Arguing forcefully that changing times are a clarion call for new thinking, this book convincingly shows that if humanitarian organizations continue to operate as they have in the past, they will fail to help the very victims whom they try to save. Focusing especially on the emergence of "new wars," Hoffman and Weiss insist that humanitarian organizations must recognize that they live in a political world and that their actions and goals are invariably affected by military action. The bran...

What is humanitarianism? This authoritative book provides a comprehensive analysis of the original idea and its evolution, exploring its triangulation with war and politics. Peter J. Hoffman and Thomas G. Weiss trace the origins of humanitarianism, its social movement, and the institutions (international humanitarian law) and organizations (providers of assistance and protection) that comprise it. They consider the international humanitarian system’s ability to regulate the conduct of war,...

In this original, bottom-up account of the evolution of contemporary Russia, Alena Ledeneva seeks to reveal how informal power operates. Concentrating on Vladimir Putin's system of governance - referred to as sistema - she identifies four key types of networks: his inner circle, useful friends, core contacts and more diffuse ties and connections. These networks serve sistema but also serve themselves. Reliance on networks enables leaders to mobilise and to control, yet they also lock polit...

In H. G. Wells' book 'What is Coming?', the author delves into the concept of futurism, exploring the possibilities of the future and the potential outcomes of societal and technological advancements. Written in Wells' signature style of combining scientific theory with imaginative storytelling, this book provides a thought-provoking look into the potential trajectory of human civilization. Set in a time when the world was on the brink of change, 'What is Coming?' serves as a reflection of...

The Hawks of Peace. Notes of Russian Ambassador is a unique analytical edition where Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Rogozin shares his notes on personalities and events that shaped the history of post-Communist Russia, believing that without those it would be impossible to understand the past and envisage the future of his country. Permanent Representative of Russia to NATO until recently, in his political dairy Dmitry Rogozin contemplates on the complex relationship between Russia and the ...

Why is the United Nations not more effective on global environmental challenges? The UN Charter mandates the global organization to seek four noble aspirations: international peace and security, rule of law among nations, human rights for all people, and social progress through development. On environmental issues, however, the UN has understood its charge much more narrowly: it works for "better law between nations" and "better development within them." This approach treats peace and huma...

In the 1990s China embarked on a series of political reforms intended to increase, however modestly, political participation to reduce the abuse of power by local officials. Although there was initial progress, these reforms have largely stalled and, in many cases, gone backward. If there were sufficient incentives to inaugurate reform, why wasn't there enough momentum to continue and deepen them? This book approaches this question by looking at a number of promising reforms, understanding...

This book examines forty-six UN peacekeeping operations, initiated from 1956 through 2006 to manage cases of intrastate and interstate conflicts, to identify the most significant factors that could help to explain the success or lack of success of such operations. Factor analysis is used to exploit the correlations between independent variables in order to regroup them into a smaller set of factors explaining the success or failure of these operations. The results show that the success of ...

The great success of the festival (or “pastime,” as it is called in the neighbourhood) which was held on White Horse Hill on the 17th and 18th of September, 1857, to celebrate the “Scouring of the Horse,” according to immemorial custom, led the Committee of Management to think that our fellow-county-men at least, if not our countrymen generally, would be glad to have some little printed memorial, which should comprise not only an account of the doings on the Hill on the late occasion, but ...

Heroes of the 90s is a book composed by journalists of the newspaper Kommersant. The book sheds light on the transformation of the USSR and the country’s social, state, financial, economic and civic institutions into a new state — the Russian Federation. The book covers Russia’s first decade as a new country, the turbulent 90s that formed Russia’s reality today. The book revisits the storming of the White House, the allocation of vouchers in attempts to set up a new economy of private owne...

"The Olympic Games" is innovative in its twofold approach: while helping to boost English language skills, it also instills in the student the peaceful values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement. Designed for pre-intermediate and intermediate language students, it can be used within the regular classroom setting or as an additional Grammar reference book. Each lesson gradually takes the learner to being able to comfortably use the future tense in active voice for simple and practical us...

Europe’s right-wing and national populist parties are on the upswing, even despite some recent electoral setbacks. They have entered parliaments across Europe and some parties are even participating in national governments. What is remarkable is that right-wing and national populist parties have changed their mobilisation tactics. While predominantly xenophobic in the past, right-wing populists now mobilise against further European integration – and not without success.For all acto...