Other books that might interest you

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  All the Shah's Men - An American...

  Stephen Kinzer

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  Half a century ago, the United States overthrew the democratically elected prime minister of Iran,  Mohammad Mossadegh, whose "crime" was nationalizing the country's oil industry.  In a cloak-and-dagger story of spies, saboteurs, and secret agents, Kinzer reveals the involvement of Eisenhower, Churchill, Kermit Roosevelt, and the CIA in Operation Ajax,  which restored Mohammad Reza Shah to power. Reza imposed a tyranny that ultimately sparked the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which, in turn, inspired fundamentalists throughout the Muslim world, including the Taliban and terrorists who thrived under its protection."It is not far-fetched," Kinzer asserts, "to draw a line from Operation Ajax through the Shah's repressive regime and the Islamic Revolution to the fireballs that engulfed the World Trade Center in New York."

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  The Growth of American...

  Ballard C. Campbell

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  How and why has government gotten bigger? “Should be a compulsory assignment for any seminar on modern political culture.” —The Journal of American History 
   
  American government has evolved over the generations since the mid-nineteenth century. The changing character of these institutions is a critical part of the history of the United States. 
   
  This engaging survey focuses on the evolution of public policy and its relationship to the constitutional and political structure of government at the federal, state, and local levels. A new chapter in this revised and updated edition also examines the debate about “big government” in recent decades. 
   
  “A marvelous multidisciplinary synthesis that builds on the findings of historians of national, state, and local government, along with those of economists and political scientists, to provide a coherent account of the rise of modern American governing structures.” —Journal of Interdisciplinary History

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  Political wisdom - A future for...

  Rob Nijhoff, Tido J. Mooibroek

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  Does faith belong in politics? According to Rob Nijhof it most certainly does. Everyone has some deep convictions that shape the way in which one conducts politics. People can be inspired to political wisdom from different sources. That diversity presents a good reason to listen to each other. It remains useful to draw from the broad Christian tradition that gave the Netherlands and Europe a unique constitutional and democratic character. This tradition traces its roots back to before the Renaissance or the Reformation. This book argues for a politics where ones values are acknowledged and where all players in the 'field strive together for wisdom and the general good for society. Churches can be relevant in this. The Political efforts of Christians normally proceed via the diverse political parties. However, the current network society offers Christians the chance to engage in alliances to act as a broad movement. Christian parties can give this movement a political face. It would be good if Christians would also across the borders of political parties seek to cooperate in a network. At European level this is happening in the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM). This book originally was published (in Dutch) in 2016 by the Mr. G. Groen van Prinsterer Stichting, the scientiffic Institute of the ChristenUnie political party which affter the 2017 election again took part in a coalition government, together with VVD, CDA and D66.

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  In Defense of Public Service -...

  Cedric L. Alexander

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  The former police chief and news commentator makes a compelling case for the importance of civil service in this timely book—foreword by Elijah Cummings.   When those we elect descend into partisan tribalism, criminal malfeasance, and emulation of foreign autocracies and oligarchies, where do we turn? Cedric Alexander believes it is the unelected, apolitical "fourth branch" of government—our nation's public servants, civil servants, and first responders—who must save the nation.   Alexander, a former deputy mayor, police chief, and CNN commentator, argues that these people do not constitute a nefarious “deep state” pursuing a hidden agenda. They are the analysts, scientists, lawyers, accountants, educators, consultants, enforcers of regulations, and first responders of every kind who keep the country running and its people safe.    This book recounts the evolution of the professional civil service as an antidote to widespread cronyism, with examples of how it has served as a bulwark against powerful corrupting influences. It describes the role civil servants play in bringing our badly divided society together.

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  The Convenient Terrorist - Two...

  John Kiriakou, Joseph Hickman

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  A startling spotlight on the darkest corners of America's "War on Terror," where nothing is quite what it seems.
  
  The Convenient Terrorist is the definitive inside account of the capture, torture, and detention of Abu Zubaydah, the first "high-value target" captured by the CIA after 9/11. But was Abu Zubaydah, who is still being indefinitely held by the United States under shadowy circumstances, the blue-ribbon capture that the Bush White House claimed he was? Authors John Kiriakou, who led the capture of Zubaydah, and Joseph Hickman, who took custody of him at Guantanamo, draw a far more complex and intriguing portrait of the al-Qaeda "mastermind" who became a symbol of torture and the "dark side" of US security. From a one-time American collaborator to a poster boy for waterboarding, Abu Zubaydah became a "convenient terrorist" — a way for US authorities to sell their "War on Terror" to the American people.
  An Author's Republic audio production.

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  Bosnia in Limbo - Testimonies...

  Borja Lasheras

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  To this day, almost all narratives on Bosnia focus on the 1990s, the war, and the labyrinth that Dayton’s institutional system represents. They also tend to be imbued with a perspective that often overdoes the ethnic and religious element. The truth is that, beyond the causes of war and its manifold tragedies, we actually know very little of its forgotten consequences, once the CNN effect is long gone. As importantly, we know very little of Bosnia today: a society shaped by the past, yes, but also exposed to shifting 21st century dynamics. A society haunted not only by war tragedies but also by a long-standing and long overlooked social crisis.
  
  This revealing book thus tries to provide a somewhat different picture of Bosnia, twenty years after the war. Largely based on the author’s experience in the field, it is to some extent an account of rural Bosnia, in particular of the Drina River Valley, which bore the brunt of the ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Yet, and starting off from that isolated region of open wounds, unfinished issues and a cast of characters that range from displaced persons and victims to committed women, the book aims to overall provide a portrait of modern Bosnia as such, while also looking critically at the workings of the international community and European diplomacy. The book, with its landscape of activists, Western diplomats, and an underground world in Sarajevo for LGBT and youths, shows a country of so far failed Springs and leaders who go on with their bad governance. Meanwhile the “Europe” towards which Bosnia theoretically moves, drifting between a poor understanding of the country, a fear of conflict that acts as its Achilles’ heel, as well as lack of genuine interest, seems unable to really change things. In a way, therefore, a country in limbo.

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