again a whiff of the 1930s in the air, he concludes that, as one of the ties that binds Europe and North America, the relationship remains an important one, and not only to Britain and the United States.
  There are many on both sides of the Atlantic who will think that the world would have been poorer without it. Its future will depend on learning the lessons of military overstretch in Iraq and Afghanistan and resolving the mismatch between Britain's desire to play a role in world affairs and the resources allocated to doing so.

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  We Are Not Refugees - True...

  Agus Morales

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  Never in history have so many people been displaced by political and military conflicts at home—more than 65 million globally. Unsparing, outspoken, vital, We Are Not Refugees tells the stories of many of these displaced, who have not been given asylum."With the keen eye and sharp pen of a reporter, Agus takes us around the world to meet mothers, fathers, [and] children displaced from their homes. Now, more than ever, this is a book that needed to be written and needs to be read."—Ali Noraani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and author of There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration"Morales notes [that] those who live on the margins are not even refugees, often seeking survival without the UNHCR, internally displaced people whose stories we need to hear, whose lives we need to remember. . . a must read."  —Dr. Westy Egmont, Professor, Director of the Immigrant Integration Lab, Boston College School of Social WorkFor over a decade, human rights journalist Agus Morales has journeyed to the sites of the world's most brutal conflicts and spoken to the victims of violence and displacement. To Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Central African Republic. To Central America, the Congo, and the refugee camps of Jordan. To the Tibetan Parliament in exile in northern India.We are living in a time of massive global change, when negative images of refugees undermine the truth of their humiliation and suffering. By bringing us stories that reveal the individual pain and the global scope of the crisis, Morales reminds us of the truth and appeals to our conscience.

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  Total Destruction of the Tamil...

  Paul Moorcraft

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  In 2009, the Sri Lankan government forces literally eradicated the Tamil Tiger insurgency after 26 years of civil war.  This was the first time that a government had defeated an indigenous insurgency by force of arms.  It was as if the British army killed thousands of IRA cadres to end the war in Northern Ireland.  The story of this war is fascinating in itself, besides the international repercussions for terrorism and insurgency worldwide.  Many countries involved themselves in the war  to arm the combatants (China, Pakistan, India, and North Korea) or to bring peace (US, France, UK, and Norway).While researching this work Professor Moorcraft was given unprecedented access to Sri Lankan politicians (including the President and his brother, the Defense Permanent Secretary), senior generals, intelligence chiefs, civil servants, UN officials, foreign diplomats and NGOs.   He also interviewed the surviving leader of the Tamil Tigers.His conclusions and findings will be controversial.  He reveals how the authorities determined to stamp out Tamil Tiger resistance by whatever means frustrated the media and foreign mediators.  Their methods, which have led to accusations of war crimes, were brutally effective but are likely to remain highly contentions for years to come.

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