"An excellent undergraduate text, covering critical subjects that students need to know about this region. The chapters break the monotony of traditional textbooks.… I especially welcome the new chapter on violence and corruption, an important subject for understanding Latin America today. " —Cristina Escobar, Temple UniversityPraise for previous editions:"Provides students with a broad, thorough, and accessible introduction to a fascinating region." —Raul L. Madrid, University of Texas at Austin"Masterfully unravels many issues facing Latin America today to enrich our understanding of its complex dynamics."—Cynthia Chavez Metoyer, California State University, San MarcosThis new edition of Understanding Contemporary Latin America, the first under the editorship of Henry (Chip) Carey, reflects the many changes that have occurred in the region in the decade since the previous edition was published. An entirely new chapter on crime and security, along with new treatments of such classic subjects as geography, history, politics, economics, international relations, and more, make for an unparalleled introduction to the complexities of Latin America today.

“An impressive achievement. In addition to its empirical contributions, it adds to our understanding of the institutional linkages between political authority and domestic order in Nigeria, as well as of the broader nature of state-society relations in Africa.” —Christopher Day, International Journal of African Historical Studies “Whose interests do the police protect and how do politics shape policing? ... Omeni skillfully examines these issues as he traces the history of policing in Nigeria from the colonial era to now.” —Travis Curtice, The Monkey Cage at The Washington Post"Sure to become the authoritative book on the Nigeria Police Force.... This kaleidoscopic view of law enforcement over the last century and a half in many ways tells the story of Nigeria itself since the advent of colonialism." —Samuel Fury Childs Daly, Duke UniversityClose to the center of politics since the nineteenth century, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has grown to become the country’s main security agency. Akali Omeni traces the checkered record of the NPF, dissecting the intricacies of its evolution, structures, and missions—and showing how colonial- and military-era traditions continue to underpin its uneasy relationship with the general population.

“An excellent overview of how different actors have used information in open conflict situations to undermine the resolve and spirit of their adversaries.” —José de Arimatéia da Cruz, Parameters"An important contribution..

“An excellent reference work to have at hand when studying the US intelligence community.” —C. Dale Walton, Comparative Strategy "A practical tool in our understanding of the cyber intelligence and conflict discipline. Kudos to the author... for producing a useful and readable cyber-related and national security-focused work.” —Robert J. Bunker, Parameters"A valuable contribution…. Providing many detailed examples of cyber attacks aimed at the public and private sectors, Uthoff both documents and explains the various US policies and doctrines related to cyber intelligence and cyber threats from the 1990s to the present." —John D. Woodward, Jr., Boston UniversityUS national security compromised by Wikileaks. Towns held hostage by ransomware. Corporate websites hacked. Cyber espionage and cybercrimes are increasing in both frequency and sophistication—requiring the collection of actionable intelligence in order to combat them. Constance Uthoff provides a comprehensive overview of cyber intelligence, explaining what it is, why it is needed, who is doing it, and how it is done.Notably, Cyber Intelligence:Outlines the roles of the major US intelligence agencies involved.Assesses significant laws and policies from the 1990s to the present.Compares methods and best practices across the public and private sectors.Looks beyond the US to explore the capabilities of actors like China, Iran, and Russia.Includes real-world examples and case studies.The result is an in-depth examination of the processes and applications of spying in cyberspace, accessible to a wide range of readers.

Winner of the Religion News Association's Award for Best Nonfiction Religion Book!“An important contribution to the making of a field of study, which is just now beginning to take shape.” —Thiago Henrique Mota, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies“A profound exploration of the hidden history of Muslims in the Americas and beyond. . . . An eye-opening book.” —Juan Galvan, Caribbean Conjunctures"[Offers] new perspectives on the contribution of Islam to the culture of Latin America and the Caribbean [and also] sheds an important light on the Muslim minority [there] in the context of Global Islam." —Atilla Kus, International Journal of Latin American ReligionsThe "Muslim World" is often narrowly conceived as tied to the Middle East and North Africa, or more broadly as encompassing Africa’s Sahel region, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of the Balkans. But what about Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)? It is this question that inspired Ken Chitwood's book.Chitwood traces the story of Muslims in LAC: their deep roots in the region, as well as the current connections among the multiple networks of people, ideas, economies, politics, and religion that extend across the Americas and beyond. Moving from pre-Columbian encounters to the present day, his rich account leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of an integral, but little recognized, part of the Americas and global Islam.

“Impressive for its comprehensive coverage, accessible language, engaging descriptions, and nuanced framing of the various problems at work.” —Michael Stanley-Baker, Asian Medicine “Presents a powerful critique of our current system of biomedical innovation dominated by the aggressive pursuit of intellectual property. Drawing on rich case studies from China, India, and Japan, Ibata-Arens shows that government can foster the creation of an innovative commons, sandboxes in which private and public actors can collaborate to create needed innovations. ” —Steve Casper, Keck Graduate Institute"Provides an essential counter-narrative to the pervasive rhetoric that we must rely on the closed intellectual property rights system and private markets to fund and produce medical innovations.... This book stands as a call for a new ethic of worldwide collaboration, an ethic that must be at the forefront of any efforts to change the current system if the commons-based approach that Ibata-Arens describes, and that the world sorely needs, is ever to be adopted." —Joshua Sarnoff, DePaul University College of Law“A fascinating and enlightening book that resonates singularly with the current pandemic, and also with the environmental crisis. Based on a rich conceptualization and in-depth analysis of various examples, the book invites us to question the effectiveness and sustainability of the Western system of biomedical innovation … and to turn our gaze to alternative innovation systems that are much older but that have renewed relevance in the last decades.” —Etienne Nouguez, Sciences Po ParisDespite a century of advances in modern medicine, as well as the rapid development of Covid vaccines, the global pharmaceutical industry has largely failed to bring to market drugs that actually cure disease. Why? And looking further ... How can government policies stimulate investment in the development of curative drugs? Is there an untapped potential for "natural medicines" in new drug discovery? How have private–public sector partnerships transformed the ways we innovate? To what extent are medicinal plant biodiversity and human health codependent?Addressing this range of increasingly critical questions, Kathryn Ibata-Arens analyzes the rise and decline of the global innovation system for new drug development and proposes a policy framework for fast-tracking the implementation of new discoveries and preparing for future pandemics.

"Presents a well-organized brief to refute many of the 'durable myths' of how U.S. political economy operates. Ideal for an undergraduate course on inequality." —Kathleen Odell Korgen, Contemporary SociologyOne of the most durable myths of US political economy is that we take from the rich and give to the poor—penalizing the rich for their hard work and rewarding the undeserving. Mark Mattern turns that story on its head.Documenting the everyday, institutionalized ways that income and wealth are transferred upward in the United States, Mattern shows how in fact the bottom subsidizes the top. His provocative analysis, describing in detail the processes and policy choices that systematically favor the rich, is both a tale of "Robin Hood in reverse" and a call for a more equitable, democratic political economy.

While there is arguably universal agreement that corruption plagues countries worldwide, do we agree as well on what corruption is and how to fight it? Do the left and right on the political spectrum hold conflicting views on the issue? Is there a difference in how successful left vs. right governments are in curbing corruption? These are the questions that inspired The Corruption Debates.Stephen Morris explores left and right anticorruption ideologies broadly, then turns to promises, policies, and outcomes in the Americas. He also reaches beyond differences rooted in left/right dichotomies to develop an alternative hypothesis, one reflecting an in-power vs. out-of-power dynamic. His book captures the inherently political nature of not only corruption, but, equally, our understanding of it.

“Excellently details the ins and outs of intelligence. .

Even stronger than its outstanding predecessor, the third edition of Understanding Contemporary India provides context for and evaluates more than a decade of challenges and changes in India.Entirely new chapters on geography, politics, the economy, international relations, religion, and environmental challenges, along with updated material throughout (including the impact of the novel coronavirus), result in an indispensable volume that describes and analyzes the paradoxical nature of the world’s largest and most diverse democracy.

“Useful introduction to the Second World War in the Southwest Pacific, reminding readers that there was more to the global conflict than Nazis and D-Day.” —Karl James, War in History In 1942, US and Australian forces waged a brutal war against the Japanese in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Plunged into a primitive, hostile world in which their modes of battle seemed out of place and time, they fought, suffered, hated, starved, and killed in muck and mud. James Carafano's vivid history brings this all to life. Ranging from detailed descriptions of specific battles to accounts of the fates of prisoners and the crucial role played by New Guinea's Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, Carafano chronicles the grueling, and ultimately successful, Allied campaign, telling a tale of war at the very edge of human endurance.

T. E. Lawrence once observed that Saudi Arabia had "so little art" that it could "be said to have no art at all. " Whether that was once the case is arguable. But that it is not the case now is clear in Sean Foley's Changing Saudi Arabia.Exploring the contemporary arts movement in Saudi Arabia in the context of the kingdom's changing political realities, Foley finds that artists are expressing thoughts and feelings that the Saudi public typically has not felt safe to articulate. These artists are promoting discussions about the need for peaceful and progressive social reform—and they are doing it in ways that escape the wrath of the absolute monarchy. Without confronting the state or the political system, Foley argues, Saudi society is exercising significant agency through its cultural production.

"A notable and well-written work on a critical subject." —C. Dale Walton, Comparative StrategyThough China remains a relatively weak nuclear power, it has in recent years become central to US strategic policymaking. What explains this shift? How is the US-China strategic nuclear relationship evolving? What role do other states play in shaping it?To address these questions, the authors of US-China Nuclear Relations examine a series of strategic triangles involving China, the US, and one or more key third actors (among them, Australia, India, Iran, Japan, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan). Their work also critically highlights the challenges and opportunities facing Washington and Beijing in this increasingly complex security arena.

Walter Dunn’s book narrates the details of a battle on the Eastern Front that was perhaps the largest of all time and certainly one of the most significant of World War II. Nearly three million Soviet and German soldiers participated in a campaign in which Soviet forces advanced 275 kilometers in two weeks over bad roads and marshy terrain, destroying 50 German divisions and capturing 50,000 German troops—an event celebrated by marching the prisoners of war ignominiously through the streets of Moscow. Hitler would never again have the wherewithal to launch a major offensive in the east. As Soviet Blitzkrieg shows so vividly, by the summer of 1944 the Red Army had mastered the German style of warfare and was capable of turning the tables on the Germans. Using recently declassified Soviet Orders of Battle and his own monumental files of German and Soviet unit histories, Dunn traces each of the Blitzkrieg offensives from the initial breakthrough to stalemate.

“A rich set of studies..

Shiraishi Takashi reflects on the diplomatic challenges facing the countries of Asia in today's geopolitical order, exploring historical context, long-term trends, and current strategies. The tectonic shifts in the global order are having a particularly dramatic impact in Asia, with its combined economy now larger than that of either North America or Europe. As he explores the nature of that impact, Takashi highlights the diversity of Asia (focusing on the ASEAN countries, China, and Japan) and the national strategies that have resulted from these differences. One key question that he addresses: What accounts for the divide between the maritime states and the countries of mainland Asia? Takashi’s incisive analysis, combining a discussion of international relations with a consideration of Asia's varying political cultures, sheds light on current affairs in the vast region from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean and beyond.