Conventional wisdom says that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) functions as the de facto international lender of last resort (ILLR) for the global financial system. However, that premise is incomplete. Brother, Can You Spare a Billion? explores how the U.S. has for decades regularly complemented the Fund's ILLR role by selectively providing billions of dollars in emergency loans to foreign economies in crisis. Why would the U.S. ever put national financial resources at risk t...

The US dollar is the world's indispensable currency. The dollar's preeminent status gives the United States enormous coercive powers which it flexes in the form of financial sanctions to punish its adversaries. Over the last twenty years, Washington has relied on financial sanctions with greater and greater frequency. Bucking the Buck argues that the more the United States wields the dollar as a weapon of foreign policy, the more its adversaries will move their international econo...

When the end of ages comes for the empire, the princess must rescue herself.Vierrelyne du Talorr, the last living daughter of the tyrant king, waits locked in a tower cell for the prophesied apocalypse only she can prevent. An army of three brittle allegiances, united under a rival prince, aims for the throne and lays siege to the castle in search of the princess and the fabled weaponry of the empire.With the aid of her mentor in music and swords, and a des...

Mehren Tevaht wasn't supposed to survive his desperate gambit. Throwing himself into the abyss along with the truename of the demon prince should have been the end of it: as worthy an end as Mehren can picture for such a coward as himself, anyway.When Mehren awakens in a shadow-realm he's only seen in dreams with his beloved, the warrior princess Vierrelyne du Talorr, at his side, he knows the spell he meant to do went horribly awry. Together, they traverse a realm both familiar an...

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a holistic approach to the areas of advertising, public relations, branding, promotions, event and experiential marketing, and related fields of strategic communication. Integrated Marketing Communication: Creating Spaces for Engagement explores how IMC can open up spaces for engagement in our classrooms and our communities. The breadth of the contributors is in the spirit of IMC, examining public and private sector organizations that offer produ...

In René Girard, Theology, and Popular Culture, fifteen contributors consider how Girard’s mimetic theory can be used to uncover and probe the theological depths of popular culture. Creative and critical engagement with Girard’s theory enables the contributors to offer fresh and exciting interpretations of movies (The Devil Wears Prada, Mean Girls, Star Wars), television (Hoarders, Cobra Kai), classical literature and graphic novels, and issues ranging from anorexia to social media. The res...

“This slim and vital novel is a tour de force; it will floor you, and lift you right the way up—I adored it.” —Claire-Louise Bennett , author of PONDDuring the summer of 2014, on one of the stormiest days on record to hit the coast of Uruguay, 31-year old Alejandro, lifeguard and younger brother of our protagonist and narrator, dies after being struck by lightning. This marks the opening of a novel that combines memoir and fiction, unveiling an intimate ex...

Can the goddess of war be defeated?Talitha expected a fight to take back Ilios, but she returns to her city to find her enemies have gone underground. Worse, the deposed usurper has invoked powers beyond the realms of flesh and blood.The priests of the war goddess have unleashed something terrible, something wicked. Talitha and Ashek must find a way to destroy it before the monstrosity consumes their reclaimed city and everything they've fought for....

Once upon a time in Lankhmar, City of the Black Toga, in the world of Nehwon, two years after the Year of the Feathered Death, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser parted their ways.

Vermithrax, the last of dragonkind, swooped down over the kingdom of Urland, let loose a torrent of flames, and reduced everything to smoldering ash. Then, finding the newly blackened wasteland much to its liking, it settled in for a long stay. Desperate, the villagers finally sought the help of Ulrich, the last living sorcerer. But Ulrich was too old, too feeble. That left only his apprentice, Galen, to go against the might and terror of the deadly dragon. Of the use of weapons he knew no...

TALES OF THIEVES AND WARRIORS, WRITTEN BY FAN FAVORITES!FIND THE MARKThe dragon’s hoard. The dwarves’ hidden mine. The mage’s secret library overflowing with enchanted relics. The world is brimming with treasures—if you’re bold enough to claim them.PLAN THE JOBWaltzing in with a broadsword and demanding the crown jewels? That’s a fast track to the dungeon. A true master thief needs a strategy—one with style,...

The next financial collapse will resemble nothing in history. . . . Deciding upon the best course to follow will require comprehending a minefield of risks, while poised at a crossroads, pondering the death of the dollar.The U.S. dollar has been the global reserve currency since the end of World War II. If the dollar fails, the entire international monetary system will fail with it. But optimists have always said, in essence, that confidence in the dollar will neve...