Reconciling the imperatives of Germany s national identity and its national interest has been a challenge for the country s policymakers since the end of the Cold War. Anika Leithner explores how (and how much) the past continues to shape Germany s foreign policy behavior in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Leithner argues that, while German foreign policy is still heavily influenced by the memory of World War II, the exact nature of that memory is slowly changing as the lessons of history are being reinterpreted. Focusing on the military interventions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, she deftly illustrates the ways in which the lessons of history have been manipulated in the pursuit of an assertive foreign policy one that can appease audiences at home while securing a leadership role for Germany in Europe and beyond.

Shaping German Foreign Policy: History, Memory and National Interest

History

Leithner, Anika

Europe

First Forum Pr

Why do democratic leaders sometimes choose not to establish institutions that would promote the consolidation of democracy? And what are the consequences of those choices? Focusing on the cases of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, John Scherpereel explores the interplay of historical institutional legacies, short-term elite interests, and international pressures (i.e., EU conditionality) in the process of state reform.

Governing the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Between State Socialism and the European Union

Scherpereel, John A.

Do societal inequalities limit the effectiveness of democratic regimes? And if so, why? And how? Addressing this question, Bernd Reiter focuses on the role of societal dynamics in undermining democracy in Brazil.Reiter explores the ways in which race, class, and gender in Brazil structure a society that is deeply divided between the included and the excluded and where much of the population falls into the latter category. Tracing the mechanisms of the profound cultural resistance to genuine democratization that he finds dominant among the elite, his theoretically and empirically rich analysis offers an alternative way of understanding both the nature of Brazilian democracy and the democratization process throughout Latin America.

Negotiating Democracy in Brazil: The Politics of Exclusion

Reiter, Bernd

Americas

What happens to long-term employees when their jobs are unexpectedly eliminated? In this richly detailed study of a major layoff and its aftermath, Kenneth Root and Rosemarie Park address head-on the ramifications of job loss for older workers.The authors follow the experiences of 173 factory workers - from first thoughts on being forced out of work to reflections several years later. Retraining, age discrimination, and the occasional, if unanticipated, benefits of job loss are among the many issues considered. The result is a wide-ranging and thoughtful look at both the universal issues facing downsized employees and the unique challenges of being an older worker involuntarily out of work.This richly detailed study of a major layoff and its aftermath addresses head-on the ramifications of job loss for older workers.

Forced Out: Older Workers Confront Job Loss

Politics & Social Sciences

Root, Kenneth A.

Park, Rosemarie J.

Sociology

As China strives to achieve nothing less than a harmonious society despite the pronounced and institutionalized class structure that divides rural Chinese from urban, eastern from western, and rich from poor a key element of that effort is a new socialist countryside. Minzi Su assesses the prospects for China s rural revitalization programs now in their initial stages. Su draws on her extensive, front-line field research to discover precisely why Beijing s rural development policies, though helping many, have thus far bypassed hundreds of millions of farm households. Not least, she also identifies the capacities and political-economic conditions that hold the greatest promise for successful policy implementation.

China's Rural Development Policy: Exploring the "New Socialist Countryside"

Su, Minzi

My Days in Mecca

Biographies & Memoirs

Suba'i, Ahmad

Memoirs

It is widely assumed that the African National Congress essentially disappeared from South Africa after its banning in 1960 and the imprisonment of its leaders, until public support for it revived in the wake of the 1976 Soweto uprising. Raymond Suttner takes issue with that view.Drawing on extensive oral testimony, Suttner reveals how internally based activists, often working independently of the ANC in exile, were able to reconstitute and maintain effective underground networks. His scope encompasses the broad features of the clandestine work, the impact that it had on personal lives, and the opportunities that were presented for both bravery and abuse. He also considers the gendered character of the underground ANC. In the concluding chapter of the book, he explores the gradual establishment of the ANC hegemony, which continues to this day.

The ANC Underground in South Africa, 1950-1976

Suttner, Raymond

Africa

John Cameron draws on power-based approaches to the study of democratization as he thoughtfully explores efforts by indigenous and peasant groups to gain control of local governments and deepen democracy in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.Cameron addresses three fundamental questions: What factors best explain the success or failure of local political movements in the Andes? What forms of democracy are emerging in indigenous- and peasant-controlled municipalities? What are the impacts of municipal democratization on the well-being and political identities of the citizenry? As he elucidates his results, he reminds readers that, in the midst of some of the most exclusionary and elite-dominated systems of local government in Latin America, political struggles for democracy are having a profound impact.

Struggles for Local Democracy in the Andes

Cameron, John

Why have so many attempts at democracy in the past half-century failed? Confronting this much discussed question, Jay Ulfelder offers a novel explanation for the coups and rebellions that have toppled fledgling democratic regimes and that continue to threaten many new democracies today.Ulfelder draws on an original dataset of 110 democratic failures spanning 1955 2007 and also presents analytic narratives for six cases (Cyprus, Fiji, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela) to illustrate why some governments survive while others collapse. Focusing on political parties and the military as key players in the democracy game, he sheds light on the pathways by which new democracies slide all too often from founding elections to polarization and breakdown.

Dilemmas of Democratic Consolidation: A Game-Theory Approach

Ulfelder, Jay

Politics & Government

Why would a state commit to foreign policy actions that do not appear to have relevance to its national interests? And what can we learn from Argentina's extensive involvement in democracy promotion in the Americas? Addressing these related questions, Ana Margheritis explores the interaction of presidential power, regional issues, and domestic instability in the shaping of Argentina's foreign policy.

Argentina's Foreign Policy: Domestic Politics and Democracy Promotion in the Americas

Margheritis, Ana

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